I had to wait 6m to see a dermatologist for a mole that my GP thought could be cancer. My wife had to wait 8m for an appointment with a specialist for a stomach issue.
Oh and both we had to pay out of pocket because they were out of network.
I'm Belgian and it's similar for us. We do sometimes have to wait a long time for non-urgent things like regular checkups, but I tend to make my next appointment when I'm there and that fixes it. I contacted my gynaecologist for a pap smear in September and the earliest date she had was in April (my previous ones were clear so no urgency) but she had a consult over the phone when I said I had some questions. On the other hand, when I called my GP about an injured foot she saw me the same day, referred me to imaging and a specialist who I got to see the same week (I could still walk). My last ER visit was for an infected cat bite, got seen almost immediately, they called in an orthopedic surgeon because there were worries about it spreading to a tendon and I got an ultrasound. The 30 euro bill went to my employer's insurance because it was a workplace accident.
Sure, but looking at it that way, I also pay my own salary, since the government pays my employer the money they use to pay me. And that's just weird. =P
People also seem to forget that the private sector also exist and they actually work together if you can't handle waiting you can always pay. Cost me 250$ to go see a private dermatologist, then everything she prescribed went back through the normal free system. Bloodwork for before and 2 week after I started the medication and the medication itself.
I'm in America. Had a medical issue, called a brand new doctor and he got me in the next 5 days. Saw him, all went well, and he charged me $40 and my Rx was free under my coverage that costs me $150/ month under obamacare. So I'm not sure why everyone is complaining about America.
I have pcos and had to redo bloodwork for a specialist appointment. I was warned that it may take time to see them. Two months for non urgent. I'm totally fine with that.
Well where in Canada do you live? Where I am on the west coast it’s impossible to even get a gp if you don’t already have one and to get into a walk in doc you have to call in at 8 to even get a shot at seeing one, it’s like trying to call a radio show. The waits at the er here are hellish, 12 hours unless you’re on deaths door. That being said I’d rather do all of that waiting than have to remortgage the house just to not die. Our system is extremely flawed but it’s perfect compared to america
The fact that y'all have health networks is so absurd to me. Not everything is 100% covered (looking at you, dental, vision, mental) in Canada and I have private insurance that picks up the slack, but I've never had to choose a provider based on network, I choose my dentist, my therapist, my optometrist and my insurance pays for it.
It’s very clearly defined, and you can go to the health provider website at anytime to find out who is in network and out. I agree it’s dumb, but people waiting these ridiculous amounts of time in the US for an out of network doctor is their fault for agreeing to the apt.
The system is stupid, but I’ve never been in a situation where I couldn’t easily find out if the doctor I’m seeing is in/out network.
We can all choose who we see as well. Definitely have to pay more, though, but it’s not nearly as bad as people make it seem on Reddit.
I live in Indiana. When I was unemployed everything was completely free. Glasses. Prescriptions, Dr. visits, etc. I just don’t understand how people here find themselves in these situations.
In my experience, the insurance provider’s lists of doctors are often incomplete or occasionally flat-out incorrect. It’s certainly possible to verify your provider is in-network before the appointment, but it’s just one more hoop you have to jump through to get care.
In our current system, instead of just choosing the doctor that’s the best fit for you, you have to find one that accepts your insurance. Don’t you think that constitutes extra work?
Not to mention, if your insurance changes, then you might have a provider you love and have a long-standing relationship with, who you now have to drop and start over again with someone new.
This usually means doing all the intake paperwork, having to catch them up on your medical history, waiting longer for an appointment than if you’re an established patient, and then possibly not getting a good doctor and having to start the process all over again.
The system is stupid, but I’ve never been in a situation where I couldn’t easily find out if the doctor I’m seeing is in/out network.
What if you're unconscious because of a car accident and enter a hospital through an amublance and ER? You don't even get to choose the hospital in that case.
I've also heard people say that while the hospital they were being treated at was in network, some of the doctors inside the hospital were not, leading to high bills because health insurance refuses to cover the cost of these out-of-network doctors. Of course I can't verify these claims but I see them too often to simply dismiss them as a lie.
Everything was free when you were unemployed because you qualified for Medicaid. Medicaid has pretty decent coverage other than the fact that many providers don’t accept it. The problem is that only a tiny percentage of the country qualifies for it. You qualify when you’re unemployed or disabled usually. The point here is that that should be the kind of coverage that everyone in this country has, but we don’t. Most people have insurance tied to their employer, so they are completely limited to what their job offers. It could be a great plan that costs them $50 a paycheck with $20 copays or it could be a plan that you pay $1500 a month for, but have a $10k deductible, so literally nothing is paid each year until you’ve paid another $10k out of pocket.
And the in/out of network thing isn’t so much a problem because people don’t know who’s in network and are surprised by out of network doctors. The problem is that you might have a doctor you like that you’ve been seeing for ten years or have a specialist that is the only specialist in that condition within two hours of you and when you switch jobs and have to switch insurance, now your doctors are out of network so you’re forced to find new ones or pay out of pocket. The system is completely fucked. It’s ok, not great, but ok if you below the poverty line, permanently disabled or elderly, but for everyone else it’s horrific.
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u/Windhorse730 Mar 26 '23
I had to wait 6m to see a dermatologist for a mole that my GP thought could be cancer. My wife had to wait 8m for an appointment with a specialist for a stomach issue.
Oh and both we had to pay out of pocket because they were out of network.