The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 98, No. 6, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 11, 1988 Page: 2 of 32
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5k. Otuiadian RECORD
CANADIAN HEMPHIUL CO.. TEXAS
THURSDAY 11 FEBRUARY 1988
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^ YRS OF
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A5P1R/AJ
A Dollar Dictatorship
mjrEDKARE PEER REVIEW doctors arc not
i,V£ the only ones calling the shots from a
distance regarding medical treatment by your
personal physicians. Distant doctors retained by
your insurance company may also be diagnosing
your case from afar and controlling the treatment
your doctor may prescribe.
It is a Dollar Dictatorship that is developing in
both cases.
In the case of Medicare patients, the dictation
comes from DRG (diagnosis related groups) rules
established by the government bureaucracy to hold
down costs arbitrarily by enforcing highly stand-
ardized treatments for highly personalized ail-
ments.
But private insurance companies are taking a
leaf from the bureaucracy book, demanding
“second opinions” from doctors of their own
choosing and denying payment of claims or
reducing payments sharply for insured clients who
don’t say “may I?” before taking the advise of
their personal physicians or surgeons.
Better read the fine print carefully in your health
insurance policy before you allow yourself a
“covered” illness. You may not be covered at all
by your insurance company if you fail to get prior
approval and an approved “second opinion."
Many patients (of all ages) now have a clause in
their medical insurance policies which demands
that the doctor call the insurance company before
admitting the patient to a hospital, and the trend is
increasing. Without pre-certification, insurance
3he (Canadian
RECORD
USPS 087-96C
Box 896, Canadian [Hemphill] Texas 79014
BENEZZELL......................... Editor
NANCY EZZELL........................Ed,tor
LAURIE BROWN ..........Advertising Manager
Entered as second class matter December 20,
1945 at the Post Office at Canadian, Texas, under
the act of March 3,1879. Published each Thursday
afternoon at Canadian, Texas, by Ben R. and Nan-
cy M Ezzeil. POSTMASTER: Send address
changes to THE CANADIAN RECORD, Box 898.
Canadian, TX 79014.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
S20/Year in Hemphill and adjoining counties
$25/Year elsewhere
nr or the.
went
BY BEN EZZELL
The Pony Express still lives! We received a letter a few days ago,
courtesy of Delores Berryman, which had been dispatched from
Holbrook, Arizona, on January 28, and carried by Pony Express from
Holbrook to Scottsdale, Arizona, before the regular U.S, Mail service
conveyed it the rest of the way. The 200-mile trip from Holbrook to
Scottsdale was probably the fastest leg of the trip.
The envelope bears the hand-stamped special cachet of the
Hashknife Pony Express, the only one in operation in the U.S. today.
This year marks the Hashknife’s 30th annual contract with the U.S
Postal Service in Washington, preserving the memory of the original ^
Pony Express which blazed a brief but memorable trail across the
early West.
may not apply. Read the fine print.
The problem is becoming serious, and will
probably get worse before it gets better. Insured
health care, for young or old, is becoming steadily
more costly, and is not improving in quality. The
long-term result may be what nobody really
wants...not the doctors, not the insurance com-
panies, and probably not the patients: that old
bugaboo, “Socialized Medicine.”
The health care industry...doctors, hospitals,
insurance companies, et al...may be bringing it on
themselves, and on all of us, because there’s no
doubt that costs have got out of hand. Certainly the
insurance companies are doing their part to cash in
on the escalation, and doing it with a heavy hand
when they interpose their own diagnosis-from-a-
distance between the patient and his personal
physician.
But health insurance buyers should be put on
notice that the policies for which they pay
increasingly high prices may not be delivering
anywhere near the benefits they promise. Many
policies now have a clause which demands that the
doctor call the insurance company before even
admitting a patient to the hospital. The penalty for
failure is to invalidate the insurance. Most demand
“a second opinion” and may require that it be
from a specific doctor...somewhere else...a doctor
retained by the insurance company.
A major criticism of “socialized medicine” is
that it is impersonal, but the practice of health
insurance companies in demanding “second
opinions”, like the Medicare DRG system, is
certainly not personalized.
The trend is going to have to be reversed
somehow. The solution may be government-fi-
nanced universal health care. Congress is consid-
ering just such a program, tax-supported and
financed by everybody.
That would eliminate private health insurance
abuses, along with private health insurance. We
have no sympathy for the insurance industry,
which we consider to be one of the most immoral
businesses in America today. But government
health care would eliminate some other elements
which have been cherished by Americans for
generations, such as freedom of choice in selecting
doctors and hospitals, and being personalized as
patients rather than institutionalized.
But an increasing number of Americans are
being priced out of the market, both for insurance
and for health care, in today’s out-of-hand
situation, and something is going to have to give.
***
“The best breakfast is also the cheapest,” says Editor Don
Nelson of Dimmitt’s Castro County News, a dedicated and successful
dieter. It consists of oatmeal, orange juice, and whole-wheat toast.
“Figure 20 cents per serving for the O.I, six cents for the oatmeal,
four cents for milk, two cents for sweetener, and a nickle for the bread
and you’ve got a healthy balanced breakfast in 10 minutes for 37
cents,” Editor Nelson declares.
“Unless,” he adds, “you order it at the Hyalt-Regency Hotel’s
coffee shop in Dallas. That’s where I had breakfast Saturday during a
convention. $8.40, plus tip.”
The Federal Communications Policy Act of 1984 (one of the Reagan
Administration reforms for getting government off the back of
business) provided for de-regulation of the cable television industry.
A key provision of the de-regulation w as to remove local rate control
over cable television operations from the local municipalities. Cities
(like Canadian) which franchise cable operations had exercised some
control over quality of service to local subscribers as well as cost^
through the franchise contract. No more.
Rate control is out of the hands of city government and no longer
restricted by the hard-won franchise contract of three years ago,
although the City of Canadian can still require adequate maintenance
and performance. So don’t appeal to the City Council when your
television cable service basic rate is hiked by two dollars a month
beginning in March. The rate will increase from S16 to Si8 on March
1.
***
I was intrigued, but not favorably impressed, by an announcement
from the Farm Bureau of a series of meetings “to acquaint our farm
leaders w ith the views of candidates for open legislative seats.” The
announcement declared that “the meetings are not open to the,
public; however the Press is invited.” That’s an odd juxtaposition...if
the Press is admitted, what goes on in the meeting will surely be
made public...unless the proceedings are declared “off the record”,
in which case no newsman worthy of his salt would take the pledge.
Newsmen do accept information “off the record” (meaning
confidential! on occasion when it seems justified, and are bound by
that confidence. But nobody wants to be made privy to negotiations
between politicians and lobbyists, and be bound to keeping It “off the
record” when the public interest may be involved somewhere down
the line.
***
Whatever the material or method used in the last seal-coating job
on Highway 83 north from Canadian to the county line, I hope the1
[Continued on Page 4]
111
f
ti
E ARE AEI-in fhe gutter, but some of us are
looking at the stars. — Oscar Wilde.
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Ezzell, Ben & Ezzell, Nancy. The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 98, No. 6, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 11, 1988, newspaper, February 11, 1988; Canadian, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth519905/m1/2/?q=%22Places+-+United+States+-+Texas+-+Hemphill+County%22: accessed July 9, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hemphill County Library.