Quite often I reminisce about the fifties and sixties, the eras in which I grew up. Life was a lot simpler then. We didn’t have or know about all of the complexities that life in the eighties, nineties or even the new century would bring.
Sure I enjoy some of the luxuries life offers us today. I often wonder what I would do without my computer, my cell phone, my HD television or of course the remote control. Yet other times I think I would give it all up in a minute to return to that simpler life where crime in the neighborhood was not an issue, people took responsibility for themselves and their families and idiots from the Middle East were not running around the world instigating jihads or holy wars for their own political purposes.
Back then families could nearly all afford health coverage at sensible rates. Your family doctor was a family friend. You could call him at almost any hour of the day to discuss your health concerns. In many cases if you were too sick to make an office visit he would come to your home to take care of you.
I still remember many of the office visits I made to Dr. Barnsback’s office. The ole’ guy could simply look at you and make a fairly accurate determination of your health problem. He checked your fingernails, used a tongue depressor, looked at your eyes, and then took your temperature, pulse and blood pressure. Quite often his recommendation was a simple home remedy, not a script for medication.
Measure that against health care in the modern world we live in today. We must acknowledge that today our health care is utterly governed by the insurance companies who institute most of the rules and guidelines. Whether you have an HMO, PPO, Medicare supplement or some similar type of insurance coverage, stipulations within the policy govern the quality of health care you will receive. Your family doctor has been replaced by a gate keeper who makes the necessary medical decisions in your behalf, under guidelines established by the companies.
Medical insurance policies are quite similar to automobile policies in as much as one can specify the limits of coverage based upon the premium you’re willing to pay or can afford. And like any other commodity you get what you pay for. In life threatening situations that may require for example, critical surgical procedures or an organ transplant, the limits on some policies might be reached or surpassed. Should this occur, the medical team, the hospital and the insurance company must agree on the allocated dollars.
In situations where the procedures will not be fully covered by insurance, the medical team and the hospital must make a hard decision. One must realize that doctors and hospitals alike are in the business to make money. And each can only write off a percentage of their bad debts to taxes. Truly ones’ financial status comes into play in such a situation. Those with inadequate insurance coverage or an inability to pay the freight could be expendable. It’s nothing personal, just a sound business decision on the part of those involved in the decision process.
Further, we no longer can go to the doctor of our choice because he or she may not be on the insurance company’s “preferred” network list. Doctors who agree to abide by the rules imposed on them by the insurance companies may be added to the company’s list of preferred practitioners. Those of us, who choose to use doctors that are out of “the network”, pay dearly for the service.
The doctor or gate keeper of today does not share many similarities to the family doctor I knew as a child or young adult. First, he or she works solely from an office. Home visits are out of the question and hospital visits, if required, are handled by a specialist to whom you’ve been referred. Second, in most cases he or she is quite aloof in their interaction with you. One might call this a professional approach, but I believe it often goes way beyond that.
Rarely does the doctor check your ears, your throat or fingernails to determine your measure of health. Instead he relies upon a barrage of tests to tell him such things. Some tests such as urine or blood analyses are good and important, others quite often are questionable. I often wonder why doctors schedule as many tests as they do. Could it be that they’re not otherwise competent to make a diagnostic decision or could it be that the test alone filters additional monies into their bank account? I’m also sure there is a liability factor in play here. The test result is the “CYA” factor.
Today, doctors are all too quick to write scripts for medications. No longer would they ever suggest a home remedy or homeopathic solution to an ailment. The reason here is obvious to anyone who has sat for a period of time in the waiting room. Doctors are inundated with visits by drug company salesmen. They provide the doctors with product samples and an array of other incentives to help push their products. And, it must be worthwhile because the doctor will certainly let you sit while they chitchat with the sales person.
I’m sure another generation twenty years from now will look back on today and remark about how great medical coverage was “back then”. I certainly don’t foresee it getting any better. It is almost a certainty that the new regime in Washington will socialize the system even further, therein depleting even more the quality of the system as we now know it. I only hope common sense will prevail in any Fed action, but that is highly unlikely.
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