Thanks Les Bond!
This is the best I have read on the subject.
Sam
This letter is from Dr. Zane Pollard and was published on the American
Thinker web site. He's published 90 peer review papers in the Scientific
Ophthalmology and Strabismus Journals, American Academy of Ophthalmology
and
the American Ophthalmology Society. He operates at Children's Health Care
of
Atlanta and discusses his experience with government run medicine.
August 06, 2009
By _Zane F Pollard, MD_
(http://www.americanthinker.com/zane_f_pollard_md/)
I have been sitting quietly on the sidelines watching all of this
national
debate on healthcare. It is time for me to bring some clarity to the
table
by explaining many of the problems from the perspective of a doctor.
First off, the government has involved very few of us physicians in the
healthcare debate. While the American Medical Association has come out in
favor of the plan, it is vital to remember that the AMA only represents
17%
of the American physician workforce.
I have taken care of Medicaid patients for 35 years while representing
the
only pediatric ophthalmology group left in Atlanta, Georgia that accepts
Medicaid. For example, in the past 6 months I have cared for three young
children on Medicaid who had corneal ulcers. This is a potentially
blinding
situation because if the cornea perforates from the infection, almost
surely
blindness will occur. In all three cases the antibiotic needed for the
eradication of the infection was not on the approved Medicaid list.
Each time I was told to fax Medicaid for the approval forms, which I did.
Within 48 hours the form came back to me which was sent in immediately
via
fax, and I was told that I would have my answer in 10 days. Of course by
then each child would have been blind in the eye.
Each time the request came back denied. All three times I personally
provided the antibiotic for each patient which was not on the Medicaid
approved
list. Get the point -- rationing of care.
Over the past 35 years I have cared for over 1000 children born with
congenital cataracts. In older children and in adults the vision is
rehabilitated with an intraocular lens. In newborns we use contact lenses
which are
very expensive. It takes Medicaid over one year to approve a contact lens
post
cataract surgery. By that time a successful anatomical operation is
wasted as the child will be close to blind from a lack of focusing for so
long a
period of time.
Again, extreme rationing. Solution: I have a foundation here in Atlanta
supported 100% by private funds which supplies all of these contact
lenses
for my Medicaid and illegal immigrants children for free. Again, waiting
for the government would be disastrous.
Last week I had a lady bring her child to me. They are Americans but
live
in Sweden, as the father has a job with a big corporation. The child had
the onset of double vision 3 months ago and has been unable to function
normally because of this. They are people of means but are waiting 8
months to
see the ophthalmologist in Sweden. Then if the child needed surgery they
would be put on a 6 month waiting list. She called me and I saw her that
day.
It turned out that the child had accommodative esotropia (crossing of
the eyes treated with glasses that correct for farsightedness) and
responded to glasses within 4 days, so no surgery was needed. Again,
rationing of
care.
Last month I operated on a 70 year old lady with double vision present
for
3 years. She responded quite nicely to her surgery and now is symptom
free. I also operated on a 69 year old judge with vertical double
vision. His
surgery went very well and now he is happy as a lark. I have been told
-- but of course there is no healthcare bill that has been passed yet --
that these 2 people because of their age would have been denied
surgery
and just told to wear a patch over one eye to alleviate the symptoms of
double vision. Obviously cheaper than surgery.
I spent two year in the US Navy during the Viet Nam war and was well
treated by the military. There was tremendous rationing of care and we
were
told specifically what things the military personnel and their dependents
could have and which things they could not have. While I was in Viet Nam,
my
wife Nancy got sick and got essentially no care at the Naval Hospital in
Oakland, California. She went home and went to her family's private
internist in Beverly Hills. While it was expensive, she received an
immediate
work up. Again rationing of care.
For those of you who are over 65, this bill in its present form might
be
lethal for you. People in Britain face rationing of care in that there is
an eight month wait for cataract surgery, 11 for hernia and the same for
disc and total hip The government wants to mimic the British plan. For
those
of you younger, it will still mean restriction of the care that you and
your children receive.
While 99% of physicians went into medicine because of the love of
medicine and the challenge of helping our fellow man, economics are
still
important. My rent goes up 2% each year and the salaries of my employees
go up 2%
each year. Twenty years ago, ophthalmologists were paid $1800 for a
cataract surgery and today $500. This is a 73% decrease in our fees. I
do not
know of many jobs in America that have seen this sort of lowering of fees.
But there is more to the story than just the lower fees. When I came to
Atlanta, there was a well known ophthalmologist that charged $2500 for a
cataract surgery as he felt the was the best. He had a terrific reputation
and
in fact I had my mother's bilateral cataracts operated on by him with a
wonderful result. She is now 94 and has 20/20 vision in both eyes.
People
would pay his $2500 fee.
However, then the government came in and said that any doctor that does
Medicare work cannot accept more than the going rate ( now $500) or he
or
she would be severely fined. This put an end to his charging $2500. The
government said it was illegal to accept more than the government-allowed
rate. What I am driving at is that those of you well off will not be
able to go to the head of the line under this new healthcare plan, just
because you have money, as no physician will be willing to go against
the law
to treat you.
I am a pediatric ophthalmologist and trained for 10 years post-college
to
become a pediatric ophthalmologist (add two years of my service in the
Navy and that comes to 12 years).A neurosurgeon spends 14 years post
-college, and if he or she has to do the military that would be 16
years. I am
not entitled to make what a neurosurgeon makes, but the new plan calls
for
all physicians to make the same amount of payment. I assure you that
medical students will not go into neurosurgery and we will have a
tremendous
shortage of neurosurgeons. Already, the top neurosurgeon at my hospital
who is
in good health and only 52 years old has just quit because he can't stand
working with the government anymore. Forty-nine percent of children
under
the age of 16 in the state of Georgia are on Medicaid, so he felt he
just
could not stand working with the bureaucracy anymore.
We are being lied to about the uninsured. They are getting care. I
operate at least 2 illegal immigrants each month who pay me nothing,
and the
children's hospital at which I operate charges them nothing also.This is
true
not only on Atlanta, but of every community in America.
The bottom line is that I urge all of you to contact your congresswomen
and congressmen and senators to defeat this bill. I promise you that you
will
not like rationing of your own health.
Furthermore, how can you trust a physician that works under these
conditions knowing that he is controlled by the state. I certainly could
not trust
any doctor that would work under these draconian conditions.
One last thing: with this new healthcare plan there will be a tremendous
shortage of physicians. It has been estimated that approximately 5% of
the
current physician work force will quit under this new system. Also it
is
estimated that another 5% shortage will occur because of the decreased
number of men and women wanting to go into medicine. At the present time
the US
government has mandated gender equity in admissions to medical schools
.That means that for the past 15 years that somewhere between 49 and
51% of each entering class are females. This is true of private schools
also, because all private schools receive federal funding.
The average career of a woman in medicine now is only 8-10 years and the
average work week for a female in medicine is only 3-4 days. I have now
trained 35 fellows in pediatric ophthalmology. Hands down the best was
a
female that I trained 4 years ago -- she was head and heels above all
others I have trained. She now practices only 3 days a week.
Background: Dr. Zane F. Pollard
I did my undergraduate work at Northwestern University in Evanston,
Illinois. I graduated Tulane University medical School Alpha Omega Alpha
(
medical school's top 10% of graduating class). Internship at the Univ.
of
Southern California in Los Angeles, one year of General surgery residency
at
the U. of California in San Francisco. Two years in the US Navy.
Residency
in Ophthalmology at the U.of S. California in Los Angeles, fellowship in
pediatric Ophthalmology at the Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia. In
practice with Eye Consultants of Atlanta for the past 35 years. Published
90
papers in peer reviewed Scientific Ophthalmology Journals. Member of the
American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus,
American
Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Ophthalmological Society. Board
certified in Ophthalmology.
Attributed by Snopes: snopes.com: ObamaCare and Me - Dr. Zane Pollard
_(http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/pollard.asp_
(http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/pollard.asp) )
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