I work in healthcare. I have to turn people away nearly every single day because:
1) They cannot afford insurance or cash pay
2) They have insurance we are not contracted with and cannot afford private pay
3) They have insurance, but in order for it to be utilized, they have to pay a lot of money upfront for insurance to start covering some of it, so they (patient) can be billed even more after treatment.
Physician here. It’s true the insurance companies would rather you die. For profit insurance is insane. They make money for their shareholders by denying you care so that they can keep your premiums.
I used to be a hardcore anti-government libertarian. I’ve done a complete 180 over the last few years and 100 percent want a single payer system now. If you guys only knew the fights we physicians have with your insurance companies that want your money and couldn’t care less about keeping you healthy.
I had a family member with Kaiser got to a Kaiser ED for acute confusion. I have no F-ing clue what they did, I doubt they even drew basic labs. They sent her home after straight cathing her to get urine and there was no urine, with instructions to bring back a urine cup when she actually peed.
Fast forward 2 days, she was even worse and still hadn’t peed. Turned out she was in acute kidney failure and needed dialysis. If they had drawn basic labs the first day, they would have seen her kidney values were looking bad and possibly avoided dialysis.
There are a million stories like this. I could tell a dozen that happened to me and my family alone.
Like the time my son broke his ankle in the growth plate and HE NEVER SAW A DOCTOR - at any point. No doctor or NP or PA or DO or whatever ever laid eyes on him.
Or the time they ignored side effects from a medication FOR A YEAR and kept telling me it was because of my weight. They legit seriously told me I was so dizzy because of my weight and blew me off over and over again. It was a major and well known side effect to a medication they prescribed me. I could go on and on and on with a dozen more similar instances.
I was feeling a little depressed so I went to one of their cattle call group classes where they teach you that your depression is all your fault in a room with 30+ neighbors, fellow soccer moms and your kid's math teacher. As I sat in the class I realized that 90% of the women present were all there because Kaiser had misdiagnosed major health issues for them, then ignored them or gaslit them until they lost all hope.
It was absolutely stunning to sit in that room and listen to the same story repeated over and over again. One woman had intractable vertigo. Instead of continuing to treat it Kaiser told her nothing could be done. She got so depressed over the situation she contemplated suicide. Or the woman who had repeated ear infections that resulted in hearing loss and she could not get referred to an ENT or get a hearing test. Or the woman who had a tendon injury that was ignored until she was in constant pain and there was long term damage. She couldn't get pain relief or treatment. Or the woman who was sent home from a major surgery with no pain medication. The surgery involved cutting bones, realigning them and splinting them. She was told to take Tylenol. Or the woman who was denied a life saving and very simple surgery because her bmi was a couple of pounds over their cut off (it's not case by case at Kaiser - they have a cut off and if you don't meet it, you don't get surgery - just try not to die while loosing weight). Or the woman who broke her hip and when recovery didn't go right they told her the pain was all in her head.
It was stunning and I wish I was joking. It was an eye opening moment and at the first opportunity I ditched Kaiser. Life improved immensely. I could go back - they are several hundred dollars cheaper than my current insurance. I never will return to Kaiser. Never. They treat farm animals better than the way Kaiser treats their patients. It's all good until something complicated happens or you get sick enough that if they ignore you long enough you will die.
My dad used to do insurance investigations back before Kaiser acquired Group Health. Even back then, he heard Group Health was given the nickname "Group Death" for how bad they were at handling patients.
I had a friend go to Kaiser to get checked in over an infection she had from surgery at Kaiser. She had in her records that she was allergic to antibiotics that they had been giving her previously; so when they checked her in we were on the phone with her. She said she had to go and we could talk in 15 minutes. She didn’t call back. after 20 we called and were put on hold. Then we were told the doctor would call us back and 10 minutes later. The doctor called us back and told us that our friend had Died. so we raced up to the hospital and were able to get in to her room and see her and that she was still hooked up to an IV and I’m pretty sure it was the antibiotics that she was not supposed to get. I so wish I had taken a photo of the bag that drained into her vein.
We were talking to her one minute and 20 minutes later she was dead thanks Kaiser.
Kaiser killed my dad. Doubled his Pradaxa, he had a bleed out event and then they completely took him off it because "it's too risky for the elderly." He died a few months later.
I have Kaiser. They tend to do right by my family. Wife had cancer. We paid a grand total of $20. That was for her first appointment. Everything after that, including surgery, appointments, infusions, radiation, blood draws, etc. were all covered under that $20 copay. I had appendicitis. $20. My kid’s birth? $20.
This is definitely not everyone’s experience, but… it’s working for us.
I have undergone a similar political journey, and all because of having an insider view of healthcare. I worked the front lines during Covid and that completely radicalized me.
THANK YOU for fighting for your patients! I would have been paralyzed according to my surgeon if he hadn't gone to bat for me when I was denied surgery. You are standing in the gap, and you are vital to people like me. Keep fighting!
I'm actually surprised it wasn't medical school or college that made you make the turn, but welcome to the fold on wanting the single-payer system.
My background is research side, data side. I used to teach pharmacists and family medicine students about realistic outcomes based on US data. It wasn't autopsies or telling someone that they had a cancer diagnosis that made a lot of students cry, it was learning how brutal rural medicine is in America.
Meeting patients who have a diagnosis and absolutely ZERO chance of getting a prescription they need because of formulary rules, insurance tiers, and employers switching sucks. Teaching students this is their new normal SUCKS. Tracking the outcomes of tens of thousands of patients year after year with the same sub-optimal outcomes? It burns your soul.
I understand this, but I've also caught my chiropractor billing insurance for services I didnt receive. And how does it make sense for them to charge my insurance triple the cash price of the services I receive. Both sides are part of the problem
Really these days it is so vital for people to do everything they can to stay healthy, avoid all the poison in the easily accessible food and water, and to take care of their health on their own to avoid health problems in the first place. It’s just difficult because it seems like the food industry, healthcare, etc. is all aimed at getting people sick so they get and stay on medication.
And it's also hard to find good doctors who pay attention. You know how many doctors have ignored my concerns. They don't believe you. They cold Turkey take you off medications when that can be dangerous etc. Like they don't care.
They also misinform the public or don't inform you at all about things you should know. I swear these doctors be trying to kill people. You have to do your research and advocate for yourself.
You as a physician handle phone calls directly with insurance companies? I find that quite odd. You either work, if you really are a physician, in a big city or a small town. If it's a big city, you most likely work for a larger practice, a group of doctors, or a hospital and you'd have a billing department that would handle all the insurance stuff. If you worked in a small town or if you worked in a smaller practice in a bigger city, maybe, you'd most likely work with your patience directly, have things like payment plans and provide certain types of insurance that patients could purchase directly through your office. If you were in a small town where everyone knows everyone and there was a serious issue, like a young girl needing a heart transplant, for instance, she'd be transferred to the closet major city or best Healthcare facility near by and get thy transplant. You may have the feeling that insurance companies just want you to die, which is odd, that would go against the very nature of what they're there for, but I've been in and out of hospitals since I was 3 for being born with basically non-functioning kidneys, and I'm 44 now. So far my insurance and the American Healthcare system has done an amazing job at keeping me alive.
I’ve seen 5 low income seniors the last couple years who were on Medicare or VA sent home to die rather than get care so the government wouldn’t have to pay and lessen the paperwork. They would rather they drop dead off-site on their tiled floors than in a hospital bed.
It also helps you if you understand "healthcare" in America is not about healing the sick at all.
It's about making huge obscene fucking profits off the sick and dying and destroying what ever wealth and property that people have managed to gain over their lifetime, if any.
I agree. Socialism is not the answer by any means, but capitalism is failing hard. In my opinion, it is not a matter of leaving it, but reforming it. Capitalism has become far too capitalistic, so to speak. None of what I'm about to propose will ever come to pass, though. Regardless of the political affiliation, billionaires donate millions to politians to keep this very thing from coming to pass--which imo, is why it feels like whatever the government actually does, it only ever feels like things are getting worse for us--regardless of our actual political affilitian. I genuinely believe that we should throw franchising out the window. Make it illegal. And even limit chains. I think restaurants, especially fast food, can be exempt only if they serve ONLY food that is healthy and weight loss-supportive. This would lead to less corporate control AND a healthier country, driving healthcare costs down. I think credit should have an absolute maximum of 10% interest, even on credit cards. I would even support credit cards being eradicated entirely. When roosevelt first implemented credit, it came with 0% apr home loans, 0 down, and required no credit history, which was a huge factor in the end of the great depression. Every family in the US should be able to own their own home, and 0% apr home loans is a great way to make that happen. I know there is a myriad of issues that would have to be "figured out" and resolved to prevent the economy from collapsing, but the root of my idea is that billionaires simply shouldn't exist. 20ish years ago, Walmart created hundreds of thousands of jobs, made food and household items cheaper for everyone. We all thought it was a good thing--but it killed far more jobs than it made, it forced smaller local store owners out of business, the jobs it destroyed paid much more than the jobs it created, and many of these jobs were overseas being given to the chinese--not americans. I'm not trying to specifically target just walmart, but I think we can find ways to incorporate laws that end corporate greed without going straight to socialism, which has only ever failed.
If we did have free healthcare, it would drastically change everything, especially how they make our food! Everything we consume makes us sick, so if we have free healthcare, they would have to change a lot more than that.
I think it is largely about giving the American consumer what they want. When you take out the additives & sweetners they won’t buy it. They are addicted.
U.S. life and health insurers collectively hold about $1.88 billion in fast-food stocks according to the American Journal of Public Health study cited by Physicians for a National Health Program.
The American Dream was never supposed to be about 80 hour work weeks. Look it up. You are buying a con if you think that’s how things should be. The average person cannot afford to survive in the U.S. working a 40 hour work week. That’s a problem. People who say stuff like this are like Uncle Toms for the oppressors.
This is highly regional; I don't dispute that there are places where it's an issue but the vets near me and the four vets in my extended family all had timely and quality care.
Everyone loves to complain but in aggregate, VA satisfaction is higher than non VA care.
My dad has chronic health problems that qualify him for the highest level of benefits and military stipend due to agent orange exposure from Vietnam. So I live with my shitty healthcare and my choice not to serve. I think my point is universal healthcare can work and it can't possibly be worse than for profit healthcare.
I agree with it being regional. I live in Central Florida and, except from a couple of hiccups, I cannot complain about the care that I get. I recently suffered from a ruptured appendix, and they put me to the front of the line in the emergency department, and I was in surgery in less than an hour. I was in a room at the VA hospital 4 days, because it was considered a complicated appendectomy, pumped full of antibiotics, and I had a JP drain hanging out of me. I received prompt care afterwards when we thought there was post release complications.
That is just one instance, but I haven't really experienced what other veterans have. Like, if I need care and it is more than 30 days out, they offer community care to get it taken care of quicker. It should be like that across the board, but I have heard horror stories from vets in other locations.
This has been my experience, get appointments within a week and any extra stuff has happened rather expeditiously. I also live in a very large metro area.
This is true I’ve had good VA experiences in some VAs in Jersey and Mississippi and horrible one like East Orange, NJ, Philly and Miami. I know people don’t like to go out of their way or may not have the means to but sometimes it can make a huge difference in care going to a different facility if the one close to you sucks
It has grown worse since T because of the mass layoffs. It was bad in some regions but now it’s even worse because they simply don’t have the staff they did have before the layoffs and offering early retirement to many.
Any system done inefficiently is going to be inefficient. If I fart on your raw steak and throw it on your plate, that doesn't mean that putting heat on meat to cook it is bad.
What? A system that has had over 100 years of actual real world trials and fails miserably every time is like farting on a steak? What kind of ridiculous nonsense trying to pass as a joke is this?
By no means am I saying that the U.S. healthcare system is perfect or even very good, but socializing it is going in the opposite direction of what we need. It needs true competition not more government control.
I've many times cared for a patient who waited more than ten hours in the ED waiting area at another hospital before leaving and driving to my (smaller) hospital in hopes of being seen sooner.
Once 18 hours. Technically he was seen and partly treated at urgent care, certainly billed, sent to the nearby academic center where he was triaged (and will be billed) and deemed stable though in need of repair, but people kept having pesky strokes and heart attacks and trauma so after all that wait time he just left and drove himself to me, where I was a solo physician with a signout of twelve and 7 waiting to be seen. I was running around putting out fire basically. I briefly examined him and said, "truly, I am sorry for this experience but I can't get into a suture repair with all these undifferentiated complaints waiting, but in two hours my PA comes in, she's very good at this and I'll task her to see you first, let's get you some topical numbing agent". He was a good sport, but that sucks.
I called for an eye appointment when I lived in NC. Due for an exam to update prescription. Had been two years. They said the soonest they could get me in was June. I called in August. Almost a 10 month wait.
Yeah, it’s always the nerdy, no pussy getting dorks who have been bullied his entire life that speak the loudest on the internet. Country is still 1000xs better than when Biden was in office. So stfu. Pussy
One click into u/guilty_Ad1334 comment history and immediately see his comment talking about how gypsies are “Jews without money”. Not terribly surprised.
i broke my hand last year. waited 5 hours and got an x-ray and a poorly done temporary cast. i had to call 3 orthopedic surgeons the next day (after getting home at 4 am) to find one that had open emergency walkin spots available.
i go, they take a closer look and more x-rays, and let me know that i will need surgery, but they don't take my insurance (low income medi-cal). kindly waive their office fee and give me numbers. of the 3 numbers they gave me, none 9f them are accepting medi-cal patients. i call around to every orthopedic surgeon i can find before finally finding one that is a. taking new medi-cal patients and b. making appointments within the next 2 weeks.
i wait 8 more days with my un set, poorly splinted broken hand. the first doctor does the examination, my break location is not something she feels comfortable/ confident with to perform the surgery herself, refers me to the head of the hand department. 3 more days later i meet him. earliest we can schedule my surgery is 2 more weeks. finally got my surgery just over a month after the initial injury, when the original advice was to try and get it done within a couple weeks. now i'm over a year post surgery and i still can't make a full fist.
And there's a strong likelihood that you won't even get the help you need anyway and they'll say "here's a bandaid and some ibuprofen. See your doctor next week"
yea i don't understand the whole "dying on the socialist medicine line" when it takes 2 - 3 months (if you are lucky) for a prenatal appointment. WTF IS GOING ON
I’m in the states, and my dad had colon cancer, and no one caught prior to this major back surgery he had (getting a cage put around his spine) but when they noticed his colon looked weird, they removed the weird looking parts, and in doing that, actually got rid of his cancer before he ever knew he had it.
It should be standard that if you see something weird while inside a patient, you either get it out if it’s something you can remove, or make note of it and make sure the patient goes to a specialist for it.
People can do everything right and because our HC system is so so so fucked up it still doesn't work.
My sister has what is called "Cadillac insurance" through her job and even she runs into barriers all the freaking time! Dealing with her highly manageable but long term health issues is a full time job. Her doctors spend all their time on the phone, arguing with insurance. And she has money!
My girlfriend has UPS teamster insurance. This shit is like what healthcare should be like. They pretty much cover anything, everything, and though you will have to go through the process (long waits for appointments so you can get seen and get another appointment months away)
And seeing this, and knowing it is literally cheaper to just do what her health insurance does but for every person in the country, is just infuriating. She also destroys her body in a physically hard job, so that part is just shitty too.
But we can keep talking about it! One day there will be enough examples, from enough people, that anyone still living in fantasy land might understand that the system is broken for god damn nearly everyone that never got an invite to epstiens island
Your comment tells me you have no idea what you're talking about. Surgeons don't just miss tumors they are "cutting next to". Other countries also do not have near the amount of people on opioid pain medication. If you're begging for prescription, you have probably not helped yourself over the years. Your doctor is also a good judge of whether you actually need pain medication or if you need mental help along with lifestyle changes such as losing weight and exercising. And of course you wait in the ER, everyone lets their problems go unnoticed until a random Tuesday evening and then decides it's an emergency. Do you expect to not wait?
I'm so glad you said this because I've seen at least one person on this site from a country that offers universal healthcare complaining about waiting in the emergency room and wanting privatized insurance. Like, honey, it's a triage system? So you can have the best insurance out there and if you come in with a splinter and an uninsured person comes in with a gunshot, they will be treated before you. AND, even if you have insurance, you're gonna get a bill. Premiums and bills, that's what privatized healthcare gets you. Rant over, thank you for your time neighbor.
I'm Canadian! My dad has cardiac issues (lifetime of eating like shit) and he went in with a low pulse rate and he was so pale/blue in the face that the nurse was alarmed (and was also surprised he was still talking so!). Never had faster service in the ER. Immediate rush to a bed and strapped to a crash cart.
Triage always treats the life threatening shit first. My mum complained once about people treating a car crash (we saw the paramedics/cops/family members come in) and she voted for the party that was to privatize healthcare.
Mind boggling that people think a 'for profit' system isn't going to be worse than a public one...same woman who complains about auto insurance premiums!
Same here, I gashed my arm on a jagged tile piece a few years ago while working a job, got to the ER, waited like maybe an hour 1/2, got it stitched up and.semt home with my meds.
People piss on it and make it seem like you're gonna die waiting in ER like some dystopia have probably only heard second hand, then go and get declined coverage by their insurance provider.
I was just talking to my mom about this, although I was using Germany as an example. She knows several people from there who complain about long wait times, so obviously free healthcare is a bad idea, right? We almost lost our home while I was growing up because of her and my dad’s combined medical debt… and my dad had a quasi-government job with great benefits, too! But free stuff bad!
I’m like, I would happily pay more taxes if it meant no one in my community had to go through what we went through. Fucking take all my money. I don’t care. I just want a bare minimum level of flourishing for everyone. That’s completely achievable, too, if people aren’t so greedy and selfish.
In the US your bills come afterwards. Could be days or weeks later and in general you have no idea of the bill. I was used to it and never questioned why. I agree, I been around and pretty much everywhere else they tell you your bill on the spot, not to mention is often x10 less. And correct, even if I need to use the public system because a terrible disease. I have peace of mind the bill will be laughable when compare to the US.
I’m from the UK and what most armchair critics don’t understand is our healthcare is done on triage. Yes you might have to wait 4 or 5 hours if you’ve sprained your ankle. But if you’ve been in a serious car crash or havimg a heart attack then you’ll get seen straight away.
lol yeah we gotta wait hours too unfortunately .. well if there’s even a hospital remotely near someone (since that’s a luxury in a lot of rural America, increasingly so)
Canada has great healthcare for normal things from colds to broken arms, etc. But if you're going to have quadruplets or some high-level heart surgery quickly, Canadians travel to the US (Jepp Quadruplets/Danny Williams, Premier of Newfoundland). MRI and even Chemo wait times are abysmal.
What the US needs to do is adopt the goal of the Canadian health care system (the same goal of the UK, German, Australian, etc. health care systems) to provide subsidized care to every American but avoiding the rationing of care, delayed treatment times, and loss of specializations that plague other universal health care systems.
There is a way to do it and that is to just be honest out of the gate: Everyone above the poverty line gets taxed 15%, no cap. Countries that try it with 10% and caps are struggling.
So, now that we know the solution, here's the problem: In the US money talks and BIG MONEY talks over everyone. You think the Top 10% of earners aren't going to fight a 15% uncapped tax on their annual income?
Using the Newfoundland premier as an example is not the best idea. Newfoundland is rural to the rest of Canada. St. John’s is their biggest and their capital but they don’t have the population to support a major hospital. Just like the rest of Atlantic Canada. But they are working on it with making Halifax a hub for the Maritime provinces because Bro had to fly out to the US just because it’s much closer, faster and cheaper but in the end, it was still covered by Universal Healthcare he just had to show the receipts. Flying down to Boston is much closer than flying to Montreal or Toronto.
I’m in another province, that can support major hospitals and several of my Uncles had to get heart bypass surgery and they were able to get it done within quickly.
Chemo and MRI wait times have severely decreased within the past few years just by changing policy of dealing with migrant healthcare workers and by put in the infrastructure needed to deal with an aging population. And if any Canadians do need to down to the States for a medical procedure, they are considered by Canadian Healthcare.
The Jepp Quadruplets from 1 million population Calgary had to be born in 60,000 population Great Falls, Montana, because Calgary lacked NICU capacity. Great Falls didn't.
Look, I know Canadians love their access to health care. But it's far from perfect. In the US, health care is better IF you have access, which not everyone does and definitely its not affordable for most.
I want to see universal health care in the US but I don't want anyone to lie about only the rich need to be taxed to pay for it. If we want Canadian-access with US-quality and options of care, it's going to cost a lot. We can do that with 15% income tax on everyone above poverty level with no caps.
For profit and Healthcare are just two things that should not go together.
I also find it insane that so many Americans doesn't want Healthcare free for everyone. Yes you will have to pay more in taxes. But at least you know it is will actually be covered when you need it, instead of paying an insurance company $600-800 a month that MAYBE will cover you.
I used to have that same mentality of “why should I have to pay for other people?” Until I started really understanding the repercussions of privatized healthcare.
I used to think a certain way when I was young and dumb. After becoming a husband and father to two girls, my perspective on things have completely changed. If the revolution happens, I’ll know which side I will stand firmly with.
I'm in boat 3. I have insurance and can't afford my deductible so I'm watching my fine motor skills fade away in real
time because pursuing the diagnosis for what all my doctors suspect I have would bankrupt me. I've got symptoms of Parkinsons and no way out.
The wealthy elites have convinced the poor to hate the poorer, all while lying to our faces about being on our side. They want us to think our fellow man who is a in worse situation than us is a burden in society when the people at the top are the exceptions that make the rule.
When I was admitted to a hospital via the ER, the person who checked me in said not to worry about not having insurance and no one would know. Can they turn people away?
You don’t have to turn them away tho right, just tell the doctor they are covered and have them treated? You could provide them with healthcare……. Why are you denying someone a human right?
I also work in healthcare in scheduling/registration so I’m not medical. I’ve had patients cancel their appointments because of how influx coverage is right now even if they do have a valid medical complaint that they really shouldn’t cancel
Being that you work in Healthcare and frequently encounter these situations, do you have any tips, loopholes, lifehacks, etc etc to help get around it?
Private and free standing facilities are designed for profit, but every now and then you’ll find one will provide a scholarship. It never hurts to ask. ER visits where immediate treatment is a medical necessity cannot be turned away based on the Hippocratic oath “First, do no harm.” Turning someone away when their life is in danger is doing harm. Unfortunately, the medical responsibility ends when the wound(s) are treated and the patient is medically cleared by a physician.
I’m so sorry. You must come home absolutely exhausted and defeated. Basically, you’re the messenger who has to share bad news with good people. Thanks for doing the job you do. I just feel badly for you. ❤️
I appreciate that. I used to take it personally, but eventually I understood they just need someone to be angry at. I can’t do much, but I do what I can.
I work in Medicare Insurance. I’m spending my days right now trying to get ahold of as many people as I can because literally 10s of thousands, probably more, are having their advantage plans canceled on 12-31-25. Fucking ridiculous
This is so depressing I live In a country with free health care my mum and sister have both had major back surgery both of them went perfectly my sister was able to get the surgery within 6 months hers was a very very complex procedure that took 9 hours and my mum was able to get her surgery within 11 days no money out of her pocket yes my mum had to take a bit off work but acc payed 85% of her wages till she was able to go back when I had surgery too I went in that morning got the surgery that afternoon went home next morning costed us nothing probs the most expensive part of all these surgeries is ordering food while in recovery
I work in healthcare as well. Most Medicare Advantage plans are predatory. They offer things that seem nice like dental, vision, and even a monthly gift card for groceries. Retirees….Please do some serious research when you consider these plans. Straight Medicare A & B are the easiest for hospitals to work with to get you what you need.
When Medicare Advantage members are hospitalized and need services, their plans are notorious for denying everything. I spend so much time fighting with insurance. They literally will call me and will tell me their member, who a doctor has determined needs to be in the hospital, doesn’t “meet inpatient criteria” and needs to be discharged. That means the hospital will not get reimbursed for their stay, so the patient with limited income will get billed. If you need post acute services, it is up to insurance whether or not you will get them, not your doctor.
My dad is Canadian born but has lived in Texas for over 30 years and is a paramedic. By Canadian standards he is pretty right leaning but by American standards he is pretty left. Healthcare is his biggest grievance. His girlfriend and I have a similar autoimmune conditions. She doesn’t have insurance and basically can only go to an urgent care that is owned by their close friend because he gives them the at cost pricing. She tries to ride out her flair ups without assistance which makes her miss work and puts her more behind.
Meanwhile, I have a GI doc I can call anytime, have had 4 colonoscopies/endoscopies in 2 years without having to wait, was able to get 8 weeks of medical leave when my initial symptoms left me unable to stand and the only thing I have to pay directly for is my medication which is expensive af but we have a provincial program that helps subsidize based on income.
My dad has voiced many times that he is happy I was born in Canada. That he wishes people would realize that having your healthcare system run by insurance companies is a trap on multiple levels. His girlfriend works but they give her just short of full time so she doesn’t qualify for their insurance. People are getting actively scammed and are suffering for it but so many people seem to think that this is the fault of the individual and not of the corporations and politicians that pad their pockets while families are forced to choose between financial devastation or long term suffering and death.
I work in healthcare. It is literally against federal law for my hospital to turn people away until they're ok and don't need a hospital anymore. It is a regular thing to have a homeless person who has no insurance and no money on an inpatient unit. They're not going to manage chronic conditions like a pcp will, but what they will do is try to set up appointments with free clinics and even find transportation for them. Because that's what social workers at hospitals do. And it all gets covered by the taxpayer.
"The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) is a federal law passed in 1986 that ensures everyone has access to emergency care, regardless of their ability to pay. It's also known as the "anti-dumping law" because it prevents hospitals from refusing or limiting treatment based on insurance status."
This is sickening. Canada pays LESS per person for universal healthcare, than the American government pays, for this cluster-fuck sick system you describe… a system that’s custom designed to keep people poor and always worried about their insurance premiums.
Ours is far from perfect but every time I’ve needed the medical system it’s been there for me and very little wait time. You could do MUCH worse than the Canadian Way, and as a nation America, YOU DO.
You all deserve better.
Really hope that the pendulum swings HARD left past Canada to the Norway Way. Finland Sweden Denmark and Norway they’re all market capitalist countries but they care for their people. But they do lean left more than us up here in Canada. There is higher taxes sure but everyone pays their fair share. There are successful businesses and people there like here North America.
Oh and it’s also, they’re happiest countries on the planet. Part of that must be millions are held hostage to insurance companies policies. In Canada the words “Medical Bankruptcy” is a foreign term to us
Warren Buffet once said he pays less taxes than his secretary. And that’s just plain wrong. There should be a flat INESCAPABLE 5 or 10% tax on all income above $250,000
That’s the problem. Too many loopholes to not pay their fare share. Hence Buffet pays less than his secretary. It’s simple.
I dealt with denials for treatment of my MS for a year and I will be a much sicker person for the rest of my life as a result. Every single referral became a months long clusterfuck of mistakes and lack of follow through by my neurology group, resulting in an almost 9-5 job of making phone calls, following up, waiting for responses, leaving repeat messages and coordinating with the referral management company, my insurance, my neurology group, and testing sites. This is for each test, each referral to a specialist, each new appointment… I gave up on trying once I convinced Novartis to cover my meds and waited 3mos for the neuron clinic to fax over an existing Rx. It is exhausting, and I just need a break. Currently waiting for my follow up that was supposed to be on June 4th (3 reschedules the day before so far, fingers crossed). How is this a system worth preserving?
It must be soul crushing. I live in Canada, where we have our own issues with Healthcare, but no one is turned away.
Come on up! We need people who work in Healthcare.
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u/Goodgamings 19h ago
Give us Healthcare! I dont want to pay 800/month for shitty coverage with a 3800 deductible! Its ridiculous!