I have come to the conclusion that if you need health care and can't get it any other way, (i.e., you have no insurance, you have no money, you have no credit cards....) you go to a small town or country doctor. Many people have caught on to this. I don't know quite how... maybe it is word of mouth from their country cousins. All I know is that the small rural practice where I work has recently been flooded with new patients -- from the nearby big city.
It struck me as odd from the beginning. The nearby big city is full of health care providers of every ilk and specialty. They have several large hospitals to which they may refer extremely ill patients. They have excellent reputations (well, some of them, anyway.) It blew my mind to see a patient with several serious, non-routine diagnoses in my office recently. I am not even a doctor, I am a nurse practitioner. Not to belittle my expertise in any way, but hey, I know my limits! The woman listed the names of her specialists for her various conditions. I sat there bemused, and finally asked her, "Why did you come here? You were getting the best of care." Her answer? Money, of course. She had lost her insurance when she was laid off from her job. She couldn't afford the specialists' fees. She couldn't afford her medications. She had heard that we would see patients on a sliding fee basis, and that we would help them get free medicine.
So I got out my books, and with her knowledge of her own condition, what I was able to look up, and her list of her current meds, we were able to map out a care plan for her. She was stable on her meds. I had forms from the companies that made them so that we could apply for free or reduced cost medicines. I did a physical exam and documented her current condition so we could be alert for changes. I looked up what labs to order and ordered them.
She fully understands that I have no expertise in her conditions. I fully understand that she is stuck with me because her financial situation won't pay for the specialists she needs. Perhaps I should refuse to take on the care of a patient so complex, but surely I am better than nothing.
But I deeply resent out current system in which patients must utilize care that is less than optimal. Yes, I'll do my best for her. But she deserves better.
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And maybe she'll benefit from having a health care provider who actually gives a damn.
The Republicans have to go.
Can I get an a-MEN!
The Republicans will be going, and what's so damned funny is that their own arrogance is going to lead them inevitably over the cliff. I mean, I suppose Karl Rove is a smart little cookie for getting them this far, but they seem to have lost all sense of boundaries and decency since the 2004 election.
Bush and his crapping-on-the-Constitution criminal cronies are soon to have a one way ticket to Gitmo (the torture chamber they refuse to shut down). What hilarity! What irony!
Watch the news for coverage of the Downing Street Memo hearings today. John Conyers is Da Man! He's presenting over 500,000 signatures to Bush, demanding an explanation for the revelations in those minutes. Of course, the mainstream media most likely ain't gonna cover it, but read about it online if you can. Thank God, Conyers is a bulldog, and even if the media doesn't cover it, he's going to keep pressing it until they do. Then let's sit back and enjoy the show.
Okay, end of political rant. Conifera, I won't be offended in the least if you delete this. God knows this evil gubmint is probably keeping lists. I take full and sole responsibility for my Bush-hate! ;)
I just wanted to add that MY signature is one of those 500,000. :)
Bless your activist heart! Did I say John Conyers was Da Man? You Da Man! ;)
I wonder what Conifera thinks of us taking over her blog like this? She's probably none too happy...
Conraq is Da Man, and I keep expecting her to jump in and join the fray. :)
Conifera is DELIGHTED to have this blog taken over by people of like minds! Where I live, even the people who are suffering at the bloody hands of the current administration still cling to the illusion that it is honorable. thank you, thank you, for reminding me that the whole world doesn't think like rural Georgia!
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