I went to the doctor’s this morning for a sore elbow. I was told to give a urine specimen.
“Huh?”
“We’re now conducting drug screening on all our patients,” the nurse explained.
“Why?” I asked. “I’ve been coming here for years. I’m not a junkie.”
“To make sure that our patients aren’t self-medicating.”
“What’s this going to add to my bill?” I asked.
“Lab fees range anywhere from $200 to $800.”
“For a urinalysis?”
“Yep.”
Health insurance has skyrocketed enough without my having to pay for the illegal actions of others. Most good decongestants, for example, have been taken off the market because they’re being used to make meth by adolescent boneheads.
I took my sore elbow home and rubbed it with Sportscreme.
Healthcare is a big topic this election cycle, but before we put all of the blame on insurance and drug companies (and they are indeed a big part of the problem), let’s look at doctors’ fees, too. The doctor that charged me $35 for an office visit a few years back now charges me $150 for a fifteen minute “Hi, how are we feeling today?” We? He’s feeling just great, I suspect, because he’s going to make $3,000 in a single day.
As far as doctors justifying their enormous fees because of the high cost of medical school, let’s have a little reality check. Physicians pay their medical school loans off quite nicely, thank you, and all the doctors I know in my town are real estate speculators or land developers who make millions on the side. (And the greedy bastards overbook anyway.)
We pay teachers very little for trying to shape our children’s minds for seven hours a day. For a fifteen-minute exam, we pay doctors what a teacher makes for that entire seven hours.
Voodoo is looking better and better. Chicken bones are cheap.
Picture: Public Domain
“Huh?”
“We’re now conducting drug screening on all our patients,” the nurse explained.
“Why?” I asked. “I’ve been coming here for years. I’m not a junkie.”
“To make sure that our patients aren’t self-medicating.”
“What’s this going to add to my bill?” I asked.
“Lab fees range anywhere from $200 to $800.”
“For a urinalysis?”
“Yep.”
Health insurance has skyrocketed enough without my having to pay for the illegal actions of others. Most good decongestants, for example, have been taken off the market because they’re being used to make meth by adolescent boneheads.
I took my sore elbow home and rubbed it with Sportscreme.
Healthcare is a big topic this election cycle, but before we put all of the blame on insurance and drug companies (and they are indeed a big part of the problem), let’s look at doctors’ fees, too. The doctor that charged me $35 for an office visit a few years back now charges me $150 for a fifteen minute “Hi, how are we feeling today?” We? He’s feeling just great, I suspect, because he’s going to make $3,000 in a single day.
As far as doctors justifying their enormous fees because of the high cost of medical school, let’s have a little reality check. Physicians pay their medical school loans off quite nicely, thank you, and all the doctors I know in my town are real estate speculators or land developers who make millions on the side. (And the greedy bastards overbook anyway.)
We pay teachers very little for trying to shape our children’s minds for seven hours a day. For a fifteen-minute exam, we pay doctors what a teacher makes for that entire seven hours.
Voodoo is looking better and better. Chicken bones are cheap.
Picture: Public Domain
4 comments:
Our family doctor rang me up for 40 bucks everytime I saw him, which I think, is three times in 25 years.
Once for a sore elbow...
I can't believe they are doing drug screening as a mandatory procedure and forcing you to pay for it.
Scott, it boggles the mind. A drug screening for a routine office visit!? I'm searching for a new doc.
Michael Moore's Sicko has been made available in Hungary recently and I'm sorry to see what we (as a country) are heading for.
Drug test?
Sh.t.
I don't even have any insurance now - I might have to sew my own skin in case of an accident.
SzélsőFa
I just got insurance last year, szelsofa. It's great if I land in the hospital, but as far as prescription drugs, tests, and office visits, it's worthless because my dedictible is so high.
Post a Comment