Oddbean new post about login | logout I referred someone to the emergency room today and they declined to go saying they were going to try and wait for the 1st of October. Because that is when their health insurance will finally be active. I hate #healthcare in the US. #medmastodon #publichealth Edit: I didn’t realize this would gain any attention. Just want people to know this is COMMON. At least weekly I or a coworker recommend someone seek additional care and they choose not to or delay due to lack of insurance.
@9c039ef1 Last summer I was in the ED with my mom. Beside us was a teenage girl who'd been injured and apparently knocked unconscious at her soccer game. The girl was shaking. Her mom kept asking the intake coordinator, "How much will this cost? Maybe we should just go home and see how she's doing tomorrow?" A doc came out, took one look at the girl's eyes and said, "No. I'm sorry. We have to bring her in for observation." That poor mother got on her phone crying to her husband about the bill.
@9c039ef1 I waited 3 months for breast cancer treatment because I was changing insurance. then waited for the hospital to have space in the calendar. a shitshow all around
@9c039ef1 as a Canadian, hearing about the insurance issues Americans face terrifies me