mfunnell
Shaken, so blurred
Interesting. In Southern California in 1991 I was beaten, robbed, thrown down the stairs outside my flat and left with a broken arm, a cracked skull, fractured ribs and major-league concussion. The mugger, of course, stole my wallet. At the emergency room at the hospital I was (eventually) taken to this turned into a real problem.anybody who wanted treatment could get it, as things stood before obama care ...
Emergency did the US version of triage: I was unlikely to die in any way that my estate could sue them over. But the wallet problem was real: my wallet had my health insurance card in it - so the mugger had it, and I did not. Without that card the hospital would not treat me - unless my insurer vouched for me. But without that card (or, at least , my membership number) Metlife (God love 'em) refused to confirm or deny that I was covered. Not a nice circumstance to be in while broken, bleeding and concussed. After nine-plus hours of demanding to speak with call-center supervisor's supervisor's supervisors (etcetera) I was finally treated.
Yet back home, in grip of the terrors of "socialised medicine" my (few) experiences of emergency treatment (and wider discussion of many others') show me that our system is more immediately concerned with healing the injured or sick, rather than checking their insurance status. Doctors doing medical work? Instead of billing?? Scandalous!!! It just isn't the American Way.
...Mike