Jna. 12, 2015

A caring America

 

*You need to read this item a friend sent to me today!*

 

*I HAVE NOT verified these coverage issues myself as yet, but I am not

surprised to hear they exist.  Needless to say I will be checking into this

myself and I highly recommend you do as well…*

 

I am more than happy to forward this one on and hope that everyone else

keeps it going and going.  This is outrageous!!!  Glad to know the

information he gave us so far.  Probably more to learn than we care to hear

since there doesn't seem to be much we can do about it except what he says.

 

Letter from a senior gentleman in Mesa, Arizona:

 

Dear Family, Friends, Neighbors, and former Classmates, I just found myself

in the middle of a medical situation that made it very clear that "the

Affordable Care Act" is  neither affordable, nor do they care.

 

I'll go back about seven years ago to a fairly radical prostate surgery

that I underwent. The Urologist (a personal Friend) who performed the

surgery was very concerned that it was cancer, though I wasn't told this

until the lab

report revealed it was benign.

 

Since that procedure, I have experienced numerous urinary tract infections,

UTI's. Since I had never had a "UTI" prior to the prostate surgery, I

assumed that it is one of the side effects from surgery, an assumption

since confirmed by my Family Doctor.

 

The weekend of March 8-9, I was experiencing all the symptoms of another

bout of UTI. By Mondayafternoon the infection had hit with full force.

Knowing that all I needed was an antibiotic, I went to an Urgent Care

Center in Mesa, AZ, to provide a specimen a requirement for getting the

prescription.

 

After waiting 45 minutes to see the Doctor, I started getting very nauseous

and light headed.

 

I went to the Receptionist to ask where the bathroom was, as I felt that I

was going to throw up. I was told that  I would have to wait for the Doctor

because I would have to leave a specimen and they didn't want me in the

bathroom without first seeing him.

 

That was when the lights went out. My next awareness was that of finding

myself on the floor (in the waiting  room) having violent dry heaves, and

very  confused. At this point, I tried to stand up but couldn't make it, and

they made it very clear they weren't going to let me get up until the

ambulance got there. By the way, when you're waiting to see the Doctor and

you pass out, you get very prompt attention.

 

Now, "the rest of the story", and the reason for sending this to so many of

you.

 

I was taken to the nearest hospital, to emergency. Once there, I was

transported to an emergency examination room. Once I had removed my clothes

and donned one of those lovely hospital gowns, I finally got to see a

Doctor.  I asked "what is going on? I'm just having a UTI. Just get me the

proper medication and let me go  home." He told me that my symptoms

presented the possibility of sepsis, a potentially deadly migration of

toxins, and that they needed to run several tests to determine how far the

infection had migrated.

 

For the next 3 hours I was subjected to several tests, blood draws, EKG's,

and demands for specimens. At about 7:30 the nurse came back to my room to

inform me that one of the tests takes 1- 2 days to complete. I asked if

they (the results) could be emailed, at which point she informed me that I

wouldn't need them emailed because I

wasn't going anywhere. I started arguing with her, but was told, "If you

don't start behaving, I'll start taking your

temperature rectally," at which point I became a perfect gentleman. I did

tell her I wanted to see the doctor because I had no intention of staying

overnight.

 

Now, this is what I want each of you to understand. Please read these next

sentences carefully. The doctor finally came in to inform me that he was

going to admit me. I said, "Are you admitting me for treatment or for

observation?"  He told me that I would be admitted for observation. I said,

"Doctor, correct me if I'm wrong, but if you admit me for observation, my

Medicare will not pay anything. This due to the Affordable Care Act."

 

He said, “That’s right, it won't."

 

I then grabbed for my bag of clothing and said, "Then I'm going home." He

said you're really too sick to be going  home, but I  understand your

position. This health program is going to hit seniors especially hard.

 

The doctor then left the room and I started getting dressed. I was just

getting ready to put my shoes on when another doctor (the closer) came into

the room. He saw me dressed and said, "Where do you think you are going?" I

simply said "I'm going home." To which he replied, quite vociferously, "No

you aren't. I said, "Doc, you and I both know that under the "Affordable

Care Act" anyone on Medicare who is admitted to a hospital for observation

will be responsible for the bill. Medicare won't pay a cent."

 

At which point he nodded in affirmation. I said, "You will either admit me

for a specific treatment or you won't admit me." Realizing he wasn't going

to win this one, he said he would prepare my release papers.  A few minutes

later, the discharge nurse came to my room to have me sign the necessary

papers, relieving them from any responsibility. I told her I wasn't trying

to be obstinate, but I wasn't going to be burdened with the full

(financial) responsibility for my hospital stay.

 

After making sure the door was closed, she said, "I don't blame you at all,

I would do the same thing."  She went on to say, "You wouldn't believe the

people who elect to leave for the same reasons, people who are deathly

 sick, people who have to be wheeled out on a gurney." She further said,

"The 'Affordable Care Act' is going to be a disaster for seniors. Yet, if

you are in this country illegally, and have no coverage, you will be

covered in full."

 

This is not internet hype folks, this is real. I just experienced it

personally. Moving right along, this gets worse.

 

Today I went to a (required) follow up appointment with my Arizona Family

Practitioner. Since my white count as pretty high, the follow up was

important. During the visit, I shared the experience at emergency, and that

I had refused to be admitted. His response was, "I don't blame you at all,

I would have done the same thing." He went

On to say that the colonoscopy and other procedures are probably going to

be dropped from coverage for those over 70."

 

I told him that I had heard that the "Affordable Care Act" would no longer

pay for cancer treatment for those 76 and older, is that true? His

understanding is that it is true. The more I hear, and experience the

Affordable Care Act, the more I'm beginning to see that we seniors are

nothing more than an inconvenience, and the sooner they can get rid of us

the better off they'll be.

 

We can have an impact on this debacle by letting everyone in Congress know

that their responsibility is to the

constituents, not the president and not the lobbyists. We need to let them

ALL know that they are in office to serve and to look after the BEST

INTERESTS of "we the people," their employers, and not to become self

serving

bureaucrats who serve only out of greed. And if they don't seem to

understand this simple logic, we'll fire

them.

 

REMEMBER:

 

Demand your hospital admission is for TREATMENT************************************************************************REKMEMBER THIS

and NOT for OBSERVATION!

 

SEND THIS TO EVERY SENIOR AND ALL MILITARY (ACTIVE OR VET) AND LET THEM

KNOW THIS IS HOW OUR REPRESENTATIVES ON CAPITOL HILL TREAT THOSE WHO RISK

IT ALL SO THEY CAN SIT UP THERE AND ENJOY ALL THE BENEFITS THEY EXEMPT FROM

THE REST OF US.

 

WE ARE "MAD AS H---" AND WE ARE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!

*********\