Dr. No

Dr. No 

By Paul Stanner 

Six years ago on Thanksgiving Eve I fell ill with a health care emergency that damn near killed me. The American health care system saved me from an almost certain death as a result of this affliction , which they are very very good at  and then damn near killed me with the aftercare which they are also very very good at . I don't for a minute believe that the system consciously intends to kill people in aftercare but I do believe that once the emergency passes and the patient is out of immediate danger the focus for medical providers shifts from medical concerns to economic ones.They want to be paid and paid very handsomely for their efforts and they don't care what pain and suffering this attitude causes their patients. If you can't pay just suffer is their attitude and if you have another health care emergency we'll deal with that at that time in the very expensive emergency room. This seems very shortsighted to me. Talk about penny wise and pound foolish. I think it would be far more constructive and cheaper in the long run to keep patients healthy once they've been rescued from an impending health disaster.The problem with that though my friends is that there is far more money in rescuing people from health care disaster than there is in preventing those disasters in the first place. This reality coupled with my own personal health disaster experience and it's aftercare has caused me to fundamentally shift my position on health care. I'll explain how and why in due course but first let me give you some background details.

The Disaster

On Thanksgiving Eve of 2014 I fell violently ill. I was shaking uncontrollably and throwing up violently. This went on for about four hours. Having worked in health care for 30 years I knew that something was seriously wrong with me. Not having any insurance at the time and knowing how expensive hospitals were I wanted to avoid going to one desperately. I held out for a couple of more hours but finally realized that if I wanted to continue living I had to go regardless of having no insurance. My friend called an ambulance and off we went. I was still reasonably coherent when we arrived so I was able to talk to the Dr. a bit. Of course the very first thing they ask you is if you have insurance. As you all will no doubt remember one of the features of Obama Care that was highly touted was that if you had no insurance and had to go to the hospital you could apply and be accepted right then and there. I asked to be signed up. They essentially laughed at me .They were polite but I'm know when I'm being laughed at even if it's polite laughter.They did what they had to do and I lapsed into an unconscious state. I was admitted to the hospital and spent 11 days there with about 7 of them in the ICU. I found out from my friend later that the Dr. told her if she hadn't got me there when she did I would have been dead by morning. What I got for my 11 days in the hospital was a $52,000.00 bill  and the knowledge that I had diabetes , one kidney , and high blood pressure among a myriad of other problems I didn't know I had. How I or apparently nobody else knew I had these problems was very perplexing to me considering that as I told you in my younger life I had worked in health care for 30 years so I had excellent insurance yet nobody picked any of them up. It was also very perplexing considering that at the age of 52 I went to China to teach English for 12 years. When you go to China both the U.S. and especially the Chinese governments give you a very thorough health exam. The U.S. government doesn't want to be sending unhealthy Americans to China and the Chinese government doesn't want foreigners especially Americans getting sick in China and they have to pay. Yet none of these problems was picked up. Do any of you believe that these problems developed at the age of 64 a mere 4 months after returning home from China ? I certainly don't .

The Aftercare 

I was released from the hospital after 11 days and was feeling well again. I was glad that this impending health care disaster had been avoided and was now behind me. I had a game plan on how to maintain my regained health prescribed for me by the best medical minds in the world.How wrong I was !! Strike One !! I had been away for 12 years and things had changed a lot. The trouble started when I ran out of blood pressure medication. I had the prescription from the hospital so off I went to the pharmacist to get it refilled. I was refused because even though the prescription was valid I didn't have a primary care physician. I didn't have a primary care physician because I had no insurance and couldn't afford one. I begged and pleaded but they were adamant. I knew I had to find a PCP although I had no idea how to do that. I called numerous Dr.'s and none of them would help me. One Dr. in particular annoyed me to no end. He wanted $ 300.00 for an office visit to prescribe a $ 4.00 high blood pressure medication that I could have easily paid for myself and that had already been prescribed by the hospital. Now think about this for a moment my friends. High blood pressure and stress are the two primary causes of stroke in diabetics yet these medical professionals , these self perceived Angels of Mercy were perfectly willing to risk my health by refusing to prescribe a $ 4.00 high blood pressure medication that I could have easily paid for myself because I couldn't  pay a fee of $ 300.00 for an office consultation.There was no solution to this problem within the system so I had to seek a solution outside the system. Having taught in China for 12 years I knew that Chinese Traditional Medicine was very good in certain areas. Plant based medications are one of them.Off I went to the traditional Chinese medicine Dr. in my town. I bought a 6 month supply of high blood pressure herbal medicine for $ 20.00 . That particular problem was solved but I still needed a PCP. After much research and speaking with many medical people I finally found one with some empathy and brains who recommended a " poor people's clinic " to me.I made an appointment and that problem was solved or so I thought. Again how wrong I was. Strike two !! These folks wanted me to see 6 or 7 specialists for my various other ailments which cost a minimum of $ 50.00 each time I went. Being that I couldn't pay that and there was no outside solution to that problem I had to solve it by taking entirely unnecessary risks , in my opinion , with my health. I had to wait the 6 months until I was eligible for Medicare. Again these medical professionals were perfectly willing to gamble with my life.  Are you folks beginning to see a pattern here ? 

Six months went by and I was placed on Medicare and again I thought my problems were solved and again I was wrong. Strike three !! You're out !! I discovered that even though Medicare would pay all or most of my medical claims the vast majority of Dr.'s wouldn't accept new Medicare patients.I'm told by many Dr.'s that this is because Medicare rates are way too low , they take way too long to pay and the required paperwork is too costly to comply with. Frankly when I'm in serious danger of severe health problems or even death because of these people's stupidity and arrogance I don't give a damn about their financial problems. What the Hell good is having Medicare if it isn't accepted by the health care providers? Since blindness is one of the serious risks of diabetes and since I damn sure didn't want to go blind one of the things I did pay for by putting it on my 19 % interest rate credit card was an eye exam. This eye exam revealed that I had cataracts in my eyes that were not to the point of needing surgery yet but needed to be watched closely.I put that problem on the back burner. A year went by and it was time for my eye exam again.I now had insurance but that insurance wouldn't pay the specialists fee nor would many of those Dr.'s accept my private insurance. I couldn't afford the fee and none of the 4 - 5 eye Dr.'s I went to would help me or even offer a payment plan in spite of the fact that I made it abundantly clear that I had diabetes and cataracts and it was now about 18 months since my last eye exam. Their attitude was that if I couldn't pay then I should just go away and go blind. They did make damn sure and tell me though that if I did want to just pay for the eye exam out of pocket it would be $300.00. Would all of you folks out there in cyber space reading this care to explain to me exactly how $ 300.00 for a 10 minute eye exam is not just plain pure unadulterated good old fashioned American greed ? Once I was finally able to make the appointment they couldn't give me one for 6 weeks. Now keep in mind I have diabetes and cataracts and I'm already 6 months past due. It didn't matter to them 6 weeks was the best that they could do . Take it or leave it was their attitude. I was getting damn tired of professional medical practitioners who should know better being perfectly willing to risk my health over money and control. It was time to raise some Hell which is exactly what I did for the next 3 - 4 months. The problem is now solved after a hellacious 4 - 5 year battle with these people.I can go to any specialist I need to and all my medical bills are now paid. I won't bore you with the details of how I did this but I will offer a bit of advice. The key to solving these sorts of problems is finding the person that actually knows what the Hell they are talking about. My advice would be to never speak to an underling about these problems always speak to a supervisor and keep going back until the problem is solved. 

The Fundamental Shift

As a result of this battle and in spite of my very Conservative views I've shifted my position on health care . I now support a one payer system. This annoys my Conservative friends to no end since they believe that the existing system is the best in the world in all regards and just needs to be tweeked while I believe it fundamentally needs to be changed.These folks have way too much life and death power over people's lives and that power needs to be taken away from them. Conversely my Liberal friends are thrilled that I've seen the light in their way of thinking. They think I've come over to their side on all issues which I assure you I haven't. Satan will have a lemonade stand in Hell before I support abortion for example.My friends I now support a one payer system that all Dr.'s and all hospitals must by law accept. I've heard all the arguments against the one payer system and considering my experience with the current system I'm unconvinced. If our current Dr.'s won't accept this as it's opponents say they won't then they can simply forfeit their licenses and find another career. There are many highly qualified European and Asian Dr.'s that would love to come here and practice for what our Dr.'s currently make. I'm told the waits for care will be unacceptable under a one payer system.I would refer you to my own experience with the eye Dr.'s described earlier in this article. How is a six week wait for a diabetic with cataracts who is already 6 months past due for his yearly exam acceptable ?  It's un-American and un-capitalist they will scream. Sorry my friends but my right to stay alive trumps their right to make as much money as possible from my health problems.None of the arguments against a one payer system are valid in my opinion.This battle is about money and control plain and simple. These folks make way too much money from human suffering and have way too much life and death control over people's lives. It needs to be taken away from them. I am not a Socialist by nature my friends but I'm enough of a Socialist to believe that no American with a work history or pre-existing condition should be denied health care and certainly should not have his or her health played fast and loose with over money and control to the point of damn near needlessly dieing as mine was. When the one payer system comes as it surely will the current medical practitioners will have nobody to blame but themselves . I am going to remind them of that and the living Hell they needlessly put me through every chance I get.

Doctors are in severe danger of sinking to the level of lawyers in the eyes of the American public.Deservedly so in my opinion. I warn my Conservative / Republican friends that they'd better get on board this one payer system train or get run over by it. Failing to come up with an acceptable solution to this problem is ultimately going to cause them to lose elections.

Your serve Conservative Republicans and your choice.