Where does the Problem with Health Care begin?
Have you ever wondered why Health Care is so expensive? Well, I'll try not to pose my opinion on you TOO much, but I will use sarcasm, not only because I'm good at it, but also because sarcasm makes it easier to take it all in.
Today was our companies annual Health Insurance benefits meeting I have been so nervously anticipating to find out the details of who the next company was going to be ripping me off. What it came down to was a high deductible plan, (Where you pay everything that's not "preventive care" out of pocket until you reach your annual deductible amount, my case $5,000, and yes I mean EVERYTHING! Full price of doctors visits, prescriptions, labs, scans the works.) or Kaiser. Yes, the famous HMO plan which was the reason I am currently going into debt to pay for my PPO Plan.
Not everybody really knows what their benefits cover, what the full prices are for doctors visits, prescriptions, lab tests, CT scans, EKG's, MRI's, Cardiac Ejection Fraction etc. Let alone the reasons why they're done, what they translate to and what they tell your doctor. If your doctor tells you what you need to know about it, why he thinks you needed to do it, why he had you do it, what the results were and what the results meant... lets hope he sends you home knowing your diagnosis by it's technical name and dumb-downed name, what caused it, how to manage it and how to prevent further complications from it.
Is this where the problem with health care begins? How many people ignore their Diabetes, Heart Disease, Coronary Artery Disease and Respiratory Diseases? How many people have diagnosed chronic medical conditions, that don't even know they do? How many people deny their condition because they can only handle to refer to their diabetes as "my sugars a little high"? Or are freaked out because they have heart failure and don't understand the definition?
Well, isn't it my doctors responsibility to take care of my health? Not fully, they can't cook you're meals and moderate your fat, sugar and salt intake. Walk or go to the gym for you. So what happens if your doctor is not giving you the proper information about your health? Then the responsibility falls on you to take care of it right? Nobody else is going to are they? "But I'm not a doctor. That's what my doctors for." It's a vicious circle.
Wouldn't it be nice if we could drive up to McDonald's and buy a turkey sandwich on wheat for a buck instead of a greasy artery clogging cheeseburger? Or if we could pay 4 bucks for a back of nicotine patches, gum, inhalers or tabs behind the counter of a convenient store instead of cigarettes and chew? Our society doesn't support it. Everyone knows that obesity can lead to Diabetes, Coronary Artery Disease and Heart Failure, which are 3 of the leading chronic conditions in the country that goes mismanaged. Everyone knows smoking causes cancer, yet we have the highest amount of tar in our cigarettes produced in the US with no standards as to how it's regulated. So it's OK for the government to say it's OK to eat food that clogs your arteries and gives you Diabetes so long as a lot of money is going into their pocket. It's OK to put more tar in cigarettes so long as someone is getting paid. Our health for their wealth, our governments unsaid motto.
So now you finally get through all that mess and find a doctor you like and is really there to help you. All you have to do now is find a way to pay for it.
Today was our companies annual Health Insurance benefits meeting I have been so nervously anticipating to find out the details of who the next company was going to be ripping me off. What it came down to was a high deductible plan, (Where you pay everything that's not "preventive care" out of pocket until you reach your annual deductible amount, my case $5,000, and yes I mean EVERYTHING! Full price of doctors visits, prescriptions, labs, scans the works.) or Kaiser. Yes, the famous HMO plan which was the reason I am currently going into debt to pay for my PPO Plan.
Not everybody really knows what their benefits cover, what the full prices are for doctors visits, prescriptions, lab tests, CT scans, EKG's, MRI's, Cardiac Ejection Fraction etc. Let alone the reasons why they're done, what they translate to and what they tell your doctor. If your doctor tells you what you need to know about it, why he thinks you needed to do it, why he had you do it, what the results were and what the results meant... lets hope he sends you home knowing your diagnosis by it's technical name and dumb-downed name, what caused it, how to manage it and how to prevent further complications from it.
Is this where the problem with health care begins? How many people ignore their Diabetes, Heart Disease, Coronary Artery Disease and Respiratory Diseases? How many people have diagnosed chronic medical conditions, that don't even know they do? How many people deny their condition because they can only handle to refer to their diabetes as "my sugars a little high"? Or are freaked out because they have heart failure and don't understand the definition?
Well, isn't it my doctors responsibility to take care of my health? Not fully, they can't cook you're meals and moderate your fat, sugar and salt intake. Walk or go to the gym for you. So what happens if your doctor is not giving you the proper information about your health? Then the responsibility falls on you to take care of it right? Nobody else is going to are they? "But I'm not a doctor. That's what my doctors for." It's a vicious circle.
Wouldn't it be nice if we could drive up to McDonald's and buy a turkey sandwich on wheat for a buck instead of a greasy artery clogging cheeseburger? Or if we could pay 4 bucks for a back of nicotine patches, gum, inhalers or tabs behind the counter of a convenient store instead of cigarettes and chew? Our society doesn't support it. Everyone knows that obesity can lead to Diabetes, Coronary Artery Disease and Heart Failure, which are 3 of the leading chronic conditions in the country that goes mismanaged. Everyone knows smoking causes cancer, yet we have the highest amount of tar in our cigarettes produced in the US with no standards as to how it's regulated. So it's OK for the government to say it's OK to eat food that clogs your arteries and gives you Diabetes so long as a lot of money is going into their pocket. It's OK to put more tar in cigarettes so long as someone is getting paid. Our health for their wealth, our governments unsaid motto.
So now you finally get through all that mess and find a doctor you like and is really there to help you. All you have to do now is find a way to pay for it.