Obama Lied, My Healthcare Plan Died
1st October 2013
Monomakhos tells the tale.
Folks, we’re hosed. As you may know, I’m a healthcare professional who happens to work for a major corporation. The other day I got an interesting postcard from my employer telling me that as of Oct 1, my family will be dropped from their health plan. In other words, I won’t “have the healthcare plan I wanted, or the doctor I already have” as Glorious Leader promised us. But don’t worry! The postcard said that I’ll have “more choices at more affordable rates”!
You’ll pardon me while I withhold judgment until open enrollment is over. After all, my wife and I are in our mid-fifties, I’m a Type II diabetic with a history of cholesterol problems and a slightly elevated blood pressure. Case in point: my wife recently had a complaint and had to negotiate with our doctor on how to deal with it. Not see him mind you, negotiate with him. As in, if I see you for this complaint, I’ll have to code it in a certain way and you’ll have to wait next year for your “annual.” As in, I can see you now but you can’t ask any more questions about other complaints because I’m duty bound to code them in and I won’t get reimbursed for treating you for any additional complaints because I already coded you in for the complaint you made an appointment for. You’ll need another appointment for that Ma’am. (And how exactly is this going to decrease costs?) So she negotiated to have her annual a little bit ahead of time since during a general physical additional medical concerns can be addressed –at least for now. It was an interesting ballet, negotiate about what was going to be discussed at an appointment.
OK, at this point, Socialist-Liberal Do-Gooder will interject: “What are you complaining about, she got treated, no?” Well yes, after several days of going back-and-forth between us and our doctor and finding a way to get the treatment she needed. That’s because I’m in healthcare and I was able to advise her what to do. And even then I had to think about it. (Sorry, I won’t open a sidebar on Monomakhos advising people about how to navigate this thicket. Not for free anyway.) I’m sorry, but do you not see how laborious this process is? Do you think our family physician has the time and energy to negotiate this kind of diagnostic strategy with each and every one of his patients? Quick answer: no, never in a million years.
That’s why medical care will go to hell. There is simply no way that “X” number of doctors can see the “Y” amount of patients in “Z” amount of time while embracing the additional (Z+n) burdens necessary to make sure that the bills are paid. Nor should we forget the amount of bills that never get paid, which go down the ever-expanding black hole of uncollectables. Eventually Z+n is going to result in fewer doctors which will result in fewer patients getting treated. After a decade of this, costs might actually decrease but that would be thanks to the rise in morbidity and mortality.