A Pet Peeve of Mine

Subject: A Pet Peeve of Mine Wed 10 Nov 2010, 2:00 am

I was just reading through the net and came across a site that was running a poll about the Health Care today. The more I read the more I wished for the old days of health care in my state.
I am fortunate to have health insurance, Yes true I do have State Medicaid and while a lot of people out there tend to frown down upon those of us who have government paid insurance, it still exists. Not everyone can afford to pay the high premiums for insurance.
I am grateful that I have the insurance that I have.
I don't run to the doctor every time I have a simple cold or sniffle, bruise or cut. Instead I do what my mother taught me to do. Bandage a cut, Get plenty of rest when I have a cold, and just deal with a bruise. Be more careful next time and I won't bump my arm or leg resulting in that bruise.
Your probably wondering where I am going with this.

Well here it is, I remember a time when a person on Medicaid was required to have a referral to head to the ER. No referral, no payment. The patient was held responsible and acted responsible.
Have you been to the ER lately? More and more you see people sitting there that really have no business there. Since when did having a cold justify a trip to the ER? Talk about wasted money!
Just the other day, a friend of mine who by the way loves attention. Can't live without it, the more sympathy she gets the happier she is. Who isn't right?
Anyway, she bumped her leg over the weekend and of course gave herself a bruise on her thigh. Immediately she started limping around and pointing out her leg to anyone who would take the time to look at it. When the next day rolled around she was at the doctors office telling her doctor that her leg just started hurting for no reason. The doctor in turn immediately scheduled an ultra sound over at the hospital for her to check to see if maybe she had a blood clot in her leg.
The test result was negative and my friend, well she is now angry that the doctor not only won't schedule an MRI for her but she won't prescribe her anything for her pain either.

I understand the doctor wanting to be cautious about the patient, and wants to make sure there isn't anything seriously wrong because this pain started up out of the blue according to my friend. But I can't help to think of all that money wasted on a test that really wasn't necessary.
I just happen to think that if more people were held accountable less money would be wasted.
What do you think??

» A recent experience of mine