I am so angry that I have to keep reminding myself to
breathe. Just breathe.
There was a posting on Facebook that was about a person seen
in the emergency room. The article described all the – gasp – negative things about this person: a gold tooth, tattoos,
name brand jeans, smokes, etc. The “doctor” writing this post was angry about
having to provide care to this person who has MEDICAID!
Really? I am so tired of a person’s worth being tied to
things such as gold teeth, tattoos and Medicaid. That person was of no less
worth to God than the grandchild of the person who posted it – and by the way,
that grandchild was/is on Medicaid. It doesn’t matter – at least to me.
If we are going to talk about how broken the system is, then
let’s have this discussion. Is an emergency room physician who spends 5 minutes
with a patient, putting in 3 stitches really worth over $900? Or, how about the
physician who sees a patient in his office for a 10 minute appointment – and
spends 8 of those minutes catching up with a personal friend – then charges the
insurance company $800 for a follow-up visit? Or, the physician who sees a
person with a common “stomach” virus, and sends the patient on to the hospital
for a CT scan – because he has good insurance that will pay for it? Seriously –
and we think the problem is a person with Medicaid?
The problems with the system are not at the bottom – they
are at the top. The problems are with our legislators who are stuffing their pockets
with money – and have forgotten the poor that they are supposed to represent.
The problems are with lawyers and bankers on Wall Street, who have taken so
much that can never be recovered. The problems are the greedy, the
self-righteous, and the bigots.
The problem is not the poor.
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