Some good points, Greg, thanks for the insight. One of my concerns when it comes to socialized medicine is more a matter of the ability for everyone to have access to free or inexpensive medical care. It may not be timely, which seems to be a common thread in these systems both in Canada and the UK from my experience, but at least it’s available to every person at little to no cost.
I see the person serving up my burger or even my oldest son, who still doesn’t have medical coverage through his employer, and think about how they’re just one emergency away from bankruptcy. I took my oldest son to a local walk-in clinic on Monday to be treated for COVID and get Paxlovid, and the charge for the office visit alone was $135. Had he gone to my internist’s medical practice it would have been more like $275. Fortunately, the Paxlovid was free, but still, for someone working for $15 or even $20 an hour $135 is a HUGE amount of money. Lucky for him he does a good job saving and budgeting, so he had it, but how many people don’t? And I’m not talking about people who are indigent, I’m talking about a large swath of our society. There is a large contingent of Canadians that “invade” Florida on a seasonal basis, and they hit the health care system heavily when they’re here. My mother in law complains about how tough it is to get a doctor’s appointment between October and April because of the influx of Canadians in her area. -D > On Aug 10, 2022, at 4:26 PM, greg via Mercedes <mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > I think if that were my dr. I would fire him. > > My further thoughts: it's a localized supply/demand issue. I have a really > good internist and a super cardiologist. I am sure either one could earn > much more in NY or BOS. The internist's wife is also an MD and they each > work 3 days. The cardio is a triathlete and I'm guessing enjoys the > outdoor opportunities in the PNW. I never have trouble getting my > appointments or meds. My D-I-L on the coast has all sorts of trouble. > She's told her scrips are ready then they don't have any when she arrives. > > WRT socialized medicine: I lived in BC for 5 years and paid for (heavily > subsidized) BC Med. It was fine because I retained my US health insurance > and could easily use US services if needed. BC med actually pays for > flights into the US for some emergency services not available there, and > many Canadians pay in the US so they don't have to wait many months for > some procedures. I doubt that anyone who lived under socialized medicine > would want it in the US. > > Greg > >> What do you think about doctors these days? Are they all idiots? The >> spouse has been sick for a week, to the point she went to the ER Sunday. >> Has a virus and very dehydrated. ER basically did nothing. Could not get >> an IV and just gave up. Today she had a â?owellnessâ? visit with our >> primary care doctor. She started to discuss the test results etc from the >> visit and the huge dehydration problem but he cut her off and said this >> visit was only to review certain things. Basically just going over the >> most basic items. So you are in a doctors office and they ignore a glaring >> illness and say you would need to make a sick visit rather than this >> wellness visit? It would seem to this recent issue should be addressed on >> any visit including a wellness visit. I use the same doctor and anytime I >> want to ask about my neck problems, or anything related to my blood >> thinners he doesnâ?Tt want to discuss it, only what is on his simpleton >> agenda for the day. >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >> _______________________________________ >> http://www.okiebenz.com >> >> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ >> >> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com >> >> > > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
