I pray that the House progressive caucus holds the line & sinks this atrocity if it’s not REAL reform.

I have been sitting quietly on the sidelines watching all of this
national debate on healthcare. It is time for me to bring some clarity
to the table by explaining many of the problems from the perspective of
a doctor.

First off the government has involved very few of us physicians in
the healthcare debate. While the American Medical Association has come
out in favor of the plan, it is vital to remember that the AMA only
represents 17% of the American physician workforce.

I have taken care of Medicaid patients for 35 years while representing
the only pediatric ophthalmology group left in Atlanta, Georgia that
accepts Medicaid. For example, in the past 6 months I have cared for
three young children on Medicaid who had corneal ulcers. This is a
potentially blinding situation because if the cornea perforates from
the infection, almost surely blindness will occur. In all three cases
the antibiotic needed for the eradication of the infection was not on
the approved Medicaid list.

Each time I was told to fax Medicaid for the approval forms, which I
did. Within 48 hours the form, (which was sent in immediately via fax),
came back to me , and I was told that I would have my answer in 10 days.
Of course by then each child would have been blind in the eye.

Each time the request came back denied. All three times I personally
provided the antibiotic for each patient which was not on the Medicaid
approved list. Get the point — rationing of care.
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I’m ready to become an expat if were going to continue to give my tax dollars to wealthy corporations without any accountability, continue to not care about the least of us even when a good portion of the country demands it, fired the Republicans and put Dems in power.

We elected Dems to get things done, this is only ONE in a series of heavy duty social issues we need solved and solved correctly.

As somebody once said, “America tends to do things two or three times before it does the right thing and then asked, how come it took so long?”

As for the PO, there is no PO that is a possibility in Congress right now that will work to introduce any meaningful competition. That is quite clear. HR 676 would immediately reduce costs by cutting out the administrative and profit costs of the insurance companies. That’s a great start. Additional cost reductions can be made by introducing the process reforms I referred to.