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Vladimir

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About Vladimir

  • Birthday 09/24/1950

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    http://www.usbackroads.blogspot.com
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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    eastern Washington
  • Interests
    Camping, fly fishing, bird hunting, astronomy, photography, hiking, and everything else outdoors.

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  1. Does it work well with boondocking locations on public lands??? Or is it geared more to commercial RV parks and main routes.
  2. Anybody using RV LIFE TRIP WiZARD.....a friend of mine just bought it and is tearing out his hair. Comments. Vladimir
  3. GEHA had TWO "utter loads of BS". The first was that explaining the billing code to the patient is prohibited under HIPAA. The second was the "incorrect" billing address which automatically kicked out a $51 dollar charge for my physical. The original call to customer service identified the "incorrect address" and that it would be fixed. When it wasn't fixed, I called again and talked to a supervisor that said they were NOT going to fix it and that I would have to APPEAL to fix it. Really, you admit you made a mistake and now you want me to jump through a unnecessary hoop to fix it?? At that point, I had already initiated "fraud" charges through the state of Washington Attorney Generals office. The Inspector General for the Federal government health FRAUD department told me to appeal and GEHA would refund my $51 dollars. I told them I didn't care about the $51, but the fraud and stealing the money from taxpayers and patients was systematic and that needed fixed. We do have the best government money can buy and GEHA still owes me $51 dollars. I waited for my next physical before doing anything since it was a month away. I decided to wait a month to include the SECOND physical in the fraud charges. In 2020, President Trump signed the No Surprises Act, which required medical providers to tell folks in ADVANCE that they were going to be charged for an "out of network" provider. The Biden Administration published the new regulations in 2022. To paraphrase President Biden..." son of bitch, they paid for my entire physical without a co-pay of $51 charge". Turns out, if they had to tell me before hand that some of visits to MY DOCTOR in HER OFFICE was out of network, and in network for other visits I would immediately drop GEHA. GEHA is secondary. I pay $4,000 dollars in premiums for secondary coverage, and in addition the TAXPAYERS pay a additional 15,000 a year. For this GEHA charged me $51 for a physical that they covered when I was working without CO-PAY. As soon as I was under Medicare, they charged me $51 for the physical. Does that make any sense?? GEHA and other insurance carriers are making a fortune off Federal retirees and the taxpayers. And it is still NOT enough for them.
  4. I am traveling now, but under EOB I assume you mean the billing statement with the medical codes. Yes, I got the EOB's and called GEHA for them to explain what the billing codes meant. I was told that telling me the billing codes was a violation of HIPAA and they could NOT provide me with the information!!! Told me to go look up on the internet. Which I did. It had NOTHING to do with a annual physical. How do you contest a improper billing when GEHA will NOT tell you what you were billed for in the first place!!! Again, ATENA was the contractor that handled GEHA claims. This year it is United HealthCare. Life will not got better.
  5. I hear you, BUT there is no recourse except government to bring about fair outcomes when your dealing with insurance companies that will not HONOR or ABIDE the contracts they signed with the Federal government. Except, these days in the immortal words of Bob Brinker "we have the best government money can buy".
  6. John Wesley Harding and Bonnie and Clyde had lots of fans. They were upstanding people when it came to the lower classes. Somehow, I suspect United HealthCare doesn't share the same values as Harding and Bonnie and Clyde. In my case, the taxpayers are picking up my Medicare and insurance costs. They are ripping off the taxpayers. I sent a copy of the 'insurance contract" between the Federal government and GEHA. Page 38....GEHA will pay for a yearly physical WITHOUT co-pays. They just went ahead and charged my visit as NOT a physical and for good measure coded my visit out of network!!! Trump's approval of the NO SURPRISES MEDICAL ACT took care of the "out of network" scam. They, however, refuse to list my annual physical as a physical. They even went as far to REFUSE to tell me what the codes were on my billing as to the medical services I received!! How can I correct a wrong billing...if GEHA will not tell me what I was BILLED for in terms of medical services.
  7. Thanks for posting the link. I have insurance through GEHA?? NOPE. Last year Aetna administered the GEHA program. This year it moves to United Health Care. GEHA is just skimming the policy premiums and government payments. The entire system is corrupt. Where is Teddy Roosevelt when you need him??
  8. There was a Wall Street Journal article on insurance fraud by the INSURANCE COMPANIES against their customers. Atena had ONE doctor overseeing and accepting or denying claims from their clients. I am not sure how many Dr. Atena has reviewing claims. That one Dr. DENIED 600,000 insurance claims in one year!! Excluding vacations and holidays, that ONE Dr. denied a claim every FIVE SECONDS for while he was on the clock. That does not include the insurance claims he approved!!! The Wall Street Journal article noted that ZERO POINT FIVE percent of Atena clients appealed their denial of coverage. That one Dr. made Atena millions and millions of dollars in insurance claims that they did NOT have to pay. So it is with Molina. If less than one percent complained, the number of clients and non-clients (like me) the Molina defrauded is a really high number. When I filed my complaint with the Inspector General for health care fraud, he told me to appeal with GEHA and they would refund my $51 dollars. This for what looked a well designed fraud system that was defrauding the taxpayers and Federal employees for probably millions of dollars. We really need a Congressional investigation into health care insurance fraud by the INSURANCE companies. The other angle I would like to see investigated is the targeting of people by the insurance companies that cannot speak English. My parents did not speak English. I translated for them as a kid and I was amazed at the number of frauds that they were invited to participate in!!! I did give me a early understanding of how many people out there can rob you with a fountain pen. These days, I have had several insurance companies and medical offices when I call them ASK if I am translating for the person making the complaint. There is always a sense of surprise at the other end when I tell them "no, that is me. I speak perfect English.
  9. Can you quote yourself and then answer!!! Anyway, more information on Molina HealthCare of Washington and their business practices. I don't understand the fine, WHY IS THIS COMPANY STILL IN BUSINESS??? https://www.yoursourceone.com/columbia_basin/wa-fines-molina-healthcare-100-000-for-enrollment-and-billing-errors/article_b855bb32-e16e-11ee-b01d-8bd95a5974d0.html
  10. I noticed the same thing. I do think that insurance was better and fairer in the past. The computerization of medical care has allowed companies to "steal" money a little money from everyone on a large scale. The TWO the fraud cases I have been involved in the past two years were just that. Stealing a little bit of money from a lot of people. Computers make it easy.
  11. Your link was informative, it seems it's been a bit since you last posted on your blog.  

    I don't often visit "Pit" toilets and as you remarked some are set up well and others not. Seems like I find the majority of not. To your knowledge has the Forest Service ever chose to separate the liquids from the solids? The only odor I'm getting from my Natures Head is the Ammonia odor from the urine. The mass of solids is near odorless and so far in over a year of daily use the odor has not been offensive. The Coconut Coir can be hard to find in the Fall and Winter and is a bit of a pain, but if I do obtain the 3+ acres of property It will make a great compost pile for the forest. What's your take on that thought? 

    Thanks again, I enjoy reading your posts. 


    Rod

    1. Vladimir

      Vladimir

      Yeah, quit posting on the blog.  Google was just getting free content.

      Forest Service has in the past funded virtually EVERY possible toilet system.

      BTW....composting toilets have been a complete failure, EXCEPT at Fields Point, Ferry Area on the Chelan Ranger District.

      They have worked well there.  They require daily maintenance, but given that it is a ferry terminal it has FS employees there every day.  The toilets require "turning" and Fields Point has the problem of more Pee than Poop.  So every day the Forest Service adds sawdust to the toilet to balance the system.

      We put them in remote campgrounds and they were a total failure.  Ripped them out and replaced them with vault toilets.

    2. lappir

      lappir

      The key is to keep the pee and poop separated. The toilet solid containment does no composting and does require some sort of a drying agent and fan, until it's placed in a proper composting pile. Then nature does it's thing, from the poop flies other insects heat and time. That's my opinion, but I've only done it for a couple years now and it's only me, not 10's , 100's or 1000's per day. 

       

      Rod 

  12. Yes they do. See next reply.............. The Forest Service has invested millions of dollars into remote toilet technology. https://usbackroads.blogspot.com/2012/05/sst-sweet-smelling-toilet.html When I worked for the Forest Service the taxpayers payed good money to put in composting toilets and then payed good money again to remove them because they did not work. Incinerating toilets have more potential. But they take a lot of energy to work and need a fuel source. The Forest Service budget includes MILLIONS of dollars for pumping those SST toilets. The agency would like to get rid of that cost. So far, they are still pumping the SST toilets, but at least we are no longer working with pre-1985 technology!! Call San Dimas and see what they are up to in toilet technology. There is at least one engineer working on that issue!! The cutting edge technology in back country toilets is with the Forest Service. Follow them.
  13. I am surprised that no one has answered your post. So here goes. I bought and own both the Generation One and Generation Two dish. The Generation Two dish works real well for RV'ing. The box is well designed for travel. It is fairly small. I installed the Generation Two at my vacation home business. It was a residential install. A couple of weeks ago, I took it on the road and switched to the mobile account. The install at the vacation home has wiring, router, etc. totally set-up that when I need to have the dish with me I just remove the dish. I have an extra router than works well at the vacation home, but I take it on the road so I don't have to remove it. I did get another modem cable to take on the road. The extra router made a huge difference in coverage at the vacation home. I ordered the Generation One dish when there was a waiting list. The Generation Two dish was a warranty replacement for the Generation One dish. I don't know what current waiting times are today. I understand that residential use is still limited in certain cells. You can get a mobile account right away, but when I switched plans I was warned that I might not be able to reinstall the dish at my residential local except as a mobile device. The speed did go down now that I am in the southwest. I don't know why that is, but it might be the greater number of dishes in my southern location. The biggest issue I have had is the StarLink web sites. They are awful. No voice support. Everything goes through the internet. Once you find where you need to be it is simple to change services. I was in Bakersfield, when the campground wanted me to sign up for their internet service. I thought that it might be a good time to set up my StarLink dish. In less than five minutes, I had the dish setup and changed my account to mobile and StarLink told me that billed me $14 for the remainder of the month. It took a bit longer for the StarLink to come totally on line. I would start a StarLink notebook with passwords and other information. It does make up for the lack of personal support. Do change your phones to wifi calling. In my view, this is one of the best reasons to switch to StarLink. Phone service everywhere. My next step is too go to a very cheap data and phone plan. No point paying $65 per line now. That helps take the sting out of buying the dish. It is limited to three devices hooked up at one time per agreement. I have never tried to hook four up at one time. Hope this helps. Oh set up instruction are there pictures!!! Just hook everything up and DON'T DO ANYTHING else. It will connect on its own!! First time I tried to point it north, etc. Don't.
  14. Thanks for posting the link. I was just at my regular Dr. office and he had an eye chart on the wall. I almost asked him if I could steal it!! Thought I could probably buy one on Amazon. But this is much better, giving me access to an eye chart whenever I travel, etc. etc. Thanks for the book reference, our library has it and I will check it out. I am really picky about my vision. I get my contact lenses corrected to 20/15. But it is much worse than that!! I have astigmatism and my contacts are weighed to rotate into the correct location. The eye chart quickly tells me how off my contact is for astigmatism correction. Sometimes, I get a "bad" contact and usually it is just off to 20/20 or 20/30, so I "suffer" for a month until it is time to replace. For me, it is a question of a bad contact or just poor rotation of the lens. I have my favorite set of trees on the ridge line to check my vision, the eye chart is easier. But it gets better. I also have a specific set of contacts made for astronomy use. Night myopia is not a serious condition, but boy do you see more stars when you have contacts for night use as opposed to a prescription for day use. I need to spend more time getting the perfect night prescription, and the eye chart is perfect for that. Yes, I did sit in the dark for 15 minutes before getting my "night" prescription. Aren't you glad your not my optometrist?? Almost forgot, since I always wear contacts I only carry glasses for emergency use, like losing a contact. So I can now sort my "old" glasses and know which ones are the best for emergency use or whether I need to buy a new set. Aren't you glad you asked the question??
  15. Hey, thanks for the explanation about a free lunch. I will forward it to all my economist friends. Never did know the origin. In other news, T-Mobile and StarLink has gotten text messaging to work. Looks like the service will be operational fairly soon. https://www.pcmag.com/news/spacexs-cellular-starlink-successfully-beams-first-text-messages-to-phones
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