Let's move from awareness to action on the uninsured

AMA Leader Commentary. By Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, July 21, 2008.

AMA LEADER COMMENTARY

A few words about current events in medical practice

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A message to all physicians from AMA President Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD.

A few months ago, I was preparing to speak to the Economic Club of Florida, and as often happens while on the road, I met a woman who wanted to tell me her story. She was the general manager of the hotel where I was staying. She told me that her current employer covered all the costs of health care for all employees.

However, her previous employer didn't offer health insurance, so she purchased an individual health policy for six months as she prepared to relocate to Florida. The transition took a little longer, so she renewed the policy for another six months. One week later, she found a breast lump.

The insurance company refused to pay because it said her diagnosis stemmed from a preexisting condition. This was a woman who had a normal mammogram one year before and a normal breast exam three months prior to that. When I met her, more than four years later, she was paying off the last $5,000 of the $50,000 bill for breast cancer treatment.

Every physician reading this column likely has a similar story he or she can tell. I hope you will.

This is a woman who did everything right. She embodies the type of personal responsibility that the AMA cheers and government trumpets. She personifies the informed consumer who gets preventive check-ups and follows guidelines for tests such as a mammogram and breast self-exam.

Stories like hers literally rip the "care" out of health care. She did everything right, and the system failed her, leaving her to work herself to the bone to drag herself out.