Deal or no Deal?

Tuesday, April 16, 2013


It's now been 35 days by my calculations since Dr. X's office remitted my surgery request to my insurance company. And this morning comes news.  It seems the Howdowenotpay Company is requiring more information for their review board to make a decision. Maybe I should email them a picture of me in my leopard skin Speedo. That should either get them to give me an immediate approval or call the local zoo to see if an animal is missing.

Dr. X's able assistant has informed me that the additional information they requested is already included in the previously submitted package. Being efficient, she is going to circle it, hi-lite it and email it back to them post haste. I asked her if this gives them another 30 days for review and she assured me it didn't.  So here we all are, waiting. Waiting to hear from a room full of analysts that put the best interest of their company before the patients. 
But, hey, don't get me wrong!  As much as a pain in backside as this approval process is, it only makes me wonder what it will be like in the very near future when our trusted government takes over our health care system. Make no mistake folks, we are all going to be facing review of every procedure our doctors deem necessary in our golden years.  The new Free Health Care for the Lazy, Crazy & Criminal act, passed in the dark of night by The Madwomen of the Bay Area and her compatriots two years ago, requires all medicare surgeries to be approved by a panel.  So instead of a board of greedy business people, our reviews will be done by a bunch of government bureaucrats. Try and picture them reviewing my case. If they saw my Speedo picture, they would probably deny my surgery and just send me food stamps. Either choice is unappealing.  But given the two, I'll take the greedy businessmen.  At least you can get them on the phone and bitch at them. Hello, Rajeeve?

Nobody can argue that our health care system needed to be reviewed & revamped.  I actually held some hope that our sincere elected officials would approach it that way. What was I thinking? Instead of taking their time and really analyzing our current system, those idiots just a figured out a way to give it away to a bunch of freeloaders and make the rest of us pay for it. Some fix! Just wait. In 2 years, it may take 3-5 months to get an appointment with your current doctor as opposed to the already long 2-4 weeks.  IF you get approved for a surgery, you will be put on a wait list. Just like in Canada & the UK, it takes 6-8 months to schedule a surgery. That's why rich Canadians come here and rich Englanders go to India. Great fix, eh?

It's hard to be a working American these days and not be a cynic. Unfortunately, If you're blessed enough to have millions of dollars, have a big corporate job, a really successful small business or just a really good career that you've given your life to, you can expect to be villianized by the "takers".  And the "takers" are firmly in control and not going away any time soon. They will be coming at you faster and harder and with more hands than ever reaching in your pockets. But beware all you "takers"!  Because a bureaucrat only cares about fattening his own wallet and his next election, he will whittle the definition of middle class down so low that eventually he will be in your pockets too. Nobody rides for free.

Well so much for my anti-government rant.

FYI- I have been following the very restrictive pre-op diet now for 7 straight days and have seen good results. 9, count 'em 9, pounds of blubber have left the building. I know it's only a couple of deck chairs off the Titanic. But it's a start. A wise man once said that a journey of a thousand miles, begins with the first step. Hmmmm, I wonder if he was a fat ass too?

Check back soon... we could hear tomorrow.

Keep on Truckin ...

jt