October 6, 2012

• TODAY’S RANT

  On a visit to the eye doctor last week I had to wait an hour and a half to see her, which is unusual because she’s usually only a few minutes behind schedule.  When I finally got in, she apologized and said that was the first day they were implementing the new program mandated by the federal government as part of Obamacare.  They now have to upload all patient information to the feds, and it was taking so much time that they were running late.  She said she will have to hire more staff to handle all the paperwork.  At the same time the feds are cutting back on what Medicare will pay doctors and hospitals.    She said she’s young enough to deal with it and she loves her work, but many of her older colleagues are thinking of retiring because they just don’t want to cope with it all.  I said, “This is a disaster in the making, isn’t it?” and she said, “Yes.”

  All of us on Medicare will continue to get benefits as usual, but what good will that do us if our doctor(s) retire and no other doctor(s) will take us?  If it costs doctors more to treat us than they can get in fees, more will refuse to treat Medicare patients, at which point the feds would probably demand that they treat us.  That would drive more doctors out of practice.

  Perhaps the scariest part of all this is that the federal government will have access to all our medical records, and that’s how they will determine what treatments we will be allowed to have.  If you’re old and have myriads of health problems, you will not get expensive treatments because your “quality years of life remaining” is low. 

  Why do the people who rail against having to show photo ID at the polling place seem to have no problem with the federal government having all our health records?  Where is the AMA, which is supposed to be looking after doctors’ interests?  Where is AARP, which is supposed to be looking after seniors’ interests?  Where  are the libertarians who hate any government intrusion into our lives?  WHERE IS EVERYBODY? 

  No matter what your age, you need to be concerned about where this is going.  If you think you’ll get all the medical care you need when you need it and all for free, you’re naive.

  Here is a good article, and here is another (by the New York Times, not exactly a bastion of conservatism).

  Use your heads, people.

  • 3:56 pm
  • 4 Comments