This is only shocking to 8% of US adults
Every time I’ve been in a hospital the past several years, the emergency room has been packed and emergency beds are overflowing into the hallways. People are putting off healthcare until it becomes a literal emergency. It’s grim out there.
My dentist told me he recently had a patient who nearly died of a heart attack apparently because he had a tooth infection and put off going to the dentist because of a lack of dental insurance. We need systemic changes in support of holistic patient care
Finally got health insurance this year and went to a doctor for some things I needed a referral for and its was $246
The whole referral thing is bullshit. If I have a problem with a specific part of my body, why the fuck do I need to waste time and money going to a generalist? So many doctor’s appointments are completely unnecessary and are just to get through the gatekeeping system to see a specialist.
I’ve said it before but so much of modern medicine America seems to just be “oh actually we don’t do that you gotta go somewhere else that’s booked six months out”. I would say it’s Kafkaesque but I feel like that doesn’t even capture the apathetic cruelty. Maybe I just need to read Kafka lol
Kafkaesque would be you get to the specialist and they tell you they don’t think the GP ever existed. They won’t recognize the referral note. They state that you’re currently dying but won’t tell you of what. Forcing you into a hospital room for years, administering a series of never-repeating tests assuring you you’re about to die.
Kafkaesque would be you get to the specialist and they tell you they don’t think the GP ever existed.
Sounds like what the insurance companies would say - just to force you to get on the phone or give up on the claim.
Lowkey what USCIS did to me with my citizenship, which they fucking gave to me
Nothing in Kafka is fiction
Atleast that’s kinda funny!
Delayed treatment means less treatment. It’s very much by design
My first ever doctors visit as an adult was for seborrhic dermatitis. Had to shell out 100$ for privilege to have someone write a prescription to a topical steroid that only masked the problem (with long term side effects to my skin, as well as likely degrading my eyesight), and literally zero advice beyond that. Of course, getting the prescription continually would require more visits to a doctor. Why? No fucking clue, it’s not like it’s abusable medication. Should just be able to talk to a pharmacist and get it over the counter but the system is built to be a scam
Yep, I have to make an appointment for 1-2 months in the future to make any changes to my prescriptions, even if I just want to increase or decrease the dose. There’s a reason I go the DIY route for HRT even though my insurance fully covers it.
I am forced to DIY a lot of my healthcare because I haven’t been able to have healthcare for years. Which is getting more scary as I get older, and is definitely just way less efficient. I wish I could get a lot of bloodwork done to confirm suspicions on a lot of issues, but the system is a fuck. DIYing GLPs and figuring out some supplements for what I guess are some genetic issues have really changed things for the better for me over the last two years, but I shouldn’t have had to stumble into solutions. No one should.
HRT could be done in a way thats so much more practical and time saving for everyone involved but god forbid trans people have anything easy
The article says “A doctor’s office visit for those without insurance costs an average of $171 across major U.S. cities” so you’re getting fleeced.
Scam
And if you do go to the doctor they give you 10 minutes tops to describe your 37 maladies of the last 5 years and then say, “diet, exercise, ibuofen, and schedule a follow-up”
I’ve been going recently due to an injury, walked in and it’s all retirees, not a single person within 25 years of my age in either direction.
I was lucky enough to book an appointment the morning after the injury, but the closest MRI was two weeks out, was told it was okay to walk on it until then.
After the MRI I had to wait a week to go over the results with my doctor, who then said “yeah you can’t walk on it for a month lol”
So 3 weeks of walking on a broken bone before they could tell me not to walk on it. Really hope there’s no permanent damage…
we may have to start making excuses for the lack of terror
Whispering “excuse me” to myself and tapping a hammer and sickle shape on my chest every time I see an expensive car drive by.
literally me
We are the 92%!
we carry the pain
Market eugenics
i’m built different and don’t go to the doctor because making an appointment, travelling 5km, and checking in are all hardships
shocking
love to be in that statistic baybee
My takeaway from this as someone that had never had health insurance and is constantly hounded by debt collectors for some 30k bill I had no control over.
Haha, same bestie.
Same…
is it possible to do a citizen’s collective buying thing?
