US Medical System is so broken

HuggycatbearHuggycatbear
in General

Last couple of years, I had to get state medical because the company I work for charges too much.

My health care has gone up by 6 times. I'll just say it. It's $637 a month. My tax preparer basically told me I was too successful last year and looked at me with a side eye. "Did you get promoted?"

Yes, I got promoted so my dollars don't burn up in the inflation. It's a crime, I know.

Now, I'm suffering from lower back pain that keeps me up at night, and makes it hard for me to sit and do my job at work.

So I schedule a doctor appt, and my insurance can only find a place that is 45 minutes away to not have to wait months.

I see the doctor and she gets my history and the usual setup for labs. Then she let's me go.

I tell her, "wait a minute, I'm here because I have a medical condition."

She checks me out briefly, then googles and tells me I just have to do pelvic thrusts. See you in 3 months.

I go to the gym. I hike. Which I had to both halt or do a workaround. And I do plenty of stretches. I'm pretty sure this pain is more than just in need of stretching.

If I would've had a subscription where I pay $637 for someone to take 10 minutes to google a document, I would've stopped that service.

So honestly, this is why I cannot afford cuddling. On top of that I owe the IRS for the first time in my life, since my health care costs offset my return.

Comments

  • sin67sin67

    You should move to Canada.

  • HuggycatbearHuggycatbear

    I heard Canada has its own issues. With really long wait times. Is that true @sin67 ?

    Either way, I'm thinking about moving out of country just for health care, that's true. But I do have family and connections here.

  • Sheena123Sheena123

    Yea I see my mom and aunts struggling because of the healthcare here. And all these types of insurance. It’s so confusing. Plus whenever I take my mom to see the doctor, he rushes it, like he doesn’t care… when I’m back at home in Canada, I could sit for a half hour with my doctor, and ask her a million questions and I don’t feel rushed. And anytime I e gone to the hospital, the most expensive part was the parking.

  • JasonCuddlesJasonCuddles

    Canada, while I much prefer it to the Southern neighbour's system, is one of the worst medical systems out of the rich countries. It is both relatively expensive and also slow.

    If you want to know how to to do it well you need to look to Europe. Don't use Canada as an example.

  • SunsetSnugglesSunsetSnuggles

    @Huggycatbear
    That is terrible. I'm so sorry basic medical care is costing you so much.

    Definitely be prepared to advocate for yourself, and have your questions written down so you can rapid fire them.

    You can ask to switch to a different provider at that office. The MA's and front desk people can advise you on which providers actually care and spend time with patients. Just grin and ask them who is always behind for taking too much time in the exam room. 😉 They can point you in the right direction.

    ~ Sunset Snuggles

    🫂 Enthusiast 🏞 Travel Junkie 📷 Shutter Bug

  • sin67sin67

    I live in Canada. 35 years now. No wait. Only once when in emergency as they gad so many people walk in for minor cuts n other minor stuff. That they make you wait n attend to energies first. That true. You have your own GP who you can make appointment anytime yo see. All these with no fees n no stress to rush for surgeries if any kind. All free. Feel sorry for you guys down south. Miserable for mist people n even those who can afford it wind n cry.

  • HollydollhugsHollydollhugs
    edited April 7

    I’ve taken my health into my own hands with the way I eat. It has changed so much for me. I don’t aches or have pain and I’m 56. I do all of the things like my own yard work, I go roller skating and dancing every week, hiking and kayaking. The least amount of time I have to spend in the doctors office the better.

  • [Deleted User]kydavid (deleted user)

    It’s so bad

    I’ve been trying to pinpoint which autoimmune diseases I have, thankfully one has been confirmed. Not thankfully there is only one doctor in my state that specializes on it and they decided to stop taking my insurance at the beginning of the year. Discharged me without letting me finish my last 2 infusions, while I already had the medication sitting in my fridge, supplies and nurse scheduled. Just wouldn’t let me finish basically because I was unable to pay the full cost of the appointment required to see her.

    I’m paying on a $3,000 loan to pay for my ketamine infusions that insurance wouldn’t pay because it was being used for mental health and not prescribed for pain. Even though ketamine has been a massive breakthrough for those struggling with mental health.

    Paying on another loan I had to get for hospital bills and other treatments.

    All while being disabled and being unable to work. Cuddling has been very beneficial, but sadly I’m unable to pay for it

  • TheMidnightOwlTheMidnightOwl
    edited April 7

    So sorry you’re dealing with all of this, @Huggycatbear.

    Yep. As I always say, it pays to be poor. The more you make, the more the robbers take. You get a raise at work and it puts you into a higher tax bracket? Guess where all that extra income goes? To the coffers of our corrupt government who can’t even find all the tax dollars they robbed from us.

    If we all had to write a check for the amount of taxes we pay each year there would be riots and another revolution… Withholding is merely a tactic to rob us blind.

    Unpopular hot take based on an understanding of both government and economics:

    Once government and insurance companies got involved, it has made it (both the doctor visits and the premiums) increasingly unaffordable and poorer quality. When it was cash pay it not only kept costs low for myriad reasons, but care was focused on individual patients, it wasn’t an assembly line of 15 mins and then rush you out dynamic, doctors made house visits!, it wasn’t controlled by pharma lobbyists, and there was a bit more understanding of holistic health by providers.

    The goal was getting and keeping you well and healthy, not getting you on as many pharmaceuticals as possible for life and just “managing symptoms” which keeps you a regular customer for life. The entire philosophy of the field changed and profits over patients became the norm.

    The way out? Taking our daily health into our own hands, doing our own research on wellness, managing minor acute illnesses at home, focusing on holistic health so we actually HEAL and get off as many drugs as possible, focusing on chronic stress management (which is the root of so many health problems), focusing on illness prevention (which includes getting off the standard American diet), saving every cent possible for an HSA or high yield savings account to do cash pay and negotiating payment plans (many offices/hospitals will give discounts to not have to go through insurance), and only going to doctors for legit emergencies. We have to fundamentally see we have a sick care system now, not healthcare, and we’re responsible for our own health. Much of which starts with radical lifestyle changes, and many of which are free or save money in the long run.

  • KuddlyKoalaKuddlyKoala

    It really is an unfortunate reality for us in the USA. I was prescribed a medication and I need a new bottle every month. That prescription costs $700 out of pocket. Every single month so I don't die. Am I supposed to bite the bullet and stop taking it because I quite literally can't afford it? Not sure, and there's no alternative. I looked online for coupons, none. The pharmaceutical industry conjoined with the Healthcare system in the US just ruins lives. People shouldn't have to weigh the pros and cons of life and death, but that's what privatized Healthcare does to people. And then again, leaving is also extremely expensive, having to pay taxes to the US after you leave as well.

  • PositivefuturePositivefuture

    To call it a mess is an understatement. This clip sums up the complex web/mess of the system and it is purely from the financial side of the equation before we even begin to talk about health outcomes......

  • wilderdudewilderdude
    edited April 7

    Those g.d. forms! endless. Wish there was a centralized database with my medical history i could give a place access to. i about lost it at my last DOT drug test at concentra why on earth do I need to provide so much information about myself just to pee in a cup lol.

  • Goonie4lifeGoonie4life

    You don't have to take a mortgage out on your home or become homeless in Canada for going to the hospital. Healthcare in the USA is a business, it's not there to heal/assist people. It's to make money at the suffering of the individual

  • SweetConnectSweetConnect

    @KuddlyKoala have you looked into traveling to Canada to get the medicine you need? I've heard of people doing that and it's still cheaper to pay for the trip and stock up. Sorry you're facing that. I hate that about the US

  • TxTomTxTom

    Withholding is merely a tactic to rob us blind.

    Bingo, @TheMidnightOwl
    Out of sight, out of mind.

  • HuggycatbearHuggycatbear

    @TheMidnightOwl you touch on so many points. Mainly the one where costs are now astronomical and impossible to pay out of pocket because these health care companies ate trading numbers over our heads. We are the product they trade over.

    I go to a male clinic for TRT as I'm about that age and suffered from symptoms and since healthcare usually doesn't cover the costs, it's much more affordable. Still a bit pricy for a shot every week but doable.

    More so they talked about a new cholesterol medication that is not a statin, so no joint pain side effects. But healthcare usually denies it so they have to play the game of giving you the worse med, then you have to have it fail, before healthcare will cover the new med.

    We are guinea pigs.

  • KempistKempist
    edited April 7

    Using the forum to attempt to get around a Block is not allowed. Sometimes people block for their own reasons. Sometimes it is a hint to reflect more deeply on your behaviour. - @CuddleDuncan

  • great_pillow08great_pillow08

    @Huggycatbear Be careful where you go because it can take YEARS to see a specialist in places with what’s said to be “cheaper healthcare”. I have a sister in Norway who had to wait 2 years to see a neurologist… but it would have been free! I have a friend with a kid who needed specialists but because of where they were, they had to fly back to the states to get him the help he needed. I could write a book on this from both the perspective of a provider and as a patient. The healthcare system in America is INCREDIBLY broken, but be aware that the “grass isn’t always greener on the other side”. I’d look into Eastern medicinal alternatives you can get in the US before you relocate yourself potentially “for nothing”..

  • TheMidnightOwlTheMidnightOwl

    @Huggycatbear

    And then they have the audacity to wonder why we’re all depressed and hormones are a wreck and gaining weight and blame us for it all. 😂 😭

  • robroorobroo

    Healthcare overall is a complete joke. As long as politics and greed are still alive it will only get worse. Add to that the older mostly common sense thinking generation of doctors are retiring and being replaced by " look at me I passed a test...that piece of paper hanging on a wall says I'm a doctor now".
    Wishing everyone good health, cheap meds and not having to wait forever to be seen.

  • sin67sin67

    Travelling to border towns into Canada for meds is very common. Meds in Canada are way cheaper. Bring your prescriptions along for what you don’t get off the counter. You will save a lot of money plus your dollar goes a long way in Canada. It’s a win win situation for you guys.

  • HuggycatbearHuggycatbear

    @great_pillow08 Thank you so much for your, perspective. That's the other important factor isn't it. Not just money but time.

    @sin67 I didn't know they would take our prescriptions in Canada. Thank you, for sharing your ideas.

    Appreciate everyone's input. I'm sorry so many of us share in these woes, but I feel so much support here.

  • disneysamuraidisneysamurai

    I heard some people were traveling to countries like Mexico and Nicaragua to get serious dental work done because it’s way cheaper down there.

Sign In or Register to comment.