Treating the Medically Uninsured

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I believe that health care is a human right.  This does not mean that every person must have precisely the same level of health care coverage.  This is not how our society works.  Wealthy individuals can afford higher-level medical care, just as they enjoy higher-level housing, vacations, legal and financial advice, education, automobiles, and clothing.  This list could be longer, of course.  But every American, in my view, is entitled to decent medical care to prevent and treat disease.  We have millions of individuals in the country who are not citizens, many of whom have no medical insurance.  In a perfect world, I would like them to have access to medical care along with all other members of the human family. I recognize, however, that this situation in the U.S.  has thorny political, social, and economic dimensions.   Alas, the world is not perfect.

Alas, the world is not perfect.

When I was in private practice, we saw patients who were underinsured and uninsured.  We were happy to see these patients, many of whom were working hard at their jobs but simply could not afford medical coverage.  These folks had to make difficult decisions as they balanced their priorities with their available resources.  Our staff would work with these patients to devise a payment plan that they were comfortable with.  Naturally, we were reimbursed less from these patients than from those who carried traditional insurance.  But we didn’t care and were happy to serve them.  And we reliably received a generous measure of appreciation from them.  This was truly such a small sacrifice on our part and was a huge gain for others. 

Now, as an employed physician, I am no longer in a position to personally discount my fees to accommodate patients in need.  I miss this experience.  Perhaps, my institution has a program to customize a patient’s financial responsibility, but if they do, this process is far beyond my view.

While I love my current employed position, particularly in the autumn of my career, there are advantages that a private business enjoys that are simply not present in the employed. model. To quote from this very post, alas, the world is not perfect.