I can't go into much detail, but I know a lot of people with medical problems who aren't being seen by doctors in the US. Time and again I see people who have what I know to be fairly routinely urgent medical concerns that do get told by the ER that they have to wait for a specialist... 6+ months out. I'm sorry, but an infection doesn't wait 6+ months for you to put them on some basic antibiotics that a PA or I think even some nurse practitioners can prescribe in certain jurisdictions.
I remember when I was in the military (circa 2008), I had a colleague who told me his mother died on the sidewalk outside an ER because they couldn't afford any insurance and the hospital refused to see her. I didn't believe it, I though that it couldn't possibly be a thing in the US. But I keep seeing parallel issues time and again, but now it's for basic things and not because of insurance, but providers and networks are so fucked up that people must be dying from these things.
I know someone who worked in billing and claims for medical insurance too. They share horror stories about double leg amputees being denied a wheelchair...
Hope I don't get an infected cut or something, even with my decent insurance who the hell knows at this point!
Two years ago I slipped on the ice and shattered my right leg. This was in one of Canada's biggest cities
It was almost eight hours before I was even seen at the hospital. After tests confirmed I had destroyed the ankle, I was very luckily placed for emergency surgery the next morning - at this point about 13-14 hours away
The hospital refused to let me stay anywhere. I was discharged and sent home to wait a handful of hours in immense pain before the surgery. When I say discharged however, I mean a nurse asked for my height, grabbed crutches that kinda fit (I learned later that the reason I struggled for two months with them was they were far too tall for me) and leaned them in a far corner out of reach then disappeared. I waited for almost 45 minutes before using my boot to hook the wheelchair nearby, drag it over, and drag myself to the crutches. The doctor's suggestion, when I pointed out I had no easy way of getting home, was to take public transport
In February. On an icy day I'd already broken a leg, with an exposed right foot and crutches too tall to get around on. I'd been able to scare up a ride, but I've never felt so fucking shocked at the state of our healthcare before