WISCONSIN PLANS TO SHUT DOWN CASH FOR MEDICAL CARE

WISCONSIN PLANS TO SHUT DOWN CASH FOR MEDICAL CARE

BY TWILA BRASE

SEE: http://www.cchfreedom.org/; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

The Wisconsin “Assembly Substitute Amendment to Assembly Bill 366,” recommended for passage on October 22 by the Wisconsin Assembly Committee on Health, would prohibit cash payments at any “pain clinics,” a term with an overly broad definition that could clinics that never prescribe controlled substances.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons notes: “There is always a noble pretext” for these kinds of limits on freedom (“pill mills” in this case) and adds: “It denies patients the right to pay for their own legitimate medical care. Insured patients may only pay deductibles and coinsurance – care is restricted to what the third-party allows. Uninsured patients may pay for services, but not with cash. Patients who have no credit and no checking account cannot pay – everyone has to use a financial institution.” (more details) Specifically,the amended bill states:

(3) Cash transactions. A pain clinic may not solicit or accept payment for services in cash from an individual seeking treatment at the pain clinic, except that an individual seeking treatment may pay an insurance copayment, coinsurance, or deductible with cash. A pain clinic may accept credit, a credit card, a check, or a draft from an individual who seeks treatment from a pain clinic but who does not have insurance.

What would be the next type of care for which you could not pay cash? For which you could not pay for in privacy? This ban on cash also seems to be a violation of legal tender laws. To find and contact your Wisconsin legislators, click on the map: http://legis.wisconsin.gov/