Wal-Mart Wins.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Jan 22 2007, 05:59 PM) [snapback]379171[/snapback]</div>

And I have family in the US who have been bankrupted by their medical bills.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Jan 22 2007, 04:59 PM) [snapback]379171[/snapback]</div>

Doctor sent request in April.

I got the MRI middle of July.

14 weeks.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Jan 22 2007, 05:44 PM) [snapback]379190[/snapback]</div>

Hospitals dont do altruistic pro bono work.They simply shift the cost onto everyone elses bill.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Jan 22 2007, 06:44 PM) [snapback]379190[/snapback]</div>

With all due respect, Dave, I think you're a little out of touch with what is reality for far too many people. Families really do go bankrupt trying to pay astronomical health bills, and many delay or go without medical care because they simply can't afford it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Jan 22 2007, 08:38 AM) [snapback]378991[/snapback]</div>

That comment makes me cringe......

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(F8L @ Jan 22 2007, 10:38 PM) [snapback]379312[/snapback]</div>

Me too. I'd like to see some evidence myself of that "spreading wealth" claim. From what I've read, Wal Mart is increasing the number of sweatshops and driving wages lower, both home and overseas.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-walm...1,2186851.story

 

[rant on]
you wanna talk about wait times? how about 3 months for a conclusive biopsy find out whether i had a benign or malignant tumor with a very unfavorable family history? here in good ol' america, berman. right here in the presence of one of the world's best hospitals. did i get sent to that hospital? nope, not until all the cheaper clinics and their cheaper methods had gone and f#$%ed up did they book me for a surgeon over there.
nevermind that those months of waiting could have made a real difference in treeatment had it been a serious malignancy.

you wanna talk about the costs? in six months DH and i spent a significant percentage of our annual income on medical expenses. not including insurance. our life savings? gone. in six months. and we still have bills to pay. we're still limping financially, even though the worst of it is over. don't give me this bullshit about saving lives and not money, because it ain't true. i just LIVED it.
[/rant]

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Jan 23 2007, 09:47 AM) [snapback]379489[/snapback]</div>

I guess you only treat rich SOB's then, huh? Do you actually spend enough of your time with the patients to know what their financial status is? It's very easy for someone to look like they're well off - they can be well groomed, dress in nice clothes, drive a Prius, hold a conversation like an educated man or woman - and yet be living literally paycheck to paycheck. Like in Galaxee's situation, a family that was doing well for itself, having accumulated a savings, working hard, and pretty much living the good life, can see it all ripped away from them in an instant.

If Galaxee's case isn't enough for you, i can give you another one. about 5 months ago, one of my fraternity brothers, hardly more than a kid having just turned 21, got sick. He thought "it's only the flu"... a few days later after not getting any better, he went to the hospital (University Hospitals in Cleveland) and was turned away - apparently he wasn't sick enough. That afternoon his parents drove up to take him home to look after him. That evening, he started coughing up blood and was rushed to the local emergency room, and from there life flighted to The Cleveland Clinic. over the course of the past 5 months, he hasn't left the hospital. The hospital bills have been climbing and climbing the entire time... Heart lung machine? we'll add it to the bill. Left and right ventricular assist devices? we'll add it to the bill. Emergency surgery 3 times? we'll add it to the bill. Heart transplant? we'll add it to the bill. 5 months in a hospital bed? we'll add it to the bill. And for the record, there was nothing wrong with him prior to this incident - he merely caught a virus that, after inducing flu-like symptoms jumped and infected the lining of his heart.

What types of cases do you see, berman? Are they emergencies, or life threatening? do you perform expensive procedures? Or are you just a normal family physician that only charges a couple hundred bucks to see a patient? The families that have their savings wiped out aren't the ones that only see the doctor for routine checkups and the like - they're the ones that have something horrible go wrong in their lives, and need special treatment and attention.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Jan 23 2007, 10:12 AM) [snapback]379513[/snapback]</div>

Laughable. Given that you were saying no one you treat would be wiped out financially from medical bills, i think it was a fair assumption.

Go ahead, read the rest of the post... it'll help tell you how the other half of us lives.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Jan 22 2007, 02:48 PM) [snapback]379094[/snapback]</div>

Judging from the overwelming replies regarding the phone tapping, I think your right on the money with this statement......

 

I only have one bit of advice:

...appropriately shield any assets you might have.

h34r:



<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Jan 23 2007, 09:59 AM) [snapback]379439[/snapback]</div>

I just wanted to take a moment and point this out.

We all may not agree with berman every now and then, and even go off on him for this or that (I know I have :lol: ), but like the war in Iraq, only negative crap makes the news...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(eagle33199 @ Jan 23 2007, 11:14 AM) [snapback]379515[/snapback]</div>

Probably doesn't seen anyone unless they HAVE INSURANCE.

That doesn't address the problem of the many WORKING people that had NO INSURANCE.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Jan 23 2007, 10:51 AM) [snapback]379543[/snapback]</div>

Sorry if you took offense. truly i am. But you were the one that started with the holier than thou BS when you were saying people don't get financially wiped out from medical bills.

And believe me, i know plenty of good doctors and people currently working their way through med school - they're pretty much the same as every one else, some rich, some poor, etc... The "other half" i was referring to are those that see the current state of affairs in the medical profession for what it is - a way to fleece the public when their only choices are hospital or death. It's obvious that you see it from a very different perspective - that of the medical professional who is out there helping people every day. Two very different perspectives which are both valid... but you can't ignore one just because you only see the other.

Believe it or not, Berman, i work in the medical field. I design life saving devices that you might even be using in your practice. I also take my two weeks of vacation each year (yes, i do take them), fly to Florida (what lovely sun!) and volunteer at Camp Boggy Creek - a summer camp for terminally ill children. The children attend for free. Everyone working there are volunteers. And every year i help to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the camp (and its sister camps through the Hole in the Wall Gang Foundation) through my fraternity. When i'm not doing that, i work a full 40 hour work week and volunteer anywhere from 20-40 hours a week mentoring at a local high school. Thats in addition to my social life and what sleep i have.

Like you typically do, you selectively read my post and only pulled out what you wanted to read - and that small portion (it was literally only one sentence) implied any sort of judgment. the rest of the post asked very valid questions - what type of practice you have, the types of cases you see, etc - in an effort to understand your point of view.

Now get off your god damn high horse and actually take a minute to understand what other people are saying.