Visit to the Doctor’s Office
Last Friday morning my wife and I went to see a doctor at the local clinic in Apple Valley, Minnesota. My left eye was somewhat irritated and swollen. For the past couple weeks my left eye has been bothering me and last Wednesday my oldest granddaughter, who we have not seen in a couple weeks, stayed with us overnight. She was taking medicine for pink eye.
Upon arrival at the clinic I had to check in to see a physician. The receptionist asked if I would like to see a specific doctor. I told her that any physician would do. I did not feel I needed to see a specialist for my irritated eye at that point. Handed my driver license, insurance card and a $20 bill for co pay fee. Got my documents and a receipt back. We were then asked to wait until called.
Around the suggested time for the appointment (09:00 AM) I was called in. A nurse escorted us to a small examination room. The nurse took my vitals and asked me for the reason I wished to see a doctor. After she got all the information the nurse told us to wait for the physician. It would be a few minutes. Considering that it was a Friday before a long weekend (Labor Day) the 45-minute wait was kind of expected.
The physician that we saw was in his mid sixties. A very pleasant individual. Chatted about what brought us to see him. Explained the situation and after an examination of ears and eyes he figured out that some drops with an antibiotic would do the trick. He handed me a prescription and immediately started chatting about healthcare reform. I mentioned that two of my sisters are schooled as physicians. It appears that my statement made him comfortable and opened up somewhat.
The analogy that he used was rather interesting but perhaps not quite correct or complete. When he was young he bought a Chevy car for about $2,000 US dollars. Today he has to pay for a much better and improved Chevrolet automobile around $30,000 dollars. No one has much to say about the price increase in a car, why should people complain about healthcare. My wife and I were not in the mood to take up a healthcare discussing that early in the morning but in general we agreed with the statement. Some of the costs associated with healthcare are valid but many are due to concessions made by politicians to health insurance companies, law firms and medical and pharmaceutical companies.
The point I wish to make is that it appears that many physicians are not in agreement with the health plan proposed by Mr. Obama. It appears they believe it will also affect their source of income. I am not sure it would. It all depends on how reform is done. It is natural for people to react when threatened.
When thinking about healthcare reform Mr. Obama needs to address the important issue of special interest companies that deal with healthcare. They are the middlemen who make huge amounts of profits and do not deliver services. The issue with them is that they have lobbyists that control a vast majority of politicians.
At this point it appears that according to different polls most Naïve Americans are not satisfied with the way Mr. Obama is handling healthcare or any other topic. So much for the promise of CHANGE.
