🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <334@unbc.edu>,
	lyndon@unbc.edu (Lyndon Nerenberg) writes:

> 
> No, it's not. If I require a proceedure *today* that's going to cost $700
> and I don't have that money, what happens? Is the doctor going to give me
> credit? At what cost?
> 
   Presumably if you have any sort of ongoing relationship with the doctor
or clinic they will give you credit. I'm sure emergency rooms at hospitals
will never turn you away ( for a legitimate emergency anyway ).

> And I don't agree with your point at all. Punishing tha majority for the
> sins of the few is as stupid as it has always been.
> 
  The whole question of credit cards started because someone suggested that
the doctors were being stupid to take credit cards and absorb the 2%
fee from the banks, I was merely pointing out that they've lost lots
of revenue to insurance fraud in the past and I don't think the 2% credit
card fee is a big issue to them.

  The real issue is not punishing the majority for the few who've been
fradulent, it's the doctors choosing not to participate in an insurance
plan where the insurance company ( the government ) has set rules which
allow it to refuse to pay for services after they've been delivered to the
client, and based not on client need but on the practitioners revenue. I'd
rather have a doctor who's opted out than have one who can't see me when I
need him because he's reached his annual revenue limit.

  I find it rather ironic that every year lately we've been willing to
fork over increasing amounts to ICBC for car insurance but find it necessary
to put a global cap on medical insurance payments. Why not do the same 
thing with ICBC - tell the body shops they're making too much money and
that after a certain amount ICBC will "claw back" the excess from them 
( but have a law that prevents them from recovering the difference directly
from the customer ).

> It's ironic that while parts of the U.S. are making some serious noises
> about adopting some form of the Canadian medical insurance system, we
> in Canada are moving closer and closer to the American system.
> 

  I think it's a real tragedy, and the beginning of the end for the medical
system we've known. But I think the government has to carry the majority
of the blame for the current situation. They could accept that the 
people of BC, for whatever reason, require $X worth of health care and 
pay for it by raising taxes or cutting other programs, or they could take
a hard look at how much of that $X is not required by the clients and 
modify the plan to no longer pay for unnecessary services, but they've
chosen the "political" route of making the service providers the
scapegoats in their budget balancing exercise. This is a dishonest approach
to the problem and I had hoped for better things from this government.

-- 
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Malcolm Dunnett    Malaspina College         Email: dunnett@mala.bc.ca
Computer Services  Nanaimo, B.C. CANADA        Tel: (604)755-8738