Governor Schwarzenegger’s Flawed Health Care Plan

I was in Sacramento this past weekend where a panel of medical experts discussed Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s recent proposal to socialize medicine in California.

Its one thing to be victimized by felons, and quite another to be hurt by someone you trust. He not only betrayed Californians, but made his supporters look like liars, or fools. His behavior may have been the push needed for my family to relocate to a state friendlier to the middle class and doctors. After 26 years of public service, I’m getting tired. Others will have to fight California’s growing European problems.

I digress.

Included in the panel of experts was a Schwarzenegger representative; a bureaucrat pulled right out of Central Casting, a wrinkled pear-shaped figure concealed by fading polyester.

The physicians represented more than 100 years of medical study and practice. One expert, a Canadian who enjoyed socialized medicine until his “wife became crippled while waiting 18 months for surgery” reminded us why people served by socialized medicine come to the US for care. Other experts lamented the obvious disconnect between Schwarzenegger’s proposal and the real world.

The most powerful speaker of the group was Dr. Linda Halderman. Her passionate advocacy for healthcare was matched only by her striking beauty. Even when interrupted by Rudy Giuliani’s visit, I sensed that most of us couldn’t wait for her to continue.

She outlined many issues and suggestions related to her posts on American Thinker – posts that deserve everyone’s careful review.

In What’s Your Doctor Worth? Halderman, a Board Certified General Surgeon, describes the bureaucratic distractions that make it almost impossible to treat patients in California.

A woman was referred to Dr. Halderman after her mammogram showed a suspicious area.

Five or ten faxed pages arrive on my assistant's desk. She calls the Gynecologist's office to request additional material, including copies of the mammogram report, the patient's contact information and insurance data-if the
patient is insured.

Dr. Halderman describes the lengthy process of reviewing her case, confirming insurance eligibility, charts, x-rays, medical records, interviews and examinations:

I examine her carefully, assessing not only for breast abnormalities, but also for swollen glands in eight regions of the body. A heart and lung exam is done to identify problems that would make her a higher surgical risk, and the neurological, abdominal and musculoskeletal evaluations provide evidence for or against tumor spread.

After reassuring her patient and frightened family, she filled out forms, ordered more testing, poring over “the list of codes required by Medi-Cal to identify the visit, choosing the most appropriate ones and hoping they don't merit automatic rejection of the bill (a frequent occurrence, prompting up to nine months of back-and-forth debate with Medi-Cal).”

Dr. Halderman describes the tearful second visit, the patient’s fear, diagnosis, treatment and the confused feelings related to a life-threatening illness.

This visit is the most difficult one for my patient and her family. I, too, find it the hardest part of being a Breast Cancer Surgeon. Some wounds cannot be healed with sutures and sterile bandages.

The punch line of the story isn’t the prognosis or outcome of the patient, but the punishing bureaucratic insult that Medi-Cal paid for Dr. Halderman’s services.

Many of us agreed with someone who said he paid his maid more than California compensated Dr. Halderman. Her testimony made us all sick – but not as sick as we were by the behavior of Schwarzenegger’s representative who, during the seminar, failed to record one of a dozen or more recommendations made by these experienced and passionate doctors. One nurse advocate in the audience got up and left, too sickened by his responses. It was clear that Schwarzenegger, or at least his chosen representative, cared more about getting along with ruling Democrats than considering the needs of physicians. Many of us were left wondering why anyone would want to be a doctor in California – and marveled at the doctors' compassionate advocacy for their patients.

In her critique of Schwarzenegger’s plan, she reports that Medi-Cal is “run by nearly 6,000 Sacramento-based bureaucrats (and) spends nearly $7,500 yearly per patient… money (that) could fund a private Blue Cross-type plan for every man, woman and child that Medi-Cal currently covers.”

All of Dr. Halderman’s essays deserve careful study before Schwarzenegger and the Democrat-controlled legislature finally destroys California’s mediocre medical care system.

For more information, read all of Dr. Halderman’s reports:

What’s Your Doctor Worth?
First Do No Harm – Then Do Something
Governor Schwarzenegger’s Flawed Health Care Plan