I retired from the Navy in 1990 after 23 years, and went to work for a defense contractor. I had health coverage through this contractor, but was also eligible for retired military care. Since I was used to the military, I continued to use their health care for routine doctor visits, etc.
In 1997, at the age of 50, I developed some heart problems. I couldn’t mow the lawn, or exert myself at all without having chest heaviness and soreness. Using my military option, I went to the Navy clinic at
Being a good sailor and following orders, I stupidly accepted this advice and settled in to wait for the appointment to materialize. Some good friends told me that if I waited, I could end up in real trouble, so I used my civilian health care and went to a civilian doctor. He immediately started me on various medications, and within the week I was on a treadmill at
The point is: Retired and Dependent Military Health Care is very much like socialized medicine. You seldom see the same doctor. They are overcrowded. You have to wait weeks for appointments. Some doctors are very poorly trained.
My wife has had similar experiences. My company health care is free to me, but expensive to add a spouse. She is covered by the military system - Tricare Prime. She is diabetic and asthmatic. We recently lived on the Gulf coast and she was assigned to an Air Force Hospital for her care. The diabetes started acting up after years being under control. In 6 visits to the AF hospital, she saw 6 different doctors, some military, and some civilian contractors. None of these doctors would read her record to see what the previous one had decided as a plan of action, and her medications were changed at almost every visit. The result was a visit to the emergency room and a night in the hospital when her blood sugar got dangerously low because of incorrectly prescribed medications.
Don’t misunderstand me. Military Health Care is a good system for military folks who move around from place to place, and are mostly young and don’t get sick very much. But I don’t think it, or a system like it, works well for civilians, especially those of us who are older.
But if you want a system that promises to be even worse, then support ObamaCare.
People need to hear more stories like this. Stories that show what happens when you try to make healthcare generic and disconnected.
ReplyDeleteGreat first post Daddums!
Congradulations on your first post, Mr. Fewell.
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather was also in the Navy for many years, retiring, I believe, after 22 years. He is spry and healthy, and loves the Military Health Care. My grandmother, on the other hand, has arthritis in her hands. She's not the type to openly complain about the care her husband has provided for her (at least, not in front of the family). Still, I suspect that all her surguries, delays, and verious long trips to the military hospitals have not been beneficial overall.
I think they would have been better under a free market system. Compare the two charts on this page: http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=22308
In all, even your insurance company gets in the way of affordable health care. You say that your civillian health care is "free to you," but your employer pays something (quite a lot, I imagine!). That cost has to go somewhere. It either is passed on to the consumer, or it represents money that your employer could have paid directly to you, had he not spent it on the civ. health care. If the cost is indeed passe don to the consumer, then the prices of whatever your company makes are higher. WE can safely assume that the costs of all goods on the market are higher, because when you pay for something, you're indirectly paying for some other guy's health care plan.
Side-note, here: We should also look at the fact that an insurance company is a middleman. It is the mediator between you and your doctor, pharmacist, or surgeon. In other words, the state of the industry does not lend itself to free-market prices. When you buy a TV, you're going to be very careful with how much you pay for it because it's your money. When you get perscription drugs, you'll pay $10 or $15 dolars, or whatever your plan says. You don't need to shop around between pharmacies, or between name-brand and generic drugs. The cost to you is the same, so you don't seek out the best value. Add another layer of distance between the patient and doctor (i.e. Government) and, well... it won't be pretty.