I have three doctor’s appointments within the space of a week. Not because I am drastically ill, but because my insurance will not allow my doctor to bill for more than one thing at a time. All of this could have been done at one appointment, but I can’t even book them on the same day.
If I were not self-employed, that would have meant taking from work on three different days.
And I’m a reasonably healthy person. Imagine what this is like for someone with serious medical issues.
I don’t have to imagine it; I see it in my patients all the time.
One of the reasons the impact of bad insurance on health care isn’t more obvious is that many health care professionals are FORBIDDEN BY THEIR EMPLOYERS from documenting that a patient is discontinuing therapy because their insurance won’t cover it.
I second this!
My insurance isn’t that bad, but my wife spends most of her week going to and from appointments. If you have complex conditions, our approach to segregated is difficult, and when you add the need to find doctors who will mesh with and listen to you, it become even harder. The pressure to bill is also giving doctors less time to interact with patients. And I won’t go far into the stupidity of insurance companies telling said doctors what procedures and medicines they can proscribe…
Ah, the much vaunted superiority of the private sector…
I lost my job a few months back and had to switch to my wife’s work insurance which meant having to get new prescriptions. Now that I have a new job and on my own insurance again I have to update all my prescriptions again. What’s that phrase of the right “I don’t want the government between me and my doctor”. Yeah, it’s so much better with a private insurance company between me and my doctor…