US Health care on the decline

[clarionite]

Over the past few years I've noticed wait times increasing and customer service declining significantly in the health care field here in the US.
At first I thought it was due to the pandemic. But we're well past the shut down phase, and I'd have thought back logs and short staff issues would have been resolved by now.

I turned 50 this year. The first colonoscopy was ordered by my doctor at the end of last year. It took 9 months from the time it was ordered till I could have it done. Each time scheduled 3 months out, with two reschedules. They tried to reschedule it a 3rd time, but I got irritated and they actually moved it up a week.

I'm having some nerve issues in my upper back, most likely from an injury I got as a stupid tax when I was 18. But aggravated by a rear end collision a few years ago. My doctor ordered an MRI a month ago. A week later I got a text from the imaging center a week and a half later wanting me to call them to schedule. I've been trying since, each time on the phone over 30 minutes waiting. This morning it took over an hour of wait time to finally get someone on the phone. And they schedule it 2 weeks out. And this is a company that has 24 locations.

A friend of mine had to have a hip replacement. He had to wait 13 months.

We were the best in the world not too long ago. Not sure we're doing much to keep that ranking.

[mayor]

Welcome to socialized medicine.

[clarionite]

But if I like my... Oh never mind.

[clarionite]

Oh, and I pay 3 times as much for my insurance as I did 6 years ago. And that's with two of my kids aging out and not on my policy anymore.

[philip964]

I hope it is not the case.

I am only here now because of the healthcare system that existed 15 years ago.

My recent experience with hospital emergency rooms has not been favorable, compared with 15 years ago.

I recently have gone to a Doc in the Box urgent care facility and those visits have been very acceptable.

[bbhack]

My dermatology visits are pleasant, considering I usually get cut on. I don't have a primary care doc at the moment. I believe that all large hospital/doctor groups have become garbage.

[Rafe]

And lest we forget, the 2021 data came in last month and average life expectancy in the U.S. dropped again to its lowest since 1996. We've slipped back an entire quarter-decade when medical advances and Obamacare promised us better healthcare. This is the biggest two-year decline in almost 100 years.

The decrease is supposedly driven by COVID, drug overdoses (thank you, fentanyl coming in over the border unabated), and accidents.

Life expectancy at birth for women in the United States dropped 0.8 years from 79.9 years in 2020 to 79.1 in 2021, while life expectancy for men dropped one full year, from 74.2 years in 2020 to 73.2 in 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs ... 220831.htm.

[clarionite]

I hope it is not the case.

I am only here now because of the healthcare system that existed 15 years ago.

My recent experience with hospital emergency rooms has not been favorable, compared with 15 years ago.

I recently have gone to a Doc in the Box urgent care facility and those visits have been very acceptable.

My PCP is amazing. But I've been going to him for 12 years. He knows my family by name, asks about my wife, daughter and mother every time I visit. Which is quarterly, since I'm diabetic and I'm paranoid about managing it well because my mother didn't manage hers well and I don't want to be in her shape by her age.

The urgent care here in town is awesome too. Anytime we've needed a covid test, or covid treatment we've used them. Usually same day appointments, they came out to the vehicle to do the consultation, and even brought a scale outside to weigh my 5 year old.

Most of the issues I've seen have been in larger, more specialized medicine.

[Boxerrider]

I learned about, "Hospitalists," when my father-in-law was under their treatment. I'm certain different facilities has different administrators and staff, but ours was a very bad experience.

[Paladin]

And lest we forget, the 2021 data came in last month and average life expectancy in the U.S. dropped again to its lowest since 1996. We've slipped back an entire quarter-decade when medical advances and Obamacare promised us better healthcare. This is the biggest two-year decline in almost 100 years.

The decrease is supposedly driven by COVID, drug overdoses (thank you, fentanyl coming in over the border unabated), and accidents.

Life expectancy at birth for women in the United States dropped 0.8 years from 79.9 years in 2020 to 79.1 in 2021, while life expectancy for men dropped one full year, from 74.2 years in 2020 to 73.2 in 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs ... 220831.htm.

This is what I was thinking about.

[srothstein]

I hope it is not the case.

I am only here now because of the healthcare system that existed 15 years ago.

My recent experience with hospital emergency rooms has not been favorable, compared with 15 years ago.

I recently have gone to a Doc in the Box urgent care facility and those visits have been very acceptable.

I live in a small rural town. We have the only hospital in the county and it is just barely a hospital. The ER is not certified for significant trauma and stabilizes then transfers patients.

In 2010, I thought I was having a heart attack and went to my local ER. They stabilized me, did enough tests to say it was not a heart attack but a case of pneumonia, and transferred me to a hospital in Austin for further treatment. I was satisfied with my care though not terribly impressed either way.

In November last year, my wife was having trouble catching her breath so I took her to the same local ER. They were smarter than me and recognized that she was having a heart attack. They called in extra help and started working on her. After she was stabilized she got her first helicopter ride in her life taking her to Austin. A couple days in ICU and the hospital was able to identify the problem that she needed a triple bypass. They could not operate that time due to a skin rash from shingles. She came home for a few weeks and was scheduled for the operation. At my request, they rescheduled the operation to December 30 to help save me insurance money (I had already paid the limit on the deductible).

I am a firm believer that she is only here now because of the current ER staff. The two biggest problems we had were getting her from Luling to Austin (the local EMS did not have enough oxygen for the trip and the chopper could not fly at first due to fog) and getting her into rehabilitation after the operation (pre-approval required from insurance). My medical care is as good as anything I have had since I left the Army in 83. The insurance is another story, and not a happy one.