Just some random thoughts on the state of healthcare in our country in light of today's SCOTUS decision on BlackManCare. I mean Obamascare. I mean Obamacares. I mean ObamaCARE. sorry.
The better half's cousins were up from Virginia this past weekend for graduation parties and general tomfoolery. The better half's cousin is married to a nice southern gentleman and they have two young children. This gentleman is a teacher in a public school. He also coaches various sports teams for said public school. At one point during the weekend we got around to talking about the fiscal crisis this public school is in and the tenuous state of the school budget. It was around this time that the gentleman informed us what he pays for health insurance per month. For himself, his wife and two children he pays THIRTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS per month. That's a one, a three and two zeros. That's 1.3 large. That's over 15k per year. Folks, that's a mortgage payment. The school contributes about $400 per month. I'm sure this has nothing to do with the fact that VA has banned the collective bargaining rights of teachers. Today, Representative Jeb Hensarling (R. Texas) said, in response to the Supreme Court ruling on "Obamacare" - "This is not a good day for struggling American families who wish to keep the healthcare that they have." Cue: Irony.
On a side note, non-unionized Virginia ranks real low in standardized testing. But I digress...
So which is worse: That insurance companies and those who represent them politically attempt to disguise their desire to take your money and deny you coverage under the veil of "personal choice," or that there are people that actually fall for it?
Actually, it goes beyond that. If you ask me, insurance companies and deductables and co-pays and ou-of-network costs and generic drugs and pre-authorizations etc. are only symptoms. The real problem is the way we provide healthcare in this country. Let me tell a little story...
I suffer from sleep apnea. Actually, my better-half suffers from my sleep apnea, but that's for another time. Anywho, I went for a sleep study that confirmed what my better-half had been saying for a year; I snore something awful and actually stop breathing upwards of forty times an hour. Subsequently, I was told that I needed a machine to help me breath at night which, of course, required a prescription. So it was off to the pulmonalogist. I got my machine, and my better-half and I both have been sleeping like babies ever since, sans bedwetting. This was two years ago. Last year, I was admitted to the hospital for an infection that required IV antibiotics and a three day admission. On day two of the aforementioned admission, a young lady entered my room with an empty stretcher and informed me that she was to take me down to radiology for a chest x-ray. I got to thinking...this infection had nothing at all to do with my respiratory system. Not even a little. Why would I need a chest x-ray? I'm a non-smoker, no asthma, not even a slight cough. What gives? Turns out, the pulmonalogist who I had seen for my sleepy machine was affiliated with the hospital in which I was admitted. As such, she was alerted to my admission. Without stepping into my hospital room she wrote in my chart, in big letters, CXRAY. That would explain the young lady standing before me with the empty stretcher. "No!" my inner voice cried, feuled by my fairly extensive medical background and limited common sense. The voice continued, "a chest x-ray is in no way indicated in your case. You're breathing like a champ. And the Dr. didn't even come into your room, much less listen to your lungs! There's no way you're getting on that stretcher." Which is exactly what I did. Doctor's orders. Three weeks later I recieved the itemized bill for my hospital visit. And there it was. Nestled in between the anesthesiologist bill and three days of indesputably crappy TV service. CXRAY - $800. Shit...
So who is to blame in all of this? Must be the lawyers. Why else do Drs. order frivolous and often redundant medical tests? To avoid lawsuits of course. Imagine I had developed a lump in my lungs prior to my admission that was in no way clinically diagnosable and could only be detected by an x-ray. Without any symptoms, I would never had sought out an x-ray. In the hospital, there would be zero clinical indication for an x-ray, so it wasn't ordered. BUT, six months down the road, here I am, all gaunt and lawyered up, demanding to know why the hospital didn't do an x-ray 6 months earlier and catch my progressive cancer. And THAT is why the pulmonalogist order my CXRAY. It wasn't for me. She was only covering her...
