Survey: US Doctors Fear Healthcare Reform

[Monte_RCMS]

If you have legitimate need of an emergency room … then how can you say the care you get is less than ideal?

Makes no sense.

Maybe the care is less than you would get if you called ahead, got admitted normally, got two or three days of tests and x-rays, got several consults with top whizbang experts, and then got scheduled for surgery … ok.

But the ER is for emergencies.

You get mangled in a car accident, you don’t have time for two weeks of prep.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I disagree. What people face is a choice between physical ruin and economic ruin. While it is true that people will be given the lifesaving care they need regardless of their ability to pay, that doesn’t mean everything is fine. The person who’s life is saved will most likely face financial ruin as a result. Therefore, people who cannot afford treatment are at all times forced to choose between bankruptcy or the inconvenience of an untreated illness/injury.

People face financial ruin all the time, and not just for health reasons. Lose your job, get divorced, have a liability claim when you’re underinsured, incompetent management of your 401K. Discovery of toxic substances in your neighborhood. Lots of ways to lose everything, and lots of people do. Interestingly, the people who are the most constantly threatened with it are the elderly, and Obamacare promises (falsely in my opinion) to take a big chunk out of Medicare. The cheapest, most comprehensive program going, from the patient’s point of view, is Medicare Advantage, and the administration wants to get rid of that.