Political Memes

I can see my primary within hours normally, she can’t do much except refer me to who I really need see and those appointments take weeks to make and months to get to.

Seems like a simple enough case that there can be a fact of the matter. Either U.S. wait time are shorter than single payer systems on average or they're not; no need to rely on anecdotal stuff.

Is there anyone that can point to some good data on the subject?

My other favorite refrain was the “You can keep your doctor!” crap that was a big selling point for that crowd.

In this system I have had 4 doctors move practices while under their care because they’re playing the capitalist system. I was not able to benefit from continuity of care in any form.

But at least I had to pay for it, not get it for “free” from a natl healthcare system. Yay.

Depends on the procedure. Orthopedic surgery in the USA is pretty fast to get. Getting an MRI approved when compared to, say Japan, takes forever.

if i had to pay for healthcare i better not be fucking waiting.

While it may depend on what country you want to compare it to there is nothing about privatization that inherently reduces wait times. My experience is that after leaving the US my wait times are equivalent or improved.

Private insurance just means you wait, it costs a lot more, and you're way more likely to delay treatment of your own accord because the profit motive makes the system a financial terror and a psychological torment.

I had something similar happen to me like 5 years ago. I chopped part of my finger tip off with a slightly rusty axe while camping after having a few too many.

I went into the ER the next day, waited about the same amount of time as you to be seen to have it checked out and get a tetanus booster. I got a bills from each doctor that happened to walk by, totalling in the realm of $2,000 after insurance. Literally all each did was say, "Ouch, lucky you didn't hit the bone!"

Luckily, my fingertip grew back without nerve damage or anything. I'll probably try to stay up on my shots and get more confident on dressing myself next time, maybe try and make friends with nurses/vet techs. Shit's broken on every level.

This is why you just cauterize it with a lit cigar. Just like my dad showed me.

No no. It cant be. Everyone in America keeps telling me the wait times in Canada are so high because of socialized medicine and you only have to wait 7 seconds to see a doctor in the glorious US of A.

Damn I have almost the exact same story. Except mine also comes with a fucked up workers compensation claim and it messed up my credit for years.

Im Canadian and despite the American conservative talking points, I’ve never had to wait anywhere near that long and definitely not for a critical injury. There are busy hospitals but there are also more of them so you have options many times.

We have however seen an erosion of our socialized healthcare by conservatives in power in that things keep being removed from coverage, and you have to go out of pocket on things that should be covered.

That's all we've ever been.

The problem is that there's a hell of a lot more of us than there are of them.

If we could only use our collective power to change things to favour all workers instead of the owners and elites.... If only there was some way to regulate them into compliance to provide better, safer, and fairer, working conditions... To add some layer of oversight, where dozens of people that represent the majority of people across the nation to help bring forward what the people want, instead of the 1% just doing whatever the fuck they want....

That would be amazing. If only it existed...

It depends. Do you have a lot of money? I'm sure you can find someone that can see you right away.

My thought exactly. Specialists are booking months out.

Not remotely, no. I've been on a wait-list for a few weeks for appointments that are a minimum scheduled 3 months in advance.

Compared to European countries, no. Compared to Canada, yes.

It's a very general broad topic. Probably depends a lot on what you need. And more importantly, how rich your are.

I highly doubt Bill Gates have to wait 3 months for a specialist appointment.

From my experience it depends on which health care provider you have. I have Kaiser and some things are pretty quick, some things aren't. I used to be on Covered California aka the ACA and things were a lot slower. Seems like, generally, the more money you pay in premiums the faster service you can get.

It is a common talking point people use when justifying their anti-universal healthcare stance.

It is often paired with refusing to acknowledge the current state of US healthcare and thinking they are paying more for quality and access.

lmao I had a period of like maybe 5 years when I didn't get a regular checkup when I was a kid because my parents kinda neglected it. I was insured under the family plan too.

Edit: Forgot to add: USA btw

When it's free or super low cost, it's paid by the government. This means the government has a vested interest in keeping you healthy so they don't have to pay more. It's a great set up.