Harsh Reality

Ok.. so before I get into this post, let me bring y’all up to speed by saying that I no longer have health insurance because I was laid off in July. Even if I would consider it, I am NOT eligible for state aid because I receive unemployment. I AM eligibile for a private HMO but have to wait through a 7 month “grace” period.

So with that said …

This past Wednesday, The Good Doctor’s husband came into the shop for turkey. Chief explains that he doesn’t have the turkey that The Good Doctor’s husband likes because I’ve been sick as a dog and without me in the shop or doing the running around, everything is on a skeleton.

The Good Doctor’s husband asks what’s wrong.. Chief goes into my litany of symptoms… and the Good Doctor’s husband tells Chief to have me call ASAP and they’ll fit me in.

So Chief calls me and I am SO NOT A HAPPY CAMPER. I don’t like going to doctors. He knows this but OBVIOUSLY is more concerned about my well being then I am. But now I’m in a bind because it’s The Good Doctor. Who is not only a super sweet person but a really good customer and since Chief had to open his big fat mouth and they’ll willing to fit me in.. I have to call.

Fuck.

It was around lunch time so I figured I’d wait an hour before I call. I tell him this.. he seems satisfied and I rolled over and went back to sleep.

Until my cell phone rang.

Until my cell phone rand that The Good Doctor’s name came up on the caller id.

Fuck! He gave them my freakin’ number.

He knows me SO well!

Wind up is is that I couldn’t be seen until Thursday at 11:15am.

I immediately call Chief and chastised him on giving out my cell phone number. But he knew the deal and was just glad that I made the appointment.

He wanted to come with me but since my appointment was at the start of his lunch rush, I told him I could go at it alone. I figured I’d be feeling better by the next day anyway and also, I didn’t want him there when they weighed me.

Trivial girly stuff.. but it is what it is so what can I tell you.

I actually am NOT feeling any better at the time of my appointment. And as I’m sitting in The Good Doctor’s waiting room I am suddenly overcome by the feeling of passing out. I only ALMOST passed out once and it wasn’t a nice feeling. It was so bad that I couldn’t even hold the pen to fill out the paperwork.

So I get all girly and sniffly and call Chief and tell him that I need him. The shop is only a few blocks away and he was there in an instant. And of course, as soon as he got there I started to feel better and told him he could leave. Of course, he looked at me like I was insane but I knew his mind was on the store and missing the lunch rush money and I started to feel guilty that I had even called him in the first place. But he felt that his place was with me so he stayed.

When we finally got called into the exam room and The Good Doctor started to exam me, and based on what I was telling her she says that there is a very real possibility that I contracted the Pig Virus :: H1N1 to all you non-rednecks :: and that if I had come in sooner she could have given me something that would have made me better faster.

Wonderful. What the hell can I tell you.

She then asked if I smoked. If Chief wasn’t there I would have lied and said that I was able to quit xx months ago or get all giddy and excited by telling her I HAVE XX DAYS CLEAN! but I couldn’t because he was there and so when I told her that I did, OMG.. her reaction was SO FREAKIN’ OVER THE TOP.

I mean.. ok. I know smoking is bad for you. Worse then bad. I get it. I really, really do. I know I’m setting myself up for all kinds of horrible things. And I’m NOT justifying it. I swear, I’m not. But she laid into me SO hard and SO fierce that I really just wanted say LOOK BITCH, CAN WE FOCUS ON THE PIG VIRUS HERE?

Seriously.. I felt like I was in one of the Scared Straight movies that they show teenagers about prison life.

She pulls out this paper with information on the patch and the gum and the things you suck on that will help you quit smoking and wouldn’t get off the subject until I agreed to use one of the above to stop. I played along and went with the things you suck on because they had a coffee flavored one.

The worse part of it all… is that when she gave me the inhaler medicine and the nasal spray.. she proceeded to tell me how much they would cost if I had to go to a pharmacy and get them and that it’s just a waste to give them to me if I’m not going to stop smoking. Then she proceeds to tell me that:

• I shouldn’t even be seeing you because you don’t have insurance and it’s a big liability
• If the president’s healthcare goes through, you wouldn’t even get treatment if you had cancer because you smoke.

Now.. ok.. so since when is getting paid in cash for an office visit more of a liability then being paid for an office visit by an insurance company?

I’ve worked both sides of health care for the past 23 years :: until I got laid off :: so I know how everything works .. and trust me, it’s not the way it’s being presented to the masses.

But I’m not getting into that.. I’m too exhausted and spent to go into all that now. Maybe later.

Anyway.. so she gives me the 200.00 a month inhaler and the 150.00 nasal spray :: but come one, they were samples and didn’t cost her anything :: and then writes me a script for 7 antibiotic pills that cost me 108.00.

I know she didn’t mean to make me feel like I was a dredge of society. But she did.. she made me feel like a failure because I didn’t have health insurance. She made me feel like I was just someone who was coping free medicine. She made me feel like I wasn’t up to her standard and the only reason why she lowered herself to treat me is because her husband loves Chief’s turkey.

She literally had me in tears and I couldn’t wait to get the hell out of there.

On the way home, I told Chief that I absolutely hated him for making me go through with appointment and it was the kind of hate that would never be forgiven.

He said that was fine, as long as I was around long enough to hate him he didn’t care.

Now here’s the thing.. if you want to discuss it or debate it or whatever you can go right ahead but I’m not going to partake. I’ll just leave my 2 cents here for y’all to mull over:

If healthcare is going to be re-vamped, then it needs to be REVAMPED. You can’t half step this one. It’s so bad.. and so corrupt that it literally has to be restructured as a whole.. not bits and pieces of it.

Health Insurance should only be for long term treatments, surgeries, pregnancies and stuff like that. Everything else should be fee for service. You go to the doctors, you pay the doctor visit. If one doctor charges 50.00 a visit, then go to the one that charges 35. The fact that doctor’s do NOT see uninsured people only puts more strain on emergency rooms. We, as a country, are used to having things FAST. And I think because of that, we’ve forgotten when we really need to see a doctor. I can’t tell you how many people sat in the ER complaining of a sore throat.. or an earache.. or something really, really minor. All that did was tie up the ER and waste resources.

If the government is going to model health care on a foreign country, then they should model Italy’s. And I’m not just saying that because I’m Italian.. I’m saying that because I have relatives in Italy and we’ve had this discussion. No system is perfect. Not everybody’s “needs” will be met but we need to move away from what we think we are entitled to and get back to the way things were before we were indoctrinated with insurance is king.

Kids have all inclusive coverage from birth to age 16 .. the elderly are covered from 67 (I believe) on up.. again .. all inclusive. Or 70. I forget.

But doesn’t that make sense?

And how about this? If the government is SO amped on getting involved in this and instead of baiting and switching or money this or money that.. just open freakin’ clinics so that people who can’t afford private health care and who aren’t eligible for medicaid have a place to go to get care if they need it.

Oh.. and welfare? Yea.. make people work for it. Clean the streets.. scrub graffeti .. do what people who get community service have to do.. board up old houses for Christ sake.. something. Anything.

Benjamin Franklin said it best:

I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. I observed…that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.

Okay.. I think the meds are kicking in and I’m getting all scattered over here. My apologies.. I’ll end my rant now!

.. AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY CONTROVERSIAL: Nationalized Healthcare

DISCLAIMER: Healthcare, Hospital Revenue, Insurance Companies, et al is my field. I’ve been working in the industry :: on both sides :: for almost 20 years. Whether I worked on the insurance side or the hospital revenue side, my role was alot more then just punching keys or answering phones so I know of what I speak.

I’ve been hearing about National Healthcare since the days before Hilary had a make over

NOTE: Not to get off topic but did you see her recently? Maybe about a week or so ago when she was being questioned about something by some committee. Good Lord Woman, do you NOT have a mirror in your plastic surgeons office?

And then.. as it is now.. National Healthcare is NOT a good idea. At all.

The health system that I work for has an extremely high uninsured demographic. Most people that walk through our door are below the poverty level.. do not work.. and if they DO work.. they don’t have coverage through their job, can afford independent insurance and make just alittle too much to quality for state aid.

So they come through the ER with such minor ailments like stomach aches, ear ache or my personal favorite: I just don’t feel right :: that was a true statment made by a patient :: because they know that in the ER they have to be seen and treated. They have to be seen, treated and we are under state mandates that does not allow us to even MENTION anything financial until the patient is released. The yea.. Good luck running through the parking lot to catch up with them.

And even though my health system recognzies the fact that the majority of people walking through their doors don’t have the provervbial pot to release waste .. and even though they’ve gone through great pains to try and alleviate some of the challanges to receive payment from these types of patients, there is only so much they can do.

So I understand the need for everyone to be covered by insurance. And every body SHOULD have health benefits.

BUT NOT NATIONALIZED HEALTH COVERAGE.

I’m almost certain that every state has an indigent program available. I’m almost certain that every state has an low-income program and I know that in my state, every child CAN have coverage, all you have to do is apply for it. Every major insurance payer in my area has some sort of very low cost coverage for adults that is around 35.00 a month.

There is no reason, in this day and age, for a person NOT to be covered.

What people WANT though… is the best of the best and not pay for it.

They want the insurance that I pay over 200.00 a month for.. for free.

And that’s the point. You get what you pay for.

Do you really think that if the government implements nationalized health care you’re going to get the best of the best?

The thing about free enterprise, even in health care, is that it makes companies compete and that bodes well for the consumer.

Think about physicians. If there was no incentive :: not that physician’s are in the field just for the money :: that what would make them want to excel in their studies?

NOTE: Just to give you something to think about. My sister-in-law is a kidney specialist who was schooled who attended med school at Georgetown and did her residencies and interships at University of Pennsylvania. People assume :: and I did to :: that she was pulling in major bucks. In truth she was.. but a majority of her major bucks went to her student loans.. of which, almost 20 years later she is still paying back.

Anyway.. do you really want the government to dictate your health? To dictate what treatment you can, can’t or have to wait for? Do you REALLY want the government to tell you or a family member that they aren’t a “good” candidate for a procedure because they are too old or too sick and it would be a waste of resources to treat them?

You think I got that out of a sci-fi novel?

Nope. All true.

And if you don’t believe me.. the BEST place study nationalized healthcare is NOT Canada… is NOT England..

It’s your local VA hospital… a governement run institution

You REALLY want nationalized health care then go talk to the veterans at the VA Hospital and ask them how THEY feel about the treatment they are getting then come back and try to convince me that I’m off base.