Swiss Medical / Docthos works in USA
Last week I returned to Sex Prison to serve a relatively short sentence. Two days after I arrived I came down with a nasty flu (?) and decided to visit a doctor since my throat was pretty ragged. I called my major (Cigna, Aetna level) platinum US health "plan" and found out that the city/state I am currently staying in (city and state both in top 10 largest of USA) are not covered by my "plan". They are not in the proper "network". How shocking. I had a similar "network" problem 3 or 4 years ago but got around it by changing my US address with my then-employer - as a result they had to give me an "indemnity" plan for the bullshit state/address I listed due to employment regulations. It's pathetic that one has to resort to fraud in the USA just to see a doctor. The whole industry here (at least the insurance/administration part) seems about as shady as the towing business.
Knowing that I was about to travel to a shady medical country, I kept my Argentine plan (Swiss Medical/Docthos) just in case. I activated the international coverage, which lasts for 1 year and can be renewed indefinitely, right before leaving wonderful Argentina for the USA medical quagmire. When I became ill, Cigna confirmed once again that the primary service they provide is ensuring that I am never covered by their "plan". So I called Docthos in Buenos Aires and told them I'd like to see a doctor here in USA. They gave me the US 800 number and I was talking with an agent in Miami 2 minutes later. She took my data (including basic symptoms) and called me back 1 hour later with a doctor's appointment set for the next morning at an excellent medical center about 10 miles from where I'm staying way out in the suburbs. I never said US doctors/facilities were bad, I just said that my US "plans" never let me use them.
Docthos prepaid my appointment and I pay nothing. The US doctor gave me two prescriptions which I do have to pay out-of-pocket but Docthos will reimburse 100% of the receipts when I return to Argentina (I could maybe fax/scan them but its not so much money for the medicine). About 8 hours after my appointment, I received a call from the Docthos agent in Miami. They wanted to know how I was feeling and also advised me to call them again if I needed to see any more doctors, which they would arrange immediately and pay 100%. It's unbelievable that I receive excellent, prompt, and FULLY PAID care/attention from my insurance carrier 5,000 miles away in BA but get nothing but bullshit excuses, exceptions, and rejections from my US carriers - "that's not covered, you're not in the proper network, there are no doctors in that state, blah blah blah."
I need to clean out my thick wallet and will throw away either my Cigna health insurance card or my 100 Austral bill. So I need to determine which item is the most worthless. The Austral went out of circulation in 1991 upon being replaced by the Argentine peso. At the time, 1 Argentine Austral was worth about .00003 US Dollars. Here are all the uses I can think of for the Austral 100-bill and the Cigna card:
Austral 100-bill:
1) Keep it for collector's value. I've seen them framed and displayed on walls in BA restaurants.
2) Keep it for emergency toilet paper.
3) Try to scam a tourist in BA by claiming that it's worth 100 pesos. Taxi drivers get away with this occasionally.
Cigna Health Plan Card:
1) Keep it for emergency cocaine lines.
2) Keep it to swipe/open certain locked doors.
It's a close call, but numbers never lie. The Cigna card is the most worthless waste of space in my wallet and I'm trashing it.
So it is now confirmed – Argentine health insurance (SMG/Docthos at least) worked like a charm in USA. Now I will be testing other Argentine documents. It is only a matter of time before I get pulled over on one of the local expressways and I'm going to see if I can get out of speeding tickets with them. I know an American guy that has lived in Germany for years, he may even have his citizenship. When he gets pulled over for speeding here, he'll sometimes give the cops his German documentation and pretend to speak little English. They usually let him go with a warning and slowly explain that there are speed limits in USA, unlike the autobahns "over there". It is especially funny that many cops fall for the act since his birthplace is listed on his German ID, which is often the city that he is pulled over in. In Argentina, I sometimes give the cops my AAA International driver's license which says on the front page that it expired in 2002. They never catch it.
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Hi Moore,
What was the additional premium for the one year rider for the international coverage?
Thanks,
Jackson[/blue]
English Speaking Physicians
I am interested in the names of any English speaking physicians you know of. I don't really care what specialty. I do some consulting work for physicians and need an excuse to visit BA solo.
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Hi PyroJohn,
A very high percentage of the doctors in Argentina speak English. It's part of their education.
Thanks,
Jackson[/blue]
Disappointing Medical Experience
I made a trip to the "Chouela Dermatologia" clinic today. The purpose of my visit was to have some skin growths (skin "tags") checked and removed. There was a mix-up on my appointment - as they did not have it, but they quickly recovered with assigning another doctor.
My expectations were that the spots would be removed either surgically or by freezing. The doctor was professional, with better English than my Spanish. She indicated that she would use a laser to remove all the spots in question. She then left the room to find out what the price would be. She returned with 1,500p being the answer! I just about fell off the table - these are USA prices (I would guess) All I wanted was a few places whacked out with a scapel - we are not talking about being on my face.
My previous mental / dental experiences here in Buenos Aires have been super. The only good news here is that the consultation fee was only 25p. Maybe this is a clinic that specializes in Botox, boob jobs, and tummy tucks - as their pricing structure seems along those lines.
LA Botox Scam - For Metrosexuals
December 6, 2006
It was a well-oiled scam that targeted Beverly Hills' beautiful people.
"Dr. Daniel," armed with syringes filled with a miracle wrinkle remover, injected his patients with industrial grade silicone similar to that used to lubricate auto parts.
Daniel Tomas Fuente Serrano promised that the sensational European silicone treatment he offered would "permanently" put an end to wrinkles. Handsome and charming with his Argentine accent, he dispensed his face-saving injections at fancy Beverly Hills medical offices.
And this doctor made house calls.
Those were elegant affairs too. Women who turned out by the dozens for parties at prominent Hollywood types' homes thrown by Serrano sipped cocktails as he injected their faces with his magical silicone, authorities said. The fee was $500 per injection.
But he might as well have called himself "Dr. Jiffy Lube," according to federal prosecutors who began investigating Serrano after patients complained of nasty side effects from their treatments.
Among his clients were Diane Richie, ex-wife of singer Lionel Richie, and Shawn King, wife of CNN talk-show host Larry King.
Shawn King paid Serrano $7,000 in cash for injections administered at her Beverly Hills home in 2003. But the injections damaged her lower lip, causing a "displeasing hard bump" that made it difficult to drink liquids or talk, she complained, according to court records.
Another patient told authorities that Serrano's treatments caused three holes to form on her face that had to be repaired by a doctor.
Federal officials investigating the complaints discovered that Serrano, who also administered Botox and other substances, often filled his syringes with industrial grade silicone illegally smuggled from his native Argentina instead of expensive European silicone.
On Monday, Serrano pleaded guilty in federal court in Los Angeles to conspiracy, smuggling and use of unapproved drugs. He was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison.
At the same time, federal prosecutors named four alleged accomplices — Beverly Hills-area cosmetologists and aestheticians, which are skin-care specialists who treat the face. The four now face federal charges of aiding and abetting the scam.
Those who say Serrano victimized them have described him as a charming man with a demeanor as smooth as the faces he promised to deliver.
One former patient, a Beverly Hills woman, said in an interview Tuesday that he injected a small amount of what she thought was "the latest thing" into the area between her nose and mouth to erase her "smile lines." Two days later, she said, her eyes began swelling up and itching painfully. She broke out in allergic conjunctivitis and couldn't wear her contact lenses for more than a year, she said.
"I tried to have this guy do something small, and it was just a nightmare," said the woman, who spoke on the condition that her name not be used. "He was representing himself as a doctor and doing these injections. But it apparently shot up into my face, and I had a reaction to it. The itching went on for years, and I still have a problem."
The woman said that she asked Serrano about having an allergy test done first but that he said that was unnecessary because she had already been tested for collagen and the product he was using was similar.
She learned about Serrano through a girlfriend, who had received injections from him and raved about his work, the woman said. She got the injections at an aesthetician's office in Beverly Hills. "He was real friendly, really, really nice. He had a nice bedside manner," she said.
The woman said her face has not fully recovered, three years after her treatment by Serrano. "To this day, I have big bags under my eyes, and I'm still trying to get treated for it," she said. "It's a constant battle. I feel like I have sand in my eyes."
According to authorities, Serrano gave clients business cards declaring himself a medical doctor even though he didn't have a license in California (he was a doctor in Argentina) Prosecutors said he started out by obtaining client lists from high-end cosmetologists and aestheticians around Beverly Hills, paying them a fee if they encouraged their customers to purchase the injections.
He eventually arranged cocktail parties in which he would offer injections on the spot to guests, and he performed procedures at his clients' homes, authorities said.
As the industrial grade silicone flowed from his syringes, money poured into Serrano's pocket, prosecutors said. When investigators opened his bank safe deposit box, they found $1,160,312 in cash.
And while he presented himself as someone on the cutting edge of medicine, his associates knew him as a do-it-yourself type who filled his syringes from plastic bottles at his kitchen table, according to court documents.
One informant confided to federal authorities that she often visited "Dr. Daniel's" apartment and found him sitting at the table filling syringes.
But Serrano's San Vicente Boulevard apartment was filthy, and he did not bother to clean bottles or his tabletop with alcohol before filling syringes with his bare, ungloved hands, the informant said in court papers.
Stefanie Koch, an aesthetician at Skin Solutions, a medical spa in Brentwood where well-heeled clients can get injected with a host of substances from Botox to Restalyne to collagen, said Serrano's case shows that people often don't do enough research before having substances injected into their faces.
This "is the place of staying young and fit; even men do it now too," she said. "We work out, we stay fit, but the face — there's not so much you can do with working out the face — so you need a little help. They say, 'I can delay the knife if I do little fillers.' But there's often bruising and other things involved that they didn't calculate. They're thinking, 'It's just a lunch procedure,' but it's way more than that."
The Beverly Hills woman who received treatment from Serrano said Tuesday that "Dr. Daniel's" success in infiltrating the elite social circles speaks volumes about people's quest to erase signs of aging.
"We're all vain in Los Angeles," she said. "He grabbed ahold of a nice chunk of people in Beverly Hills. They trusted him, and he completely took advantage of them."
My Dentist and Optamologist
I have work done on my teeth quite a lot. The office of my dentist is in Olivos. Easy to get by train from the city. Also, I had laser eye surgery for miopia. Nearsighted) and came out great, (3 years ago) NO MORE EYE GLASSES!
If anyone needs their information just let me know: [email]californiadeli@hotmail. Com[/email]
[url]www.hereicomeargentina.com[/url]
Good luck!
Paul
