I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when I got this check in the mail yesterday. Laugh, because I got the same check last year, same amount, same reason. Cry, because it is a symptom of how broken and inefficient medical care in our country is.
To back up, last year the doc ran some blood tests as part of my physical–the standard ones, glucose, fats, HDLs and LDLs, the whole alphabet. Then I got a bill for $38, which I questioned, because under ObamaCare physicals are supposed to be at no charge. Except, the clinic told me, these tests aren’t covered. Really? The doc has been doing the same tests for years, and they were always covered. I call the hospital where the tests had been done, same story, Called the insurance company and after speaking to 3 people found someone who said, “Oops, we made a mistake.” A $38 check arrived 4 months later (I had paid the (admittedly trivial) charge before, so I would not be hunted down in the wilderness fleeing debt collectors.)
That was last year. This year, same checkup, same blood tests, same $38 bill. Called the same people, this time noting that we had been on this merry-go round the year before. Discussions with the insurance people were more difficult, more uncertain, so I wrote off the $38. Until this arrived in the mail yesterday.
In total I spoke to five people, one at the clinic, one at the hospital, three at the insurance company–let’s assume conservatively that for each one I spoke to there was a person in the back doing something on a screen–that’s ten people–amounting to what must be hundreds of dollars in manpower to adjudicate a trivial charge.
As is widely known, the US spends double the cost per person in health care of the OECD and for that is ranked in piddling middle of all nations for health outcomes. I am sure there are lots of reasons, but this check fiasco is one: We waste way too much money on overhead. Back in the day, I would go to my regular doc for minor ailments–cut out an ingrown toenail, stitch up an incision arising from a poor choice of tools when fixing my bike. Now, those visits require a specialist, accompanied by reams of electronic paperwork, all fiddled into the screen by a person. What once took one person fifteen minutes now takes a dozen people, several hours, and maybe thousands of dollars in overhead manpower.
It’s a big problem and I don’t have all the answers. But a start would be getting rid of these middlemen. Blood tests are covered, just do them and pay them and dispense with the nonsense.
Any bets on how big the check will be next year?
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