[Conservative til I die]

The medical industry today is horrible. I had an aunt die of an aortic aneuryism at the age of 50 because she sat in the hospital for 7 hours diagnosed with indigestion and given Pepto Bismol. PS - She didn't have insurance. She only got any attention when she was put in an ambulance to go to one of the better hospitals because her friggin' arteries burst. But the ambulance service made sure to charge her *$6,000* Six-thousand!

I have no insurance right now, and am deathly afraid of the health issue I'm having right now turn out to be serious enough for hospitalization. To put it this way, one doctor has told me antibiotics, then blood tests, and then, we'll see. Another told me the first thing I needed was a biopsy right away. Scary isn't it that our lives are in these people's hands?

By no means do I want national healthcare, but we need to find a third way. What was the medical industry like in the 40s and 50s, before HMOs and all that?

[Mind-numbed Robot]

What was the medical industry like in the 40s and 50s, before HMOs and all that?

Very good and relatively inexpensive. Most hospitals were run by churches and charities so cost was kept to a minimum and volunteers were plentiful. That all changed in 1965 with the passing of the Medicare bill under LBJ's Great Society. Then the vultures lept in to rape the government. Medicare was to pay what private insurance didn't pay but that was mysteriously reversed. The insurance companies, health care providers and the politicians have all colluded to keep costs up. The same will happen to the proposed Prescription Drug program.

[speekinout]

What was the medical industry like in the 40s and 50s, before HMOs and all that?

Oh, the good old days! I was a kid in the 50's, and we had a doctor who made house calls. We were poor, so sometimes the doctor had to wait awhile for payment.
I did like the idea of the doctor coming to my house when I was very sick rather than having to go out to a hospital or clinic.

The doctors were among the richest people in the community, but even the poorest had house calls. Of course, there was no regulation for what they charged, so I don't know if they "soaked the rich" to subsidize the care for the poor. Maybe they did, and kudos if they did.
I'd like that system back.