Behind the Curve
We watched Michael Moore's "Sicko" this evening, in keeping with my usual "couple months to a year or more" lapse in film watching. I love film, and I internalize so much of what I see that I'm always surprised I don't do more of it. (My saline level of my ocular cavity is pretty much maintained by my film-watching alone.) It annoys Jim no end that I will choose to get on the laptop, grab a book, go to Green Lake, pick up the game controller or find one of a thousand other things to do instead of sit down and watch Round 5 of Seattle Public Library's Latest offering with him, but I just...tend to have a hankering to be DOING something else. Yet when I do sit down, I'm invariably happy to have spent the time. Multi-tasking and ADD should never mix in such a fashion.
In any case...really should've watched this sooner. Really gut-punched by what I saw. Really contemplating why I haven't managed to figure out a way to move to one of the other countries I've considered sooner. Unfortunately, Medical Receptionist and/or Software Tester aren't usually considered "essential personnel" that must be imported to be of finest quality, so until I get my four-year, it's a moot point. I need to be the caviar of employees, and right now I'm just canned tuna. But at least in spring water, and dolphin-safe. :)
I know Moore is an inflamer, but what good muckraker isn't? I see the flaws and/or missing pieces in his presented arguments, but it doesn't mean that the ultimate point of what he's talking about is flawed. And having worked in the industry for as long as I did, the horror stories are, unfortunately, all too recognizable. One of my former coworkers led a tenacious fight to try and make sure that the information we had for our patients about currently accepted insurances and what was covered/what wasn't/what required further inquiry was out there, for anyone to find, and for us to be able to speak to it in a knowledgeable and considerate fashion. But it was an uphill battle the entire time, and when I left her, it was with a burgeoning realization that this "hobby" of hers could easily have been a full-time, paid position that STILL would've eaten her alive in stress, banging her head against the wall and generally sifting of crap from fact.
There is no way to present standardized information to patients, because the contracts, the coverages and the premiums change so frequently, you'd have to have (at least) one person doing nothing all day but checking websites, calling companies and updating a spreadsheet that was accessible to everyone with a computer. You'd then be barred from *having* it be that accessible by virtue of privacy laws and the disenthusiasm of one medical facility to allow another to have access to what their bids and contracts were worth. Money under everything, money motivation. And this is just from a peon hospital employee perspective, not a patient either trying to navigate an established program or someone attempting to get approved.
I loved Moore's line, "What are we?" and was gratified to hear someone else speaking about the "burden of debt" and how that debt (and the corollary shame and lack of choice in many areas of life) kept us afraid and unwilling to fight. I was also profoundly moved and heartened by the former Parliament (governing body, NOT band) member's words about man's responsibility to each other, and the ease with which he accepted that such kindness, concern and basic effort are not only normal but...natural. Posh accent and all, and speaking such wisdom.
How I hope November 2008 will bring something to this cracked and wobbling table besides heavier plates.
In any case...really should've watched this sooner. Really gut-punched by what I saw. Really contemplating why I haven't managed to figure out a way to move to one of the other countries I've considered sooner. Unfortunately, Medical Receptionist and/or Software Tester aren't usually considered "essential personnel" that must be imported to be of finest quality, so until I get my four-year, it's a moot point. I need to be the caviar of employees, and right now I'm just canned tuna. But at least in spring water, and dolphin-safe. :)
I know Moore is an inflamer, but what good muckraker isn't? I see the flaws and/or missing pieces in his presented arguments, but it doesn't mean that the ultimate point of what he's talking about is flawed. And having worked in the industry for as long as I did, the horror stories are, unfortunately, all too recognizable. One of my former coworkers led a tenacious fight to try and make sure that the information we had for our patients about currently accepted insurances and what was covered/what wasn't/what required further inquiry was out there, for anyone to find, and for us to be able to speak to it in a knowledgeable and considerate fashion. But it was an uphill battle the entire time, and when I left her, it was with a burgeoning realization that this "hobby" of hers could easily have been a full-time, paid position that STILL would've eaten her alive in stress, banging her head against the wall and generally sifting of crap from fact.
There is no way to present standardized information to patients, because the contracts, the coverages and the premiums change so frequently, you'd have to have (at least) one person doing nothing all day but checking websites, calling companies and updating a spreadsheet that was accessible to everyone with a computer. You'd then be barred from *having* it be that accessible by virtue of privacy laws and the disenthusiasm of one medical facility to allow another to have access to what their bids and contracts were worth. Money under everything, money motivation. And this is just from a peon hospital employee perspective, not a patient either trying to navigate an established program or someone attempting to get approved.
I loved Moore's line, "What are we?" and was gratified to hear someone else speaking about the "burden of debt" and how that debt (and the corollary shame and lack of choice in many areas of life) kept us afraid and unwilling to fight. I was also profoundly moved and heartened by the former Parliament (governing body, NOT band) member's words about man's responsibility to each other, and the ease with which he accepted that such kindness, concern and basic effort are not only normal but...natural. Posh accent and all, and speaking such wisdom.
How I hope November 2008 will bring something to this cracked and wobbling table besides heavier plates.
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