Doing What’s Best

I suppose that one of the things we must learn to live with is politics. That means we also have to learn about politicians. What is a politician? Webster’s Dictionary offers several definitions, but the one that seems best is “a person who uses public office to advance personal or partisan interests.” I must be naive, because I thought politicians represented the interests of their constituents!

Several very serious problems loom over the heads of DME/HME dealers, home health agencies and pharmacie, most notably changes in the Medicare program and prescription-drug coverage and unresolved questions about reimbursement.

Perhaps I am ingenuous in believing that our legislators would sit down and ask “What is best for the average American citizen?” and then work together to accomplish it. Instead, it seems that everything politicians say or do is designed to collect votes and dollars. Each political party has submitted its proposal for Medicare and a prescription-drug plan (by the time you read this, Congress may even have decided which plan to put in place).

I can find much to like and dislike in both plans. To express these opinions and to make suggestions, I bombard the appropriate politicians with e-mails and letters. You must do the same. And, when you do write, include a paragraph that describes your company and the community you service. This will give your letter a little more status.

There is a long period until the next national election, but already the candidates are soliciting and raising campaign funds. My advice, as stated by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, is to “put not your trust in money, but put your money in trust.”

A Litigious Society

Greed! Yes, greed rules supreme these days. I have read several articles about attorneys who wish to sue some of the fast food restaurants because Americans are getting too fat. Are McDonald’s and other fast food restaurants forcing people to chow down on burgers and fries? No, they are not. We can all choose to eat elsewhere.

This example points to something wrong with our legal or social system and, in my mind, this is a result of pure laziness and selfishness on the part of far too many people.

When the Surgeon General said that smoking was harmful and a caution was printed on every package of cigarettes, many people opted to cease this bad habit. However, some people refused to acknowledge that smoking could harm them. Now they want to be rewarded for their negligence and have found attorneys to sue the tobacco companies.

Initially these suits failed, but then some juries began to make awards. States started collecting money, too, claiming that since they had to provide health care to smokers, the tobacco companies should reimburse them. Lawyers are having a field day with these suits. I read in one report of the mega-dollars that some law firms have received as a result of these lawsuits.

Yes, we have become a litigious society. The best analogy I can give is about the man who killed both his parents and then pleaded for leniency when found guilty because he was an orphan.

Bariatrics

As long as I am in a cantankerous mood, let me add to it. Mrs. Prial and I have visited Europe several times for both business and pleasure. During our trips, we both noticed one thing: Almost all of the overweight people we saw at the airports were Americans. We just returned from a trip to Italy and I doubt if we saw more than a half-dozen “fat” Italians. The same is true in London, Paris, Brussels and some of the other ports of call we have visited.

Need I embellish this?

Thank You

I wish to express my appreciation and say “thank you” to those readers who find a moment to send me an e-mail or give me a call with their comments about what I say. I often wonder if anyone reads what I write and then, when I hear from you, it certainly is rewarding.

Sheldon “Shelly” Prial is a partner with HPS Healthcare Management. In 1987, he founded the Homecare Providers Co-op, now part of the VGM Group. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at 888/367-7208.