The old doctor retires. The new doctors’ offices say, one by one, ‘Sorry. We’re not accepting new Medicare patients at this time.’

I ask, ‘What if we pay for the visits?’

‘That’s against the law. We have to pay a four thousand dollar fine for each Medicare patient who pays us.’

‘There’s breaking the law, then there’s the issue of the ethics of turning away elderly in need of care.’

Silence.

The Council on Aging says, ‘We don’t handle that sort of stuff.’

Meanwhile, your parent is suffering, and there’s no evaluation, no diagnosis, no prognosis, no doctor.

Meanwhile, there’s the feeding, hygiene, meds, laundry, meals, bath. The taking a little extra time to pat moisturizer on her face. Little time to keep chasing after doctors.

The only doctor listed under Geriatrics, his office says, ‘Sorry. We’re not accepting new Medicare patients at this time.’

!!!

The new discrimination…