How Easy Is It To Receive Healthcare?

I'm just interested to see how easy it is in different states and (more-so) different countries to receive decent healthcare.

I'm more interested in reports concerning healthcare for those with low income, but please note any and all general experience you have had concerning this issue.


I'm from the US. Low income and I have a HELL of a time just getting things looked at to receive any kind of help in order to maintain good health and well-being.



Relative cost without insurance:

General doctor's visit: Usually anywhere from $60-120 for a 30-45 minute visit.
(Doctor's usually refuse to spend any more than that allotted time with me since I can remember. Of course, this may have nothing to do with me paying out of pocket, but more that you can only fit so many people into a day's worth of examination.)

Dental Exams:
Simple Exam w/ X-Rays: Usually anywhere from $30-60 (varies greatly)
Simple extraction: Usually $100 (varies by greediness and size of corporation of dental office/dentist personally)
Surgical extraction: With local anesthetic, usually anywhere from $300-800 (varies GREATLY)
Root canal: Bare minimum of $1000 each. That's without additional routine procedures like crown, pulp cap, etc.



Personally, I think this is horrible. This is what people who can't afford insurance have to pay. That includes the mentally and physically disabled. With most forms of insurance, I might add, you're put on a 6 month waiting list for the insurance itself. Then, you're also put on a waiting list of the same time-frame with certain dental and healthcare offices of 'their' choosing, in which time the office renews their insured patients' lists.

Even if you are able to find some type of insurance with no waiting period, most of the time you are still forced to wait for (any decent office, aka - not along the lines of a free clinic) offices to renew their waiting list.

And God forbid you aren't tech savvy or retain enough intelligence to sort through all this bs on the internet yourself to try and figure things out on your own.

 

It bothers me to read stuff like this...

I'll give a personal example (this happened about 2 years ago)...

I once thought I felt a lump near one of my testicles (it ended up being a cyst that wasn't actually on the testicle... luckily there was absolutely nothing wrong).

I took a trip to a medical clinic (I have a family doctor, however, it was the weekend and I completely freaked out when I noticed it) and got everything looked after.

Within 3 hours I was checked out by a doctor, given an ultrasound, and then given a 3x refillable prescription for Tylenol 3's (it was painful at the time).

I did not pay a single penny.

 

It's called the Wealthcare industry.... health has nothing to do with it.

 

I chose a low premium plan this year because my premiums were ungodly last year.

So instead of paying a copay at each visit I am billed 20% of the cost AFTER I meet my deductible.. Which I think is like $5000

Preventative care (yearly check ups, vaccines) is covered 100 % and I also get a preloaded card with $700 on it to cover out of pocket costs - so it is slightly better than not having any insurance at all.

But my son was sick early in the year. He ran a high fever for days and I took him to his pediatrician once and an urgent care center once. That was basically my entire $700 card.

So if either one of us gets sick again we have to pay 100% out of pocket until we meet the deductible.

I pay about $200 in premiums a month, which isn't bad compared to what I was paying last year.

As far as doctors not giving you enough time, that doesn't change at all when you have insurance.

 

I should also mention - when a medical office bills an insurance and they don't pay anything due to the deductible not being met, the patient is charged the inflated contractual rate. Private payers are usually billed at a discount compared to the insurance rate

 

wow thats not bad

up here youd get 5 minutes max (after waiting an hour)...and they would say its just a cyst and send you home ..or my favourite one is "lets wait until it gets worse"....seems like ultrasound and other tests around here are generally only for people with benefit plans ...and of course there is no prescription coverage for average joe workers either so the tylenols would not be free

 

Hubby gets Medicare and a disability check. About $100 a month comes out toward his Medicare.

I'm disabled too but I don't qualify for a check or Medicare. I don't have enough work hours history because I was a stay at home mother. (Basically, I am a nobody and my career counts for nothing.)

I haven't had any medical insurance in 7 years and I am not eligible for Medicare until I'm 65. I only have to go through 9 more years of being uninsured.

Obamacare is out of my reach but I'm not penalized because Georgia opted not to expand Medicaid.

 

VA New England Healthcare System so I don’t have to pay for my healthcare with the exception of an $8.00 dollar co-pay for medication. Unfortunately it doesn’t provide Dental Care which is my only out-of-pocket expense.

Everything you’ve been hearing about the VA is correct, but since I’m perfectly healthy I don’t mind waiting months for an appointment.


Hotwater

 

In Canada, it is free.

That being said, it is VERY difficult to get a family doctor here, and even if you can or do have one, they only allot about 5 minutes to see you. When I see my doctor, I am rushed in and out. He also has a bit of a listening problem, and as a result, my brother has a rare blood clot in his right arm that went undetected for 6 fucking months.

 

Jesus. That's insane......

I'm dealing with (what seem to me) some very serious health issues right now. I went to the hospital. I told them I've been having pressure headaches and it feels as though my brain is swelling at night. They ran some tests which took 5 hours to get any results, which we had to track down a worker and ask about... they sent me home with a script for Ibuprofen 800mg (which is the max dosage) even AFTER I told them I have had a history with GI bleeding (which high doses of ibuprofen are notorious for). I'll surely get a bill for upwards of $5000.

My lymph nodes are also 'visibly' swollen, which notes a serious infection in need of antibiotics. No blood tests were run because 'the results are so broad.'

I tell ya I'd like to stick my foot up the ass of a few of those broads. Could be fucking dead tomorrow, don't see them giving a fuck.


I even told EVERY person I saw when I walked in, that I made out a list of my symptoms and possible causes. NOT ONE FUCKING PERSON asked to look at that list.

Oh, but I will most definitely be getting a hefty bill in the mail. That is a fact. Also fact, I'm going to tell the debt collectors to... oh you get the idea.



I did come up with a very smart healthcare idea, which I'm surprised no one has thought of yet. But I'm keeping that under my hat for now.


Blood clots are scary. Did things get worked out, or is this more recent?
Sorry, I get going on a tangent sometimes...

 

Shit, Terra, im really worried about you man. That sounds intense, and even more so a huge pissoff that the doctors aren't listening to you. Have you had an issue with headaches in the past? I wish there was some advise I could give or something I could do to help you.

The blood clot is recent. He found out on Christmas Eve. He's on blood thinners right now, and if they don't break it down, then the doctors will hopefully go in and just cut it out. That's what my brother wants to happen. He's doing okay though, and is taking good care of himself. He is a body builder, but hasn't been able to work out since they found the clot.

This might be a silly question, but have you done any research online about what may be going on with you?

 

Unless you were sent there by another doctor or brought in on a stretcher, Hospitals only make sure you aren't going to die in their parking lot on the way out.... And, yeah $600-$1000 for a visit.

 

I'm wondering if this is a state wide problem, or that you went to a below average hospital... Paying 5000 dollars for that kind of 'care' seems absurd. Especially if it went exactly as you explained. I would try to switch hospitals rightaway. There can be massive changes!

 

I don't know know how any other city or state works but here (in my town) there is one hospital. If you live here (your address being here) that is the hospital you have to go to. Period. AND it costs out of the ass. However, at least they HAVE to see you at the hospital...how much good it will do is questionable. You better have no less than $500 in pocket to see a GP for the 1st time, and that will just be the beginning of that bill. My "doctor" is a walk-in clinic that addresses ONLY physical illness. They have 3 "notices" in the waiting room and then the same "notice" in each little room saying they do not treat psychiatric problems (no valium, xanax or similar) nor do they treat pain (no pain killers). lol

At the hospital, after you wait for hours and hours, you are usually seen by the meanest nurses in the world and a doctor will eventually get in to see you for less than 5 minutes, and this is to verify what information you have already gleaned from the mean nurses.

If you don't have insurance and you need to be seen for ANYTHING other than a broken bone, you can just forget about them trying to really do anything for you unless it is flu/virus season and then they will do a little more. I think this is because they don't want people going on fb or writing a letter to the paper about how they had the flu/virus and got no help and then they passed it on to ??? people.

The Rethuglican governor in my state refused Medicare extensions so there are lots of us that have fallen by the wayside until we reach retirement age (it'll be the earliest possible age for me at 62 1/2!) and they can't deny us then. Had she not refused the Medicare extensions I would have been eligible for that.

 

Keep dreaming... It doesn't work that way in the States.

 

Just like here in the Netherlands not every hospital manages to achieve the greatest level of healthcare as possible I'm sure there are quality differences in hospitals there too. One hospital might even have 1 or 2 more specialists in a specific field which makes it a smart choice to actually pick one over the other, if not to get a lower cost then mainly to get better care/treatment.

 

Yeah there are good and bad hospitals here - like Lynn lives close to me but I don't think we are in the same county so the hospital care is completely different. We have a really good hospital system in my county.

But you run into the same problem here no matter where you live - if you're not insured you're probably not going to get the highest level of care. A hospital isn't going to keep you days at a time for tests and observations when you're uninsured and it costs $5000 (or more, I'm not really sure) per bed per day.

 

In a large city like this, we actually have many hospitals. Now, I'm guessing you can't actually 'choose' which one to go to if you're under a certain insurance plan and are going in for scheduled treatment (then again I may be wrong), but an emergency is an emergency. I do find it strange though that we had a discussion about it before I went in. I was indecisive between 2 local hospitals. One of which, I've had great care in the past, but the other is more expansive and has more options available in terms of treatment. Some aren't as equipped to deal with certain things, so they'll have you transferred to another that is. I chose to go to the one I've had good results with in the past. Though, this time around they didn't place me in a nice room where I could speak with a more 'top-tier' doctor. I was placed in a room that felt more like a free clinic.

I really did go off about some things while I was in there (after 4-5 hours of being there with very little feedback), with the door open next to the nurse's desk so the whole floor heard me. I felt bad about it afterwards because I said some things that were a bit harsh and possibly unreasonable. Honestly, I have to give them credit. I for one, couldn't manage holding down a job like that. There are many cases where they do help people to stay among the land of the living. I was just disappointed because I felt like I was dying for 2 weeks now. I'm no doctor, but I know they overlooked some things that they could have done which were blatantly obvious to me.

The nurse came into my room and said 'They ordered you something for pain. I'm gonna stick it up your butt.' I 'disrespectfully' declined and turned her away from my room. She didn't tell me what it was or what is was for. I can understand them not taking my case too seriously because of the fact of me telling them my pain level was around a 2 or a 3 regarding my headaches at the time, but if they were listening to my feedback, they would have told me to relax and try to reenact the symptoms I was worried about.

It's like Tyrson said though, and the nurse reinstated this fact after my going off quite loudly (because I heard her say 'I'll take care of it' before re-entering my room).

Their job is to make sure there aren't any direct life-threatening ailments going on upon the patient leaving the emergency room.

Of course, it did cross my mind to tell her 'I'm not leaving until I have answers regarding my health concerns' ...but I had been there for 4-5 hours and receiving ill-quality treatment on a fixed (aka save your fucking pennies) budget.

I am still EXTREMELY disappointed, but my headaches seem to be improving. For the moment anyways. I was able to sleep last night after taking loading my body with an infinite amount of carbs and taking some advil. I'm surely not going to fill the 800mg ibuprofen with my history of GI bleeding. Another fun tidbit, the last time I was prescribed ibuprofen, I read the bottle and it was from some stupid sounding manufacturer in India. Come to find out, that manufacturer was slammed for quality control by the USFDA back in November, which caused their stock to drop 10%.

I felt like calling and apologizing for some of what I said while I was at the ER after we left...

 

Ugh. I hope everything goes well for him. Seems like the shit is just hitting the fan everywhere right now. Spring has sprung, and it feels like being a mean bitch this time around! The advancements (afaik) for dealing with blood clots, strokes and the like seem to have improved substantially over the last few years. Or at least that's what I've heard. I worry about blood clots a lot, because a lot of times they can be silent. Or just show up as some unexplained pain in certain parts of the body.

Oh, I have done a TON of online research. That's really the only way to get decent care when you're not financially stable. Gotta just be your own doctor. I've told things to people that are worried about their own health so many times just because of how much research I do in my 'spare time.' lol

You should see this paper I have written up! Allergy info, current medication, list of current symptoms, list of possible causes, list of ongoing symptoms, misc symptoms.

I am still beyond disappointed that no one asked to see it. What a shame. Seems like a waste of time... but if something does come up, I'm hoping someone checks my back pocket!

I even opened the piece of paper and tried to show it to them and they dismissed it as if I hadn't said anything about it at all.

Next time I'll just hand it to them and won't say a god damn word until they do.

 

That's the same thing I was saying about my state and my situation.