April Fools Joke From Managed Health Care

You’re awakened by the ear-piercing sound of your smoke detector. You jump out of bed and realize that your house is on fire! The blaze is already out of control and spreading. You don’t panic. You quickly gather your loved ones. You grab a few cherished things as you run for the door.

You make it out safely. You thank God. Just then you hear the sirens of the fire trucks. They arrive at your home. The firefighters courageously leap from their vehicles. They are directed by their chief and work furiously putting on gear, hooking up hoses, carrying tools, and keeping the growing crowd at a safe distance.

The firefighters begin to make good headway. They begin to get the fire under control. The smoke billows from broken windows and holes in the roof. You feel terrible thinking about all the damage to your precious home, but are grateful that your family is safe.

The team of firefighters are doing a great job. You look to the fire chief and notice he’s speaking on a cell phone. He puts down the phone and turns it off. Then suddenly the chief orders the team of firefighters to halt. To your shock he orders all the firefighters to reel in the hoses, pull down the ladders, gather their equipment and load up.

You look to your home and notice that their job hasn’t been finished. The fire isn’t out! You notice an orange glow begin to grow again from inside your damaged home.

In dismay you ask the chief to explain himself. He says, “We’re sorry, you’ve met your maximum number of firefighting visits per year. You have no coverage. We can’t help you.”

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If we witnessed this scene, we’d be outraged! We wouldn’t accept it… or would we?

Yet I see very similar scenarios frequently happening in health care all the time. People are “covered” by insurance companies that drastically limit care. There are deductibles, co-pays, visit limits, disallowed procedures and outright denials of care. Some people are abandoned when they are in the greatest need. What kinds of games are being played with peoples’ lives?

But it seems that people are finally waking up and seeing the harsh reality of what happens when we put our health and our lives into the hands of profit-seeking, corporate-controlled companies. Is this an April fool’s joke gone sour? Nope. We need to wake up to the fact that you and your family’s health is not a high priority to your insurance company. In fact, they would love it if they could have everyone in our country insured, but to never have to pay a single claim!

Something needs to change.

Many doctors, like myself, are sickened by what’s happening. Many people don’t even start care because they feel they can’t afford it. I’ve seen patients prematurely drop out of care because of insurance company limits. But why do we allow our insurance company to dictate our health and wellness? They don’t really cover wellness anyway. If you think about it, insurance companies really don’t offer “health” care… they offer “disease” care.

Are you waiting for insurance companies to change? I don’t see the scene improving anytime soon.

I think we’re all now realizing that if we want reasonable care, and especially wellness care, we’re going to need to budget for it. If you want to protect the health and wellness of you and your family, you’re going to have to make some changes. Lifestyle changes.

So, how much do you really value you and your family’s health and wellness?

Are you willing to invest in it?