2012-2025 Form

Hospitals attach those matching bracelets on mom and baby. However, I was still given the wrong baby!This was 2001 in a reputable hospital near Philadelphia. It was my second child so I knew the drill. A few hours after birth they took my son for tests and whatnot. I slept a little and woke to the nurse bringing him into my room. She told me he was doing well but was still spitting up a lot of mucus. Then she left. I thought, still? he hadn’t been mucusy when he left. He was wrapped completely in blankets with only his gorgeous little face visible. He started to whimper so I picked him up and thought I would try to nurse him a little. The whimper turned to a cough and then he began to choke on that mucus. I was alarmed. I turned him over, gently tapping on his back. Pressed the nurse button. A prickly feeling that something wasn’t right began to grow. As I patted the baby I quickly scanned the card on the bassinet. It said Andrew. I hadn’t named the baby yet, but Andrew had been a contender. I wondered if it was possible my husband had told them his name was Andrew without speaking to me? Decided it wasn’t likely. Andrew is still choking, I press the nurse button again. Then turn him slightly to see his ears. They were both perfect. My baby had had a strange fold in one ear. Now I know definitively that I am holding someone else’s baby, and this someone else’s baby is choking in my arms. All this takes places in seconds. As I’m about to go into the hallway on my rickety post-delivery legs to find help, the nurse rushes back in. She says she realized what she had done. She takes the baby. Resolves the choking (I don’t remember how). Apologizes. Apologizes again. I ask her if my baby is with Andrew’s mom? She says, no, no. But I can’t tell if she’s lying. She leaves and comes back a few moments later with my unnamed, ear-deformed, but otherwise perfectly healthy baby. I don’t tell anyone about the mix-up except my husband, but we don’t let baby leave my room without us after that. We decide not to name him Andrew.Baby Not-Andrew and his strange ear

I’ll give you three examples from my own life. Your mileage may vary.First story: A long time ago I was in Boston wearing a suit (probably for a job interview). I was just out of college or about to graduate. One of my friends was with me and noticed the Federal Reserve Bank within walking distance. So we went in and acted like we belonged there. We went up to a random floor and walked around. That was all we had the courage to do. But I suppose we could have found a conference room, sat down, and others could have joined us. Who knows what mayhem would have resulted? We will never know. Nobody even noticed us nevermind challenged us. I’m sure these days it’s different.Second story: I was attending a concert by a Christian band Newsboys on their “Love Liberty Disco” tour where the concerts were in an inflatable dome set up in a parking lot. (It was actually pretty cool.)Looking for the “entrance” to buy tickets we (about 5 or 6 of us) walked around and found ourselves in some lunch area. Then we noticed the band’s bass player eating fried chicken. Oops. We were back stage.Being adventurous, we didn’t leave but instead doubled down. We said little and kept walking until we were in front of the dome by the entrance (but inside the ticket gate). We saw a group forming and joined them. Turns out they were radio station contest winners; we followed them into the dome and saw the crew setting up.Realizing that we’d be found out staying with the contest winners, we broke off and milled around the stage area. Then we began to worry and headed outside. On the way we heard “hey you! What are you doing?” We were busted. But it was the stage manager and he was short a few roadies. He said instead of standing around he needed help. A couple of us (not me) went and helped set up the stage.When that was done we fessed up. The stage manager escorted us to the ticket gate and we paid (from the inside) for our general admission tickets. Then we were the first to get in officially. It pays to stay cool, quiet, and to help when asked.Third story: A friend of mine was deathly ill in the hospital and was recovering from a traumatic injury. After he finally got out of ICU (40 days there) and stabilized, I wanted to take him out of his room, outside to breath the fresh air, to visit the ICU nurses, and maybe to the cafeteria. He had some equipment to keep with him but it was portable and battery operated if I could find a wheelchair.The resident finally came by and, after I pleaded, told me the patient was good to take a little trip if I could get the wheelchair. It’s a hospital, right? You’d think they were just sitting around but not so.I had been at this hospital for months visiting every day and learned some things. Like where the supply room was and how to fill out a requisition. I filled one out, signed for myself, went down to supply and got a brand new collapsible wheelchair assigned to my friend. I looked like I knew what I was doing and the supply person never blinked or questioned me.The nurses were amazed and laughing when I brought it up. We kept that wheelchair until my friend left the hospital. Nobody questioned who ordered it. In case you are going to ask: No, I have no idea if they charged for it.Most people will assume you belong somewhere if you simply look like you know what you’re doing.

Well, our (ESE 2014 Batch) medical examination was conducted after the interview and before the declaration of the final result. The medical centers were allocated based on the permanent address mentioned in DAF.  Before 2014, they used to conduct medical examination after the declaration of the final result. There is no difference between them, just different timings and it is conducted only once. My ESE interview was on 22nd January 2015, and after the interview got over I was thinking of hanging out with some friends there for some days but after a day or two we all got a mail mentioning the dates and venues of our medical examination. It was quite frustrating and surprising for us. Mine was scheduled on 2nd Feb, 2015 at Central Hospital, Maligaon, Guwahati. So I had to book tickets soon (obviously tatkal), came from Delhi to Kolkata and then headed for Guwahati. I signNowed Maligaon on 2nd Feb at 2am. It was quite chilly outside. I was too tired to move, was sleepy too. I could not see any means of transportation outside the station at that time. So I kept on waiting at the station and at last there  it was, a rickshaw. I told him to take me to a nearby hotel and he acknowledged so by nodding. He took me to a hotel, yes it was closed at that time, called them, no one picked up.  Then another, no vacant bed. Then another, same story. I told  him to leave (he already did more than what was he asked to) when I found some policemen there on the roadside and decided to ask them for help. I told them my purpose of visit. They were quite cooperative and helped me find a decent hotel nearby the Central Hospital.  So it was almost 5am when I signNowed the hotel and I dozed off instantly. Could not sleep more though, had to wake up soon enough as the reporting time was 9am. Woke up, freshened up, drank a lot of water ( just to make sure urine test goes well :D ) and had some light breakfast. I took a huge water bottle with me and headed for the hospital. signNowed the hospital at 8.46 am (yes, that was the exact time ) and saw some of the candidates were already there at the hospital premises. Some came alone, some came with their parents. We 9 were present there for medical examination that day. Slowly we started interacting with one another and were discussing what might gonna happen in the medical test in a light mood. Little did we know that the administration was gonna give us a hard time. Sometime later we figured out that medical examination was never scheduled at Maligaon Central Hospital before. That was the first time and as a result the concerned administration was quite messy and inefficient. We kept on waiting, lunch time was over and they were still busy with the paper work and all. Time was 4pm, still nothing. We all got angry, agitated, frustrated to the core and approached the medical officer there. He seemed least bothered about the delay. And the first two words out of his mouth, just dumbfounded us. "Come tomorrow". Like seriously? We had booked our respective train/flight return tickets for the same day. Who'd compensate for that? After a short discussion we decided to call the railway board and told them about the whole scenario. The response from the railway board was quite satisfying, they understood our problem and gave us assurance of prompt action. And yes! It did work. It was 4.40 pm and the medical officer came to us and assured that the medical examination would happen that day itself. So after all those hassles and infinite waiting period our medical examination started at 5pm. What a sigh of relief! We filled up some forms and completed the necessary paperwork. First test was x-ray. It was over in a jiffy. 2nd test was urine test (disgusting and dirty bathroom, felt like vomiting). 3rd test was physical fitness test(height, weight(tip: underweight people stuff yourself with enough food and water ;) :) , chest expansion, BP and all) . 4th was ENT test. Then last and the most important, the Eye Test which was quite exhaustive.  And it all got over by 7pm. Just a few phone calls to the railway board made all that possible. So after our medical  examination got over, the medical officer called us to his office and apologized to all of us for the inconvenience. He also assured us his further assistance in case we needed any. So we left the hospital at around 7.30pm after completing the final paperwork and leaving our contact for further communication.  Yes it was quite a long day for all of us!P.S: 5 out of 9 candidates were in the final list of ESE-2014 :)

I understand the American attitude but we are a bit on the arrogant side of health care. We think we're the best at everything.  Each system has their strengths but the USA is built on ability to pay.I have had the fortunate experience of living in both the USA and UK. I have spent the better part of 50 years with good Blue Cross insurance in the USA and now I'm under the NHS in Scotland. I've found that I have received good care under both systems. What's the difference? For one thing, when I visited the doctor in the USA I had to pay a co-pay of 25 dollars plus the fact that I also paid about 100 dollars out of my paycheck every month though my employer paid the bulk of it. When I had a problem last week in Scotland I received a phone consultation with the doctor who made an appointment for me. I got in at 3:40 that same day. The doctor thought it would be good for me to get an x-ray so he contacted the hospital radiology and made an appointment then and there. I went to the hospital and had my x-ray done. I was out and on my way home by 4:15. The cost? Nothing. If I had needed a prescription it would have cost me nothing.Now I know what you're thinking. Nothing is free. That's true. I pay taxes to cover my NHS care. However in the USA when I was caught up in a layoff I lost my employer provided health care. To keep that care I would have paid 800 dollars a month and that coverage was limited to a year. In current dollars health insurance paid for under the same Blue Cross policy would be fifteen hundred or more dollars a month.So what are my taxes to pay for this socialised medicine? My payroll taxes (of which NHS is only a portion) amount to much less than half what my health care alone would cost me in the USA.Conservatives in the USA complain and resist socialism. It is anathema to them. And the propaganda from the right paints all these horror stories that are extreme or overblown cases that you can find even more examples of in the USA. We Americans tend to love our Medicare and VA hospitals. That is socialized health care. The USA has plenty of social systems in place that we take for granted. Every government has some form of socialistic programs. Most western nations have established national health care because its citizens want it. And I know of no countries with national health care that have remotely considered it a mistake. Once established they have never gone back. It is only a matter of time before the USA adopts some form of it. It's possible it will start as state programs in California or other large states. It is a much more cost effective system. And everyone qualifies no matter what their income status.Who in the USA would not want it? Doctors for starters. Pay for them would not be in the millions. Pharmaceutical companies also since the national system would negotiate competitive prices. And some conservatives would rather have no coverage and die than have socialized medicine.The British like their NHS and I can't complain at all. It's their choice to keep it and it serves them and me well. If Obama had managed to sell the idea to America you would have bitched and moaned but in the end you would have used it and gotten used to it. Then you would have never given it up.Now that I'm retiring it is the NHS that will keep me in Scotland rather than returning to the USA.  The troubles we're currently experiencing with the NHS are the result of the conservative government's penchant for cutting budgets when they really should be increasing taxes.In short, the USA has some of the best health care in the world but it comes at an extreme cost and neglects those without adequate funds. The UK has very good health care but a far superior system. There is more to health care than technology alone.

Obviously each case is different. In my case the biological mother was causing considerable financial difficulties. Before I married him he was very naive where his exwife and children were involved. She was married again but the husband controlled the finances so in order to have her own money she would tell my husband I didn’t get the child support check and he would fire off another one after checking and finding it had not been cashed. She did this on a regular basis and cash both checks. (He was very generous with the support). She would also convince his youngest son he was “sick” . Back then it was not unusual for drs to hospitalize you and “run test” then we would get horrendous bills. We had to pay what insurance didn’t. Then one day I got a letter at our home addressed to my husbands work. It had her return address on it so I wondered what the hell was going on so I opened it. Low and behold it was a form filled out telling the insurance office to make checks payable to her!!! I was furious!! No wonder we were being buried with medical bills she was getting the insurance payments not the provider. Not only that I knew from my stepson that he was also covered under her husbands insurance so I figured she was doing the same to them. Another thing she did was send a list of clothes he needed for school and expect us to get them while he was visiting.I offered to take him to goodwill. Sooooo first I went to the bank and asked what I could do about her holding checks. They told me I could fill out paperwork to have the bank not honor any check over 60 days. So I did, I notified her of the change and told her if she held a check too long it would not be honored and since we had met our obligation it would not be replaced!! Then I called my husbands job and filled them in and told them all insurance payments were to go directly to the provider not to her. She had been signing my husbands signature on the forms (she signed it exactly like my husbands signature) I also informed them she had other insurance on him. She even got her dentist to do work on her (personal friend) and bill us as though it had been done on his son. When he came for his normal visit I took him to our dentist and gave him a list of what they supposedly had done……surprise none of it had been done. I called the dentist and told him if we didn’t get a refund immediately I would report him. That he would have to get payment from her. Once we got the refund I reported him anyway!! After all that it was amazing how quickly my stepchildren’s biological mother was no longer difficult.So all I can say to you is figure out the areas she is difficult in and go from there. Good luck!!

Usually there is a one or maybe a two-page form. I don't think they are that difficult to fill out. They copy my insurance card and that's it. Generally they include a brief list of history questions and current symptom questions. If it is a current doctor, only the current symptom questions. As I am not the one with the medical degree, I hope they use those answers to put two and two together in case my sore throat, indigestion, headache or fever is part of a bigger picture of something more seriously wrong. The HIPAA form is long to read, but you only need to do that once (although you'll be expected to sign the release each time you see a new doctor or visit a new clinic or hospital).