So, a relative of mine messed up her knee a few weeks ago, possibly a ligament tear. She goes to see one of the "feed lot" orthopedists here in town. I think she's in the office for 2 minutes before he starts handing her brochures about recovering from her surgery. She of course, rebels and demands to discuss other options (physical therapy, cortisone, etc) because the injury doesn't appear to be that bad.

Knee improvement has been slow, and now her shoulder has been acting up, so she decides she'll go ahead and have a follow-up appointment to discuss the knee and the shoulder together, and maybe even have the MRI for both.

"Oh no," the doctor says. "We only see one joint at a time. You have to make two appointments." HUH?

After all, why give up all that additional insurance money?

I used to think that a 'hybrid' government-private approach would be a good solution. Now I think that single payer is the only way to eliminate this kind of greedy double-dipping.