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An Observer of Life in Bad Poetry

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insurance companies

Blink Away! Damn Ye!

The bill had shown up in yesterday’s mail. The physician had billed the insurance company, but the company had only paid 25%

After paying the standard $50 co-pay you had hoped the insurance company would cover the balance over what you’d already spent

But here it is. An additional charge of $410 for a ten-minute consultation with a PA and a standard throat culture

You mistakenly figured the $165 withheld from every paycheck would cover something but there you were, miserable, being eyed like roadkill from a vulture

Therefore you brought up your laptop to find the doctor’s portal checking to see if the bill was in order

And sure enough, the never seen doctor has signed off on the charge much to your horror

Now having to turn to your little book filled with usernames and passwords, to find your current insurance provider

As usual the crossouts, write-overs, and highlighted words in the insurance section resembled a web created by a drunken spider

Typing in the eight letters and symbols thought to create the current strong password, you hit submit

Instantly the red sentence appears advising the password entered is incorrect please readmit

Sent again after carefully typing the letters and symbols, the same warning appeared along with the annoying grating question of “forgot password?”

The swearing that followed cleared three days of phlegm from the irritated throat and echoed off the walls, but your cat was the only one that heard

So you went to the live chat. That digital friend that beckons you to ask a question

After identifying yourself with your insurance card and birthdate the screen pops with “a service representative will be with you shortly,” doing nothing for your now bubbling indigestion

“Ob-li-dee Ob-li-da” the soft tones of the Harmonica Cats droned on interrupted only with “Your call is very important to us, please continue to hold”

After twenty-five minutes with your bladder at def-con 4, the announcement appeared that you are currently next in line to be consoled

Meanwhile, in the Delhi, India call center the employees are engaged in the game of best time slots given to the number of calls taken

But the one flashing message had your anticipation growing that you would not be forsaken

Unfortunately your call had been routed to Bugwan going by his call center name of Steven

Bugwan it seems has a bad attitude and currently has nine hours left on late shift as his track record has been uneven

As you’re staring at the screen for ten straight minutes waiting for someone to pick up, “Ob-La-de”

Steven stares at his console munching on yesterday’s Balti Chicken thinking “Blink away Damn Ye”

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Its Different When Its Your House On Fire

The news teams were running, trying to keep up with the fire. The burning embers were igniting everything in it’s 75/mph path

The local and state politicians were serving up massive portions of word salad trying to escape their citizens wrath

The photo op governor was caught in the act of lying to one distraught lady

This, the same man in years past, seen dining at an upscale restaurant while locking down the rest of the state as he’s always been shady

The mayor was in Africa living high on the taxpayers dime attending an inaugural event while her city burned

Obviously from her slow response time to this crisis she wasn’t to be bothered or concerned

A drone damaged one of the two Super Scooper airplanes used to drop 1500 gallons of water on the blaze

And the smoke from the fire made breathing difficult and visibility limited due to the haze

Firetrucks sat idling waiting to enter some neighborhoods as abandoned vehicles had to be moved as the only road in they were blocking

The formerly disparaged cops were checking ID’s to keep the criminals and homeless from looting anything not smoldering and worth hocking

The Governor had previously waved his regulation wand and forced insurance companies to toe HIS line like previous communist tyrants

Due to California regulations on insurance companies keeping them from raising their rates, the companies cancelled the homeowner policies with their clients

Back up water reservoirs were not filled as an endangered sardine sized fish might be left unprotected

However, the president in a moment of clarity did promise 100% of recovery expenses paid for the first six months or so he directed

The sound of these news conferences came through the tinny speakers of the portable TV the young mother had set on a table

The shivering woman had knocked most of the snow off the walls of her tent and tucked the blanket around the sleeping child as much as she was able

Still waiting on FEMA money from the total devastation in North Carolina delivered by the hurricane in September

While celebrities were crying in LA for the cameras because they had lost everything two days ago. She quietly hoped someone in DC might take a moment to remember

The treatment in this predominately republican area has gone from political double-talk to conditions positively inhumane

As she tearfully watches this administration promise $150 billion more to the people of Ukraine

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Welcome To The Healthcare Merry-Go-Round

The doctor stood at the ready. A prescription pad in one hand and a referral list in the other

This patient was back for the third time with the same complaint so it was time to shift him from this practice to another

The insurance company was demanding one more meaningless medical trial before allowing the needed surgery to take place

The doc knew that lifestyle changes and better habits were needed to achieve success but here he was telling this obese person that one more pill was not a wild goose chase

Big Food already had years of throwing patient’s digestive tract into total disarray

Now at eighty pounds overweight, this individual cannot walk past any all you can eat buffet

So the ever present penny pinchers from the insurance company were demanding this physician prescribe an antidepressant that has shown to aid in weight loss

Besides, it delays the inevitable as the unscrupulous bean counters at the insurance company are always thinking about profits and costs

In addition, according to their mortality charts, if this person goes on a 90-day course of medication, because of previous medical records, age, and lifestyle, there is a 37% chance this person may die

This also keeps Big Pharma happy. Their TV commercials had netted the gullible and keeps their greedy fingers in the pie

The doctor writes the insurance demanded script and hands that and a referral slip to the patient to see a shrink

Now both Big Pharma and Big Medicine get to bill the insurance company and that pack of pirates then raises the patient’s premium before he can blink

All the pieces had fallen in place. Big food had spent years convincing this individual that their product was nutritious and safe when in reality the food conglomerates were slowly poisoning this person

Addicting him to the disguised high fructose corn syrup and preservatives causing multiple complications and his general health to worsen

The doc was caught in the middle. He had joined a hospital group to avoid the extreme costs of an individual practice

Now with both a required head count and in-network referrals, at the end of the day he feels as if he had been roped and drug through the cactus

But this is today’s modern medicine. To keep the insurance payments coming, fill the waiting room, spend a maximum of ten minutes with each patient and move on to another

Meet the pharmaceutical rep in the back room, agree on purchasing a supply of drug doses, sign on the dotted line and remember that one hand washes the other

Life goes on in circles. The doc is connected to the hospitals, who represent the rules and regulations of Big Medicine, who is connected to Big Pharma, who is connected to the insurance companies who are connected to the patient.

It seems with all these groups fighting for this sick person’s last remaining dollar, he just might need to sign with an agent

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