Healthcare Reform - Medical Justice

Senate’s Ugly Christmas Present; The Frankenstein Healthcare Reform

August 15, 2024December 24, 2009 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

The U.S. Senate is very busy congratulating itself, slapping each other on the back for the Christmas present that they rushed through to give this nation. Let’s go ahead and open that gift. The little tag says:

TO: The American People
FROM: Your Elected Representatives

Let’s have a look at what they bought us with our money. The gift wrap says “Health Care Reform” all over it. But as I peel back the wrapping paper, the box underneath looks like it might be a science kit. How exciting! I expected something like another purple and green necktie. Look at this!

Wait, it’s actually two boxes! Double score? No, we still have to put them together.

Opening the box, I find we still don’t really know what all is in there. Tons of little parts, nuts and bolts and widgets and gadgets. Nebraska gets free Medicare increases in perpetuity, for example. And what’s this? Looks like the insurance companies can’t “discriminate” against pre-existing conditions by charging more. Wonder how that will fit in. Most likely, they charge more for EVERYONE, so that the pre-existing conditions aren’t being singled out; We’ll all be equally overcharged. Hrm… I could be mistaken, but it looks like something crucial is missing: Where is the Tort Reform? How can we possibly have Healthcare Reform without stopping greedy individuals from mercilessly badgering the healthcare providers?

Court Says Don’t Sleep With Your Patient

August 15, 2024December 14, 2009 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

This is one case you’d prefer not to have to defend in court.

In Thierfelder v. Wolfert, Pennsylvania Supreme Court answered the question of whether medical malpractice occurs when a doctor has an extramarital sexual affair with a patient he is treating for anxiety and depression. A little background.

David and Joanne Thierfelder, husband and wife, were both treated by Dr. Wolfert. Dr. Wolfert prescribed Joanne different medications for her depression and anxiety. While still being treated by Dr. Wolfert, Joanne confessed strong feelings for her doctor. This happens. Dr. Wolfert and Joanne soon began a consensual sexual relationship. No one told David, Joanne’s husband. At least not for a while.

Urgent Call for Action Against Proposed BoTax

August 15, 2024December 10, 2009 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

The Botax is far more expansive and reaching than just 5% on Botox enhancements! The tax would also be imposed on products such as includes wrinkle fillers and teeth whitening. (Colgate, are you listening?) More serious things like prophylactic mastectomy, male breast reduction and rhinoplasty, are just a few of the procedures paid for out of the patient’s pocket, and susceptible to this tax. A patient’s health and well-being go far beyond a pulse and respiration. Self-image concerns like these are not a luxury. They are essential to a whole, healthy human being!

Senate Rejects Caps on Attorney’s Fees, Snubs Healthcare Reform

August 15, 2024December 7, 2009 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

Yesterday the U.S. Senate voted AGAINST lowering the cost of healthcare reform and FOR their fellow attorneys. By a 2/3 margin (32-66) they rejected the amendment proposed by Senator John Ensign (R, NV) which would have limited plaintiff’s attorneys to a reasonable and customary fee.

The amendment would not have capped the amount of a judgment, only the portion which an attorney could get out of the judgment. The cap? One third of the first $150,000 and 25% of everything above that. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal for the attorney, even at that rate! How many of us would like to get $50,000 for one case, let alone another 25% of everything above $150k?

With 60 Votes, Senate Poised to Talk About Healthcare Reform

September 17, 2024November 25, 2009 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

It was Breaking News and “Stop The Presses” when the media announced earlier this week that the Democrats had enough votes to bring Healthcare Reform to the floor. It was said that they are poised to enact a sweeping healthcare reform bill. That might even be true, if was something to act upon.

The House patched together their bill, and pushed it through. Now the Senate gets to go through the process all over again; discuss the merits, hear propositions, alternatives, and yammer away in an Oscar-worthy performance intended to give us the impression that they have toiled, shed blood, sweat and tears to produce legislation for which we should be grateful and appreciative. They’ll go so far as to suggest it is unpatriotic not to appreciate their earnest efforts. Academy hopefuls take note.

A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To Reform

August 15, 2024November 23, 2009 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

After the last election, when this nation began discussing “The Issues”, the Vice-President-elect asked us to gather in groups all across the country to discuss the things we were most concerned with, and what solutions we might have for those problems. Needless to say, healthcare reform was near the top of the list. Specifically, people wanted universal healthcare coverage, and began think-tanking ways to afford it.

Then came the inauguration and the journey towards “walking the talk”. In the months since, the country has felt a wide variety of emotions and thoughts about the people we elected, from the President on down to the hundreds of members of the House. Some have cheered; others have groaned and moaned, as some sort of vague concept of Healthcare Reform began to emerge. What became most clear, though, is that this is not the Healthcare Reform that most of us had in mind.

AMA and AARP? Oh Really?

August 15, 2024November 12, 2009 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

President Obama stated that the American Medical Association and the American Association of Retired Persons both support the proposed healthcare reform bill. That’s not earth-shattering, until you think it through and realize how absolutely and ridiculously unlikely that statement really is.

The AMA claims to represent the physicians of the nation. In fact, though, they represent only a small fraction of the doctors in the United States. Their numbers have been in sharp decline for years. Some say that if they didn’t claim copyright and gain licensing money from the Procedures Codes, the AMA would have folded long ago.

Similarly, the AARP has come under scrutiny from allegations of some rather dubious advertising selections. It seems the AARP only recommends things that make them a lot of money. The organization is reported to gain fees from all manner of things that are supposedly better choices for their retiree members. Think there might be just a tad bit of bias there?

“What You Can Do For Your Country!”

August 15, 2024October 20, 2009 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

When JFK made that famous inaugural speech on January 20, 1961, he probably wasn’t thinking of the healthcare reform issues which would come to a head nearly 50 years later. Nevertheless, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” still rings true today.

When Barack Obama took office 48 years later, in his inaugural speech, he told us something similar. He said that the government would not make the changes for us, but that it would help us make them for ourselves. This universal truth holds strong throughout all of our lives. Others may help us, but the change must begin with us, and it is we who must see those changes through to complete fruition.

Doctors & The Free Market System

August 15, 2024September 29, 2009 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

We all know that when supply increases, prices go down and, of course, that product is more readily available. If there’s a glut of potatoes, chances are good that the grocery stores are going to have a sale on them, offering substantial savings. Conversely, when there is limited supply of something, prices go up and fewer people can have that item. (The iPhone comes to mind. By limiting its availability, they’ve made the things wildly popular, desirable, and profitable. )

As we consider ways to improve health care and its costs in this country, perhaps we should be thinking of physicians as the valuable economic resource to society that they are. We clearly have an impending shortage of physicians to address the demographic tsunami – Baby Boomers entering Medicare age. And the lead time to train adequate capable physicians to address this trend is measured in years, not months. The fewer physicians available to take care of the public, the more expensive care will be. We should be doing all we can to make the practice of medicine inviting, so there are enough talented individuals to deliver care…. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

Physicians Take The Patient’s Side

August 15, 2024September 24, 2009 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

Ask a dozen people what one word describes a doctor, and you’ll likely get a couple dozen answers. Caring and Healer come up a lot.

Ask a dozen doctors why they went into medicine, and the number one answer is that they wanted to help people… and they still do. Every day doctors see people who are hurting and need help. Sometimes it’s a simple thing — an antibiotic or a couple stitches. Other times, it may be a complex paradigm with many mitigating factors. Regardless, people come to the doctor for help, cures, easing of pain… and in most cases, the doctor is able to provide the cure for what ails them. Doctors dedicate their entire lives to making people’s lives better.

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