ChanomiTalk

Last week when I went to the emergency check in at the Kaiser Moanaloa clinic, there was a fairly large sign that stated that nobody would be refused medical care. This of course included people who do not have health insurance. I have seen the same sign in Straub and other smaller clinics. This is a Hawaii state law. I am not sure if all the states have the same law but I can not imagine that there is any place in the United States where one can not get treated even if they do not have insurance. Just the other day I noticed a homeless man wearing a cast on his leg that he obviously got at the hospital so I wonder how the hospital goes about recouping their losses. I know that insurance does not always cover all of the costs so even people with insurance are often faced with large hospital bills. When it came time for me to pay mine I was told that there are many different kinds of payment plans for those who can’t pay everything up front. All in all I think that it is a very good law and I just keep wondering to what extent will the hospital treat somebody who can not pay them back?

Last week I had to go to the hospital to have a minor procedure done on my left arm. The night before I had this done I stayed in the hospital and since my procedure was to be done at 7:00 in the morning I had to fast for 12 hours. The next day I was not allowed to have either breakfast or lunch so I was very hungry. I ordered my dinner before I went to have the procedure done so that I could eat right away. Unfortunately, after starting the procedure, my Doctor decided to wait one more day so the medicine I was given could have more time to work. Once I got back to my room I got the very bad news that I was only allowed to have a small bowl of chicken broth! I was so very hungry! I watched TV before I went to bed it seemed all of the commercials were about food! The next day I again could not have breakfast or lunch and after the procedure was finally able to have dinner. The only problem was that the portions were very small. I was in the hospital a total of 6 days and I lost about 6 pounds! One pound for each day!