Health Care Reform - from a provider
I went to the clinic at my neighborhood chain drug store yesterday. I love the convenience of walking in, no waiting, a quick exam and then home in bed with the necessary antibiotics started. Say what you want about the negatives of the big box retailers. I'm there, but I also appreciate their in-store clinics.
While discussing what she was prescribing, the nurse practitioner mentioned the cost. She said she is seeing more and more patients with no insurance and/or no job so she always discusses how much it will cost them to buy the meds they need to get well. I told her I found that sad and we ended up having a conversation about health care and health care reform.
She said some very interesting things. She was not political at all, had not even voted in most elections. But her son was now 25, out of college and looking for work while dealing with student loan payments. And if it wasn't for the health care reform bill, he would have no insurance. She said people can say what they want about President Obama and Congress, but she thought health care reform was one of the most significant accomplishments she had seen in her lifetime.
She said her employer (the big box drug store) now actually encourages her to prescribe the lowest cost medication for all of her patients. I asked if they were showing their corporate heart. She laughed and said no, saving you money is how we get you to come back. She showed me a list she had of free or low cost medications she had been told to look at first when prescribing meds. I said "FREE?!" and she said yes, for some health insurance plans, certain meds were now free. For those without insurance, there were several $4 options available.
She said that, in her opinion, because of health care reform and other factors, her employer and pharmaceutical companies had been forced to face the reality of losing their customer base due to the high cost of health care. And it was about time someone reigned in the corporates. They had become too greedy. I asked what were the other factors. She said "the Occupy movement has served a wake up call on corporate America."
I told her I found it interesting that a person who admitted not being political and not even voting was finally able to see the big picture. She said she thought that most people who worked in health care had finally opened their eyes and realized the importance of the politics in the industry. So I asked her if she thought most health care providers were now appreciative of health care reform legislation. She said yes she thought so and I told her that many people believed the legislation hadn't gone far enough. And she said well we need health care for all, like they have in Europe. She said for one thing, it would guarantee jobs for health care providers.
So I asked her if she was planning on voting next year and she said yes she was looking forward to voting for President Obama. She is hoping for even more health care reform legislation and she knew a republican in the WH would never do that.
I found this very interesting. Lots of things I had never thought about. I have been very critical of health care reform. But I had never looked at it from a provider's perspective.
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