HIP, HIP, HOORAY!
Sharon Starr  Florence, AZ   [log in to unmask]   My mom:  74/50/45

-----Original Message-----
From: Arthur Hirsch <[log in to unmask]>
To: Multiple recipients of list PARKINSN <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wednesday, October 07, 1998 3:33 AM
Subject: Insurance Industry


>I had recently blind copied a letter of mine regarding the insurance
>industry to a friend.  I feel that I should share her reply to me with the
>list.  I defend only the system that should be, not the system as it is
>abused.  From what I know, there is NO defense against these abuses.
>
>Art - 62/12 - [log in to unmask]
>
><<Thank goodness, I'm not the only one who has questions!
>
>When I was in a car wreck in 1966, I was covered by Blue Cross-Blue
>Shield--true there was a waiting period for "pre-existing illnesses"--
>but accident coverage was supposedly immediate, and I received my
>precious little card.
>
>SIX MONTHS later, I was advised by BC-BS that our company had never
>forwarded the "proper" paperwork to them, and they would have to
>"decline" coverage.  My employers URGED me to sue--the bills were
>very high. So I consulted a lawyer who advised me I would have to sue
>the company I worked for as well as BC-BS.  Still, my employers URGED
>me to sue!
>
>But in those days, to sue your employer was a death sentence
>professionally--so I chose to pay it myself.  It took me THIRTEEN
>YEARS of personal deprivation to pay for it, but I did! And you think
>I have any respect for the insurance industry? I would starve or dig
>ditches (if I could!) before I would work for them!!!
>
>Many years later, after going to work for Hermann Hospital, the first
>few letters I was asked to write were to INSURANCE COMPANIES
>demanding payment. Now, in the first 25 letters, all of them exceeded
>$100,000!  AND ALL OF THEM HAD BEEN PRE-APPROVED FOR TREATMENT BY THE
>DAMNED INSURANCE COMPANIES! I was so mad I nearly threw up trying to
>type them...one of the had 13 claims, and it just happened to be the
>company that covered Hermann Hospital! I asked the Associate General
>Counsel if we couldn't simply withhold payment until they paid us--
>and he said they would deny coverage to our 2,800 employees!!  In the
>meantime, Hermann had to borrow money for interim financing--and
>ultimately "settle" for about fifty cents on the dollar only after
>filing a lawsuit!  Please bear in mind that this was a "charity"
>hospital with limited resources, but since it was a teaching hospital
>for the University of Texas Medical Center, the choice of most of the
>"acute" or terminally ill patients in the County.
>
>Now, if you choose to defend the insurance industry, that is your
>choice!  If I were a terrorist, I know where I would strike first!!
>
>The statistics were overwhelming!  We got all the explosion victims,
>burn victims, many of the "gun-shot and knife wounds" patients--who
>had little chance of survival without a Level One Trauma Center--
>which, thanks to Dr. Red Duke! we had--and many of the patients
>and/or their survivors wanted to sue the hospital because they didn't
>survive, or were permanently impaired!  You dare to blame the
>hospitals and doctors???  I challenge!  I've had (unfortunately) the
>destiny to view it from both sides, and I firmly believe it is
>lawyers and insurance companies who are compromising health care!
>
>I noticed that you did state that "elective" surgery was an issue--as
>in pallidotomies - and perhaps that should be taken into
>consideration. But when I hear that women who must have their breasts
>cut off, along with all the muscles that support the back, shoulders
>and arms, and the lymph nodes, AND AN HMO SAYS THAT SHOULD BE "OUT-
>PATIENT" SURGERY--ALLOWED ONE DAY ONLY, I feel like putting the sick
>HMO animals to sleep!  You have your causes and I have mine--and they
>aren't always compatible!  I simply DO NOT THINK ONLY THE RICH HAVE A
>RIGHT TO MEDICAL CARE IN THIS COUNTRY!!!  So there...>>
>