Due to the inevitable flow of supply and demand, and also increasing corporate shareholder profits, inflation is everywhere. When local man Thomas Cole visited his primary care physician Dr. Richmen, he found it there too.
“I regret to have to tell you that in addition to your muscular dystrophy, arthritis and ADHD, we also believe you now have a fourth disability, IBS,” Dr. Richmen told Cole.
While Cole had come to terms with his three disabilities, they were a lot to manage already. He didn’t understand how he could handle a fourth.
“I always knew a fourth disability was possible, but I didn’t expect it so soon. My spoons have not inflated one bit,” he told us as he methodically sifted through a Ziplock baggie filled with various pills.
Dr. Richmen elaborated: “This couldn’t have been prevented, and it’s actually a good thing for me, your doctor, because I now have more things to bill you for.”
This additional illness means Cole will go from six prescriptions to eight, each of which recently had a 10% increase in copay. He will have to see Dr. Richmen twice a month now instead of once, and he will wait an extra 15 minutes in the waiting room before each appointment.
Just when Cole thought inflation was inescapable, he found one area it hadn’t yet impacted — his monthly SSI payment.
by Steven Verdile
