The Seinfeld Syndrome.

I, like many people, love Jerry Seinfeld’s observational humor. It's often said that ‘many a truth is said in jest’. Jerry Seinfeld had one memorable stand up routine that, in its’ own way, clarifies one of the root issues with our current health care system.

Perhaps you’ve seen it – I believe it was used to open one of the Seinfeld episodes from the first season. Jerry was talking about ordering in a restaurant, and how, when everyone is hungry and ordering, they give very little thought to the cost of it all. This cavalier attitude reverses the second the bill arrives. ‘I don’t remember ordering this – do you remember ordering this?’ When the magnitude of the bill becomes apparent, suddenly EVERYONE is in shock and denial. I call this ‘The Seinfeld Syndrome’.

‘The Seinfeld Syndrome’doesn’t happen just in restaurants. It can happen wherever money is spent, especially when the money is spent but not paid out until some time in the future. The must-have new car that you bought for no money down loses a lot of its’ shine once you have to start making oppressive monthly payments. Recent college grads are overwhelmed when they gave to start repaying their student loans. You get the picture.

Nowhere is ‘The Seinfeld Syndrome’. more apparent (to me, at least) than in our health care system. Here’s why: Think about those $300.00 prescriptions. At the time you had them filled, all you knew or cared about was your $20.00 co-pay. The true cost of the drugs didn’t even occur to you because A) you never even saw or were blissfully unaware of the price and B) the true price didn’t matter because you had insurance and all it cost you was the $20.00 co-pay. Wrong.

Remember, once again, Star Trek economics. SOMEONE paid the full price for those prescriptions, and that someone was YOU. The money to pay for the difference between what the drug cost and your $20.00 co-pay did not materialize out of thin air. It was paid for by your health insurance carrier. And where did they get the money from? They got it from you, and to make matters worse, they kept a sizeable chunk of it to cover their profits, dividends, overhead, executive bonuses, marketing, and the like.

It just doesn’t happen with prescription drugs – patients with low or zero dollar co-pays tend to overuse their medical benefits as well, or not question a doctor who might be ordering repetitive or redundant tests. I recall one doctor complaining about a patient who insisted that the doctor come in on his day off to look at where he had cut himself shaving that morning. The patient said it wasn’t serious and didn’t require a trip t the ER – he just wanted the doctor to look at it – now. For the patient it was just a $5.00 co-pay.

Have you heard the one about the older couple who went to the sex therapist every week for treatment of the man’s sexual dysfunction? Every week, however, he had no trouble performing in the doctors’ office. When the doctor finally questioned them on this, they admitted that they were both married and this was an extramarital affair. The hotel charged $99.00 for a room, but the Medicare co-pay was only $15.00. A joke, yes, but it has its’ roots in reality – ask any doctor who treats HMO or senior patients.

Okay, so, here we are, down the road a ways, and we are staring in disbelief at our monthly health insurance bill.

I don’t remember ordering this – do you remember ordering this?

Free Blog Counter