| | | I hesitate to post this personal information here but I'm going to do it anyway as it is illustrative of what I see in clinics around my state on a routine basis.
I have long-maintained that there is not any place for "I" in discussing the pros and cons of the ACA. Everyone's result is personal and most of it doesn't reflect overall fact. That has changed for me.
I had great, very expensive insurance before the ACA. I decided to keep it after the ACA, even though it was expensive, because the additional expense was offset by lower copay (but deductible was higher). But my plan paid for medications, essentially making them free -- and my meds are expensive.
Finally, my plan was disbanded because they were not allowed to make certain changes to the policy under ACA, which forced me to choose an ACA plan. I bought the top of the line the plan and it has basically been okay but it has gone up a lot each year (so did my previous plan after ACA was enacted, even though it was not an ACA plan).
I have the best physician in town. Been with him since 1992 when he opened his practice. Lead times to get appointments have gone from 1-2 days to workins for emergent items, 5-7 days for simple procedures (joint injections), a month for non-emergent, 4 months for physicals. Since he knows the business I'm in we often discuss the state of software affairs, and he will flat out say he is seeing about the same number of patients as before. It doesn't take a genius to understand where the problem is.
Before ACA, if I had my physical on Wednesday, they would call back with my lab data no later than Thursday evening. I had my physical this year on 8/7. I had not heard back by the 17th so I called. I asked the nurse about my PSA which she didn't mention and she said, "We didn't do one." Really? He has her call back immediately and say, "I need for you to come in and let me run the PSA." So I got a lab only appointment for the blood draw the next day. In a week, I called and was advised that my cholesterol was high. I said, "I don't care about cholesterol, but what about my PSA?" "Uh, we don't have it."
I went back in for next day for the PSA and doctor apologized and said he didn't know what went wrong. Next day, I get a call, my PSA is elevated. He recommends a biopsy as is SOP. He sets the appointment with the specialist.
To cut this short, It took 3 weeks to get into the Urologist, the biopsy was scheduled two weeks later, and tested positive for Prostate Cancer. I was scheduled for a Bone Scan and 2 CT Scans, which were handled with amazing efficiency, all in one visit that lasted 2 hours. Impressive. I received my results the next day through the portal. First thing that has worked right.
Back to the urologist, he referred me to a surgeon in Little Rock with whom I'm to meet on Monday. Today, I talked to scheduler for the surgeon, and she said, "The earliest you could be scheduled would be February or March."
The process of getting diagnosed and getting the fucking cancer removed, if I go with this arrangement, will approach 7 months.
Now, I could go to MD Anderson or CTCA and get it done in short order. You think my fucking Obamacare is going to cover it? My old policy damned sure would.
The ACA train wreck has become very personal for me. It is likely this cancer will not kill me. But every day I wait to have the surgery the more likely my life is shortened by it.
Maybe I'm wrong for doing it, but I blame every fucking Democrat who has supported this horrible disaster for my own personal situation. I cannot address anyone else's. Before ACA I could have afforded to just pay for the surgery. Today, I cannot do that. Because the ACA also destroyed my business.
1. My own doctor cannot begin to handle his prior workload because of ACA.
2. Simply scheduling an appointment takes weeks more than it once did.
3. The mis-handling of lab processes is a direct result of my physician's practice being owned by the hospital. I know this because I've seen it in a lot of places.
4. The standard procedure for an escalated PSA is biopsy, even though the inventor of the PSA test says it should not be. Result: More biopsies, but specialists are too busy. It took this specialist two full weeks to complete the report making the referral to the surgeon.
5. Lousy Insurance.
6. Surgeons overwhelmed, in my case because of limited access to expensive equipment
Say what you want, but if you're the guy with cancer, your perspective will change. |
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