Two weeks after a friend went to the ER for a migraine and other symptoms, she had her annual physical. The doctor enters the exam room reading from the ER notes and asks how is she feeling? Any pain? The patient says she is fine; there are no symptoms since the ER visit. When she gets the bill, the doctor had added a separate charge for this "follow up exam." It was never requested by the patient and there was zero notice that it would incur an additional charge. When she complained, the doctor's response (through the billing office) was she performed the procedure and is entitled to be paid. This is consumer fraud.
Imagine the doctor bringing his car for an oil change and the service writer says, "how are the new brakes we put on last time you were here?" The doctor says "fine" but is charged $25 for a "follow up service check." He would never stand for it. Medical costs will never be controlled if patients don't know the real cost and if physicians are not required to disclose them -- a standard practice in any other business.
This practice is a complete fraud on the patient, on the consumer and on the health insurance companies. A smart state attorney general or a class action lawyer should take this on. Doctors are entitled to be paid for services rendered, but they are not entitled to be deceptive in their business practices.
As raw milk sales in CA reach new highs on the tails of this news, it is crystal clear that there is a growing subgroup of Americans that simply have had enough advice from their doctors and now seek out their own truths. Truth they are finding in nutrition as the basis of health and EU raw milk studies instead of 100 year old advice from Corporate market controlled & driven American agencies of government and industry.
There is a very old saying...."water and whisky are from drinking...milk is for fighting". This was true for the last 300 years, and it is even more true now with market controlled consolidation of dairy industry. We must all remember that the emergence of raw milk as a thriving market, signals a change of who gets to make the money!! Thus....the fighting part of the old saying. Raw milk is produced by caring and highly committed farmers and not processors. Farmers that have embraced raw milk and their close connection to their consumers have also pioneered new technologies coupled with natural practices to produce very clean and very safe raw milk. This is a serious threat to supposedly settled science of pasteurized milk!! All of this is a fighting threat to the big dairy processors that love cheap dirty raw milk for pasteurization.
The truth hurts sometimes...this time is hurts the processors and those that refuse to evolve with the times. As farmers connect to moms and their families ....every single attack against raw milk spons increased sales. There is an inverse relationship bewteen attempted suppression of raw milk and its increased demand and popularity. Moms can google the huge raw milk studies in EU very quickly and the word about the value and benefit of raw milk spreads very quickly from the studies and also the very intimate self study that one cup of raw milk provides to the consumer. No more lactose intolerance...no more dairy allergies. Remember this...breast milk is raw milk and kids thrive on breast milk!!
Mark Mcafee
CEO OPDC
Fresno CA
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