As I follow the 2008 Presidential, Congressional, and Senate campaigns, and listen to others talking about them, I hear a lot of criticism about “government. I hear words like inefficient, unresponsive, and incompetent when people talk about government-run services. In the same breath, these critics say that we need private sector solutions – particularly for health care.
Has anyone tried to get medical bills paid through a fragmented health care delivery and payment system lately? Have these critics tried to resolve issues with their credit card, cable or cell phone company only to find it to be a miracle when you can actually talk to a person.
Here is my favorite private sector stories for this week.
First, I ordered a product on the internet and paid for two day shipping with one of the main stream private sector shipping companies. I tracked the package online and discovered that it was not going to be delivered on time because of “an emergency situation beyond our control. After a phone call to the 800 number I learned that (a) people at the call desk and even at the local distribution center have no idea what the emergency actually was; (b) that designation is often used when the driver simply runs out of time to make the delivery; and (c) because it is “beyond the company’s control the consumer is not entitled to any refund! It is also curious that the local distribution centers cannot take incoming phone calls and can only be contacted by the central call center by E-MAIL! When I have mailed an express letter through the much maligned USPS, and it does not arrive by the promised time, I have gotten reimbursed for the cost of the postage.
Second, a couple of months ago I am embarrassed to say that I cut my thumb while preparing dinner. After a not so quick trip to the ER and several stitches later the “fun actually began. The hospital where I went staffs its ER with physicians from a non-hospital clinic. The billing department at this private hospital is supposed send the patient’s insurance data to the physician’s practice administrator, but routinely does not. While the hospital bill was paid without a glitch, I am still getting bills from the ER physician’s clinic – in spite of the fact that I personally sent them my insurance info.
Third, I recently got a new VISA business card – it only took THREE mailings of the new card until this company finally got my name spelled correctly!
So how about we change the discourse about incompetence to include these “private sector solutions as well?