Obamacare Won't Make Care For PreX Easier

I have had no few number of people tell me, “Something must be done for people with preexisting health conditions who are unable to receive care.” My response (after having spent many years as an owner of an insurance agency) is always the same. “There is no scenario under the sun in which people cannot find care even if they cannot afford it.”

It is a specious rhetoric employed by those who are unaware and by those who have personal agendas to argue that people with preexisting illnesses cannot receive care. The following is an email from a good friend who is a doctor at one of the nation’s leading hospitals. It is presented unedited with only the hospital name being redacted to protect the privacy of the patient referenced. My friend writes:

“Yesterday, I took care of a patient that caused me to reflect on obamacare.

“This lady was in her late 30s, suffering multiple medical and surgical problems, had few veins (we spent nearly an hour placing an IV in her, a procedure that usually takes about one minute. In medical slang, we refer to such patients as ‘high maintenance.’

“When obama, et al. refer to “‘preexisting conditions,'” they usually refer to patients with a single or a few conditions; not even close for this unfortunate woman. No way any clear thinking insurer, or private doctor, would take this lady on — they would lose money. Oh, perhaps these types of patients are unusual enough that they could be absorbed by the system — and the irony of the obama care debate is that they are THEY ARE BEING CARED FOR. [Name redacted] hospital takes care of these “‘high maintenance'” patients that no private doctor would EVER want.

“If this lady or her family believes she will a “‘private doctor'” under obamacare, she is sorely mistaken.

“An additional irony is that organizations like [Name Redaction] (Parkland in Dallas comes to mind) have spent many years developing clinics for just such patients — and these clinics may be weakened under obamacare.

“Of course, the opposite may occur; additional funds may be directed toward “‘public hospitals'” — patients will still have access to clinics, but it WILL NOT BE IN THE COMFORT OF A PRIVATE DOCTOR’S OFFICE.”

Herein lies the truth. Another hospital I am personally familiar with doesn’t even ask for payment or ability to pay when you are seen in their emergency room. The idea that obamacare will help people with preexisting conditions receive treatment is not only a red herring but my thoughts are that obamacare will complicate things for persons with preexisting conditions. The idea held by those with preexisting conditions that they will be able to just waltz into any old doctor’s office they choose and receive care is a pure canard and misrepresentation of fact pursuant to what obamacare will provide for those with same.

I got out of my insurance business in 2002, and I can tell you, at that time people were not denied treatment at emergency rooms or at many of the clinics because they were unable to pay. I acknowledge that visiting a private doctor is another modality altogether. But for those with pernicious agendas it is easier to prostitute the idea of there being no availability of treatment. And, of course, they are always able to point to anecdotal evidences and portray them as recurring facts.

As mentioned, my friend who wrote me the above email is one of the finest doctors at one of the finest hospitals in the land. He and I have talked many times about the crime being perpetrated against the American people by obamacare. But, as I tell him, it’s not just Obama and the politicians — it is the people who think they are going to get something for nothing. What they miss is that satan never gives something away for free. The price for accepting his gifts is cruel and exacting.

But the thought of something for nothing blinds many otherwise reasoned persons. That’s too bad, because if we are unable to prevent it from being fully implemented the cost to the individual for obamacare will be far greater than any cost that can as yet be imagined.

I know that I will receive mail sharing examples of not being able to be treated for preexisting illnesses. But there is a big difference between not being able to see a private doctor and not receiving treatment. And for the prevaricator-in-chief who promised countless times that we would be able to keep our current plans if we liked them — when he knew it was a lie — ask yourself what one program the federal government has become involved in or came up with that has accomplished anything more than cost overruns and another level of bureaucracy from the post office to social security. And then ask yourself, “What makes anyone think obamacare is nothing more than lies and more of the same?”