[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 17 (Thursday, February 24, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 24, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                          TAKE A NUMBER PLEASE

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                        HON. GERALD B.H. SOLOMON

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 24, 1994

  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, ``They have just finished discussing their 
weekend dates and Thelma picks up a folder from the top of the pile and 
says, ``This one is requesting a 506A'.''
  ``What's a 506A?'' Louise asks.
  ``George Washington Hospital's emergency room wants to know if the 
Government will pay for a broken leg that the patient suffered when he 
fell off his pickup truck.
  ``You can't authorize payment until the doctor submits a 1049C 
swearing to the seriousness of the break and tells us how much plaster 
he plans to use to set the leg. If he intends to mix more than is 
allocated under guidelines L subparagraph 45, he must apply for a 932. 
Where is the patient now?
  ``On the same stretcher they carried him in on 2 months ago when the 
original application was filed with this department.''
  Sounds pretty ridiculous, huh? This is an excerpt from a column by 
Washington Insider Art Buchwald. He foresees Government-run health care 
as all Americans will if the Clinton plan is enacted, one big 
bureaucracy that will ration health care to save money. The Clinton 
plan paves the way for ``take a number medicine'' and I for one don't 
think the American public will want their loved ones waiting months for 
medical attention.

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