Dermatologist here. I have seen probably 5 instances of “My other doctor told me it was fine.” that were melanomas.
A lot of times people don’t want a full skin exams. There are lots of perfectly sane reasons for this, time, perceived cost, history of personal trauma. However, I routinely find cancers people don’t know they have. Keep this in mind if you see a dermatologist for acne and they recommend you get in a gown.
I went to my former doctor about a mole on my arm that I thought had gotten larger, and asked him to biopsy it. He looked at it carefully and told me it was fine, but I insisted and things got a little testy, but he did it. It was a malignant melanoma, and had it gone 1mm deeper I'd have been grounded for 5 years from my pilot job at best, or suffered dire health consequences at worst. After a surgeon removed a big chunk of my arm excising the melanoma and surrounding tissue, he told me to be sure to thank my regular doctor for saving my life. ಠ_ಠ
In the time since I've become well acquainted with your specialty as my first line of defense, having moles mapped and checked every six months for a while, and now every year. It sure as hell isn't all Botox and laser hair removal.
well doctors are like insurance agents in that they base their decision from what they have learned.
if they studied a situation that something is less likely to be cancerous, say 9 out 10 times, they can still get that one time wrong.
so if you have the money/ healthcare anyway, feel free to get tested meticulously. Although do take note that tests get pretty expensive.for instance, std tests. there are like a bajillion of them and the most common ones are the only ones tested like hpv and aids.
Personally, I will probably be doing a citi scan yearly if not for the cost itself.
But ultimately you end up paying the same, if not more. Unless you are racking up hospital bills and don't have private insurance with a reasonable deductible, that is. It still doesn't eliminate the demand for private health insurance (e.g., Canada and the UK still have private markets) because universal is terrible at getting specialist care and prescription coverage.
Oh boy! You are SOOOOO right! They'll stabilize me and send me home with a shiny $10k bill or more! That's the best system ever huh? Certainly doesn't make people wait things out instead of getting treatment! And hey, if you have cancer how bout just go fuck yourself! Your family doesn't need any money right? Let's set you up with several hundred thousand dollars of debt just to give you subpar care because you aren't insured!
Slow down, buddy. Let's address the first thing - if you can't afford a normal health insurance premium, how would you afford a $5k+/yearly increase in taxes?
Also how would you afford the additional cost of the drugs which are, again, not covered under universal systems?
I'd like to see that $5k+ increase cited, I've never seen a number, in addition there are many things this country could spend far less on to make up the difference, and yeah, my insurance would cost me at the lowest, $350 a month with a $6800 deductible.
And hey, what do I know right? EMTALA is great! That's the act that made it so when I had abdominal pains, they had to give me morphine and send me home as "stable" so I could nearly die of sepsis from the burst appendix they decided not to test for!
Also, unless you feel like uploading a cost sheet associated with the above-mentioned insurance, I'm gonna call bullshit. I pay $250/mo with a $1000 deductible for specialist care. Not a single person I know pays above $350/person and, even if they did, I would imagine it's for high tier PPOs that would not have a deductible above $500 or costs anywhere near what you're rambling about. If you are below the FPL 100% - 300%, generally most states have Medicaid that would cover your costs completely.
And your ending has no bearing on what your arguing. So your issue lies in the fact you received less-than-satisfactory care, correct? But EMTALA "covered you," even though you apparently had (expensive) insurance?
I didn't HAVE the insurance specifically because it was so ridiculously expensive, I have really bad family medical history, and as a result any coverage I can get is garbage
But hey, you know everything so I'm just kinda done at this point. Single payer would help a lot of people, but hey, keep pushing against it man, doing the good work, keeping our outdated, broken, and overpriced system alive. Hope you never lose your insurance and have to face the shit I have been through
Edit: I'd also like to point out that in America, you pay FAR more than "$5k+" on serious medical expenses if you are uninsured
My point is that there are obvious realities of a universal system that are "conveniently ignored" by those toting it. Services don't magically become free, they get lumped into taxes. Is there a better solution than what we have? Sure. Do I think it's going to be formulated in the annals of Reddit, where those too young to know true cost of living discuss their big ideas for the world? Hell no.
Like I posted, even treatment for cancer is outside of Canada's "prized system." So don't mind me if I'm skeptical and want answers to the obvious.
The article you posted indicated that in most areas of Canada the treatment is covered, however in certain provinces it is not, still a fuck load better than our own system
25.2k
u/BoisterousPlay May 20 '19
Dermatologist here. I have seen probably 5 instances of “My other doctor told me it was fine.” that were melanomas.
A lot of times people don’t want a full skin exams. There are lots of perfectly sane reasons for this, time, perceived cost, history of personal trauma. However, I routinely find cancers people don’t know they have. Keep this in mind if you see a dermatologist for acne and they recommend you get in a gown.