DISCRIMINATION OF MEDICARE

I recently had to call a Doctor. I was having a skin problem and so I asked a few people who would be a good Dermatologist to see. The one recommended the most was too busy so I called another one. When I asked for an appointment the receptionist asked what insurance I had. I replied “I have Medicare and “, she stopped me immediately and said “The Doctor doesn’t accept Medicare!” I said “I didn’t say Medicaid I said Medicare because I am past 65”. She replied" I know you said Medicare but the Doctor does not accept that”. I asked “What is the problem with Medicare since you have to have it if you’re over 65?” She said" the Doctor made the rules and I follow them”. I said" this is discrimination of the elderly and I wonder where he took his Hippocratic Oath?” She answered that by hanging up on me. I was just furious. I have never heard of any doctor doing this. I made several calls around the area and no one else had but one receptionist said she had heard of it in Albany.
I remember when the great Dr. Pitkin made calls at my house for a lot of my people. The many times he said” This is just a social call” or else “I was passing by” I never heard of him refusing anyone medical attention. If they had Medicare or Medicaid he treated everyone alike. I also remember Dr. Vinicor doing the same thing with any of my residents. There was one thing that Dr. Vinicor did and I remember this with a smile.
When there was a holiday, Thanksgiving or Christmas, I baked a lot. It was nothing, dear reader, for me to bake 10 or 15 pies for the folks to enjoy. I would spend the day just baking. When Kate came to work at 4:00 PM the kitchen was a mess!! She took over cleaning everything while we set the pies out to cool. One day, in the middle of all this, one of my people became ill. I had about 6 apple pies done and was just starting the rhubarb pies, so I stopped and called Dr. Vinicor. He said he would be there shortly. He arrived and was amazed at all the pies sitting on the table. He went ahead and took care of the person and started to put his coat on. He was telling me how Alice, his wife, liked homemade pie and so as he passed by the table, heading for the door, he picked up an apple pie and said” Thanks so much for the pie and I will tell Alice who made it.” I had to laugh but believe me it made me happy to know Alice would like that pie!!
I also remember when I had another lady named Mary. She was in the Saratoga hospital with a very bad bed sore. She came to live with us in April. She really brightened the place up because she loved to sing. She enjoyed songs from the 40’s and what a beautiful voice. During her earlier years she was a senior editor of Collier’s magazine. She had broken her hip and had to have surgery. For some reason she developed a sore that would not heal. If you sang a sentence of a song she would finish it for you. I was never able to get the best of her with any song. Dr. Pitkin came to see her a lot and he called in Dr. Maningas once to help. When Dr. Maningus arrived Mary was singing a Glenn Miller song and he was so surprised. He remarked he wouldn’t mind listening to her at all. This was another Doctor who never refused anyone because of Medicare. He just treated all people equal. I also dealt a lot with Dr. Herzlinger and Dr. Soifer who are dentists. They never refused services either. I also had Dr. Sinniapkin and he never refused services because of Medicare.
I realize we have a small community here but I dealt with many many doctors over the years and not one ever refused any of my people service because of Medicare. I wonder, dear reader, what will happen in the future to the elderly who have to use Medicare. When I was denied service I almost cried to think that a doctor would refuse to treat me. I am so glad I do not have this to deal with now. Heaven only knows what I would have said if this was when I just started in my business. To me you are putting down the elderly and the only thing important to those doctors is the money. If they are complaining about their cost than maybe they don’t need the fancy offices and all the personnel. Dr. Pitkin has worked as a MD for over 50 years in the same office without the fancy furniture and he still did well. This is one of the things you really appreciate in the world today. I always loved the elderly people and now I have joined the ranks of being one of them. Come to think of it, dear reader, most of the Doctors I know are almost there to……………
Love Red