Several years ago, I developed a tiny 'thing' just at the edge of my left eye socket.... it was a small tumor that would swell during the course of the day but would shrink sorta at night....but it hurt to lay with that side of my head on my pillow.
I went to my internal medicine doctor and he said he thought I needed to have it removed. But is was not in his skill set and he would not cut on my face.
Because it was very close to my eye, I went to my ophthalmologist, who also happened to be a plastic surgeon. He agreed that it needed to be removed, and he filed with my insurance for approval to do the procedure.
My insurance denied the procedure. They said it was 'cosmetic'. My cost for the procedure would be $6,500,000. I couldn't pay that!
My ophthalmologist insisted that it should be removed and he told me he would do the procedure IF I WOULD PAY WHAT MEDICARE WOULD PAY. I held my breath.... and he told me that Medicare would pay $365.00
I cried and agreed to pay that.
He told me to come back the next day, at 5:00 (after the office closed) and he would do the procedure. It took 20 minutes. He assured me that he had removed all of the tiny growth. He then put 12 minuscule stitches in the incision. Ten days later he removed the stitches and after the area healed, there wasn't a trace that anything had ever been done on my face.
The biopsy showed that the growth was malignant.
I learned something important with this experience.
Medicare is a privilege. People WHO WORK pay for it their entire careers, and when they reach retirement, they reap that benefit. There are things Medicare doesn't cover, but by and large it's affordable medical care.
Did you know.....
Privately-owned hospitals can turn away patients in the case of a non-emergency, but public hospitals cannot refuse care. This means that a public hospital is the best option for those without health insurance or the means to pay for care.
The price I was quoted for my procedure seemed outrageous, until I learned that hospitals charge high fees BECAUSE 99% OF INSURANCE COMPANIES WILL NEVER EVER PAY THE FEES.
Health insurance will pay a percentage of the price of service and the patient will have a co-pay. The sum of the two seldom if ever reaches the total cost of a procedure.
Hospitals and doctors charge high rates in hopes that they can break even on expenses.
The other thing our country is blessed with is the amount of medical research carried out in most large medical centers. This is not free and never will be.
So........... the Democrat candidates for president ALL WANT MEDICARE FOR ALL??
Doesn't that just sound wonderful???
Medicare has always been for seniors. They worked and paid INTO medicare their entire lives. It was a deduction from their paycheck. Imagine you get a job at age 25 and you work throughout your adult life, having a percentage of your salary going into 'medicare'. When you hit 62, or 63, or whatever the age is to qualify for Medicare - you are then the benefit of all those deductions over the years.
If the Democrats take control of our medical care system and put everyone on Medicare, you will see public hospitals closing their doors within three months. Doctors will leave the practice of medicine because they can't live on what Medicare pays them.
Medical research will end for lack of funding.
Private hospitals will serve the uber-wealthy, as they do now.
The vast majority of Americans (and illegal aliens!!!!) will DIE WAITING FOR DIAGNOSES AND MEDICAL CARE.
Ask yourself.... why do people from Canada come to the United States for serious medical care? It's because they could die waiting for their socialized medical care to get around to them.
The United States has the best medical care in the world. The left wants to destroy it with Socialism..... and COMMUNISM.
And they will.
