I’ve got nothing against bean-counters.

I mean it. 

Bean-counters, such as certified public accountants and actuaries, are important to society, to business, to the government and to me personally, especially during tax time.

However, in my very humble and, some would say, ill-informed opinion, I really don’t think that they have any business making medical decisions. And, in the good ole U.S. of A., bean-counters make medical decisions every single day.

To be perfectly honest with you, I don’t mind if they make these decisions for you, but I really do mind if they make these decisions for me, especially when they go against the suggestions of my doctor, who’s got a real, honest-to-goodness, bona fide degree in medicine from a certified and upstanding U.S. medical college, and who also knows me as a person and knows my medical history.

Now, I know that health care in this country is a huge political issue that has the Democrats and Republicans sharply divided in Washington. However, I’ve always been told that, when it comes right down to it, all politics is local. In other words, everything comes down to “How does the issue affect me as a person and my pocketbook?”

I think both ends of the political spectrum can agree upon that, right?

Okay, so tell me what is more “local” than excruciating pain in my back every single day?

You see, about four months ago, I began experiencing back pain. At first the pain was bearable.  It was just a periodic nagging ache above my left hip.  Then, it began to worsen.  When it got to the point that my feet went numb and it hurt so badly that I couldn’t bend over to put my socks on, I decided it was time to go see my doctor. 

After a thorough examination in her office, she determined that I had a herniated disk in the lumbar region of my spine.  She wanted me to have an M.R.I. done to confirm her suspicions and to get information as to what kind of physical therapy could be the most beneficial to me and get me out of pain the quickest.

She made an appointment for me to have the procedure to be done at the local hospital. She said that after the results were in, she and I would have a meeting to discuss the best plan of action.

Doesn’t that all make sense to you? It all makes perfect sense to me.

Well, it didn’t make one bit of sense to the Aetna Insurance Company, which is my medical insurance carrier! My claim for an M.R.I. was flatly denied out-of-hand. The reason, according to them, was because my symptoms were not severe enough to require an M.R.I. and that I didn’t go through a lengthly regimen of physical therapy prior to having an M.R.I. performed in order to determine if I need an M.R.I.

(Don’t they have that a little backwards? Isn’t the purpose of such an M.R.I. to determine what kind of P.T. I need, and not P.T. to determine if I need an M.R.I.? I get SO confused!)

The pain’s not severe enough, huh? What do they consider “severe”? How about pain so debilitating that I could barely get out of bed in the morning? Pain so bad that it took me fifteen minutes to put my socks on? Not to mention the numbness in the back of my calves radiating down to my outside ankles.

Again, the whole idea for the M.R.I. was to determine exactly WHAT the problem was so as to prescribe the proper physical therapy regimen that would best solve it.

When that was explained by my doctor to the insurance company, they reconsidered their decision . . . and then denied my claim yet again.

What do you want to bet that Aetna’s decision to deny my claim for an M.R.I. had absolutely nothing to do with helping me get out of pain, and had EVERYTHING to do with the price of an M.R.I.?  What do you want to bet that absolutely no consideration was given to how much pain I was in, or how much more quickly it would be alleviated if an M.R.I. was performed? What do you want to bet that they didn’t give a tinker’s dam about that stuff? What do you want to bet their decision had EVERYTHING to do with the fact that an M.R.I. costs a couple of thousand dollars?

I mean, it much easier to face an irate policy holder and his physician than it is to face pissed-off company shareholders who don’t get the multi-million dollar dividends that they expect every quarter…right?

Makes perfect sense to me.

I have two Republican friends who, after hearing that story, shrugged their shoulders and said, “Well, if you wanted an M.R.I., you should have paid for it yourself.” 

(I was astounded by that remark until I remembered that they were Republicans.)

Pay for it myself? I think I already did! Isn’t that why they take an extra $104 out of my paycheck every week… To pay the freaking medical insurance premium…or is that taken from me strictly to line the pockets of the insurance executives? Sometimes I forget.  That’s what Republicans are for…to remind us of such facts of life!) 

Okay, so tell me again how good the present medical in the U.S. is, and how we can’t afford ObamaCare.  As a part-owner of a small manufacturing company, I’ve been told by my Republican friends that with ObamaCare, I can expect to see an 11% to 17% increase in the medical insurance premium that I pay out for my employees. Well, if you ask me, that’s a bargain when you consider that my health care premium shot up 25% last year, and, believe it or not, ObamaCare had absolutely nothing to do with it! (Why’d the rates go up? Probably to pay the multi-million dollar salaries and bonuses of the insurance executives.)

The Republicans keep telling me that ObamaCare is similar to the Canadian National Health Insurance, which, according to them, most Canadians hate because it is expensive, and you have to wait forever to get procedures and operations performed.

Well, according to Canadian friends of mine, the U.S. Repubicans blow the problems of the Canadian system all out of proportion.  They tell me that, yes, the system is expensive, but nobody in the world pays higher premiums for health benefits than the people of the United States! Also, in the Canadian system, the money is taken from taxes that are garnished from weekly paychecks, and, according to my friends, if you don’t see it, you don’t miss it.

Under the Canadian system, if you need a procedure or an operation performed, you are put on a list, your need is assessed, and priority is assigned.  The average knee or hip replacement surgery is done within two to three months.

The Republicans in this country point fingers and ask, “In the Canadian system, priorities for such operations and procedures are assigned by medical bureaucrats.”

Uh-huh. And in this country, priorities for such operations and procedures are assigned by corporate executives.

Which would you prefer?

AND, in Canada, you cannot be denied a procedure if your physician prescribes it.

In this country, after four months my back still hurts, and I’m still waiting for my damned M.R.I.