No Insurance? No Care. So Sorry.

Posted by Blog1 | 3:37 AM | 0 comments »

By Ethan Kalvin

Perhaps I am ignorant, or maybe I just don't have all the facts. I hear things day in and day out that just appall me and I have to say enough. A new president with promises of health care reform, and the Medicaid patients are being turned away at doctors office because Medicaid wont pay these doctors enough? I am not blaming President Obama, after all, these problems didnt just come out of the blue over night - they have been building for decades.

While America is looking at all the banking executives and how much money they are making, no one will turn their heads toward looking at the medical community to see how much they are making. Now granted most of them are not millionaires, however, dont you think that they can afford to see a few patients for less than their full office visit price? The average price for an office visit is about $100 right now, without any extras, and honestly, in exchange for that you usually spend about 5 or 10 minutes with the actual doctor. At that rate a doctor can make about $1000 per hour. Now don't get me wrong, obviously that money goes to pay for the facility and equipment and support staff, however one would think that they could forego a few minutes of higher pay to see someone who is in need.

Now, you may not be worried about this issue, after all, this is only affecting the people on Medicaid right? So if that isn't you, then maybe you are reading this and saying to yourself, not my problem. Think about it. The unemployment rate is rising every month, and with this more and more people will be left without insurance and will be at the mercy of Medicaid as their only form of insurance. This may not be you now, but it very well could be you in a few months.

It often seems like we have lost our sense of caring for the less fortunate. Our self centered lives have isolated us in a way that requires money to play, and not everybody has money. It is a problem that we live in a society where a person in need is turned away because they have no money to pay.

It is time to look at the people in the system and realize they are us and we are them. One of the greatest things about this country is our ability to unite as a people, it is time that we set aside all of our greed and selfishness and start to live by the basic principle do onto others, as you would have done to you. It is not the systems that are broken in this country, it is the people. Dont look for the government to reform the system, look to the people for health care reform. We are the ones who can bring forth the change, but it will take us some time to become human again.

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