Letters to the editor

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I read your recent article on “Cutting costs: Surgeon slices prices for insurance-less patients paying cash or credit,” April 12 Summerlin View with great interest.

I’m a practicing general surgeon in Las Vegas. I agree with the premise that health care costs are out of control, but I disagree with the assertion that the “no insurance” surgeon is doing anything original or charitable.

(I), as well as other surgeons I know and trust, have operated on many uninsured patients. I have also done my share of “no-pay” patients, but that’s a different story. (No pay means no pay, no credit and no free pass; all you get is the liability and the risk of a lawsuit.)

When presented with an uninsured patient, one makes arrangements to cut out-of-pocket expenses. Here is a simplification:

Step No. 1: Do the operation at an outpatient surgical center. The cost is much less than in a hospital. A hospital has higher overhead, due to millions of dollars lost in providing emergency medical care to the uninsured and illegal immigrant population. A hospital will charge $6,000 to 7,000 just for walking in the door for a surgical procedure. An outpatient clinic will charge $1,200 for a one-hour case. These cases are usually simple general surgery cases — gallbladders, hernias, breast biopsy.

Step No. 2: Connect with an anesthesiologist who will provide service for a set fee, usually $600 to $800 for a one-hour case.

Step No. 3: Have the patient pay a set fee for services rendered.

In your article you quoted $5,000 for a hernia operation. So doing the math, take $5,000 -$1,200 -$800 = $3,000. The surgeon makes $3,000 for a hernia! Sign me up.

Is the “no insurance” surgeon a great find? No, he’s a shrewd businessman making a great profit margin, marketing himself well and selling snake oil.

— William R. Maranon M.D. F.A.C.S. F.I.C.S

Las Vegas

Run-in with handicap-parking
violator leaves veteran upset

Thanks for writing the article (“Drivers skirt handicap-parking laws,” April 12 View.)

This is something that has troubled me for some time.

I had a very bad experience in November 2010 in Henderson at Advance Urgent Care Clinic, 9975 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 110.

I was ill , arrived at the clinic and signed in. Minutes later I noticed a white Suburban pull up. Several women and children got out of the vehicle and started to unload boxes and packages. They had parked in a handicap spot.

So I went out and walked to the front of the vehicle to see if there was a handicap sign or placard on the dash. No sign was present.

The license on the front or back of the vehicle revealed that this was not a handicap vehicle.

So I asked one of the ladies if they were handicapped and she told me no. I explained that I had served honorably in the military for 22 years and that I was 100 percent disabled, and parking in a handicap spot was against the law. Plus, it was disrespectful to me and other disabled people.

I asked her to move to another spot since several were available. She then asked me to help her unload. I informed her that if she did not move now that I was going to call the police.

I took out my iPhone and started to take photos.

I went back inside the clinic and called the Henderson Police Department. I was called back into the office to see a doctor, and about 20 minutes later I was told by one of the clinic staff that a police officer was there to speak to me. I went out front , introduced myself and asked if we could go outside so I could explain why I had called.

I explained the whole story to the officer and told him that I had photos of her in the spot and of her unloading supplies.

He then told me that he had already spoken with the lady, the manager of the clinic and that she had told him that I had spoken rudely to her.

So, since I had been rude, it was her word against mine. Case closed. I felt really upset.

I told him I was sorry for causing him any trouble. I thanked him and went back into the clinic for care.

— Keith Norris

Henderson

Male and female designated
handicap plates is a bad idea

I just read Trudy Platzer’s letter to the editor (“Able-bodied spouses shouldn’t get a free ride with handicap plates,” April 26 View.) And I think her idea of having separate handicap plates for men and women is terrible.

I’m 75 years old and on a fixed income. I own a Dodge ’02 diesel truck. I only get 15 miles a gallon around town, so I drive my wife’s car, which gets 30 when I go to the store. I’m not going to sell my truck. I have a handicap pass that I use for my truck and another one for my wife’s car. So I’m worried about the law that she wants to put into effect.

How about giving the young adults tickets for parking in the handicapped (spots)?

Parking in the red zone is against the law, too, but nobody can do anything about it. The police won’t come out because it’s private property.

Those children parking in the red zone could possibly be yours. There are a lot of kids that have no supervision whatsoever.

It’s just frustrating that these people don’t think.

— William Hanke

Henderson