Stop feeding Frankenstein’s monster
I am a 84-year-old retired child psychiatrist. My Rumney solo practice in early 2000 closed after three years, overburdened by private for-profit health insurance administrative bureaucracy.
Then, for professional survival, remedy was as private contractor to area mental health agencies. Now, that survival move is comparable to the current switching of solo practitioners joining group entities such as health clinics or hospitals. This was caused by health insurance rising cost with less coverage and intensifying regulations. The result is shrinking number of primary care providers, the first proactive approach identify early signs of diseases to reduce the progression to expensive long-term costs.
Sharing my experience on limited network: In September 2019, I was struck by acute onset of diplopia, needing emergency hospital admission. The ordered brain MRI by the hospital was canceled because the radiology company it contracted was not in the network of the insurance I carried. This required transporting me to DHMC to get this done. That delay could have dire consequence if findings required immediate intervention.
Traditional Medicare’s numerous legislative changes and “reforms” created a fragmented and costly Frankenstein health care monster. Instead of doing away with this monster, the U.S. continues to feed/spend significantly more, despite ranking last in overall performance. The U.S. has the resources to provide its citizens with patient-centered, high-quality, universal health coverage as in Medicare For All already in Congress, by modernizing and expanding traditional Medicare.
Let’s make this happen by urging our legislators to support Medicare For All.