Monday, September 10, 2012
Posted in
Health
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Life
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As you can see from the letter below, I'm becoming increasingly fed up with the "healers" in the medical profession who are more interested in raking in big bucks than doing any healing. There was a time when doctors and dentists had incomes that put them well within the middle class, but now they are all wealthy. This dentist actually charges a little less for a cleaning than other dentists in the area, but as the letter shows, he makes it up in other ways.
The dentist didn't refund my money when I sent him this letter, but he did issue a refund several months later when I complained to his professional association.
June 19, 2012
Thomas Enright, D.D.S.
East Bay Dental Associates
1052 Main Street
Warren, RI 02885
Dear Dr. Enright:
I'm very angry about what happened when I came for a cleaning on June 12th. Your rate had gone up from $75 to $85, yet I wasn't informed of that until after the cleaning was over. I was told that your rate had gone up in January, so your office had five months in which to tell me. Despite the fact that I made the appointment when you were still charging $75, I paid the $85, but I didn't like it.
I really have to question your judgement in raising prices at this time. The country is in a severe economic slump. Rhode Island's unemployment rate stands at 11%, the second highest in the nation. Statistics show that the middle class has gotten poorer over the last decade, and that the wealth of most people in the middle class has remained stagnant for about twenty years. Yet despite these things, your rates are high and continue to climb. You also have no provision for treating low-income patients. Don't you have any sense of social responsibility?
I've told you more than once that I make only $18,000 a year, yet you have never said, "Okay, I can take ten dollars off." When I needed a wisdom tooth extracted a couple years ago, I had to go to another dentist in order to save some money. When you repaired a chip on my front tooth, you quoted me $150, and then charged me $165 (the procedure took you less than 30 minutes). Two-and-a-half years later, when the repair broke off, I was quoted $180 to fix it again. $180 is twenty percent more than $150. Did the cost of living go up by twenty percent in two-and-a-half years? No, it didn't.
Despite the poor economy, the income of doctors, dentists and other health professionals continues to skyrocket. A 2009 ADA survey showed that dentists in New England grossed an average of $280,000 a year, the highest of any region in the country. Ironically, dentists now make more than M.D.'s do, despite the fact that dental care is rarely life-saving. At what point is enough enough? You were undoubtedly making an adequate income at your old rates. Is it really necessary for you to make more money at this time? $75 for a cleaning is enough to pay the dental assistant's salary, with something left over to pay for the equipment.
At the very least, I insist that you refund $10 to my credit card. Raising your rates between the time an appointment is made and the time the appointment takes place is unethical at best.
Sincerely,
/ s /
Some comments:
In retrospect, I believe that the repair of my chipped tooth took the dentist about 20 minutes; that's almost $500 an hour that he was collecting for his services. Even if it took 30 minutes, he was still getting $330 an hour. Now, I'm well aware that dentists have employees and office and equipment expenses, but that's still too much money.
At the time that I sent this letter to the dentist, I estimated my income at $18,000 a year. When I did my 2012 taxes in early 2013, I discovered that I made $14,556 in 2012. (I must have been feeling optimistic when I wrote the letter!) If I had told him I was making $14,556 a year, would he have given me a break? I doubt it. Like everyone in the medical profession, he is all about the money.
Speaking now about economics and not other things, such as race relations, it is amazing how much things have worsened since the 1950's and 1960's. Back then, an entire middle-class family could survive on the salary of one person. That one salary would be enough to buy a house, raise kids and live a middle-class lifestyle, albeit perhaps a lower-middle-class lifestyle. Doctors were part of the middle class back then, and doctor bills were small (and lab bills even smaller). Mainly because of the Republican party, things have changed drastically. The income of the middle class has stagnated, while professionals and corporate managers have moved into the upper class. If the income of the middle class had kept pace with those groups, we would all be making $100,000 or more, and it wouldn't be a problem to pay large sums to our doctors for routine care. But that hasn't happened.
What has happened is that professionals and businesses have discovered that they can charge anything and that people will pay it. Thus, any service provided by a professional is now incredibly expensive, as if professionals were demigods. So whereas a visit to a veterinarian cost $5 in 1975, it now costs $50 or more. Whereas a visit to a doctor cost $15 in 1975, it now costs $85 or more (and that's just to talk him!). Whereas a laboratory test cost $5 to $10 in 1975, even minor tests now cost $100.* Medical labs, doctor and dental practices, and veterinarian practices are raking in millions, something that was unheard of in 1975 (even when inflation is factored in). Everyone in the medical profession is trying to get rich, and the whole concept of charging reasonable rates to make a reasonable income is nonsense to them.
This all started with Ronald Reagan. Thanks a bunch, you jerk.
I thought my readers might be interested to know what happened regarding my dental care. I started seeing a dentist two blocks from my home who actually charged more for cleanings, $95. There's no doubt that I resented paying so much, but I really had no choice. For reasons I don't understand, medical services of all kinds are extremely expensive in New England. However, I finally decided that I needed to be more aggressive, so I called up my dentist's office and told the secretary that I was on Social Security, and that I would be on Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Medicaid in my state, however, does not pay for dental services -- so I asked, was there anything that I could do to get a lower rate? The secretary talked to my dentist, and he agreed to charge me the same rate that Blue Cross/Blue Shield pays them for their services, which is more than 20% less. Thus, from now on I will be paying about $72 for my cleanings.
This brings up an interesting point: In the world of medicine, the people who pay the most are often the people who are the poorest. Doctors and dentists have what is euphamistically called a "rack rate" for all their services -- i.e., a full, non-discounted price. The people who are charged the "rack rate" are generally the people who have no insurance; and the people who have no insurance are usually the unemployed or the working poor. Consequently, a doctor may be paid $60 for a particular service by the insurance company of a well-off person, but the poor person who is paying out-of-pocket will pay $80. At the very least, doctors and dentists should not be charging more to their poor patients than they get paid from insurance companies. In my opinion, that is the least that our wealthy health-care providers can do for their poor patients.
Needless to say, I am very appreciative of my dentist for giving me the lower rate, and I am also very relieved because it means that I don't have to resent him any more. I don't want to resent the people who care for me.
____________________________
* My figures from 1975 are from memory. I'll do some research and fill in more accurate numbers later.
The dentist didn't refund my money when I sent him this letter, but he did issue a refund several months later when I complained to his professional association.
* * *
June 19, 2012
Thomas Enright, D.D.S.
East Bay Dental Associates
1052 Main Street
Warren, RI 02885
Dear Dr. Enright:
I'm very angry about what happened when I came for a cleaning on June 12th. Your rate had gone up from $75 to $85, yet I wasn't informed of that until after the cleaning was over. I was told that your rate had gone up in January, so your office had five months in which to tell me. Despite the fact that I made the appointment when you were still charging $75, I paid the $85, but I didn't like it.
I really have to question your judgement in raising prices at this time. The country is in a severe economic slump. Rhode Island's unemployment rate stands at 11%, the second highest in the nation. Statistics show that the middle class has gotten poorer over the last decade, and that the wealth of most people in the middle class has remained stagnant for about twenty years. Yet despite these things, your rates are high and continue to climb. You also have no provision for treating low-income patients. Don't you have any sense of social responsibility?
I've told you more than once that I make only $18,000 a year, yet you have never said, "Okay, I can take ten dollars off." When I needed a wisdom tooth extracted a couple years ago, I had to go to another dentist in order to save some money. When you repaired a chip on my front tooth, you quoted me $150, and then charged me $165 (the procedure took you less than 30 minutes). Two-and-a-half years later, when the repair broke off, I was quoted $180 to fix it again. $180 is twenty percent more than $150. Did the cost of living go up by twenty percent in two-and-a-half years? No, it didn't.
Despite the poor economy, the income of doctors, dentists and other health professionals continues to skyrocket. A 2009 ADA survey showed that dentists in New England grossed an average of $280,000 a year, the highest of any region in the country. Ironically, dentists now make more than M.D.'s do, despite the fact that dental care is rarely life-saving. At what point is enough enough? You were undoubtedly making an adequate income at your old rates. Is it really necessary for you to make more money at this time? $75 for a cleaning is enough to pay the dental assistant's salary, with something left over to pay for the equipment.
At the very least, I insist that you refund $10 to my credit card. Raising your rates between the time an appointment is made and the time the appointment takes place is unethical at best.
Sincerely,
/ s /
* * *
Some comments:
In retrospect, I believe that the repair of my chipped tooth took the dentist about 20 minutes; that's almost $500 an hour that he was collecting for his services. Even if it took 30 minutes, he was still getting $330 an hour. Now, I'm well aware that dentists have employees and office and equipment expenses, but that's still too much money.
At the time that I sent this letter to the dentist, I estimated my income at $18,000 a year. When I did my 2012 taxes in early 2013, I discovered that I made $14,556 in 2012. (I must have been feeling optimistic when I wrote the letter!) If I had told him I was making $14,556 a year, would he have given me a break? I doubt it. Like everyone in the medical profession, he is all about the money.
Speaking now about economics and not other things, such as race relations, it is amazing how much things have worsened since the 1950's and 1960's. Back then, an entire middle-class family could survive on the salary of one person. That one salary would be enough to buy a house, raise kids and live a middle-class lifestyle, albeit perhaps a lower-middle-class lifestyle. Doctors were part of the middle class back then, and doctor bills were small (and lab bills even smaller). Mainly because of the Republican party, things have changed drastically. The income of the middle class has stagnated, while professionals and corporate managers have moved into the upper class. If the income of the middle class had kept pace with those groups, we would all be making $100,000 or more, and it wouldn't be a problem to pay large sums to our doctors for routine care. But that hasn't happened.
What has happened is that professionals and businesses have discovered that they can charge anything and that people will pay it. Thus, any service provided by a professional is now incredibly expensive, as if professionals were demigods. So whereas a visit to a veterinarian cost $5 in 1975, it now costs $50 or more. Whereas a visit to a doctor cost $15 in 1975, it now costs $85 or more (and that's just to talk him!). Whereas a laboratory test cost $5 to $10 in 1975, even minor tests now cost $100.* Medical labs, doctor and dental practices, and veterinarian practices are raking in millions, something that was unheard of in 1975 (even when inflation is factored in). Everyone in the medical profession is trying to get rich, and the whole concept of charging reasonable rates to make a reasonable income is nonsense to them.
This all started with Ronald Reagan. Thanks a bunch, you jerk.
* * *
This brings up an interesting point: In the world of medicine, the people who pay the most are often the people who are the poorest. Doctors and dentists have what is euphamistically called a "rack rate" for all their services -- i.e., a full, non-discounted price. The people who are charged the "rack rate" are generally the people who have no insurance; and the people who have no insurance are usually the unemployed or the working poor. Consequently, a doctor may be paid $60 for a particular service by the insurance company of a well-off person, but the poor person who is paying out-of-pocket will pay $80. At the very least, doctors and dentists should not be charging more to their poor patients than they get paid from insurance companies. In my opinion, that is the least that our wealthy health-care providers can do for their poor patients.
Needless to say, I am very appreciative of my dentist for giving me the lower rate, and I am also very relieved because it means that I don't have to resent him any more. I don't want to resent the people who care for me.
____________________________
* My figures from 1975 are from memory. I'll do some research and fill in more accurate numbers later.
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