• macabrett
    ·
    2 years ago

    I always get confused when people imply you don't have to wait in America vs UK/Canada (old defense of the American healthcare system is that you don't have to wait)

    As someone who has had to see a lot of specialists... you wait a lot in America too. Good fucking luck getting a rheumatologist appointment in less than 6 months.

    • Vampire [any]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Some right-wing ideological people think that U.S. has a privatised free market healthcare system, you get great quality if you pay for it, if you can't then tough luck, but nobody is obliged to pay taxes for another guy's healthcare.

      I could almost respect that argument. It's ideologically consistent. But nah, Americans pay massive tax for healthcare, they just don't receive care in return.

      https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OECD_health_expenditure_per_capita_by_country.svg

    • GreatWhiteNope [she/her]
      ·
      2 years ago

      I typically have to wait 6 months just to see my gynecologist in the US. I’d love to see all these doctors you don’t have to wait for.

    • KoboldKomrade [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Seriously, I set up a psych eval 2 months ago, took 3 months for a sleep study, and its 3-6 months for a cpap machine.

      • macabrett
        ·
        2 years ago

        same experience for my wife getting a CPAP

        isn't it cool having subpar sleep that could potentially kill you while you wait months?

      • SerLava [he/him]
        ·
        edit-2
        2 years ago

        I had to give back my CPAP machine and buy my own for 1000 dollars.

        I have allergies and can't use it every night. If you are at all congested its a waterboarding device. It prevents you from pushing air out if your nose too fast, so the saliva chokes you. It's literally a torture device. So you just take it off and get bad sleep, but at least you can sleep.

        But the insurance company won't allow you to use it 75% of nights. Even though I really need it. They'll take it away and don't care why you can't always use it.

    • ClimateChangeAnxiety [he/him, they/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      I got out of the psych hospital 9 months ago and only today had a consultation about starting TMS. And now my insurance maximum will reset before the actual treatment starts.