My Back and Health Care

I have had chronic back pain for the past 15 years. My doctor diagnosed it as “butt pain,” which is funny on its face, but not so much as the condition continued to worsen. Over the past 6 months, I have developed substantial neuropathy in feet and legs, as well as a major step up in the pain in my lower spine. Those who have watched me walk will notice a definite hitch in my gitalong.

Getting necessary treatment has been less than stellar, peppered with substantial delays in doctor’s appointments, misfiling of insurance forms, name swapping on a needed injection for a bone scan, dual appointments made at different facilities for the same procedures, receptionists making appointments with the wrong person in the doctor’s office, and cavalier attitudes by the one individual who ended up with my file through no fault of my own and obviously couldn’t be bothered. This individual was rude, uncaring, and ought not to be in the medical profession in any capacity.

I reached the end today, and called the doctor’s office, asked the Gestapo receptionist for the proper person to call me back, and then made my feelings known as only I can do when he did. At least I got a name for what my problem is and learned about some alternative treatments. Had I not been able to reach the proper person, I was ready to drive up to the office, pick up my file, and head to someone else. We are lucky to live in a society where our system is set up so that accountability for medical bad behavior benefits the patient.

The individual I finally reached was actually very helpful. When I hung up, it struck me that more likely than not, if this were 3 years from now, I would not be able to do what I did today.

This is what we will lose when the government starts to dictate health care, no matter what the form. The accountability won’t be to the patient, it will be to the government and its attendant bureaucracy. We will be getting what the government thinks we should get, not more and no less.

In the articles that I have listed on my web site, you will find an one entitled “Your Will Lose Your Private Health Insurance.” It is the single best article I have read about the consequences of the health care “reform” efforts going through the House and Senate right now.
Read it. Understand it. And know that if this sort of system is in place, I would still not know the name of my condition, or what to do for it.

The kind of treatment I got for my back will the kind of treatment we will all get for everything else, and there will be no recourse but to sue the government. And good luck with that.