The Reality-Based Community: Rationing health care

The Reality-Based Community: Rationing health care:
Rationing health care
Posted by Mark Kleiman

"All this, let's recall, with the Chancellor breathing down the neck of the boss of the medical area on behalf of a full professor at the university that owns the hospital. So my experience with the system was probably about as good as it gets except for corporate executives using places like the Mayo Clinic or family members of people on the boards of directors of hospitals. (Apparently it's generally understood that if you stump up enough in the way of contributions to get on the board of the hospital, you're entitled to priority care; that's how not-for-profit hospitals raise capital.) It was only later that I discovered why the insurance company was stalling; I had an option, which I didn't know I had, to avoid all the approvals by going to 'Tier II,' which would have meant higher co-payments. The process is designed to get very sick or prosperous patients to pay to jump the queue. I don't know how many people my insurance company waited to death that year, but I'm certain the number wasn't zero. "

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