Something I commonly hear from advocates of government-run medicine is that people with chronic conditions like diabetes cannot afford to pay for their care themselves. They need “coverage,” the story goes. I just saw one of my patients who has type 1 diabetes, who also has hypothyroidism, and charged him $124 for his followup visit, including his labs. Then it occurred to me to ask him if he has insurance (I do not take it). He said that he does, and he could go to a doctor that takes it, but chooses to come to me anyway. This is by no means an isolated incident. I have a lot of patients with chronic conditions, who have insurance, but have realized that they do not need to use it. Having a chronic condition does not mean that a person cannot afford to pay for his or her own care.
This was originally posted November 22, 2016 on Facebook.