S05.E02: Hook, Line and Sinker

[secnarf]

Quote

Max tests a bold new cost-saving program that could help New Amsterdam. Wilder struggles with a patient's decision to refuse life-saving surgery. Reynolds comes to a realization about his father's behaviors. Iggy takes the leap into online dating.

Original air date: Sept 27 2022

[Cloud9Shopper]

I feel like Karen was throwing shade at how terrible this show has become when she was asking Max how his plan was possibly realistic. We’re all wondering the same thing, Karen.

I screamed laughing when Max rolled out the ATMs though with the Dam Fam and “How can I help?” branded on to them. It feels like the writers just went F it and chose to go full satire.

I’m only still here because there’s 11 episodes left and I have a penchant for finishing shows even when they get terrible because I feel too invested. (I watched all of ER despite the fact that I was bored and checking out somewhere between S11-13 because I was like “I just want to see the whole thing one time and maybe it gets better!” I mean, it didn’t for me but still…)

[txhorns79]

Hey Reynolds, it's also entirely possible your father is just a selfish jerk who only wants a relationship with you on his terms.  They jumped to mental illness so quickly on that storyline.  It feels like such a cheat. 

I also have no idea whatsoever what timeline Max's storyline took place in.  He made a proposal at a morning board meeting.  It seemed to be implemented immediately, complete with specially made debit cards and a ATM.  It then failed by the afternoon(?) board meeting.  That same night, he suddenly had an entire website set up, complete with patient stories (guess all the patients signed HIPAA releases?) and a way to collect money for them.  How any of that is possible in such a short period of time, I have no idea.           

[LexieLily]

Iggy, if you're jumping into online dating only three months (apparently; that's what the showrunner says the time-jump was but Luna is also now five years old) after separating from Martin, you're proving him right everything he said about you when you hired Trevor.

[Frisky Wig]

15 minutes into the show. 
 

I really like Dr Wilder and it’s upsetting that she wants to declare a patient mentally incompetent (when he’s not!) in order to perform a surgery that would completely alter his life. 
 

So Karen and the board just agreed on a one day trial for Max Goodwins Cause o’ The Week without first asking what it would entail, how it would happen!?

What on earth am I watching? 
 

Ok, that was bad. 
 

Dr Wilder was going to perform surgery on her patient without having any idea who he was? Certainly didn’t know he was a star baseball player. She didn’t talk to him about why he didn’t want the surgery, try to talk sense into him in a hospital room? And wouldn’t he have to sign paper work, including a consent form, before he was ever even rolled into the hallway towards the OR? This whole storyline was just so dumb!

Max! You should’ve known the ATM was going to run out of money! And how exactly did it save the hospital money? If someone agrees to sponsor a patient, is that for the patients life? If I decide to sponsor the lady that needed blood pressure meds, am I paying $40/month just for October? For the rest of the year? Until the lady does? I have so many more questions! 
 

Oh, Lauren Bloom! Why did you chastise that intern about not giving money to the aforementioned high blood pressure lady and then turn around and give her YOUR money? So you could look like the good guy? Why the hell can’t you kick Lila out of YOUR apartment? Aren’t you wealthy enough to not have to couch surf? And aren’t you a recovering dug addict? How is that gonna work, living at your sisters apartment, which looks like a crack house? 

Edited September 28, 2022 by Frisky Wig
Finished the show, added some bewildered, annoyed commentary.

[Artsda]

I guess Lauren wants to try to help her sister and thats why she's going to stay. 

The we're not a Target line was hilarious.

Edited September 28, 2022 by Artsda

[Madding crowd]

I’m sure every person getting money from that ATM only used it for the exact purpose prescribed. Eye roll! I also wondered how the sponsorship for patients would work since prescriptions and bus passes would need to be paid monthly . Why didn’t Max suggest the hospital cover some of the prescriptions or look into help with the drug companies? That would make more sense than handing out money.

Of course Iggy would get tons of hits when his dating app was set right. This is definitely a roll your eyes show.

[Frisky Wig]

2 hours ago, Madding crowd said:

Of course Iggy would get tons of hits when his dating app was set right. This is definitely a roll your eyes show.

And the hits came in the second he set it correctly! 😂 Like all of those hits were just sitting somewhere in the app, waiting for Iggy to change the settings! 😂 

[DanaK]

3 hours ago, Frisky Wig said:

And the hits came in the second he set it correctly! 😂 Like all of those hits were just sitting somewhere in the app, waiting for Iggy to change the settings! 😂 

Maybe that was just a filter to see responses from people over 90 not preventing people from responding before that

[circumvent]

Just started watching this and it already sucks. 

Floyd is like a little boy trying to please his daddy, even if he would have ditched a ton of patients at the biggest public hospital at the biggest American city to break the law because he cannot say 'no' to a man he has no relationship with. Yes, very professional. The writers cannot get it right with this character. Only terrible story plots, with terrible outcomes, and shitty people around the character

Why do TV doctors have this savior complex where they believer hey are the ones with all the rights and answers, trampling over the patients's rights? It is Wilder's turn now. It is double ironic that a woman does that, interfering with someone else's bodily autonomy. 

What is wrong with these people?

[Featherhat]

1 hour ago, circumvent said:

Why do TV doctors have this savior complex where they believer hey are the ones with all the rights and answers, trampling over the patients's rights? It is Wilder's turn now. It is double ironic that a woman does that, interfering with someone else's bodily autonomy. 

What is wrong with these people?

Especially because Dr Wilder is also deaf and many deaf and Deaf people have very strong views on Cochlear implants and similar which is intrinsically about bodily autonomy and what is actually best for the person involved and not what many people unaware of the issues would think without knowledge and research. Which she did not do in this case. There have been not many storylines surrounding the ethics and personal choice of those on TV. Not that this storyline was about that, but you'd think a show like this *should* be more aware of the various influences which surround its characters.

Instead it's Max and his magic ATM machines. That has got to be a parody right? 

[Cloud9Shopper]

1 hour ago, Featherhat said:

Instead it's Max and his magic ATM machines. That has got to be a parody right? 

I don’t think this show knows what it wants to be and that’s probably why it’s getting canceled and a shortened season on top of that. Why they had such a good thing going at the end of S2 and decided to tank it is beyond me. I thought they were going to redeem themselves at the end of S3, then S4 came and they ruined Sharpwin and pushed that “More Joy” campaign which actually made nobody happy.

I don’t count anything past the Sharpwin door closing at the end of S3 as canon. It’s seems like some weird alternate universe written off Tumblr fanfic prompts. I can’t even take the ATM plot seriously. 

[bybrandy]

Max invented go fund me.  Oh wait….

[Johnny Dollar]

Iggy is literally the worst and should lose his license. He diagnoses an obviously depressed patient by asking him three stupid questions with no further counseling as to the consequences of the man’s decision. He then diagnoses Floyd’s father as having BPD after admittedly knowing the man for two seconds.

Did I miss the storyline where Bloom moved in with her sister, or the storyline where Bloom even had a sister?  And why wouldn’t she just throw Layla and her new girlfriend out of her apartment? Where was the girlfriend living all this time?

Not surprisingly, Max’s math doesn’t make sense. If giving a woman a one day bus pass saves the hospital $5,000, then giving her a ten day bus pass should save the hospital $50,000. Just because someone has to walk to work doesn’t mean they’ll automatically end up in the hospital.  And I’m sure NYC has some kind of discounted fares for low income people.

Who knew Max could design a website in about an hour? He can fall back on those skills the next time he’s fired.

Floyd’s father just seems like a jerk.  Are there no legal fishing areas in NYC?

I thought Wilder was an oncologist? Why is she doing amputation surgery? Shouldn’t there be at least one ortho surgeon on call?

What are the odds that they have Max and Wilder get together? Is he incapable of being single for even a few months? And where’s Luna?

Edited September 29, 2022 by Johnny Dollar

[LexieLily]

12 minutes ago, Johnny Dollar said:

Did I miss the storyline where Bloom moved in with her sister, or the storyline where Bloom even had a sister?  And why wouldn’t she just throw Layla and her new girlfriend out of her apartment? Where was the girlfriend living all this time?

Were we supposed to recognize Bloom's sister on sight? Bloom showed up at that apartment and there wasn't any sort of attempt to introduce the not-Bloom woman until she said "Sure, sis" so nonchalantly and softly half the audience might have missed it. That was a...narrative choice.

Didn't Bloom tell Walsh earlier that Leyla's visa issues worked themselves out and so she was moving out soon? Why can't Bloom have her house back?

[KaveDweller]

5 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

Were we supposed to recognize Bloom's sister on sight? Bloom showed up at that apartment and there wasn't any sort of attempt to introduce the not-Bloom woman until she said "Sure, sis" so nonchalantly and softly half the audience might have missed it. That was a...narrative choice.

Didn't Bloom tell Walsh earlier that Leyla's visa issues worked themselves out and so she was moving out soon? Why can't Bloom have her house back?

I think it was supposed to be a surprise. We were supposed to wonder who this woman was and why she had Bloom's clothes, then they reveal it with the sister comment. We did know she had a sister, I think it came up in some of the sob stories about her childhood and her addict mother. But I read that the actress is a regular (or at least recurring) this season, so I am sure there will be lots of sister drama.

What I want to know is why Bloom needed to put her clothes in "storage." She couldn't leave her clothes in that huge apartment that she owns while Leyla was staying there? I mean, Leyla was living in her car a couple seasons ago so she couldn't have so much stuff Bloom needed to move her things out. 

[LexieLily]

Max stumbling over sign language with Wilder wasn't cute like the show wanted it to seem. Setting aside how unrealistic and frankly, rude, it is that Max wouldn't know sign language by now to speak to a year-long employee of the hospital, he would have surely learned some signs last year for Helen during her magically-recoverable stroke.

I wouldn't be surprised if that baseball player did sue New Amsterdam/Wilder and his claim will be that he was manipulated and inappropriately guilted into the surgery.

Edited September 29, 2022 by LexieLily

[bros402]

It's time for another episode of New Amsterdam!

oh no it's starting out with Iggy on a camera.. is this a documentary episode or something? Or is he trying to make a video for dating?

ok, dating video. That app looks like tinder

is he going on a hookup app?

hey, awesome deaf doc has someone else to talk in ASL with!

reynolds dad why do you expect your son to be able to drop everything at the last minute to fish with you, he is a surgeon

wait how did you even find him to bump into him in this hallway

yay - the ex is out of her apartment, makes sense

Bloom being reasonable by telling the nurse to not give the patient money for meds?!

bloom why not go to the pharmacy and pay for the meds for the patient and bring them back

so bloom was short on cash... is max going to be short on cash now, and everyone owe each other money?

is Max's Crusade Of The Week going to be to solve the donut hole?

why is the onc surgeon dealing with a trauma

are there no more surgeons since reynolds decided to go bond with his dad?

so why doesn't this guy want his arm taken? I am going to guess he is a musician of some kind

why would the new york city water supply be a good fishing spot

um awesome deaf doctor declaring someone incompetent is not that easy

ahhh okay he's a pitcher

the average cost of a patient is only $5000?

max how do you get these things so quickly

would they really yell "MAN DOWN!" if a person falls over in the ER?

this ATM is hilariously dumb - is the show mocking itself at this point? god i would love that

how long until Reynolds and dad get caught

"he would sue you for wrongful life" what

checking the definitiong - "a malpractice claim brought by or on behalf of a child born with a birth defect alleging that he or she would never have been born if not for the negligent advice or treatment provided to the parents by a physician or health-care provider also : the life or injury at issue in such a claim recovery for wrongful life."

good, she stopped trying to force him into the surgey at the last second and is resorting to actually TALKING to the patient

YAY IT'S IGGY'S AWESOME SECRETARY

no we do not care about how many swipes he has

she is way too good to/for Iggy

max how is any of this saving the hospital money

exactly, board member! There is no way to know if the money is being used for the prescription! There needs to be a way to track it! 

it'd be better as a program where they get reimbursed by the hospital for these unusual prescriptons

um why wasn't dry drowner already having the bag help him breathe? Did they just stick the tube in for fun?

oh hey, someone died!

So that means that baseball guy is gonna give up his arm

reynolds why didn't you call an uber

and reynolds, Iggy is not an expert therapist

iggy you cannot diagnose from a description and meeting for two seconds, it could be anything

uh oh the random act of kindness is inspiring max, the horror!

wait did awesome deaf doctor convince baseball guy off screen or did I get distracted

max you must be a coding genius to have made this site so quickly

also this is the opposite of your philosophy - this is against the idea of a public hospital

and in what universe would a hearing aid cost $50?

iggy no you need to get back together with your husband

also that is a lot of people in the NYC area wanting to find a hot psychiatrist near them

um bloom did you keep your stuff in a drug... not house, apartment?

oh, it's her sister? or did she just call her sis just for fun. If that's a sister... she sure got the short end of the stick!

wait when has she been there for you

well i guess in that montage at the start of the season?

you think Max would've learned ASL earlier than this with his crusading - him messing up was more rude than cute. I could understand one or two things being signed incorrectly, then Awesome Deaf Doctor helping him - but yeaaaah he messed up the whole conversation

My recording cut off at Max saying "Thank you" to Awesome Deaf Doctor - did I miss anything?

Okay, so who is the worst doctor of the week?

This week the honor is easy, it's the only doctor who actually had a patient!

It's...

Awesome Deaf Doctor!

this better not be a pattern, because otherwise she will lose her title of Awesome Deaf Doctor.
 

[TooMuchRealityTV]

Floyd and Iggy should maybe consider that sometimes a jerk is just a jerk. It's not like Floyd has a strong relationship with the guy and he's suddenly acting odd. It's not surprising that a man who never cared about his kid enough to be present during his formative years doesn't care care 30 something years later about his kids concerns and priorities.

The writers are really phoning this season in, especially with Max. They let him literally give away money. It's like they all got into a room and tried to figure out what is the most ridiculous thing Max hasn't done yet. Oh, well... we didn't just let him give away cash. 

Of course Iggy is dating. Apparently being alone isn't a thing in New Amsterdam. Clearly, Max is going to rebound with Wilder and Iggy will have a new love interest before the ink dries on his divorce papers.

[KaveDweller]

On 9/29/2022 at 1:00 AM, bros402 said:

Okay, so who is the worst doctor of the week?

This week the honor is easy, it's the only doctor who actually had a patient!

It's...

Awesome Deaf Doctor!

this better not be a pattern, because otherwise she will lose her title of Awesome Deaf Doctor.
 

I knew you were going to pick her. In fact, when she was considering operating on the guy without his consent, I seriously said to my TV, "don't do it, you'll get picked as worst doctor of the week!"

But you're right, no one else had patients. Unless you count Iggy's 3 questions to the same patient.

Edited October 3, 2022 by KaveDweller

[Aliconehead]

On 9/28/2022 at 7:33 PM, KaveDweller said:

I think it was supposed to be a surprise. We were supposed to wonder who this woman was and why she had Bloom's clothes, then they reveal it with the sister comment. We did know she had a sister, I think it came up in some of the sob stories about her childhood and her addict mother. But I read that the actress is a regular (or at least recurring) this season, so I am sure there will be lots of sister drama.

What I want to know is why Bloom needed to put her clothes in "storage." She couldn't leave her clothes in that huge apartment that she owns while Leyla was staying there? I mean, Leyla was living in her car a couple seasons ago so she couldn't have so much stuff Bloom needed to move her things out. 

I did recognize the actress Kathryn Prescott and glad to see she is better and back acting after being hit by a truck in NY last year. 

[bros402]

1 hour ago, KaveDweller said:

I knew you were going to pick her. In fact, when she was considering operating on the guy without his consent, I seriously said to me TV, "don't do it, you'll get picked as worst doctor of the week!"

But you're right, no one else had patients. Unless you count Iggy's 3 questions to the same patient.

I wonder who will end of as Least Worst Doctor by the series finale - I only started it with season 3 but hey, I got most of the series covered that way :P

[Frisky Wig]

1 hour ago, KaveDweller said:

I knew you were going to pick her. In fact, when she was considering operating on the guy without his consent, I seriously said to me TV, "don't do it, you'll get picked as worst doctor of the week!"

But you're right, no one else had patients. Unless you count Iggy's 3 questions to the same patient.

@bros402, you know you’ve made an impact when fellow Primetimers are talking to their TVs and warning fictional characters about you! 😂 

Anyone else notice that after an episode of Helen this and Helen that, I don’t think her name was mentioned once? 
 

Speaking of the first ep of the season, didn’t it seem like in the opening sequence, where Max was severely depressed and his coworker friends were showing up with wine and playing Scrabble, that Max and Dr Wilder were speaking ASL to each other? I remember seeing it and thinking “huh, he finally learned some ASL!”

[amarante]

In the roster of hair brained schemes devised by Max, this one made no sense even as a way to theoretically help patients.

If patients literally can't afford to purchase meds for chronic conditions like blood pressure and insulin it is completely valid to set up a program in which the meds are GIVEN to the patient to manage chronic illnesses. Also the cost for these kinds of meds is very low especially if purchased by a large medical facility - my generic very effective blood pressure medication only cost me about $6 from the pharmacy - this was the total cost and not just my share. 

That is the kind of clearly evident cost savings benefit to a community hospital since their patients would not need to be treated in the ER for conditions caused by their chronic conditions not being treated by low cost drugs. And if someone literally has the need to treat an ingrown toe nail send them directly to a podiatrist for treatment - Medicare and I suspect Medicaid actually reimburse for this if it is a medical necessity and not just having one's nails painted. 

And of course in New York City there are ways to get subsidized transportation for low income people. 

[bros402]

23 hours ago, Frisky Wig said:

@bros402, you know you’ve made an impact when fellow Primetimers are talking to their TVs and warning fictional characters about you! 😂 

Anyone else notice that after an episode of Helen this and Helen that, I don’t think her name was mentioned once? 
 

Speaking of the first ep of the season, didn’t it seem like in the opening sequence, where Max was severely depressed and his coworker friends were showing up with wine and playing Scrabble, that Max and Dr Wilder were speaking ASL to each other? I remember seeing it and thinking “huh, he finally learned some ASL!”

I was surprised, too! What show are we gonna hatewatch as much as this? Worst doctor of the week doesn't really fit with The Resident or The Good Doctor! Can a network make a bad decision like NBC did with NA again? They ordered a second season after the first couple episodes, then ordered three seasons halfway through season two!

I am guessing Helen is not going to be mentioned again outside of maybe as a random aside in the finale.

It did seem like in the premiere that Max knew a bit of ASL, but IIRC Wilder was holding up her phone to people during the sequence too.

 

14 hours ago, amarante said:

In the roster of hair brained schemes devised by Max, this one made no sense even as a way to theoretically help patients.

If patients literally can't afford to purchase meds for chronic conditions like blood pressure and insulin it is completely valid to set up a program in which the meds are GIVEN to the patient to manage chronic illnesses. Also the cost for these kinds of meds is very low especially if purchased by a large medical facility - my generic very effective blood pressure medication only cost me about $6 from the pharmacy - this was the total cost and not just my share. 

That is the kind of clearly evident cost savings benefit to a community hospital since their patients would not need to be treated in the ER for conditions caused by their chronic conditions not being treated by low cost drugs. And if someone literally has the need to treat an ingrown toe nail send them directly to a podiatrist for treatment - Medicare and I suspect Medicaid actually reimburse for this if it is a medical necessity and not just having one's nails painted. 

And of course in New York City there are ways to get subsidized transportation for low income people. 

Yeah, you think Max would be like "Let's expand our social work department" or "Let's contact the manufacturers of specific drugs so we can fast track approval for the assistance plans for the most commonly prescribed drugs" or go back to "Let's manufacture our own generics so we can give them to patients for free!" (That was a plot line at one point, right? That Max wanted New Amsterdam to make some drugs? Or did I just imagine it as something ridiculous that Max would attempt to consider. This show is so insane that it could be either.)

A podiatrist would handle an ingrown toenail - but it might be a bit of a pain for medicaid/medicare.

Wait, did they ever get of the New Amsterdam Health Plan Max had the hospital set up in season 1 or 2? Shouldn't that be covering the costs for patients?

[amarante]

8 hours ago, bros402 said:

A podiatrist would handle an ingrown toenail - but it might be a bit of a pain for medicaid/medicare.
 

A small point but Medicare does indeed cover ingrown toenails although I am not sure if Medicaid does. Medicare even will cover costs of a podiatrist making a home visit.

Of course a nurse or doctor at Amsterdam could also do it rather than provide a prescription for money to withdraw from the ATM to pay for a podiatrist because presumably the person was already in the ER for something because no one would possibly go to an ER just for a toe nail unless it had gotten severely infected. I can't imagine what the wait would be in an ER with triage for an ingrown toenail.

[bros402]

15 hours ago, amarante said:

A small point but Medicare does indeed cover ingrown toenails although I am not sure if Medicaid does. Medicare even will cover costs of a podiatrist making a home visit.

Of course a nurse or doctor at Amsterdam could also do it rather than provide a prescription for money to withdraw from the ATM to pay for a podiatrist because presumably the person was already in the ER for something because no one would possibly go to an ER just for a toe nail unless it had gotten severely infected. I can't imagine what the wait would be in an ER with triage for an ingrown toenail.

I meant a pain in terms of finding a doctor who takes it - it's probably better than medicaid, but not by much.

I am hoping the toenail patient wasn't in the ER - since the ATM was in the lobby, so hopefully the patient had just come from her podiatry appointment.

[amarante]

9 hours ago, bros402 said:

I meant a pain in terms of finding a doctor who takes it - it's probably better than medicaid, but not by much.

I am hoping the toenail patient wasn't in the ER - since the ATM was in the lobby, so hopefully the patient had just come from her podiatry appointment.

Actually Medicare is the best insurance there is because there are no networks and almost every doctor takes Medicare. Almost every doctor accepts Medicare and you can travel anywhere in the US unlike most insurance plans which are only good in your state. The only doctors who don't need Medicare are pediatricians and obstetricians LOL

A podiatrist would not have much of a business without seniors.

Medicaid is a completely different ball game and it is hard in most areas to find providers who accept Medicaid. The reimbursement levels are lower than Medicare and also you can have a decent practice without Medicaid. It is really hard to have a practice and not have patients over 65 which is why almost all doctors accept Medicare.

Someone had written a prescription FOR an appointment with a podiatrist. If the person had seen the podiatrist already they wouldn't need money in order to pay for an appointment.

But as everyone has pointed out, this was a scheme that made no sense if you give it a nanosecond of thought on any level.

I think that the writers basically don't give a damn - anyone decent probably got a staff job on a show that wasn't going off the air with a limited number of episodes. And they certainly don't have any interest in making the show better - because it is cancelled and they knew that months ago.

Edited October 2, 2022 by amarante

[bros402]

On 10/2/2022 at 12:52 AM, amarante said:

Actually Medicare is the best insurance there is because there are no networks and almost every doctor takes Medicare. Almost every doctor accepts Medicare and you can travel anywhere in the US unlike most insurance plans which are only good in your state. The only doctors who don't need Medicare are pediatricians and obstetricians LOL

A podiatrist would not have much of a business without seniors.

Medicaid is a completely different ball game and it is hard in most areas to find providers who accept Medicaid. The reimbursement levels are lower than Medicare and also you can have a decent practice without Medicaid. It is really hard to have a practice and not have patients over 65 which is why almost all doctors accept Medicare.

Someone had written a prescription FOR an appointment with a podiatrist. If the person had seen the podiatrist already they wouldn't need money in order to pay for an appointment.

But as everyone has pointed out, this was a scheme that made no sense if you give it a nanosecond of thought on any level.

I think that the writers basically don't give a damn - anyone decent probably got a staff job on a show that wasn't going off the air with a limited number of episodes. And they certainly don't have any interest in making the show better - because it is cancelled and they knew that months ago.

I'm gonna be on Medicare in a few years when my dad retires, then I get medicare under DAC after being classified DAC for 24 months. All of the plans I have looked at for advantage plans only cover my state (NJ) - and none of them cover any of my doctors (even the ones in state)

[amarante]

8 hours ago, bros402 said:

I'm gonna be on Medicare in a few years when my dad retires, then I get medicare under DAC after being classified DAC for 24 months. All of the plans I have looked at for advantage plans only cover my state (NJ) - and none of them cover any of my doctors (even the ones in state)

Advantage Plans are HMO and are not traditional Medicare. They limit network providers just like private insurance because they are a form of private insurance. They were a "gift" to the private insurance companies. They are marketed to consumers as being "cheaper" but they have significant drawbacks. Anyone who is approaching Medicare eligibility should really understand their options - but a discussion of that is beyond the purpose and scope of this forum.

Your circumstances are completely different than a 65 year old who is eligible for Medicare on their own and can select "straight" Medicare which has no networks or limitations or an Advantage Plan which is just an HMO with limited networks.

Edited October 3, 2022 by amarante

[bros402]

15 hours ago, amarante said:

Advantage Plans are HMO and are not traditional Medicare. They limit network providers just like private insurance because they are a form of private insurance. They were a "gift" to the private insurance companies. They are marketed to consumers as being "cheaper" but they have significant drawbacks. Anyone who is approaching Medicare eligibility should really understand their options - but a discussion of that is beyond the purpose and scope of this forum.

Your circumstances are completely different than a 65 year old who is eligible for Medicare on their own and can select "straight" Medicare which has no networks or limitations or an Advantage Plan which is just an HMO with limited networks.

I'll be able to take straight medicare - not required to get a Dual Eligible SNP as far as I know.

[SnarkySheep]

On 9/28/2022 at 12:51 AM, LexieLily said:

Iggy, if you're jumping into online dating only three months (apparently; that's what the showrunner says the time-jump was but Luna is also now five years old) after separating from Martin, you're proving him right everything he said about you when you hired Trevor.

Not to mention, Iggy plainly stated he's IN THE PROCESS of a divorce. If he wants a decent guy (as it seems he does) that's a huge red flag for many people. They don't know if you're lying about divorcing, if maybe you and your spouse might still reconcile, any number of things. 

[christie]

On 9/28/2022 at 3:54 PM, Madding crowd said:

Of course Iggy would get tons of hits when his dating app was set right. This is definitely a roll your eyes show.

I actually thought that it was realistic when he got no hits (I mean he looked so sad in that video he made and he mentioned he was going through a divorce - who wants to deal with a sad sack and a divorce?).

[possibilities]

I think having 4 kids and/or not being divorced yet would put a lot of people off. But if it was just a hook up site, he still might attract some bears. Also, in NYC there are A LOT of people to match with. It's not like he's um... fishing in a small pond.

My prediction is that Iggy dates, hooks up with a bunch of dudes, gets some ego boosting from that experience, but then also realizes that Martin is the best and he made a terrible mistake wrecking that relationship and wants to get back with Martin. He should have figured that out in therapy, and even without therapy. But that's how tv stories work. But why would Martin take him back?

Here's the thing about a newly disabled person being suicidal. Writing them off without even trying to counsel them, and just letting them die ,would mean a lot of people die who otherwise would adjust to their situations and live happy lives after. Depression is a common reaction to trauma. It's malpractice to just shrug and not try to do what Wilder did--  i.e. suggest that he could in fact have a great life after he adjusts and finds his mojo again in a new way. Iggy asking a few basic orientation questions is incredibly negligent and it repulses me that people are so quick to give up on the life of a person that fast. Iggy should have had that conversation with the patient, not left it to Wilder. Wilder is a surgeon/oncologist and shouldn't be doing a psych professional's job but of course only people who are classified as "impaired" think it's worth even bothering to talk to someone who is facing a life-changing situation and has become suicidal over it. And yes, it made no sense that she was the particular surgeon called, but apparently the show didn't think it would be credible that anyone else would value the guy's life enough to even have a 2 minute pep talk before letting him die.

I think Bloom wants to stay with her sister to try to help her. I didn't get the feeling she couldn't go back to her condo, sh made it clear that Leyla was moving out. I got the feeling that she was choosing to interact with her sister for the sake of the relationship. The story about the sister is from early in the show's history. Because their mom was a non-functioning addict, and their dad would travel to get away from the home situation, Bloom as the older sister took care of her sister until she went to college, at which point she got the hell out of dodge as an act of desperate self-preservation. And she felt very guilty for leaving her sister behind with no one at all to raise her or buffer her against her mother's abusive example. So my reading on the situation is that now Bloom is sober and functional and her sister is still in the pit, and she wants to re-connect with her and see if she can help. But she can't just swoop in and do an intervention because their relationship wouldn't support that direct approach.

Floyd, my God. When someone tells you he's not interested, resists constantly, and then shows up at work and is disruptive and demanding, maybe take a hint? It's not love if it's someone being shitty to you all the time and not caring how much they disrupt your life or endanger your safety and who insults you constantly.

GoFundMe is not a substitute for structurally available direct services. What happens to the people who don't get funded? Max had the right idea, that preventive services do save money down the road, and the cases should be tracked like he suggested, to see if it reduces ER visits and saves money. But he set the system up without enough structure. It's absolutely true that there are many important things that are not covered by insurance, and many people whose insurance has a high deductible, or a donut hole, or other problems, even if they are insured. Incomes are too low. Max's solution was not enough to solve poverty just like it wasn't enough to solve racism, but he is not wrong in his basic idea of the problem of structurally stupid policies that don't even make financial sense, let alone moral sense.

His signing was shit, though. I mean, he's right that he should have done it a long time ago, but he did it so badly, it's hard for me to understand why he couldn't even learn a simple sentence.

I didn't understand why the paramedic died. They were bagging him but I thought he had needed his airway surgically opened. Why would you pump oxygen through the mouth when the airway was occluded lower down? Why didn't they crike him, or try something to reduce swelling, or maybe something to flush his lungs? I also didn't really understand how jumping off the bridge caused bloody crush injuries to the suicidal man's legs. I would think broken bones, drowning, soft tissue injuries, concussion maybe. But why was the skin on his legs all scraped off and bloody like that?