My sister is a nurse working in the emergancy room. She talks about drug addicts that will come in regularly without a penny demanding drugs or "medication" for their "pains" that could easily be illegitamate, things like-they have trouble breathing. The doctors cannot refuse them by law.
The worst is, they are so demanding and they get all this stuff for minor, and in some cases, easily non-existent problems, and they don't even pay for it. She gets people that have made themselves, who live in the streets when they coould get a job if they wanted, or people who could lose major weight by just eating more healthy and less, but instead, they rely on the hospitals to clean them up,give them a bed, food and money.
We are spending so much money on these lazy people/drug addicts, that there is little left for good honest people who bought insurance for legitamate reasons, but who are not getting the care they deserve.
Why is this the way it is?
2007-09-01 06:19:09 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Other - Politics & Government
Thank the liberals in the US government. There is a law that states that hospital emergency rooms cannot turn away patients. Unfortunately, this is one of the many unfunded laws. There is no reimbursement from the government.
Contact your senators and representatives to tell them you think the law should be changed. And good luck.
2007-09-01 06:27:26 · answer #1 · answered by regerugged 7 · 4⤊ 3⤋
I don't know where your sister works, but most hospitals are very good at identifying drug-seekers and they don't give them drugs or money. I have friends who work on ambulances and in the ER, and it's far from easy to just waltz in and pick up a bunch of free vicodin, or whatever. Anybody who gets "demanding" is arrested and taken to jail.
The rest of your argument raises more questions. Why should we need public money to help those "good honest people who bought insurance for legitamate reasons"? Isn't the insurance they paid for supposd to cover their medical bills? if it doesn't, the problem is not with the derelicts from the street, but with the insurance companies that are allowed to collect premiums and then refuse treatments.
There ARE huge cracks in America's medical system, but in my area, they aren't the ones you mention. I know a guy who recently came down with a horrible gastrointestinal infection and required emergency surgery. After he got out of the hospital, he got the bill for $79,000 dollars, and he is uninsured. He went and negotiated with the hospital, and got his bill lowered to $19,000. This says to me that patients are regularly charged FOUR times the actual costs of their treatment. It is also estimated that somewhat over 30% of insurance premiums go to administrative costs (like executive salaries, sales bonuses, lawyers to fight against approving your claims...) an amount approaching $600 BILLION per year.
Yeah, we have problems, but blaming the poor, the homeless, and the addicts isn't going to get you anywhere near the main problem.
We haven't even started talking about the multimillion dollar lawsuits for "pain and suffering" that figure into our collective medical costs.....
2007-09-01 06:38:07 · answer #2 · answered by oimwoomwio 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
while i agree that this is a huge problem i also think that too many docters jump to the conclusion that the person is a drug seeker...my husband had a heart attack last week the emt's had to give him 2 nitros for him to start to get better...when he got to the er the doc offered him pain pills saying he didn't think there was anything wrong with his heart because of his age..my husband TuRNEd DOWN the pain meds saying he didn't need them...then the doc took his blood made him wait 3 hours and said his blood came back perfectly fine (despite numerous other blood test given by his docter saying he had very high cholesterol) according to the er doc it was fine...gave my husband a script for pain pills (AGIAN AFTER MY HUSBAND TOLD HIM THERE WAS NOOOOOO NEED FOR PAIN PILLS) and sent him home
what happens 2 days later he had another heart attack because he was handed pills and shoved out the door
the er offered him no treatments only the emt's treated him..the er just assumed he was looking for drugs and gave him some and shoved him out the door
ok rant over
2007-09-01 06:39:33 · answer #3 · answered by little78lucky 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
how many "good honest people" actually go with out health care. I am an "Average" American, and I have never once not gotten the health care that I deserve. I have a job that pays half my insurance, I pay the rest. who are the people that are getting turned away for health care. I am beginning to wonder if there really is a problem???
2007-09-01 06:33:48 · answer #4 · answered by forjj 5 · 1⤊ 2⤋
there are flaws in every system. A bigger concern should be insurance companies deciding what medical care is allowed and whether they feel like paying for it.
2007-09-01 06:43:17 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
This would only get worse with socialized medicine. My brother in law is an ER doc and he tells the same stories. They deal with them the best they know how.
2007-09-01 06:21:55 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
It's a moral imperative of an ethical society to care for the aged and infirm
2007-09-01 06:24:25 · answer #7 · answered by $andman 6 · 3⤊ 2⤋
You mean United Statesian not America's
America = Continent with 37 nations
United States = One of 37 American nations
NOT the same thing.
2007-09-01 06:22:44 · answer #8 · answered by r1b1c* 7 · 1⤊ 4⤋
Because thanks to liberals and poor advocates the hospitals have to treat them by alw. Now imagine what would happen if we had to cover 45 million more people with Universal Healthcare. Guess who the money would come from in taxes. People lilke your sister and now imagine her woeking conditions. Been to Cuba, seen how it works, trust me it doesn't.
2007-09-01 06:26:25 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 4⤋
don't worry, Hillary will fix all that.
2007-09-01 10:40:32 · answer #10 · answered by nebula 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋