Our wonderful healthcare system...

I remember when I was six, about 40 years ago, I broke my wrist. I went home, told my parents and by the time I convinced my dad I was genuinely hurt, he took me to the doctor. The doctor takes x-rays, "yep, it's broken" and puts it in a cast. Total time was probably less than 8 hours from the time I broke it to the time I got home with my shiny, new cast.

Fast forward to 2016.
My best friend tripped in a parking lot on Saturday and heard a 'snap' in her foot along with intense pain. She drove herself to the emergency room where they took x-rays. "Yep, it's broken. Here's a referral to an orthopedic specialist." Considering this was Saturday and not life threatening, they just wrapped it in a soft cast and sent her on her way, crutches in hand.
This morning she calls the orthopedic specialist and they inform her that because of her HMO she needs to see her primary care physician first. Despite the fact that she has x-rays with a report from the radiologist in hand, in addition to the referral given to her in the ER.
So then she calls her primary care and they can't see her before tomorrow afternoon. So now she's going on 3+ days before even having this PCP look at it, and he's just going to say "yep, it's broken" and refer her to an orthopedic specialist. At this rate, she'll be lucky to be in a cast by the end of the week. All for a simple broken bone.
Will there even be a point to setting it now? How fkn long does someone need to go with a broken bone today? And she pays $300/mo for this shi**y HMO. Unbelievable.

As much as I'd like to blame the Chairman for this I know it's not entirely his fault. Our healthcare system as been on this path for a couple of decades now. It has truly turned into an industry. Moral of the story, don't get sick/hurt.

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Last edited by VegasJen; Today at 02:37 AM.

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Our wonderful healthcare system...