Posted on 01/06/2014 6:16:12 PM PST by lightman
South-central Pennsylvania has been clobbered by a nasty cold, flu, or combination thereof for all of this brief new year. So much so that the state is listed as "widespread" on the flu map published by the Weather Channel.
I get that.
What I don't get is why it took my adult son nearly twelve hours to obtain a Z-pack. He did the responsible thing by calling his primary physician (a truly unmercenary practitioner, who works solo and sees many of the poor who others shun) early this morning...around 10 AM.
The overworked physicians office--I did say this flu thing was widespread--did not have time to call the pharmacy until nearly 6 PM. That's eight hours. The pharmacy was running nearly three hours behind on filling new scrips--again, because of the widespread flu.
So now we are 11 hours past the initial call to the PCP, with another hour to go, according to the information from the pharmacy.
Now you may be wondering, how is this the fault of Øbamacare?
Simple.
Øbamacare does NOTHING to address the medical billing system.
The medical billing system (to any insurance, be it Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurance) provides NO financial incentive to physicians for issuing prescriptions or renewals by phone, nor for phone consultations, nor for email communication.
To borrow a phrase from the legal profession, the only "billable hours" are for office visits and hospital visits. Period.
No incentive for delivering health care through any technology.
And certainly no incentive for doing so in a timely manner.
The market has failed.
And so has Øbummercare.
In general, there is only one basic result that will happen with Obamacare or any rigged market, socialized medicine scheme. It is the same every time, everywhere
More government involvement and more price-and-supply fixing by the government, the more shortages, long-waits, and higher prices that will occur.
My two Drs and I have a nice arrangement: for an Rx, I don’t need an *office visit* & exam (unless it’s something serious); just *visit the office* in 1hr, and pick it up, and get filled.
Quit whining, 12 hours in CommieCare is the Express Lane. Think of all those old, sick, and other non-economically viable that will not get past the Death Panels.
Next time ask for a paper script that he can take to the pharmacy himself.
Jane, Azithromycin is Azibiot or Zertalin in Mexico. Have ordered other antibiotics which were driven over the border to San Diego and then shipped USPS.
Several other antibiotics available from vet suppliers here, though.
I have also purchased Tamiflu anti-viral online.
Great quote!
It is warranted if the physician suspects the infectioln may be bacterial or a mixed infection. Also some with a history of lung infections will get a bacterial infection after the viral infection.
However antibiotics are over prescribed and this may have not been warranted. In any case the patient needs to see the doctor to be properly evaluated/
That’s the sort of arrangement we all have.
MDs can’t do too much of this because the ticket can’t get punched over the phone.
My old Dr. (long retired) wouldn’t have given me a prescription for an antibiotic over the phone under any circumstance. And he wouldn’t have given me one in person if I had the flu.
What the heck does it have to do with Odumbo care?
I burns me up that idiots want, expect (and get) antibiotics for every damn sniffle and virus. They don’t help one bit for such things and the practice is what has lead to so called “super bugs” that are no longer vulnerable to antibiotics.
All of those who insist on the inappropriate use of antibiotics are quite literally making the rest of us sick.
This is just the beginning.
My friends who watched news too much, who were screeching, back in October, that Ted Cruz was way off in not allowing BOcare to self implode will be walking that back.
He is the only face of sanity over this crisis people will remember as one who cares.
Certainly not if granny and grampy still say, hey I won’t be around, so it doesn’t matter, while they collect SS 25% of a new graduate who’s just been ripped off from a college demanding $0 g, and they don;;t have a job.
Granny And Grampy ought to be thinking about their legacy, and about defending these kids from the fundamental transformation, whether they’ll be around or not.
They’ll at least look bad in the history books, if not forgotten alone in a nursing home, where, by the way, the working mothers who toted their kids off to day care at age 6 weeks, are going to end up.
What goes around comes around.
And If I hear one more selfish bastard say, hey it’s not my debt, it’s the kids’, I’m gonna be pissed
Either we all take care of this country and leave it a better place, or it’s not. The elderly set the tone.
The doc shouldn’t prescribe meds without seeing the patient. Then the doc would earn his money by explaining about the dangers of taking unnecessary antibiotics.
‘while they collect SS 25% of a new graduate who’s just been ripped off from a college demanding $0 g, and they don;;t have a job.’
I’ll edit. Smoke out of my ears.
while they collect SS, 25% of a new graduate’s paycheck, who’s just been ripped off from a college demanding $60 Gs, and they don’t have a job. And get a clue, not you, lady jane, but people, get a clue, it cost me &7jGs for two good, complete college degrees, living expenses included, and I have always had a job.
It costs these kids ten times that. That is NOT inflation. They have a ridiculous unemployment rate. They cannot start families.
No one is paying attention to that. They are tooo young to realize.
And they have to spent tawenttiee five!! percent of their monthly paycheck to people who collect SS and never say thank you. So when they say, I don’t care, I wont’ be around whoooaa!!!
Whoa.
I cannot address this response to the original commenter, it will not be an intelligent discussion and I want it to just be a comment.
But, old people, please quit hating and taking from the young.
When my Geisinger Health Options Plan (GC&N/Farm group plan converted to single payer) runs out 3/31/14, I’ve already set-up an *arrangement* with each for 40% cash discount, no paperwork to ins carrier for Dr’s offices, and discount Rx at Rite Aid, Stewartstown, and Weis Market, East York. I’ll be 65 in Dec, and have applied for Medicare, so I’ll go on that, but will reserve the cash option for both Drs if the paperwork is daunting. Their call.
Budget? What Budget? The Social Security and Medicare "coffers" are stuffed with nothing but IOU's. The entire thing's a ponzi scheme that's going to collapse under its own weight no matter how many hundreds of thousands of people die sooner rather than later.
The Gubbmint may as well build gas chambers and march us all off ....
Oh wait ..... nevermind!
If the doctors have a Medicare contract, know you have Medicare, and accept cash payment from you, they’ll be in big trouble. That may be a complication come December.
Hmmmmmm, hadn’t thought of that. I’ll need to talk w/ Docs. Thanks for the heads-up.
Perhaps a 900 toll number could be employed by the clinic for priority calls. It might be worth an extra $20-50 depending on the urgency. I would still be cheaper and faster than an in-person visit.
I think we can do even better than that. If you're older, you're in a position to mentor, to help the younger folks get jobs, start businesses, and be successful. Their success is the only thing which will enable them to take care of their elders.
Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) or zanamivir (Relenza) for flu/colds (antivirals)...antibiotics are for bacteria infections. http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/flu-guide/flu-treatment-antibiotics-or-not
We are about out of effective antibiotics due to misuse/overuse/resistance: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/09/cdc-amr-rpt1/
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