The son of one of my neighbors had the misfortune of injuring his back while working in the landscaping business several years ago. X-rays showed that he was suffering from a herniated disc. Since his job did not afford the luxury of health insurance he paid a chiropractor several times a week for back adjustments in order to keep his job.
But, by last November he was no longer able to work and his chiropractor advised him that he would more than likely require back surgery. Without health insurance he had no choice but to make an appointment with the free clinic. A week prior to his scheduled appointment his back pain was so severe he had to visit the emergency room. I don’t have to tell anyone without insurance what is involved with being treated at an emergency room. He was lucky enough to be seen by a nurse practioner who gave him a shot of predisone but no x-rays; without insurance that would have to be done at the free clinic. The not so amusing part was the free clinic actually sent him back to the same hospital to have x-rays that he was told they couldn’t do.
He was also informed at the free clinic that before they could help him he would need to be in the “system” which would require him to apply for food stamps at social services. Sure enough, they were right, once in the “system” the free clinic made him an appointment with a surgeon who scheduled him for an MRI. Turns out that in addition to a herniated disc, he had a ruptured disc and excess bone overgrowth from arthritis that was pinching a nerve, all of which explained the severity of his pain.
But thanks to all the federal regulations regarding certain pain medications his new doctor at a local hospital, advised him to try tylenol for pain control. And, to make matters worse, if that were possible, before he would even be considered for surgery, he would be required to take a series of shots over a three month period. No job, no insurance, bad back, severe pain, if he wasn’t able to pay-out-of-pocket, he had to sign up for Charity Care.
After a series of three shots requiring slightly longer than the three months promised, still in severe pain, he was now having to use a cane to prevent him from falling. And still no surgery – they now wanted him to have a fourth injection because everyone knows that four is a magic number. When you’re unemployed and uninsured you do what you have to do. You end up making several appointments for that last shot which were moved, cancelled and rescheduled for what were more than likely patients not on Charity Care.
When he finally managed to see the doctor again he was informed that all the reschedules were due to the fact that the department that gave the shots was closed for renovations and no one had any idea where patients would be sent to have their procedures done so – he would have to make – another appointment.
While playing appointment roulete, having to use a cane, still without pain medication and without any idea of when or if he would ever be able to go back to work, he fell numerous times and severely damaged his knee.
Needing someone to drive him to his last shot appointment I had a chance to meet these doctors of mercy. Another new doctor, this one a pain specialist, explained that he couldn’t do anything about his damaged knee; he needed x-rays which of course would require another appointment with a different doctor; he still could not give him any pain medication and to add insult to injury, he had to be rescheduled for his last shot.
By way of explanation, the doctor said that they only had two rooms in which the procedure could be done and there were many doctors with many patients who need to use these two rooms. And making a bad situation worse, now all Charity Care, Medicare and Medicaid patients had been lumped into one group. In other words, it doesn’t matter if you have Medicare or Medicaid, you are in the same category as one who has no insurance.
The doctor also mentioned that with the FDA on their backs for writing prescriptions for certain pain medications, most doctors have all but quit writing them because they would like to keep their license to practice medicine. Since the feds haven’t been able to stop the illegal drug trade, they fapparently found it easier to stop the use of legal drugs by intimidating doctors not to prescribe them.
Talk about a roller coaster ride. It has certainly been one for this young man during the past year. All of this is especially hard to swallow when you consider that from 2009 through 2011, Health and Human Services paid out $29 million for Medicare Part D prescription drugs for illegal aliens while the Center for Medicare and Medicaid paid out another $91.6 million to health care providers to treat illegal aliens. Compassion for illegal aliens – the run-a-round for American citizens. Why am I surprised.
Had this American taxpayer actually injuried his back during the Bush years, he would have been given something for his pain, the surgery would have already taken place and he would be back working and paying taxes.
Welcome to Obamacare! You ain’t seen nothing yet. It will continually get worse.
When you find yourself in this situation, and you will, think of Obama and be sure to thank a democrat.
