THREE PATIENTS LIMP INTO THREE DIFFERENT DOCTORS’ WITH THE SAME COMPLAINT ….THEY ALL HAVE TROUBLE WALKING AND MAY REQUIRE HIP SURGERY…
PATIENT 1.
IS EXAMINED WITHIN THE HOUR, IS X-RAYED THE SAME DAY, AND HAS A TIME BOOKED FOR SURGERY THE FOLLOWING WEEK. THE TOTAL COST FOR THE OPERATION IS $2400.00
PATIENT 2.
GOES TO THE E.R. IS EXAMINED WITHIN THE HOUR, IS X-RAYED THE SAME DAY, AND HAS A TIME BOOKED FOR SURGERY THE FOLLOWING WEEK. GETS NO BILL FOR COPAY OR DEDUCTIBLE. IN FACT GETS NO BILL AT ALL. COST FOR THIS PATIENT $0.00.
PATIENT 3.
SEES HIS FAMILY DOCTOR -AFTER WAITING 3 WEEKS FOR AN APPOINTMENT, THEN WAITS 8 WEEKS TO SEE A SPECIALIST. GETS AN X-RAY, WHICH ISN’T REVIEWED FOR ANOTHER WEEK, AND FINALLY HAS HIS SURGERY SCHEDULED FOR 6 MONTHS FROM THEN, PENDING THE REVIEW BOARD’S DECISION ON HIS AGE AND REMAINING VALUE TO SOCIETY. GETS BILL FOR DEDUCTIBLE WHICH IS $7,500.00 AND HAS A COPAY OF 20% WHICH EQUALS $6,000.00. TOTAL COST FOR THIS CITIZEN $13,500.00.
WHY THE DIFFERENT TREATMENT FOR THE THREE PATIENTS?
PATIENT 1. IS A GOLDEN RETRIEVER TAKEN TO A VET.
PATIENT 2. IS AN ILLEGAL ALIEN.
PATIENT 3. IS A SENIOR CITIZEN ON OBAMACARE.
IN NOVEMBER…..IF HILLARY WINS THE ELECTION: WE’LL ALL HAVE TO FIND A GOOD VET!
Filed under: Aging, family, Government, health care, politics, Uncategorized | Tagged: Obama Care |
Though I expect the fantasy is amusing, it’s obviously not true. Generally, GP’s working in their own offices don’t even accept Obamacare (doctors in private practice get to choose which insurance they will or won’t take). It’s also not uncommon for popular GPs to be hard to get in to see. But a patient with Obamacare (or any other patient who doesn’t wish to wait) can visit an Urgent Care or a hospital ER. Both have x-ray on site. Might take you a few hours, but you’ll get seen the same day.
Hip pain and difficulty walking normally indicates osteoarthritis, but many patients can improve significantly with anti-inflammatory shots and/or physical therapy, preventing the expense and difficulty of hip replacements. No doctor can tell which patients would qualify without an x-ray, so no doctor will delay ordering one, or reading it themselves.
It doesn’t require weeks or days to read that kind of x-ray. Even the tech can see, though they aren’t allowed to inform the patient. Whoever ordered the exam can certainly tell immediately. Hips are an encapsulated ball joint. If there’s absolutely no space left for the “ball” at the anterior end of the femur to rotate in the “cup” (acetabulum), it’s time for a hip replacement. From the two positions, you’ll clearly see bone-on-bone contact. If there IS space, you try other treatments before considering surgery.
http://www.drwolgin.com/Pages/Osteoarthritis.aspx
Costs vary widely state-by-state, and are determined by the kind of plan and deductible the patient chooses.
(I retired as a Radiologic Technologist a few months ago.)
Thanks for an insightful rebuttal to my exaggerated premise.