After several years of highly-dependable and affordable service, Dr. S relocated to a swank suite that he shares with several other doctors and specialists. Three days after that, I had my annual physical. Perhaps pressured/forced to "share the wealth" with his new suitemates, he insisted that I make an appointment with a specialist in his new building "just to check something out, but nothing to worry about". Therefore, I had to take another afternoon off from work (unpaid), spend $30 co-pay, wait an hour in the waiting room, and then submit myself for a half-hour "test"... to prove that I was fine anyway. $1,300 was billed to my insurance... for something that I didn't need. Lewis is due to have his physical next, and if Dr. S tries the same maneuver, we will stop seeing him. How shameful that America's healthcare is "for profit"... literally at the expense of its overcharged patients. It fosters a lack of trust and shows where the doctors' priorities are.
Compare that to an experience by my Croatian-born hairstylist. Living in New York City, he returned to visit his mother. Recently, she went to the Emergency Room via ambulance to have a pacemaker installed! The surgery was followed by two weeks of observations and therapy to ensure that things were satisfactory. In profit-driven America, such an experience might bankrupt a typical middle-class person. In war-torn Croatia--which doesn't even have an international airport--it didn't cost his mother anything! It was included in their Universal Healthcare. Not one dollar (or Croatian kuna)!
When my stylist got to his mother's apartment, he twisted his back and was laid-up for a whole painful day. She called her local Emergency Services. Without asking for my stylist's passport or proof of residency, the hospital dispatched an ambulance with a DOCTOR, a NURSE, and two men with a stretcher. (American ambulances are ridiculously overpriced and never arrive with doctors or nurses. That would cost a fortune). The doctor assessed him, determined that he did not need the hospital, prescribed pain relievers, and gave him an injection. No charge.
The next day, his pain persisted. Again, an ambulance came to the house, and its doctor and nurse gave another injection and used their full set of equipment to check his vitals. After that, my hairstylist's pain subsided. He was so grateful that the medical teams were not focused on money-making; their primary concern was his wellness... at no charge!
Feeling well again, he took his mother to see a heart specialist--a woman who taught heart surgery at the university and had her own consulting office. In fact, she taught the surgeon who installed the pacemaker. She diagnosed that the pacemaker needed to be adjusted slower; it was doing too much of the work and not letting the heart do its function. She sent them to the surgeon. Her fee? $25.00. (for one of the top-quality specialists in the nation). The consequential "adjustment" was done smoothly and without cost. My stylist's mother is doing much better--no longer having shortness of breath. As for him, he realizes that returning to Europe is more attractive than "fighting for things" to be decent in America.
Below are snippets of my friends complaints about American healthcare. Click on each to make it clearer.
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