Your Tax Dollars At Work

I just wanted to inform the readers where their tax dollars are being spent. Let me do that by describing a patient who came to see me this past week. I called in a 35 year old man into the examination room from the waiting area. He walked in without any difficulty and as I looked at his chart I noticed his insurance was medicare, a government insurance for the elderly and disabled. Naturally, since he was not elderly I asked him the nature of his disability since I need to be aware of his past medical history which may be informative regarding his current visit. He informed me that he is disabled due to back problems and has had previous surgery for his back and thus cannot work. Let me repeat that he walked into the office without a cane, walker, or wheelchair. He ambulated without a limp, pain, or hunch.

The visit continued by asking him the reason he had come to see me. He told me he was in Mexico and on the airplane ride back suffered pain to his ears which hadn’t cleared since he returned one week ago. Of course, I inquired what he was doing in Mexico and he responded he was on a trip for R&R. My first thought was R&R from what? You are disabled and supposedly do not work. What do you need to rest from? My second thought was if you are disabled to the point of not being able to work, what were you doing in Mexico? Did you go swimming? Play some tennis? Maybe some beach volleyball? And thirdly, how can you afford a trip to Mexico and be on welfare?

Of course, I didn’t express these thoughts to the patient. I diagnosed and treated him as I would anyone else, and he walked out as sturdy and with the ease that he entered. I was curious to see what car he was driving so I watched as he left the office, entered his late model Lexus and drove away. Probably heading to his job where he gets paid off the books.

I am sure there are thousands of people who abuse and cheat the system like this patient. The government is incapable and/or unwilling to police their programs for cheaters. It is much easier for them to just increase taxes or borrow the money from our kids/China. There is no doubt in my mind this man could hold a real job but it is better for him to collect a government disability check, receive medicare benefits, and find a job off the books. I should be able to report him to the government for fraud and receive a whistleblower’s award. This way I can afford to go to Mexico instead of this thief. Just another example of your tax dollars at work.