One of the supposed hallmarks of the U.S. system of providing health care is choice. “Don’t let the socialist boogeyman come and force you to see a doctor trained in Guatemala!” You may not realize it, but that’s pretty funny (not the bit about Guatemala… the part about choice). Well, it doesn’t quite rise to the level of expelling fluids through your head’s secondary and tertiary access points, but it’s still funny. Come on, ask me why it’s funny. You know you want to. You think you may know, but your dying to know if your right (yes, I’m nothing [...]
Health Care
Acceding to my wife’s demands
First of all, I’d like to give myself a great big pat on the back for spelling “acceding” correctly on the first try. I have it on good authority that if there’s a gene responsible for good spelling, the Kauffman family doesn’t have it. So what is this demand and why am I acceding to it? You wouldn’t know it from this site, but my wife has a lot to say about what I write. I tell her she should post comments, and she tells me she’s not going to communicate with me through no stinking blog. Sheesh! Lately, my [...]
Who are you calling a socialist?
It occurs to me that even private health insurance represents a kind of “socialized” medicine. If I may be so bold, I’d like to tell you what I think of private insurance: the bastard child of socialism and capitalism. The idea behind insurance is to pool resources with a larger group, so that individual members are better able to cope financially with misfortune, minimizing individual risk. Insurance companies are just the mechanism to facilitate this relationship… siphoning off money for shareholder profits. When you think about it, this community sharing of risk is a pretty socialist idea. So, when you [...]
Intellectual consistency
Who am I to call for consistency of thought? I can’t keep my mind on the straight and arrow for a day, let alone a lifetime of policy decisions. Still, I got a kick out of a line I read in an article this weekend (I can’t for the life of me remember which one). The author of the piece said that conservatives against “socialized medicine” didn’t understand that we already have it… for old people (Medicare) and government employees… such as Republican Congressmen and Senators. If conservative opponents of “socialized” medicine believe in private insurance so strongly, maybe they [...]
Broken
Earlier this week my mother was hospitalized involuntarily under the provisions of a Florida Law known as the “Baker Act.” When the legal requirement for the hospital to hold her expired, and they determined that her benefits (through her health insurance) had been used up, she was shipped out to the first facility that would take her. It was an assisted living facility, which primarily deals with elderly adults who can – to some degree – care for themselves. My mother could not, but what choice did we have? The hospital staff advised us they called the non-profit, inpatient facility [...]
What a difference a day makes
Today’s events will be a boon to bank accounts, but it’s unclear wether medical outcomes will benefit or suffer. Yesterday, phone interviews with assisted living facilities produced the conclusion that my mother needed more care than they could provide. Today, with the Baker Act placement ending and my mother’s insurance coverage exhausted, the hospital has decided that an assisted living facility is ideal. You know what I’m thinking? As it happens, I’m trying to do as little thinking as possible right now. It’s my defense mechanism du jour.
Coverage caps
There’s a law in Florida called the Baker Act; a law which gives law enforcement and medical professionals the authority to hold people with mental illness – specifically those who show signs of being a danger to others or themselves. There are few (if any) public facilities to provide this emergency care, so patients are cared for in private facilities… usually a floor set aside at the local hospital (the so called “psych ward”). Since these institutions often are not publicly funded, “Baker Acted” patients are expected to pay for their care. Since most health insurance policies in the U.S. [...]
Back in the ER again
I’ve had a vested interest in the health care system this year, as some of you may know. Yesterday I got to live out the hospital admissions nightmare that some of you may have read about in the media. We went to the ER yesterday morning around 8 a.m. As of this writing, my mother is still waiting in the ER to be admitted. For those of you keeping score at home, that’s about thirty-one hours and counting. It’s not just the one hospital that is full either. The ER staff called around – spanning five counties, and there are [...]
Our health
If you’ve been paying attention to the news in the U.S. you know health care is on people’s minds. Talk has been spreading almost as fast as the ranks of the uninsured/underinsured. Michael Moore has fanned the flames of debate, spawning talk about the universal coverage offered by our fellow industrialized nations. We hear lots of stories in the U.S. about Canadians crossing our border to avoid waiting in line for certain tests or procedures. The garden-variety opponent of universal coverage brings it up constantly. ”I would never stand for a system that made me wait for a test I [...]
Must… stop… scratching
Foreword: I generally like my doctors. Sometimes I wonder if my doctor has a string in his back and someone gives it a pull every time he’s supposed to speak… “Good morning doctor.” “You’re looking good today.” “Yeah, but I can’t shake these fevers.” “Your blood cultures have been negative.” “Well this rash is killing me.” “You’re on a lot of medication.” “Is there any chance I’ll be going home soon?” “You’re looking good today.” “Is there anything else we can check, or anything else we can do?” “Your blood cultures have been negative.” “Do you know that you’re starting [...]
