#SOL 2013 Now that I am doing better, they want me to do more!

"There is something wrong here," she said seriously the other night. "I really do think I am getting stronger.  I can walk better and I can even push myself back and forth in my recliner!  Robert even said I was standing up straighter and not dragging my foot. Rita had me rolling all over the bed so I know I am doing better.  But now that I am doing better, they want to see me more!"

I had to smile as she shared her tale of woe; yet, I was thrilled when I learned that her progress had qualified her for yet another day on the Medicare supported therapy train.

"Think about it," she said to me.  "When I wasn't making enough progress, they stopped my physical therapy.  When I do better, they add more days!  There is something wrong with a system that gives you MORE service when you do BETTER and LESS SERVICE when you don't do so well!  It's like you get punished for working hard and making progress!"

"I guess it does seem that way," I acknowledged, "but that is the way the  system works!   The more you do well, the more work they give you to do."  

As I drove home, the conversation reverberated in my head.  Perhaps that is the way it is in many parts of our lives.  The more you do, the more work you get to do!  The one who does the dishes well, gets to do them more than the kid who doesn't!  The poor soul who is lucky enough to figure how to carve a turkey, will earn that job for many years!  Who would have ever thought that our Medicare system would be an analogy for life!