WFB: Congresswoman Katie Porter (D, Calif.,) revealed in a subcommittee meeting that a tangled mess of health care bills she was facing was cleared up when a patient advocate told the insurance company Porter had been recently elected to the House of Representatives.
In a Tuesday hearing titled “Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills,” the freshman representative told her personal story of needing an emergency appendectomy last August. She said she was shocked to get a bill for $3,000 because one of the surgeons was out of her provider network.
“As I continued to fight my insurance company, I kept receiving bills from the surgeon,” she said at one point. “Eventually, nearly five months after I was hospitalized, the surgeon was forced to simply request payment.”
Porter had also claimed in her remarks that some documents she received in the mail had said her surgeon was in-network, but this matter never seemed to ever be fully factually determined.
Moments later, she said how the entire bill became settled.
“Finally, the patient advocate, invoking the fact that I had just been elected to Congress, was able to get the insurance company to agree to pay my surgeon’s bill.”
A patient advocate in this case was a doctor hired by Porter’s employer to help workers navigate complicated health care billing issues.
The acknowledgement that a resolution only came once political clout was employed was not included in Porter’s written remarks published by the committee.
While the use of political pull in this situation may not strictly violate House ethics rules, to some, the moment illustrates other problems with government’s role in health care.
“If the United States had a free market in health care, there would be no reason for providers to be afraid of members of Congress,” said Michael Cannon, the director of health care policy studies at the libertarian Cato Institute.
“The fact that Miss Porter got a special deal when someone mentioned she is a member of Congress shows we already have a government run health care system.” more here
Just WOW. And they have no sense of shame.
Maybe she should have sued the surgeon for unauthorized medical procedures.
And this is why whenever these elected tools get pulled over by the cops or have to interact with the Hoi polloi, the very first thing out of their mouths is ,”Do you know who the hell I am?”
These career (soon to be career) politicians are so far removed from the Jeffersonian model of citizen politicians, taking a short break from avocations to perform civic duties, then go back to the farm.
And this congress critter sounds like a moron, everybody knows that your coverage will be less if you use an out of network doctor. $3 grand sounds about right to me.
I’m not sure who I have more contempt for, the medical/insurance community or the political community.
Her appendix must have been in her face because from the picture I saw it left some horrific scars.
On another note, has anybody seen this:
https://www.neonrevolt.com/2019/05/24/operation-charlemagne-the-silent-ones-and-eyepyramid-italys-role-in-framing-trump-spygate-qanon-greatawakening-neonrevolt/
Seems to have some legitimacy.
The acknowledgement that a resolution only came once political clout was employed was not included in Porter’s written remarks published by the committee.
Importat to remember that congress and the president (and one SEIU union are the only people in America exempt from obamacare.
Disgusting, isn’t it?
To be honest I’m not surprised that her advocate telling the Insurer they were actually dealing with a CongressCritter cleared up the problem immediately. Right now (and for hundreds of years I suspect) that’s the way it is. What concerns me more is that her remarks on her experience on getting preferential treatment were censored from the report. That’s what I would be asking about if I were a journalist, a real one that is.
Thanks to EMTALA rules, a physician offering call coverage cannot ask whether a patient has coverage or is in network. They must show up at the ER. This bint should pay her bill. Jeebus, the insurance has their met their obligation (what? would she have waited until someone that was in her network show up?) and she needs to meet her financial responsibility. I guess now everyone else gets to pay her bill.
As much as I can’t stand congresscritters, and I’m not trying to support her, but how did her insurance company meet their obligation? By calling an out of network surgeon when an in network surgeon could have been called? I’ve had a couple buddies of mine go through this scam and I can tell you the doctors and insurance people are damn fortunate things got fixed otherwise they would be looking for medical care themselves.
A Congresscritter doesn’t have a measly $3K to pay a bill?
Color me surprised.
Ever member of both Houses of Congress and that joke of a Supreme Court (except the ones who voted against Roberts),
from the moment Obozocare was illegally passed until the day it is gone, deserves to die a grizzly painful death. Liars. Hypocrites. Unworthy of citizenship in this great country.
They are felons and Traitors, no less.
YES, no shame no embarrassment ….. these things still require an ounce of self awareness. I am seriously considering disconnecting from the world and becoming more of a hermit than I am……….
“Speaking the truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act.” Geo. Orwell
@Handy N Handsome: I had not seen that article in the link but it does tie up some loose ends of the coup plot. Thanks
Capt. Kirk had the right response (regarding this, & other politicians).
“LET THEM DIE!” 😡
70 years ago we said, “R H I P!”! Clearly the UNIPARTY HAS RANK! And they have pulled ltheir rank for 28 years.