SENIORS ON MEDICARE
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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