So, remember when our entire healthcare system was overhauled so that everyone could finally benefit from "preventative care"? Legislation was passed to require that all of our health insurance policies would provide "free" annual exams because it would make us all healthier and would be less costly with all that early detection and stuff. Well, if you do, then this ought to interest you...
Perhaps you remember Ezekiel Emanuel, MD, He is the brother of current Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel who was also the former Chief of Staff to President Obama. And you may remember that Dr. Emanuel was one of the chief advisers who helped create the "Affordable Care Act" that would ovehaul our entire healthcare system. As part of the grand overhaul, it requires that said "free" annual exams would be provided by physicians and insurance companies at "no cost" to the patient.
Well, now Dr. Emanuel (brother of Rahm) has just offered his opinion that all those preventive exams are, in fact, a load of bunk. In his latest Op/Ed piece in the New York Times from Friday - Skip Your Annual Physical, he pretty much spells out how research shows that annual exams do nothing to help uncover or prevent chronic diseases such as heart disease or other chronic diseases. Instead of people dying in the streets for lack of available and adequate preventative care for which we just overhauled our entire healthcare system to correct, it turns out that two of the top "leading causes of death in Americans" are "uintentional injuries and suicides". So all of those routine tests that doctors put you through in those annual exams have no benefit except in the rare occasion that some underlying condition just happens to be discovered by accident. Yeah, you are more likely to die by accident that to have some disease diagnosed by accident.
Here is what he writes -
Of course, like when they said doctors just did toncillectomies to increase revenue, according to Dr. Emanuel, they also have been pushing the whole bogus preventative care thing too. But as I recall (and correct me if I am wrong) we were told repeatedly by the pro-ACA'ers that if only everyone could get all those "preventative care" exams, then no one would ever need real healthcare again because doctors would catch all those expensive diseases and conditions before they became really expensive diseases and conditions and we would all be much healthier and happier and the Earth would begin to heal and Peace would break out and...oh, wait that was something else.
Anyway, so where before we had insurance that did not cover "preventative care" like "wellness" visits and gym memberships, it did cover much less likely catastrophic events like broken bones, cancer treatments and chronic illnesse. Now we are forced to pay for insurance mandated by the US Government that will fully cover worthless "preventative care", but barely cover the less likely really bad stuff. Help me to understand why anyone ever thought this was a good idea.
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Perhaps you remember Ezekiel Emanuel, MD, He is the brother of current Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel who was also the former Chief of Staff to President Obama. And you may remember that Dr. Emanuel was one of the chief advisers who helped create the "Affordable Care Act" that would ovehaul our entire healthcare system. As part of the grand overhaul, it requires that said "free" annual exams would be provided by physicians and insurance companies at "no cost" to the patient.
Well, now Dr. Emanuel (brother of Rahm) has just offered his opinion that all those preventive exams are, in fact, a load of bunk. In his latest Op/Ed piece in the New York Times from Friday - Skip Your Annual Physical, he pretty much spells out how research shows that annual exams do nothing to help uncover or prevent chronic diseases such as heart disease or other chronic diseases. Instead of people dying in the streets for lack of available and adequate preventative care for which we just overhauled our entire healthcare system to correct, it turns out that two of the top "leading causes of death in Americans" are "uintentional injuries and suicides". So all of those routine tests that doctors put you through in those annual exams have no benefit except in the rare occasion that some underlying condition just happens to be discovered by accident. Yeah, you are more likely to die by accident that to have some disease diagnosed by accident.
Here is what he writes -
"Regardless of which screenings and tests were administered, studies of annual health exams dating from 1963 to 1999 show that the annual physicals did not reduce mortality overall or for specific causes of death from cancer or heart disease. And the checkups consume billions, although no one is sure exactly how many billions because of the challenge of measuring the additional screenings and follow-up tests."
Of course, like when they said doctors just did toncillectomies to increase revenue, according to Dr. Emanuel, they also have been pushing the whole bogus preventative care thing too. But as I recall (and correct me if I am wrong) we were told repeatedly by the pro-ACA'ers that if only everyone could get all those "preventative care" exams, then no one would ever need real healthcare again because doctors would catch all those expensive diseases and conditions before they became really expensive diseases and conditions and we would all be much healthier and happier and the Earth would begin to heal and Peace would break out and...oh, wait that was something else.
Anyway, so where before we had insurance that did not cover "preventative care" like "wellness" visits and gym memberships, it did cover much less likely catastrophic events like broken bones, cancer treatments and chronic illnesse. Now we are forced to pay for insurance mandated by the US Government that will fully cover worthless "preventative care", but barely cover the less likely really bad stuff. Help me to understand why anyone ever thought this was a good idea.