Medical Sticker Shock

LaBelle, FL
No LL

A prerequisite to living the cruising life is that you are healthy. Libby and I are both healthy. We have no health insurance. We aren't eligible for Medicare or Medicaid. We can't afford private insurance. Even if we could afford it, it would provide little value because we travel all the time. Most policies bind you to a primary health care provider in your home state, and provide only limited benefits while traveling.

Still, we don't do bad. I guess that we spent only $500/year on health services over the past 4 years. That is, before today.

I need to replace the sunglasses I lost when I got dunked. Jennifer found a really neat web page to buy glasses at low prices. Zenni Optical will sell me a pair of glasses for less than $100 that would cost more than $500 at Lens Crafters.

The only hang up was that I need my prescription for the web page. I called Lens Crafters. They refused to give me the info because my last eye exam was more than 12 months ago. No problem I thought; I'll just use Google to find an optician in LaBelle.

I did that, found Dr. Parrish's Family Eye Care nearby, and made an appointment. Guess what? The eye exam fee was $192! OMG! WTF!
I never paid more than $50 before for an eye exam at Lens Crafters or at Wal Mart.

Perhaps it is because of the monopoly power that the only optician around holds over a small community. Perhaps is is medical inflation -- 400% in 18 months. But, I suspect that the real problem is other people's health insurance. The federal government and the major insurance providers use their power to say, "We only pay 30 cents on a dollar of your bill." The doctor compensates by hiking his fee 350%. Everybody wins except the tiny minority of uninsured cash customers like me.

It is yet another case where government socialism directly harms me. If we had never started with Medicare, Medicaid or employer-provided health care (beyond major medical), then doctors and drug companies would have to charge affordable prices or lose customers. Introducing a third party payer removes negative feedback needed to hold down the price.

In any case, I have a severe case of medical sticker shock. Thanks for allowing me to vent my anger.