health care woes... woe is me, woe is you, woe, woe, woe...
You know, I'm a member of the lower class of government health care beneficiaries, right? Medicare and Medi-Cal are what pay for my visits to doctors and buy my medications. My ears are not paying attention to the debates going on now about the future of medical care in this country, although I should be very concerned. I am just reacting apathetically to the whole mess.
In general, I would say that people should beware about receiving poor, substandard care in a future where the government regulates health care. I base this assessment on my experiences in the mental health arena. I believe that there are people in the world, in this country that pay for, and receive quality mental health care. I do not feel like I am one of these people. I do not feel that I have EVER received good mental health care. The reason being that "good psychiatrists" do not accept patients into their care whose fees are paid by the government.
Doctors do get paid by Medicare and Medi-Cal but they complain about having to wait 6 months or longer for payments. I can only assume that as government bureaucracy increases this problem will only get worse. I have seen p-docs that once accepted government insurance payments but now no longer do. And these were the "best" doctors that I have been treated by. How they compare to non-government paying insurance doctors, I do not know.
For instance, my mom has a psychiatrist at Kaiser. I have sat in on her appointments and could see how this doctor works, for comparison purposes. If he were my doctor, I do not think that I would be very happy. So yes, there are doctors in the system at all levels that do substandard work. It is a matter of being able to shop around until you can find a doctor that meets your needs. In a government based insurance system, unless more and more doctors are "dumbed down" by the system and are forced into taking "government patients" this problem of finding a good doctor are only going to get worse.
The psychiatrist I am now under the care of works for the county health department. The bottom of the barrel. I am lucky to be able to get through on their phone system to be able to even leave a message for her, let alone stand a chance at getting a return call from her were I having an "emergency" and needed to request a change in medications. As it stands now, it has been over 10 weeks since my last appointment with her. Two years ago I had a "government paid" psychiatrist that saw me once a week. Mind you, I was not in love with him or his methods, but at least I felt like there was someone that cared and made an effort. My current doctor is overworked and over burdened by her patient load to be able to spend more time with me.
So this has turned into a bit of a rant. I think that I am slowly going to just extricate myself from the mental health system and either find ways to live with my problem and treat myself. That is basically what I do now anyway. It is something that I have experimented with doing in the past when I have gone off meds. Life is going to end for us all anyway. Whether my life ends because of a faulty health care system or not is something that is out of my control.
In general, I would say that people should beware about receiving poor, substandard care in a future where the government regulates health care. I base this assessment on my experiences in the mental health arena. I believe that there are people in the world, in this country that pay for, and receive quality mental health care. I do not feel like I am one of these people. I do not feel that I have EVER received good mental health care. The reason being that "good psychiatrists" do not accept patients into their care whose fees are paid by the government.
Doctors do get paid by Medicare and Medi-Cal but they complain about having to wait 6 months or longer for payments. I can only assume that as government bureaucracy increases this problem will only get worse. I have seen p-docs that once accepted government insurance payments but now no longer do. And these were the "best" doctors that I have been treated by. How they compare to non-government paying insurance doctors, I do not know.
For instance, my mom has a psychiatrist at Kaiser. I have sat in on her appointments and could see how this doctor works, for comparison purposes. If he were my doctor, I do not think that I would be very happy. So yes, there are doctors in the system at all levels that do substandard work. It is a matter of being able to shop around until you can find a doctor that meets your needs. In a government based insurance system, unless more and more doctors are "dumbed down" by the system and are forced into taking "government patients" this problem of finding a good doctor are only going to get worse.
The psychiatrist I am now under the care of works for the county health department. The bottom of the barrel. I am lucky to be able to get through on their phone system to be able to even leave a message for her, let alone stand a chance at getting a return call from her were I having an "emergency" and needed to request a change in medications. As it stands now, it has been over 10 weeks since my last appointment with her. Two years ago I had a "government paid" psychiatrist that saw me once a week. Mind you, I was not in love with him or his methods, but at least I felt like there was someone that cared and made an effort. My current doctor is overworked and over burdened by her patient load to be able to spend more time with me.
So this has turned into a bit of a rant. I think that I am slowly going to just extricate myself from the mental health system and either find ways to live with my problem and treat myself. That is basically what I do now anyway. It is something that I have experimented with doing in the past when I have gone off meds. Life is going to end for us all anyway. Whether my life ends because of a faulty health care system or not is something that is out of my control.
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