Thursday, November 5, 2009

Health Care At Our House & UPDATE

Update: Day Thirteen and Attila's son: "His care has truly been wonderful. We are so grateful to all the dedicated professionals who have been working hard to save his life." Click HERE for the latest news. And if you have a good joke to send them, they could really use a little humor right about now!


Growing up in a family with five kids, it seemed every other week one of us was going to the pediatrician for something.

"Doc" was his name, or at least the only name I ever knew or called our pediatrician-- There was no first or last name that any of my siblings or I can remember. Anyway, Doc was a big, tall guy with cold hands, that part I remember clearly. His office was in an old house with a huge wrap-around front porch located on the main drag of town, about five blocks from our home.

He was one of those small town doctors that gave out lollipops with string handles that, much later in life, I learned were "safer" than suckers on a stick. As a kid, I remember thinking a string sucker was a sorry excuse of a "reward" for getting a shot in my butt. And I always seemed to require a shot every time I saw the doctor.

Doc took care of us through the mumps and chicken pox, colds or the flu, a couple of tonsil surgeries and a broken bone or two. He was a nice guy, very caring and always sympathetic to my Mother's worry about us kids. And he even cared for a few of my nieces and nephews when they were babies before he retired.

His receptionist, Miss Gloria, was another story. She was, in a word, mean. And scary. She never smiled, never had anything nice to say and never said anything other than "Your bill today is....". I'm pretty sure she was a relative of Doc's but they were not married. Miss Gloria was older than dirt. Doc was only older than Moses.

Back in the 1960s Mom didn't carry a checkbook. Dad handled all the money, so we were always billed by the doctor. It worked that way for everyone. Doctors didn't "demand" payment before seeing you back then like most of the medical profession does today.

Each month on payday, Dad would sort through the medical bills while Mom recounted what each doctor's visit was for and which kid had been sick. They'd also try to budget if follow-up medical visits might be required the next month so they could set extra money aside and try to stay ahead of the doctor bills.

Dad had a payment "system" for Doc. He swore every time the pediatrician's bill was finally paid in full, one of us kids would get sick again. And he was usually right. So, when times were tough and money was tight, Dad managed our "health care system" by always having an open balance at the pediatrician's of $1.00. He firmly believed that an open balance with Doc helped keep us kids healthy and our medical bills manageable. Now that I think of it, Dad applied the same system to the dentist and the veterinarian too.

As I said before, there were five kids in our family. Mom swears all five of us were planned and welcomed-- None of us were "surprises" as they say. But after baby number five, Dad decided to leave a $1.00 balance open with the OB/GYN doctor too and that was the end of kids for our family-- The ultimate in health care cost control.

I hope you're having a healthy year.
Welcome to The Fifty Factor - Joanna
Photo Credit: Dejan Jovanovic

42 comments:

  1. ha. perhaps i need to try his system...two boys provide me with enough trips to the doctor..i used to hate shots too...i ran and hid one at the hospital...not a good idea.

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  2. My pediatrician was a heavy smoker - you mentioned Doc's hands always being cold - I remember my docs fingers always smelling of cigarette smoke. That smell was always associated with shots. Are you surprised to learn that I was never a smoker?

    Off to put a dollar on account at my kids pediatrician...

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  3. Suckers on a stick...oh the memories!

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  4. I like your dad's system! If I had an outstanding bill of $1 with my kids' pediatrician, they would come and take my first born!

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  5. I don't know if we were healthier back then or not but we did go to a doctor unless it was life threatening. Then when I had kids the doctors wanted me to bring them in for checkups all the time. I am more fascinated with your having four siblings than anything else.

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  6. Hmmm, maybe he was onto something and no one knew it. I can remember as a kid our doctor was in an old house too. He was pretty old and not very personable. He had that "no nonsense" look to him. I don't remember being very fond of him.

    In this day and age of pay when you walk in, there can be no "balance". Shame, it might work.

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  7. Love those old days when you could buy things on credit and everyone knew and cared about each other...

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  8. I'm thinking your Dad might just have some solutions for the current health care debacle! Those are great memories...suckers on a string and a doc in a house with a big wrap around porch. Many of mine growing up were the same including the nurse "Ratchet" receptionist. She would always scowl at me when I put my little mits anywhere near her desk!

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  9. Nowadays if you leave a $1 balance past its due date, they'll report you to the credit bureau and come after your house.

    We used to have a great small town pediatrician who even made house calls. Great doctor. Genuinely cared about the kids he treated, and knew everything about them. Even "forgot" to send a bill a few times when he knew we were struggling with money.

    But he retired, and now we have to go to the cold and impersonal clinic in the next town. Assembly line healthcare at its finest. Sheesh.

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  10. A $1.00 balance with the ob/gyn as a birth control method!

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  11. You even make a doctor visit a pleasure. Thanks my friend for the ray of sunshine. xo

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  12. I second the comment above!! Birthcontrol~ unpaid hospital bills, LOL Have a Great day!

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  13. Pretty cheap birth-control plan if ya ask me. I grew up with a family doctor who was everything to everybody with the same sucker system. Back in the day when life was simple and happy because we just didn't know better.

    Have a very healthy day, God bless!!!

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  14. I loved my pediatrician. At the time I was growing up, I believe he was one of 2 in the town which is now a pretty big city.

    He was a gentle soul and looked a lot like Walter Cronkite.

    What a great memory to share with us.

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  15. We had an "open account" at our family doctor after my last daughter was born. It had a little more than a dollar in it...around a thousand, actually. My husband's vasectomy that our insurance refused to cover.

    I like your dad's system better!!!

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  16. Thanks, I needed that chuckle. :)

    Yeah, things are certainly different now days when you go to the doctor than they were 30 years ago. From my childhood memories though, some things (like waiting rooms) have actually improved since then.

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  17. My mother worked for an old GP in Georgia who took payment from his poor patients in whatever they could manage - even crops - beans, eggs, tomatoes, etc. He also made house calls, as far away as 50 miles in the country. As I was growing up, he'd ask me if I wanted to come along and be his nurse. He'd pay me a dollar. When my mom would be on vacation, I'd work in the office. I credit him with giving me my desire to go to nursing school.

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  18. And that was a sad day for the OB/GYN, I'm sure, since a $1 balance was the kiss of health in your family.

    And by the way... we had our own "Doc" very similar to yours. Dr Rutherford. Cold hands and all.

    Great post, as usual Joanna.

    PS: I'm so relieved that Big Kid seems to be doing better and that Attila had a bit of humor going on in her post. I don't care what anyone says... pray heals and that is that.

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  19. What a great story! I can semi-relate, with four kids, only I usually only have to budget for co-pays (which can still add up, with four of them), and it's hard to have an "open balance" when each child is a separate billing account!
    The old way seems better!

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  20. What a terrific story!!! Thanks for sharing your wonderful memories!!! Your Dad? Quite a character!!!! Thanks also for the update on Attila's son...he's been in my prayers this week!!! ~Janine XO

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  21. So cool that the Doc was willing to work with your parents. Gone are the days where doctors do this AND make house calls!!

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  22. I could echo some of those details! Our family doctor was right down the street about 8 houses and he made housecalls.

    I love the last comment about your dad and the ob/gyn office....too cute!

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  23. Great story! It seemed life was so much simpler then....

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  24. That is a great story! I love the $1 balance.

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  25. That is so funny. I was going to take a picture of our doctor's office...which was part of his house and write about it one of these days. If we were too sick, Dr. McKenna came to our house. Usually you got a shot and you got better. The doctor was a family friend back then. We knew their family well and went to school with their kids. They lived about 2 blocks from us.

    I never saw my parents pay for a visit at the time of the visit. I'm sure they paid his bill with all of the others.

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  26. I remember the doctor actually coming to our house a few times. Imagine trying to get one to do that now?

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  27. I don't ever remember suckers on a stick. I do remember how frightened I was of my pediatrician. I told my mom he looked like a "mad scientist".

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  28. I don't ever remember suckers on a stick. I do remember how frightened I was of my pediatrician. I told my mom he looked like a "mad scientist".

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  29. Your dad was a pretty smart guy. I don't remember my pediatricians hands, but I totally remember his name...David Jasper Underwood. He had a mustache and made house calls. Fun memories, Joanna. I would love to hear more about all those siblings.

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  30. We had a doctor like that too. Those were the good old days before we needed health care reform.

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  31. Five kids in our family too......I can't recall a single doctor episode. Either we were incredibly healthy, or Mum decided the way to fix those health bills was to not create any. Smart woman.....
    :))

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  32. I remember when my kids were younger and it seemed that way too...always at the ped's office. Always a throat culture, an ear infection, a false alarm that still required the copay, lol.

    Your dad's system is very cute. He never needed that extra dollar at the obgyn did he? lol. In the end it was just you 5? What a wonderfully cute story!

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  33. I love this story, your dad's healthcare system seemed to work a lot better than the current one ;)

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  34. The best part of childhood I think is to have siblings. A trip to the doctor is fun because you go with your siblings.

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  35. How very wise of your parents! We rarely went to the doctor growing up...only when we were extremely sick. Thankfully for the most part we are healthy. I already had that terrible nasty flu for 2 weeks so hopefully that's it for the year!!!

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  36. that is a great story. if we had to pay for our doctor, i'd do the same just out of superstition. :-)

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  37. Ha.. your Dad had a simple and clever plan. I might just have to try that sometime. Probably with the dentist or vet bill since we're covered medically here in Canada.

    Thanks for your regular updates on your friend's son.

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  38. That is funny! And I can't imagine going to the dr's office and not having to cough up the copay immediately upon entering the reception area!!

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  39. That dollar balance today would not go over well. It would probably incur a $10.00 monthly late fee.

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  40. Our family doctor made house calls til I was about nine, I think. I believe he charged about $10 per office visit. I don't remember having health insurance til I went to college and Dad put me on his military health insurance, CHAMPUS.

    What a mess we are in today, eh?

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  41. that's a cute story--I think a lot of us would love to see the "good old days" of medicine return--it's become more business and less healing, don't you think?

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