Health Care Summit

This has nothing to do with our class, but I wanted to share my two cents on healthcare, now that the White House and the Congress are taking another (perhaps final) look at how to fix the system. Last year, after a mild pain in my back I decided to visit a doctor. First, I made sure it was in-network and close to work. After my first visit, the physician said that he wasn't sure what it was and that he need a MRI to see my lower back. Before that, he needed to take x-rays because the insurance wouldn't approve the MRI before the first procedure. I lost another day of work to got to the lab. A week later the results didn't show anything. He ordered an MRI. Right in front of me he got the approval over the phone (at least that's what he said). Went to the lab again and waited a week for the results. In the meantime, the doctor prescribed to me an anti-inflammatory drug like Motrin. When I got the results, I was already feeling fine. The doctor said that nothing looked particular worrisome and could had been a nerve in my back. Almost year after, I got a bill from the MRI place for a few thousand dollars. They said that the insurance did not pay. I called the insurance and they said that the doctor didn't follow the right steps. I called the doctor and he said that it was the insurance's fault. Nobody wants to pay, but there's only one name on the bill. The insurance, by the ways, is from GE, one of the biggest companies in the world, in the richest nation in the world, with the "best" healthcare system in the world. What a joke!