Healthcare Reform?

On a serious note, yesterday I had an elderly couple in my practice.  He, in his late 70's, had fallen off a ladder while trying to paint his house about 10 days ago.  He broke his shoulder and injured his ankle.  This, on top of the fact he's slender, an insulin dependent diabetic, has a bad heart, and his wife is confused with deteriorating mental status.  His mind is not much better.  But they drive and they live independently. Talking with them for about 10 or 15 minutes it seemed obvious that a.) he needs care for his medical conditions and b.) they are probably not entirely safe to be living independently. So, what do they do?

His health insurance, Medicare and VA, has recently been changed so he can no longer see a local doctor for his medical care. She has to drive him an hour to be seen at the VA hospital where, she tells me, they wait 4 hours to be seen by a doctor for 1 minute prior to having someone come in, draw his blood, and send them on their way.  When you talk with them you realize they don't know anything that is going on with his medical care, his swollen ankles, his heart stents, his diabetes, and they're lost and scared.

The man's broken shoulder will heal uneventfully although he will wait 8 to 12 weeks and he may require some physical therapy.  The rest of his story makes no sense from the perspective of providing care.

This is not an isolated case by any stretch.  I have taken care of a widow who couldn't afford a $5.00 brace because of medical costs and the bankruptcy she endured with her late husband's medical expenses.  She and her husband had been well to do but now, after medical expenses stripped her of all financial resources, her budget had no room for a $5.00 discretionary expense. I have taken care of a blind woman in her eighties who had to incur a $20,000-plus personal expense nursing home bill because she could not return home with a broken leg and needed care for 60 days.  Not covered. She was fortunate to have the resources to cover the cost.

Everyone knows the cost of healthcare is overburdening our economy.  Everyone knows the senior population is responsible for a large part of this expense.  Nobody agrees on what to do.

I'm not going to float my plan for reform just yet.  But each of us needs to recognize that the over 65 population is the fastest growing in the U.S.  Creating a means of providing compassionate care for this population has got to become a priority.  In the face of obscene national debt there is a strong current of thrift and budget "reform."  You would do well to always keep this in mind: Under the present system, the legislators making the decisions about your future care will never have to worry about the care they themselves one day receive.  They retire to a higher standard than most of us can ever imagine.