I don’t think this is an issue of discriminating against patients who are poor, but rather one of discriminating what materials one is able to use to provide the best device under given circumstances. I don’t think food stamps should be used to buy liquor for example-discrimination. If the C-leg happens to be the best leg for a given patient, but is unavailable because of cost limitations, it is not the providers responsibility to deliver one at a loss. It IS the providers responsibility to deliver the best service and device available under those circumstantial restrictions. A bad fitting cheap leg is just as good as a bad fitting expensive leg. This is not a question of ethics for prosthetists but a matter of doing business. There may be a question of ethics posed to the manufactures of expensive components that demand more than a fair market price. With all the glitzy advertisement promoting high hopes for the most expensive leg money can buy, no wonder there are so many amputees with broken expectations and negative feelings about what they paid for. John Zeffer
—–Original Message—–
From: Orthotics and Prosthetics List [mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of Karen Lynch Co/Beprosthetist
Sent: Monday, January 01, 1601 7:00 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [OANDP-L] Responses to Medicaid & C-Leg
I think it’s unethical for a practitioner to discriminate against a patient based on the fact that he or she is on Medicaid. Furthermore, I think that by doing so you would be putting your own financial interests (no increase in tax money out of your pocket) above the medical interest of the patient- which I believe is in direct violation of the Canon of Ethics.
If some of you out there have an issue with the expense of the C-leg, then you should have issue with that for ALL third party payors, not just for those who are unfortunate enough to be on Medicaid. (Besides, you don’t want YOUR health insurance bill to go up any more than YOUR taxes – or do you just like to pick on poor people?)
We should be working together to assure that every patient gets the best treatment possible and that we get paid for providing that treatment – not slamming a portion of our patient population.
-Karen Lynch, CPO
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