or, What a Scorpion Sting Teaches Us about Hospitals and Insurance

By, G. Keith Smith, M.D., http://www.surgerycenterok.com
A woman recently received treatment for a scorpion sting in the Chandler Regional Medical Center emergency room in Phoenix and was billed $83,000, $80,000 of which was for the new anti-venom serum, Anascorp.

According to an article in the Arizona Republic, the patient’s insurer paid more than $57,000, and the hospital is asking her for the balance of about $25,000. This is said to be the “out of network” cost.

This is scandalous, but not because her “insurance” company didn’t pay enough on this claim. Actually, part of the scandal is that the insurance paid as much as it did! Continue reading →

By author/contributor, Elizabeth Lee Vliet, M.D.

Yes, there IS a war on women and women’s health—but it’s not being waged by Republicans or covered by the media. The accusations being hurled at Republicans are distracting attention from the real issues.

Women not only make up half the population. They also make 90 percent of the decisions about medical care for their children, husbands, and aging parents. They understand the importance of having the freedom to choose their doctors and their treatment. Continue reading →

Article by Jane M. Orient, MD published in the Washington Times on Sept. 3, 2012

“Insurance” and “coverage” are warm, benign-sounding words. The more the better. With “universal” and “comprehensive” coverage, everyone would be safe and secure, right? There would be no more worries about health care bankruptcy, for example.

People have gotten their photos in the newspaper for not having enough coverage. They’ve had cancer, and the only treatment that might help them has been ruled “experimental” and, therefore, not covered. Chances are, they got it anyway — with help from family, friends, total strangers and likely a loan from the bank. But there are other possible meanings for coverage. It can be stifling, restrictive and limiting. It can refer to six feet of earth. With a health plan, bankruptcy protection is for the plan, not the subscribers who may be forking over $600 a month in lost earnings. Continue reading →

By G. Keith Smith, M.D.,

As ObamaCare becomes ever more unpopular, the single payer idea keeps coming up. So let’s consider what a single-payer system would look like. There are so many places to look it’s a little confusing. Here’s a partial list.

Canada tends to come up first, and I think about it a lot. That’s because lots of Canadians come to our facility in Oklahoma for their care. Do I really need to say anything else? Continue reading →