My Opinion/Abuse Of Healthcare

I will begin by saying that I do believe in government assistance for those who need it. I know from personal experience that there are catastrophic illnesses that can destroy a family financially. I am also aware that there are people with true disabilities that need and deserve help in order to survive. I buried my own son on May 8, 2001, at age 31, who died because of the effects of kidney disease. He had a transplant at the age of 14, suffered three strokes that left him partially paralyzed and he did receive government assistance. However, we did not suck the system dry by calling an ambulance when we could transport him, use the emergency room instead of making a doctor's appointment and we accepted the lowest payment from SSI instead of adding things to it to make more income for him when we truly did not need it.

The things that I am talking about are the things I have seen over the past several years of being an EMT and working on an ambulance. It is enough to make you sick when you see families with generation after generation becoming a burden to the state and the citizens who work to pay taxes. This happens on a regular basis because they learn how to use the system and, in my opinion, are one of the chief reasons our medical fees have shot through the roof in recent years. It is time for that to stop, for those people to be made to get jobs and, in time, pay the government back for all of the abuse.

Allow me to elaborate on just a portion of the things I am talking about ~ things I have first-hand knowledge of: (1)There is the 17 year old, pregnant with her third child who states, "I hope they let me keep this kid cuz I just got a new apartment and need the money for rent". She had never had a job, she was getting Medicaid and had no idea who the father was. (2)Then there is the 23 year old father of three who is 'disabled' because he gets headaches if he reads too much who wanted to be transported for a fall he had three days prior and his arm hurt. His "old lady", as he called her, was there with a car but he "ain't gonna ask that bitch to drive me cuz we done had a fight". The arm had no bruising, no swelling and he had full range of motion. What he actually wanted was a ride into the city to visit his buddies. Neither the man nor his "old lady" had jobs. (3)The woman who called because her child had a diaper rash and thought she could get into the ER faster via ambulance because that's what her husband told her. He followed in their car and was mad as hell when mother and child were sent to triage because the hospital was busy with REAL patients. The mother, father and grandmother who lived with them are all unemployed by choice. (4)The 33 year old man who had been 'disabled' since the age of 22 because of 'whiplash' who ran out of pain meds that morning and his doctor would not refill them and he was in "excruciating" pain. He wanted the ER doctors to give him a prescription for pain meds (won't happen) but he was standing out front of his house, walked to the ambulance, climbed aboard without assistance and was wearing the ORIGINAL cervical collar from his traffic accident 11 years prior. He had never been employed. (5)The patient picked up with end-stage (there is no such thing) Fibromyalgia who told the Paramedic that she would sue him if he didn't give her pain meds right away. She didn't get them. Again, no job. (6)The 20 year old male with NO insurance whatsoever who calls the ambulance from 3 - 5 time per week because he doesn't feel good. He has a three month pregnant girlfriend who has had no prenatal care but, pure and simple, he is an attention seeker. They have a car but use the ambulance to save gas (yes, he has said this). Neither are employed. (7)The 37 year old woman who only suffers with seizures when she is not getting attention (she does not have a seizure disorder). She has been known to say such ridiculous things as, "I will hold the seizure off till we get to the bottom of the stairs", when told the cot will not make it up the narrow stairway. She is looking for Valium and attention and it is well known. She does not have a job. (8)The 34 year old man who is 'disabled' because of a back injury who works under the table for a roofing company, has a nice home, new truck, 5 kids on Medicaid and calls the ambulance all the time because he runs out of the pain meds he abuses. Yes, he is on Medicaid, does not have a job (that the government is aware of) and sucks the system dry on more than one level.

The above are but a few examples of what is rampant in our society today. People who think that the government OWES them something. The fact of the matter is that the government OWES none of us anything. Responsible people work, pay their bills, and are not a drain on society.

I don't simply blame these people. I blame doctors as well. They are too quick to hand out the handle of "disabled". They do this because people have become so law suit crazy and for that I blame the ambulance chasing lawyers.

In my opinion, before a doctor can call anyone disabled, there should be a tier system whereby the patient has to go to two other independent doctors who also agree. X-rays, blood work and any other measure should be taken to prove the necessity for a disability. Some are easy, some are more difficult but a standard should be set.

Our emergency rooms are over-run with people who simply do not want to wait for a doctor's appointment. They are using valuable resources and taking them away from others who need them. They are using the system for their advantage and, in the interim, our costs are going through the roof.

We should never take benefits away from senior citizens who have worked all their lives and have earned Medicare but, unfortunately, those have been cut back because of the younger, lazier, deadbeats like those mentioned and the scores of others out there.

I know it is an insurmountable task but I believe that the government should check into every disability claim and, if unfounded, go after the patient for payments they have run up by forcing them to get a job and deducting payments out of every pay check. Also, they must go after the unethical doctors who allow this to happen and fine them for falsifying a claim. This is not unreasonable. It would take manpower but I feel it would be worth it. God knows our government spends enough money on unnecessary things. It is about time they put some of our tax dollars to good use.