The Bureaucracy of Health Care

I visited the hospital Friday for what I thought would be a cardiac procedure to shock my heart back into normal rhythm; a cardioversion.

The short story is that I got there and my heart was in normal sinus rhythm, so nor procedure. Does this mean I'm cured? No, just that at 11:45 a.m. my heart was not acting up as it had been for two weeks previously.

But on to the subject. I arrived at 11 a.m. for a procedure scheduled for 1:30 p.m. The lady on the phone suggested getting there 15 minutes early to register. There's registration for the hospital then registration and prep in the cardio unit. A suggested wait time of 2.75 hours.

I'm not complaining, but what happens if government health care goes through? Do I have to arrive on Tuesday for the Friday afternoon procedure, waiting in chairs while they check with the IRS, HCFA (the Health Care Financing Agency), Medicaid II and my second grade teacher to check off all the boxes that need to be on the form?

Everyone who believes that government-run health care will make things better obviously has not been to a hospital or doctor's office recently.

On Demand Health Insurance

Remember the coin-operated flight insurance machines you used to find in airport terminals?

You might find something similar soon in hospital emergency rooms.

Under the Health-Care reform plan now being pushed through the U.S. Senate, insurance companies will be required to cover individuals on-demand with no pre-existing conditions. Sounds like a great concept for those who need insurance.

But it just means that young and healthy Americans who currently don't have health insurance coverage can just wait to purchase until they need coverage.

But wait, the government health insurance proponents say, if they are not covered they will have to pay a fine. The fine, estimated at $2,000 a year, is still less than the cost of any current health coverage plan.

So what's to stop someone from waiting until they need the insurance to just pay the fine and buy the insurance when catastrophic coverage is needed?

After a car wreck just have the EMTs wheel you past the health insurance kiosk in the ER where you swipe your card and you are covered for the hundreds of thousands of dollars of medical procedures you are about to undergo.

That can’t possibly drive up the cost of health insurance to everyone else can it?