Glad I'm Not Sick

[KennyG]

In our area, the local hospital/health clinic organization is one of the top three employers. It seems you can't turn around without seeing a medical facility of some sort. Today (9/14) I called to schedule my annual physical. Earliest appointment - January 11.

The last time I needed medical care, I had severely impacted ear wax that I couldn't clear. The walk-in clinic couldn't do anything and referred me to a specialist. Earliest appointment was three months. With some creative self doctoring, I took care of it myself.

Dental and vision care is a little better. If you are an existing patient, you can get a checkup appointment within one to two months.

Is this the new standard for every place?

 

[scootr]

I'm afraid so. Canadians have been coming over the border for yrs to get medical procedures they have to wait a yr or more for up north where ... medical care is socialized.

 

[oldnslo]

Seems to be Same way around here. Even in the hospital everything takes twice as long.

 

[riptides]

In our area, the local hospital/health clinic organization is one of the top three employers. It seems you can't turn around without seeing a medical facility of some sort. Today (9/14) I called to schedule my annual physical. Earliest appointment - January 11.

The last time I needed medical care, I had severely impacted ear wax that I couldn't clear. The walk-in clinic couldn't do anything and referred me to a specialist. Earliest appointment was three months. With some creative self doctoring, I took care of it myself.

Dental and vision care is a little better. If you are an existing patient, you can get a checkup appointment within one to two months.

Is this the new standard for every place?

Dermatology has been like a year out, forever.

With the growth of urgent/minute clinic types, getting to a primary care doctor if they are still in business is usually by appointment only.

Getting to an urgent/minute clinic depends on how busy they are.

Getting to a doctor in a hospital is about the same, depends on how busy the facility is at the time.

 

[NoTrespassing]

Lack of employees just like everywhere else would be my guess. My nurse wife said CNA's, LPN's and RN's are hard to find and they don't stick around long where she works. More and more baby boomers are retiring every day.

 

[mrmikey]

Not to lessen your wait time but:
Took me 6 months to get a knee replacement after waiting for over two years for WCB to say yes. That was 7 or so years ago. Only reason it was only 6 months is that it was a WCB claim
Well over two years for a hip replacement from initial appointment with GP. All I could do to walk. The surgeon screwed that up and it popped out twice and it took 5 months I think it was for a replacement surgery. That 5 months I was waiting to do a faceplant at any time.
Second time it popped out, from the time the ambulance picked me up and the time it was put back in place was 10 hours. Couldn't move...nutthin.
Saw my GP over a year ago for pain in my hands and wrists, still waiting for appt with specialist.
Just had one cataract done two weeks ago, that was a two year wait, hopefully not as long for other eye.
Appt with GP is 2-4 weeks if you call first two± weeks of the month. After that date they don't take appointments and have to call back next month.
Going to ER it's nothing to hear of 12-20 hour wait that is provided the ER isn't closed for staffing problems.
Is our healthcare free...yup but you get what you pay for.

 

[ultrarunner]

We lost a significant number to burnout, early retirement due to Covid, 7% terminated refusing vaccine, headhunters offering big money for traveling nurses, etc.

Lots of practices closed during Covid... our Chief of Staff at 58 said enough, bought a farm, tractors and 1-ton diesel pickup when he moved to Oregon...

 

[MossRoad]

I book my next regular Doctor and Dentist appointments at the end of my regular Doctor and Dentist appointments. That way it's on the books and I don't have to worry about it. So a year in advance for my annual Dr. and 6 months in advance for my regular cleanings. I like them in May and November and have had those months for probably 30 years. Dr. can see me same day usually for oddball things, like a few weeks ago I woke up and my eye was swollen shut. Allergic reaction. If he can't get me in, he sends me to urgent care, which is usually at most a few hours wait. Emergencies get ER.

 

[NoTrespassing]

Not to lessen your wait time but:
Took me 6 months to get a knee replacement after waiting for over two years for WCB to say yes. That was 7 or so years ago. Only reason it was only 6 months is that it was a WCB claim
Well over two years for a hip replacement from initial appointment with GP. All I could do to walk. The surgeon screwed that up and it popped out twice and it took 5 months I think it was for a replacement surgery. That 5 months I was waiting to do a faceplant at any time.
Second time it popped out, from the time the ambulance picked me up and the time it was put back in place was 10 hours. Couldn't move...nutthin.
Saw my GP over a year ago for pain in my hands and wrists, still waiting for appt with specialist.
Just had one cataract done two weeks ago, that was a two year wait, hopefully not as long for other eye.
Appt with GP is 2-4 weeks if you call first two± weeks of the month. After that date they don't take appointments and have to call back next month.
Going to ER it's nothing to hear of 12-20 hour wait that is provided the ER isn't closed for staffing problems.
Is our healthcare free...yup but you get what you pay for.

Free? How do you figure?

 

[Thomas]

Also wait time around here not unless your brought in to ER.

 

[mrmikey]

Free? How do you figure?

LOL, yeah that was a bad choice in words for sure....

 

[orezok]

Thank god for Navy medicine. My wife is a retired Navy nurse with 22 years service so we are covered by Navy medicine. Fortunately getting appointments with our primary physician at the Naval hospital can take a week or 2 for non urgent appointments but they hold several same day appointments open every day for more urgent items. You just have to call early in the morning to get one.

We also get referrals to specialist within several days.

The big difference is that “we” are part of the military family and get consideration that is non existent in the outside world.

The best part is that between Medicare and Tricare we have never paid a dime for medical care or drugs.

 

[Wakey]

My 82 year old mother has had swelling in one or both legs and her GP wouldn't so much as give her a diuretic without getting her heart checked out. Her heart's always been fine, her blood pressure is slightly lower than a 25 year old so we've waited months to get some tests and then we'll wait a couple more months to get some more tests and when all that is over they'll say, yeah, your heart is still fine, here's your diuretic. We'd like to have you in for a follow up in 6 mos. ( cha-ching!)
Pain management has become an unmitigated disaster also, thanks to the fine folks at the FDA.
The docs are out the door by 3 headed straight for the links.

 

[Jstpssng]

My mother hasn't seen her GP in two years; he was always "away" until he finally retired. This spring she was told to find someplace different... she made an appointment in June, she will finally meet her new Dr? PA? next month. Last fall my brother took her to the ER and she came home with a pacemaker... she still hasn't had a followup visit. She was constantly complaining about migraines but couldn't get in to see a doctor. She finally self diagnosed and discovered that almond oil was causing them. Apparently there is a lot of that in some of the foods she was eating.

 

[bnold]

Let’s not forget that the government keeps reducing Medicare and Medicaid reimbursable rates…

Most private healthcare is based on a percentage of Medicare rates…

Obamacare working to its finest and fullest intent!

Employees are more expensive and demanding and the businesses are getting paid/reimbursed less and less every year, it’s like a death spiral.


Many are going to strictly cash pay.

 

[Jstpssng]

Many are going to strictly cash pay.

I looked into that. There are doctors and clinics which don't accept health insurance; rather, they charge an annual fee which covers basic visits and needs. You then carry a high deductible policy for hospital visits. It could be good for somebody if they found a trustworthy Dr and were paying for their own health insurance... and had such a system nearby. The only place I could find was with an MD about my age; it didn't make sense to sign up with somebody who is close to retirement age.

 

[Doofy]

No problems getting health care here in Alaska...if you have good insurance or are independently wealthy. Just had an MRI of my pituitary gland at noon today for the special price of $5,000. I only had to cough up $17.75 for my co-pay. Thank God!

 

[IndyIan]

Not to lessen your wait time but:
Took me 6 months to get a knee replacement after waiting for over two years for WCB to say yes. That was 7 or so years ago. Only reason it was only 6 months is that it was a WCB claim
Well over two years for a hip replacement from initial appointment with GP. All I could do to walk. The surgeon screwed that up and it popped out twice and it took 5 months I think it was for a replacement surgery. That 5 months I was waiting to do a faceplant at any time.
Second time it popped out, from the time the ambulance picked me up and the time it was put back in place was 10 hours. Couldn't move...nutthin.
Saw my GP over a year ago for pain in my hands and wrists, still waiting for appt with specialist.
Just had one cataract done two weeks ago, that was a two year wait, hopefully not as long for other eye.
Appt with GP is 2-4 weeks if you call first two± weeks of the month. After that date they don't take appointments and have to call back next month.
Going to ER it's nothing to hear of 12-20 hour wait that is provided the ER isn't closed for staffing problems.
Is our healthcare free...yup but you get what you pay for.

Yeah, its kind of in rough shape at the moment in most provinces.... Per capita we spend something less than half what the US does though, and are, as a nation more healthy, so it wasn't all bad before...
Before COVID we were running things with not enough margin to cope with a pandemic, and we still have some provincial governments trying to deliberately mismanage public healthcare to make the case for a two tier system. I figure the rich guys can travel to get their knee replaced, etc, now if they want to. Hopefully soon we will get some real improvements to increase the numbers of healthcare professionals trained here with some incentives to stay in Canada as well.

My farming buddy had his youngest daughter in at Sick kids hospital for a couple open heart surgeries when she was around 1 yr old. I'm guessing that's a 6 figure bill for that in the US, plus how much for medical insurance for her as she grows up? Here my buddy's family continues like a normal family with normal bills.
Would many young farmers in the US have a health insurance plan that would just let them and their daughter continue living like they did before the surgery? What about when the daughter has to buy her own health insurance?

 

[bigtiller]

I called my family Dr. at 8:30, told the receptionist "I may have broken my second toe but what concerns me is the big blood blister on top." She said can you be here at 10:00? Yep.

 

[Ken45101]

We are in a rural area 60 miles from the big city. Not many specialists here but otherwise regular doctor appointments are fairly quick and even going to a new doctor is only a 2-4 week wait.

ER has been 0-20 minutes. Surgery? Neurosurgeon saw me on a Friday and operated the next Thursday. Cataract surgery took about a month for the first eye and the second one was done two weeks later (that doctor divides his time among several areas each week.)

The brother of a friend had an unexpected heart attack one evening. Local hospital did heart surgery and he went home that night.

I just checked, the local ER is posted as a 23 minute wait.