Letter from a senior gentleman in
Mesa, Arizona:
Dear Family, Friends,
Neighbors and former Classmates,
I just found myself in the middle of a medical situation that made
it very clear that "the affordable care act" is neither affordable,
nor do they care.
I'll go back about seven
years ago to a fairly radical prostate surgery that I underwent. The Urologist
(a personal friend) who performed the surgery was very concerned that it was
cancer, though I wasn't told this until the lab report revealed it was
benign. Since that procedure, I have experienced numerous urinary tract
infections, UTI's. Since I had never had a "UTI" prior to the
prostate surgery, I assume that it is one of the side effects from surgery, an
assumption since confirmed by my Family Doctor.
The weekend of March 8-9, I
was experiencing all the symptoms of another bout of UTI. By Monday afternoon
the infection had hit with full force. Knowing that all I needed was an
antibiotic, I went to an Urgent Care Center in Mesa, AZ., to provide a
specimen, a requirement for getting the prescription. After waiting 45 min. to
see the Doctor, I started getting very nauseous and light headed.
I went to the Receptionist to
ask where the bathroom was as I felt that I was going to throw up. I was told
that I would have to wait for the Doctor because I would need to leave a
specimen and they didn't want me in the bathroom without first seeing him.
That was when the lights went
out, my next awareness was that of finding myself on the floor (in the waiting
room) having violent dry heaves, and very confused. At this point, I tried to
stand up but couldn't make it, and they made it very clear they weren't going
to let me get up until the ambulance got there. By the way, when you're waiting
to see the Doctor and you pass out, you get very prompt attention.
Now, "the rest of the story", and the reason for sending
this to so many of you.
I was taken to the nearest
hospital, to emergency. Once there, I was transported to an emergency
examination room. Once I had removed my clothes and donned one of those lovely
hospital gowns, I finally got to see a Doctor. I asked "what is going
on" I'm just having a UTI, just get me the proper medication and let me go
home. He told me that my symptoms presented the possibility of sepsis, a
potentially deadly migration of toxins, and that they needed to run several
tests to determine how far the infection had migrated.
For the next 3 hours I was
subjected to several tests, blood draws, EKG's, and demands for specimens. At
about 7:30 the nurse came back to my room to inform me that one of the tests takes
1- 2 days to complete, I asked if they (the results)could be emailed, at which
point she informed me that I wouldn't need them emailed because I wasn't going
anywhere. I started arguing with her but was told, "if you don't start
behaving, I'll start taking your temperature rectally, at which point I became
a perfect gentleman. I did tell her I wanted to see the doctor because I had no
intention of staying overnight.
Now, this
is what I want each of you to understand, please read these next sentences carefully.The
doctor finally came in to inform me that he was going to admit me. I said,
"are you admitting me for treatment or for observation?" He told me
that I would be admitted for observation. I said Doctor, correct me if I'm
wrong, but if you admit me for observation my Medicare will not pay anything,
this due to the affordable care act , he said that's right, it won't. I then
grabbed for my bag of clothing and said, then I'm going home. He said you're
really too sick to be going home, but I understand your position, this health
program is going to hit seniors especially hard.
The doctor then left the room
and I started getting dressed, I was just getting ready to put my shoes on when
another doctor (the closer) came into the room, he saw me dressed and said,
"where do you think you are going?" I simply said "I'm going
home, to which he replied, quite vociferously, no you aren't. I said, "Doc, you and I both know that under the
"affordable care act" anyone on Medicare who is admitted to a
hospital for observation will be responsible for the bill, Medicare won't pay a
cent". At which point he nodded in affirmation. I said, "You will either admit me for a specific treatment
or you won't admit me." Realizing he wasn't going to win this one, he said
he would prepare my release papers.
A few minutes later the
discharge nurse came to my room to have me sign the necessary papers, relieving
them from any responsibility. I told her I wasn't trying to be obstinate, but I
wasn't going to be burdened with the full (financial) responsibility for my
hospital stay.
After making sure the door
was closed, she said, "I don't blame you at all, I would do the same
thing." She went on to say, "You wouldn't believe the people
who elect to leave for the same reasons, people who are deathly sick, people
who have to be wheeled out on a gurney." She further said, "The
'Affordable Care Act' is going to be a disaster for seniors. Yet, if you are in
this country illegally, and have no coverage, you will be covered in full."
This is not internet hype
folks, this is real, I just experienced it personally. Moving right
along, this gets worse.
Today I went to a (required)
follow up appointment with my Arizona Family Practitioner. Since my white count
was pretty high, the follow up was important. During the visit I shared the
experience at emergency, and that I had refused to be admitted. His response
was "I don't blame you at all, I would have done the same
thing". He went on to say that the colonoscopy and other procedures
are probably going to be dropped from coverage for those over 70.
I told him that I had heard
that the affordable care act would no longer pay for cancer treatment for those
76 and older, is that true? His understanding is that it is true.
The more I hear, and experience
the Affordable Care Act, the more I'm beginning to see that we seniors are
nothing more than an inconvenience, and the sooner they can get rid of us the
better off they'll be.
November is coming folks, we
can have an impact on this debacle by letting everyone in Congress know that
their responsibility is to the constituents, not the president and not the
lobbyists. We need to let them ALL know that they are in office to serve and to
look after the BEST INTERESTS of "we the people", their employers,
and not to become self serving bureaucrats who serve only out of greed. And if
they don't seem to understand this simple logic, we'll fire them.
On the mend, (signed)
REMEMBER: Demand your
hospital admission is for TREATMENT and NOT for OBSERVATION!
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