Health insurers should stop scaring seniors
by Will Nicholson, M.D.
MPR
December 28, 2010
The health insurance industry should end its media campaign aimed at frightening senior citizens about Medicare reform.
Scary political advertisements should have ended with the midterm elections last month. Regardless of your political sensibilities, I hope you can see that intentionally scaring the elderly with inaccurate and incomplete information doesn't uphold the ethical standards of doing no harm that the rest of us in health care try to live by. The industry we count on as the steward of our precious health care resources should be investing in the health of its customers, not diverting millions of dollars to fund political melodrama.
The tactic of frightening senior citizens in order to advance a political agenda has become far too common. When a hospitalized patient of mine asked me not about the medical emergency that brought him to the hospital but instead about how he would pay for his medical care once "the government steals $100 billion from Medicare," I decided things had gone too far.
I understand that patient's fear. In fact, we all should, because we all depend on Medicare. The vital services Medicare provides are not only critical for the health of America's seniors but critical to the viability of our entire health care system. As the needs of Medicare patients change, Medicare must continually improve its services to meet those needs. But even well-intended changes can be frightening to patients whose health depends on Medicare.
(More here.)
MPR
December 28, 2010
The health insurance industry should end its media campaign aimed at frightening senior citizens about Medicare reform.
Scary political advertisements should have ended with the midterm elections last month. Regardless of your political sensibilities, I hope you can see that intentionally scaring the elderly with inaccurate and incomplete information doesn't uphold the ethical standards of doing no harm that the rest of us in health care try to live by. The industry we count on as the steward of our precious health care resources should be investing in the health of its customers, not diverting millions of dollars to fund political melodrama.
The tactic of frightening senior citizens in order to advance a political agenda has become far too common. When a hospitalized patient of mine asked me not about the medical emergency that brought him to the hospital but instead about how he would pay for his medical care once "the government steals $100 billion from Medicare," I decided things had gone too far.
I understand that patient's fear. In fact, we all should, because we all depend on Medicare. The vital services Medicare provides are not only critical for the health of America's seniors but critical to the viability of our entire health care system. As the needs of Medicare patients change, Medicare must continually improve its services to meet those needs. But even well-intended changes can be frightening to patients whose health depends on Medicare.
(More here.)
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