...sometimes gets paid quicker. But not usually around here because, hey. You can't get cash from a turnip. We try really hard to watch money and only spend on things like healthcare when we absolutely have to. Essentials like food sometimes are slim. My memory fails when I try to remember the last time I bought a piece of clothing other than a t-shirt at the beach ( Thanks Mom! ) We are ass deep in debt what with student loans and the cost of living. One would think that in times like these, healthcare providers might cut the insured some slack.
Several months ago I visited a traveling neurologist to get the testing done to PROVE that I have carpal tunnel syndrome before treatment can be administered. This cost over five hundred dollars which was applied to my one thousand dollar deductible. Following the arrival of the bill, I wrote a letter to the physician personally and also to his administrative office explaining our circumstances and asking for some time to pay the bill. Today I received a final notice with seven days to pay before collections begin. All I can say is "bring it on." You can take my first and only born but then I wouldn't have a paying roommate so you'd be shootin' your own foot. Or yacht, as the case may be.
I don't blame docs for wanting to be paid. The government is ruthless with them and malpractice premiums are out the roof. For this, we can thank sleazy lawyers and insurance companies. They are who run the industry and set the price tag. This is not a drill, ya'll. Something has to be done and soon. Congress is considering legislation on healthcare reform as I type and it's down to kinda sorta the "war on healthcare" as such instead of some foreign country or an ambiguous thing like terror. Had you been witness to some of the terror that I've seen, you' be ready to jump OFF the twin towers. The really sad thing, is that the medical technology available today has the capacity to serve every man woman and child in this country where they are if only the resources are distributed fairly and at an affordable price.
Both of my parents are on Medicare and with Daddy's federal retirement they manage to live comfortably in their elder years with chronic diseases. He retired 23 years ago when the economy was still looking good, and in fact is one of the last recipients of the golden years of Social Security and Medicare benefits. The crisis that is coming up on us as a generation of baby boomers is that we are nearing that age minus that huge cushion that has kept the system viable thus far. And CEOs of drug companies march on toward billionairedom. Go figure.
Delegating responsibility should be shifted off of the feds and more to the state governments. Smaller operations mean less opportunity for waste and more accountability for both providers and consumers. Federal dollars can be used as subsidies in programs such as rural healthcare initiatives and local demonstration projects featuring end-of-life care and holistic approaches to medicine. That B12 they got down at the dollar store may not work as quick as a shot in the butt, but it still gets the job done.
Ya'll wanna vote for me now or later?
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