(no subject)
i wish i were a good writer. i wish i were a good writer because then... well, this would sound much better and make more sense and possibly reach more people. but instead, it will probably be scattered and all over the place.
i want to cry almost daily. not for me. not for anyone i know on any real level. just the random names i see on pieces of paper at work everyday.
john smith - diagnoses: diabetes, type 2. hypertension. neuropathy. renal failure. insurance: none/self pay.
jane smith - diagnoses: bipolar disorder, 1. obsessive compulsive disorder. hyperlipidemia. chronic ischemic heart disease. insurance: none/self pay.
this is just the tip of the iceberg. i'm only seeing part of what they must pay for on their own, out of their pockets. most of them will never be able to pay even a small fraction of what they're being charged over and over. some of them will try to pay. and don't let the whole "if you're making payments they can't send you to collections" thing fool you. NOT always true. one of the local hospital systems, who shall remain nameless, sends a patient to collections if their bills are not paid in full 4 months after the date of service. UNLESS you call them. most people don't think to call. they will send what they can here and there. those who cannot pay will be sent to collection. they will be hounded by collection agencies. they will have negative items on their credit reports that will mock them for years to come. as if their poor health was not already doing enough damage to their spirits. and now, add a few more diagnoses to the list. depression. stress. anxiety. the whole domino effect thing. the list can go on and on.
i would be lying if i said i didn't know anyone personally or as i said above "on any real level" with these issues. add my husband and 8 month-old son the list of the uninsured. my husband has not been so lucky. he is surely someone i would cry for (and i have) even if didn't know him. he has a laundry list of health problems. he has been hospitalized on several occasions and twice in 2009 so far. he has lost his job because of all of this which has left him without insurance. supposedly, he will be covered under COBRA but honestly, we're not sure if we'll be able to afford the costs.
i don't want to leave anyone out here. even if you do have insurance you've got problems. private insurance companies are nothing to smile about.
what prompted me to write this entry was a situation with a very nice patient that i spoke to on the phone this morning. normally, i do not speak to patients about their lab results but someone had given her the number to the lab and so she called to see if i could help her. she was basically in a panic and sounded like she was crying. she had come in 2 days ago for some STD testing. she was fairly sure one of her tests would come back positive (and so was her doctor) and so she wanted to see if i could call the reference lab to cancel it. there was a special reason for wanting to cancel it. she was very open and honest with me on the phone and very apologetic. she didn't want to give me extra work or cause any kind of trouble, she had said. she was going through a rough divorce and that her insurance would lapse in a few weeks because she was covered under her husband. she was afraid of a positive result because her new insurance company would not cover a pre-existing condition. this condition is treatable but incurable. therefore, she will most likely never be able to get treatment when she needs it unless her doctor can provide free samples of medication. sometimes, it's hard to rely on that. because of all of her other stress she didn't really think about her insurance lapsing and the pre-existing condition and so she didn't mention holding off on the testing until a later date. i tried everything i could to help her out, including trying to cancel the testing that had already begun. it's due to be reported later today and it's just too late.
these are the things that drive me insane about my job. i feel helpless. sometimes i want to throw things when i see a patients lab requisition marked "NO INSURANCE/BILL PATIENT" and there is a long list of tests and an even longer list of diagnoses. i wish there was a way that i could do things for them for free and have the bills just magically disappear and destroy the paper trail.
i keep hearing comments like, "if we have socialized medicine then i will be rationed." i'm not sure why people think that they aren't already being "rationed" if they are on any sort of insurance. your insurance company rations you. if you visit a busy doctors office, you are perhaps not given as much attention as another patient is. maybe your doctor is dismissive of your concerns - i would say this is rationing as well.
and maybe some people are not rationed - like the ones who have really great insurance and are totally against reform. i think those people are just plain out of touch with reality. they don't see what i see everyday, that's for sure. they don't have family members suffer through chronic illness without insurance. they don't see the piles of medical bills some people get that they just cannot afford to pay. they are, to be frank, smug and have the "it will never happen to me" attitude.
i didn't post this to start a debate. i just wanted to get this off my chest and maybe show some people my point of view.
i want to cry almost daily. not for me. not for anyone i know on any real level. just the random names i see on pieces of paper at work everyday.
john smith - diagnoses: diabetes, type 2. hypertension. neuropathy. renal failure. insurance: none/self pay.
jane smith - diagnoses: bipolar disorder, 1. obsessive compulsive disorder. hyperlipidemia. chronic ischemic heart disease. insurance: none/self pay.
this is just the tip of the iceberg. i'm only seeing part of what they must pay for on their own, out of their pockets. most of them will never be able to pay even a small fraction of what they're being charged over and over. some of them will try to pay. and don't let the whole "if you're making payments they can't send you to collections" thing fool you. NOT always true. one of the local hospital systems, who shall remain nameless, sends a patient to collections if their bills are not paid in full 4 months after the date of service. UNLESS you call them. most people don't think to call. they will send what they can here and there. those who cannot pay will be sent to collection. they will be hounded by collection agencies. they will have negative items on their credit reports that will mock them for years to come. as if their poor health was not already doing enough damage to their spirits. and now, add a few more diagnoses to the list. depression. stress. anxiety. the whole domino effect thing. the list can go on and on.
i would be lying if i said i didn't know anyone personally or as i said above "on any real level" with these issues. add my husband and 8 month-old son the list of the uninsured. my husband has not been so lucky. he is surely someone i would cry for (and i have) even if didn't know him. he has a laundry list of health problems. he has been hospitalized on several occasions and twice in 2009 so far. he has lost his job because of all of this which has left him without insurance. supposedly, he will be covered under COBRA but honestly, we're not sure if we'll be able to afford the costs.
i don't want to leave anyone out here. even if you do have insurance you've got problems. private insurance companies are nothing to smile about.
what prompted me to write this entry was a situation with a very nice patient that i spoke to on the phone this morning. normally, i do not speak to patients about their lab results but someone had given her the number to the lab and so she called to see if i could help her. she was basically in a panic and sounded like she was crying. she had come in 2 days ago for some STD testing. she was fairly sure one of her tests would come back positive (and so was her doctor) and so she wanted to see if i could call the reference lab to cancel it. there was a special reason for wanting to cancel it. she was very open and honest with me on the phone and very apologetic. she didn't want to give me extra work or cause any kind of trouble, she had said. she was going through a rough divorce and that her insurance would lapse in a few weeks because she was covered under her husband. she was afraid of a positive result because her new insurance company would not cover a pre-existing condition. this condition is treatable but incurable. therefore, she will most likely never be able to get treatment when she needs it unless her doctor can provide free samples of medication. sometimes, it's hard to rely on that. because of all of her other stress she didn't really think about her insurance lapsing and the pre-existing condition and so she didn't mention holding off on the testing until a later date. i tried everything i could to help her out, including trying to cancel the testing that had already begun. it's due to be reported later today and it's just too late.
these are the things that drive me insane about my job. i feel helpless. sometimes i want to throw things when i see a patients lab requisition marked "NO INSURANCE/BILL PATIENT" and there is a long list of tests and an even longer list of diagnoses. i wish there was a way that i could do things for them for free and have the bills just magically disappear and destroy the paper trail.
i keep hearing comments like, "if we have socialized medicine then i will be rationed." i'm not sure why people think that they aren't already being "rationed" if they are on any sort of insurance. your insurance company rations you. if you visit a busy doctors office, you are perhaps not given as much attention as another patient is. maybe your doctor is dismissive of your concerns - i would say this is rationing as well.
and maybe some people are not rationed - like the ones who have really great insurance and are totally against reform. i think those people are just plain out of touch with reality. they don't see what i see everyday, that's for sure. they don't have family members suffer through chronic illness without insurance. they don't see the piles of medical bills some people get that they just cannot afford to pay. they are, to be frank, smug and have the "it will never happen to me" attitude.
i didn't post this to start a debate. i just wanted to get this off my chest and maybe show some people my point of view.