Results tagged “Medicine” from Bill's Words

I’m glad that the Kaiser Family Foundation is interested in what is, to me, the obvious conclusion that our government-run health insurance is “less generous” than private insurers for similar-aged people. It became painfully obvious to me when I decided to transfer my health care to a private practice which has the luxury of turning down Medicare patients.

That’s right: they outright turn down patients whose insurance is not private. Why? Quite simply, it’s not worth the pitiful reimbursements the government programs pay. Some of the government-run plans which have zero copay encourage abuse of the system: patients who go to the emergency room simply to get Tylenol—the regular, over-the-counter kind—so they don’t have to spend anything to relieve their headache. And the private practices don’t want to have to deal with the same level of abuse. My wife’s pediatrics office has frequent flyers who do the same thing, but in the poverty-ridden area she serves, it’s all about children and not the almighty buck; so she sees them anyway.

I am not exaggerating.

Unfortunately, instead of privatizing the bloated bureaucracy which is Medicare, our government is intent on regulating private insurance down to the mediocrity of Medicare.

Sigh.

I, too, miss Waiter Rant. But Movin’ Meat has filled that void. It’s not as crass as Waiter Rant. No, it’s a behind-the-scenes look at the life of an ER doc, so the cast of characters is significantly different. It has similar poignancy, emotion, and humanity, all while describing the tragic, the insane, the unusual, and broken toes.

Give it a try. Tell Dr. Y. that Bill sent cha’.