Reply #2: Somewhat related, not Medicare

[Inuca]

Something that happened to me a year or so ago, I may have already mentioned the story here (I am getting old you know...).

I had to have a visual field test, which I have periodically because of my eye problems. For those fortunate enough not to know what this is, it's a rather smart computerized test, where you stick your head into a sphere- like contraption where tiny flickers of light move randomly all over the place, and you have to press a clicker when you see a flicker. Obviously they have to test one eye at the time, so the other one is covered by papery/platicky little cup that ties around your head with a rubber band. That time, after the assistant had put the eye cover on, it was pulling my hair, so I tried to adjust the rubber band and it snapped. I apologized, and she said "no problem, these things are very poor qulity, and it happens often, and you won't believe how much they cost". I obviously asked, and I thought that her reply was that they are $18. I commented that it is an obscene amount, to which she replied, "no, not eighteen, EIGHTY!". EIGHTY dollars they have to pay for an eye cup, does not even have to be sterilized or anything, and some rubber band that woul dnot be used in the cheapest of the cheap underwear! I think it's stunning and obscene, and it's part of the huge vicious circle that is our medical system. Incidentaly and for what it's worth, this is a large ophtalmological practice associated with Washington Univ. (St. Louis) school of medicine.

And sorry for the troubles with your MIL, Mass :hug: