Read this long, long article from Time Magazine Online, of all places.
I see the results of this crazy medical setup in the terrible care and unpayable bills my friends get if they are not old enough for Medicare. Even though I have Medicare and Kaiser, I was improperly billed for a hearing test by an outside contractor, small change compared to what happens to some patients but still aggravating in its dishonesty. As the article says, you never find out what fees are upfront, and often you just need the services and cost is the last consideration. This is an invitation to graft and corruption, words the writer doesn't use, but that's what it is.
We need this kind of information in order to combat such injustice, and the investigative journalism here, with its close research and the conclusions it draws, can help to turn the current disastrous situation around. Which must happen. It can't go on the way it is.
And this is why we need mainstream wide-circulation magazines with well-funded newsrooms to tackle these important stories.
Yes, what else would we ever purchase without knowing the price in advance? It would be seen as completely irresponsible, mad. But we all do it for healthcare, every day.
Posted by: Maria | February 26, 2013 at 05:52 AM