The power to fire people. |
Mitt Romney is catching a lot of flack for a comment that he made.
I’ll go ahead and quote it here (courtesy of The Los Angeles Times:
While discussing his plans to improve health insurance coverage before members of the Nashua Chamber of Commerce this morning, Romney argued that health insurance companies have few incentives to offer better care because most Americans get healthcare from their employers and have little choice in their providers. Allowing individuals to choose their own insurance companies, he said, would give them the flexibility to fire them if they don’t perform.“I like being able to fire people who provide services to me. You know, if someone doesn’t give me the good service I need, I want to say, you know, I’m going to go get someone else to provide that service to me,” Romney went on to say.
I have a little story to share in regards to the kind of “firing” that Mitt spoke about. Almost ten years ago I was living in Jacksonville Florida, and I was pregnant with my fourth and final child Austin. At the beginning of the pregnancy I was given a guarantee that I would be able to give birth at the hospital in which I gave birth to my third child Erin almost three years prior. Well, at around the seven month point in the pregnancy my obstetrician informed me that no, he had given up his privileges at that hospital and that I would need to deliver at the beach almost fifteen miles away from my home. I reminded him of his promise and he basically (with the aid of his nurse) told me that I was going to deliver at the beach and that was that. That plain and simple, right? Well, NO. After being demeaned after I informed him that I’d have to think about that, I FIRED him. Yes, at SEVEN months pregnant I fired my OB. After doing this, his nurse and him went on to tell me how big of a mistake I was making because people drove from a hundred miles away to see him as their OB. I replied with the as much confidence as I could and said, well, I’m not going to be one of them.
Was I scared at the idea of having to find a new OB at a point in my pregnancy in which I normally had major problems (as I had high risk pregnancies each time)? Yes, but I also knew that the last time I stood up to him and went with my gut instinct instead of his “orders” that I came away victorious that time too.
So, after a few days of asking friends that I had locally on a Yahoo discussion board about natural pregnancy and holistic pediatrics I found a midwife/OB team that were willing to take me on so late in the pregnancy, and you know what? It was the best delivery I’d had thusfar. I was able to go without drugs completely, it was a much more laid back experience. And for the first time in four pregnancies I went to TERM. Yes, just barely as I was thirty-seven weeks, but that was a milestone that I’ve cherished ever since.
I FIRED my doctor, because he was not meeting my needs as a patient. He wasn’t doing as I wanted. Is there anything wrong with that? I think NOT, nor was what Mitt said wrong either.
Tags: Business, Empowerment, Firing, Health Care, Mitt Romney, Physicians
