Anyone in CA have dealings with this VET? Marjorie is this the same group? - Page 2

Erm....Don't want to derail this thread...BUT......Joanro...how do you figure the insurance is to blame?
The vet does not pay a dime of someone's personal pet insurance and most of the time they do not even ask if you have pet insurance.
I know because I have pet insurance and have used it.

I don't have any knowledge just wanted to say I'm sorry this happened.  I have family in Sac and it's insanely expensive. Their dog needs a TPLO and they cannot afford it, it would probably be around $5000 maybe more with follow up care.  I said (in all seriousness) they should ship the dog to me and have it done here ($1300).  My dog is having a routine surgery in a few weeks and the cost is $125.  I'm sure it would cost me at least $500 in Sac.

Conversation with my vet as to why the costs have skyrocketed in pet health care, that's what he figured the cause. Same thing with human health care, doesn't matter if you have insurance or not, prices are higher because insurance companies pay. To me, the price of health care is unrealistic for pets or humans. Unless you have a vet that doesn't play the game. I just paid my vet $1,400 for OFA H/E for eight dogs, nine rabies vac, routine blood work on two dogs. Another vet clinic in town here would have charged prob three times that amount, and they also solicit for pet insurance.

I have to agree with Joanro that pet insurance DOES play a role now with the high cost of care. Being in the medical field and knowing what drugs cost, (ie anesthesia meds to put the dog out, gas etc) vets are raking in the money. Because the truth is vets now charge MORE money then surgeons do for surgery. I find it very disturbing. People will pay it and thats part of the problem. And many of them fall victim to a vet telling them "Its the only way" . Dog owners need to be better educated and know when they are being taken for a ride. Most just want a quick fix without having to take the time to know their options.

Case in point. Why should it cost $300 + for a basic spay/neuter when if you shop around you can get it for much less. Doing rescue I shop around and go for the best price AND decent vets. I'm not loyal to any vet who gets you in for a cheap spay then gouges me for other care. Had that happen more times then I can count. I've been chastised more than once from vets who offer, pre bloodwork that does NOT check for clot times on a dog, ekg or anything a surgeon would require for a person to go under. I've asked vets when they draw blood do they check clot times and they tell me no. So why should I pay for the test? Until the dog is actually under, there is little way to know how the organs will function. I've had more issues with the vet screwing up then the organs failing. Why should I pay for rymadyl which would be contraindicated to help with post op pain? If a vet requires pain meds then give me a pain med. I actually had a vet refuse to do a spay because I refused to follow his nutty protocol. I won't even discuss trying to co care holistic medicine with traditional medicine. The funny thing about that...most vets don't even want to learn about it and yet refuse to deal with me when I try and help them help me. Even though I was saddened with my vet for prescribing pred on my mange dog (after finding out it was a bad idea) I've been going to him for years and he works with me holistically, he is conservative with tests, and he listens to me and takes what I say as something of value instead of dismissing me.

Owners need to educate themselves and know when a vet is trying to upsell them for something that is just that, more money to line the pockets of the clinic with little to no additional care for the pet.

Barb

Joanro... he was probably talking about his business insurance cost to operate as a Veterinarian Doctor, malpractice insurance, and whatnot...not like a customer who purchases pet Health insurance.. Just sayin'....!

Usually the Health insurance companies can negotiate a better rate, than the average joe shmoe. And that's why some Dr.'s don't accept all insurance's... they do not all pay or charge the same for services rendered.

joanro, my vet says that prices are increasing due to vets financing unnecessary equipment and additional staff training to use the equipment.  He doesn't always buy the latest non-surgical equipment, instead he uses his lower salary vet techs to do the work of the machine at a lower total cost than financing, while he and the more expensive vet tech do the actual surgery.  He said if he bought all the new equipment being sold today he would have to build his financing cost into every patients bill, which would also incude additional paid training costs for him and another vet tech to learn to use the new equipment.  He said he spends strictly on newer equipment that is directly used in surgery, but none of the supporting equipment because its cheaper to pay a less experienced vet tech to do the tasks of the support equipment.  Overall it doesn't make him any worse of a vet, he just happens to be old enough to know how perform without all the new tech.  I tend to agree with him in non-trauma surgery situations.  In contrast my Emergency vet has the opposite philosophy, BUT he agree's with my vets idea because of difference in thier practices.  My e-vet said he can pay off the financing quicker and at a lower cost to patients because he always gets the premium hourly rate from his clients due his practice being an emergency after hours clinic.  If he wan't an e-vet he said he would pass on a lot of the same equipment guilt free and save his customers some "wallet trauma".  BTW, my e-vet works with a separate financing company where people can apply for credit on-site, but because its a separate company he doesn't have to deal with any headaches.  If a client signs for credit and can't pay later thats not his porblem, BUT he came up with a PLAN for such instances rather than ignoring it to his own benefit. 

Its all about the vets business plan, if this is a typical solution for the vet in the OP's story then it must benefit him financially in some way, otherwise he would have worked something out.  Is this a low income or high income area?  That also plays a part in the mentality of the vet in question.

Bee, I'm pretty sure he wasn't talking about his business insurance. He hasn't raised his prices with me hardly at all in twenty five years. He also doesn't advertise pet health insurance. He thinks insurance companies are a rip off. Also, as bhaugh said, vets charge more than med Drs do for services, likely because of the reasons she stated and also just because people will pay it. The high cost for services are feeding insurance companies and in turn, vet practices feed off the insurance companies.

I cannot imagine that malpractice for a vet being higher than a trauma surgeon or anesthesia which is what Ive worked for.

I became so disguested over what I just read that I was driven by anger to write up a review on http://www.yelp.com/biz/vsg-erc-sacramento-2 to let them know what I truly feel about what they did. I'm not sure it would do any good but at least I got some steam off of my chest.

What happened to the people the op reported about is disgusting, for sure.