Could this be the final chapter in my adventure in privatized health care? Possibly. But the way things have been going, I wouldn’t bet on it.
I have spent the day on the phone, calling everyone I could think of. And it seems nobody in the federal or state government is responsible for enforcing Medicare Advantage agreements.
In the era of privatization, it seems, you’re on your own.
I still don’t understand what’s happening. Someone from my doctor’s office called me today to say One Home Care didn’t provide my antibiotic in Polk County. In the meantime, the caller said, there was a similar prescription – in pill form – waiting for me at Walgreen’s pharmacy. That would tide me over until things could be straightened out, they said.
But I also received a call from One Home Care’s pharmacy . They informed me they were preparing my IV medication and asked for a copayment of $40 and some cents.
They’re all set to deliver a week’s supply of the stuff at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow. And a company called MS Supply in Tampa says they are sending a nurse to administer the IV. So perhaps I’ll be back on track.
So what about today? Mercifully, there’s Baycare. Jaimie just left after taking care of my daily IV. Again.
Encouragingly, some companies are ethical, Baycare, for example. Throughout this entire mess, they have stood by me.
If they hadn’t decided to give me another day’s care – and then another and another – I would have been stranded. With whatever dire consequences that may have had.
If all companies were like Baycare, privatization might work. But they aren’t. Unfortunately, some – probably the majority – are like One Home Care Solutions.
