Pay The Lady At The Front Door

The patient of a friend of mine went to the doctor for chest pain, and the doc wanted to "rule out" cardiac issues. He didn't think it was a cardiac issue, but he still wanted to cover his bases. The doc ordered a chemical stress test to be performed by our local hospital. No biggie. The hospital injects a radionuclide and takes pictures of a heart at rest, then injects a chemical that artificially elevates the heartrate, and a second set of pictures are taken to show how the cardiac vessels are performing. This is a relatively quick and easy outpatient procedure.

The hospital called this patient, who works full-time but is uninsured, to schedule the test. The hospital demanded $8,000 UP FRONT, plus the cost of the images and the doctor who reads the images. Needless to say, the patient angrily declined to schedule the test, and is reportedly fuming mad. The hospital-lady on the other end of the line suggested this patient go online and "get insured".

Apparently, this is one of the evil ways the bastards will force everyone into the socialized medicine quicksand. Tests, hospitalizations, medications, and even trips to the doctor will be made unaffordable to the common working person paying out-of-pocket.

Meanwhile, anecdotally, I was chatting with a full-time health care worker the other day who boasted that she and her family were now insured. According to her, the local DHS office signed up everyone on their subsidized housing rolls for ObamaCare. She didn't have to lift a finger, and her shiny new "insurance" doesn't cost her a penny.  She was so proud to have insurance! When did Americans become so blinded that they can't differentiate between actual insurance and welfare? Bonus question: can I really blame this good woman, this woman who works hard every day, for trying to salvage a bit of dignity?

I told her congratulations. What else could I say?