eventually the current state of affairs in our healthcare system will turn us all into billy martin

So a guy comes to the office this morning. He was actually waiting at the the door before we got there. He wanted to return a medical device that the doctor had given him to help him with his particular condition. The reason why he wanted to return it was that we had told him it would be covered by his insurance. It was covered by his insurance but he had a twenty dollar deductible applied to the item.

I want to explain in detail how ridiculous this is but I just don't feel like getting into it. We can't always know how much deductible a patient hasn't met for their particular plan, we can't take back used medical equipment, we are pretty damned friggin' cranky first thing in the morning

But the doctor walked by while I was crankily explaining deductibles and took one look at the item and said, "You didn't get that from me." A full-on shouting match ensued. "YOU CALLING ME A LIAR!!" "NO, YOU'RE CALLING ME A LIAR!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE I AM HEARING WHAT I'M HEARING!!!" Later, the doctor told me that at the conference he was at this weekend, they discussed the possible tactics for dealing with situations just like this and purple-faced screaming wasn't one of the methods mentioned. The doctor screamed, "WHAT YOU HAVE THERE IS FOR A FRACTURE AND I NEVER TREATED YOU FOR A FRACTURE AND WHAT I GAVE YOU WAS FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!" To which the guy said, "WELL...oooh" He then gave his best apology while fighting back humiliation and apoplectic rage.

I saw him in the parking lot from our window on the second floor. He was screaming at his wife and kicking dirt on her.