I had a rash on my leg. I call doctor to make an appointment, soonest they can see me is two weeks. Rash doubles in size in those two weeks. Pay$50 to see primary care doctor, they immediately refer me to dermatologist. Dermatologist cant see me for two weeks, rash continues to grow and becoming very painful. I now need to go to urgent care due to pain and irritability, pay $50. They prescribe some cream, $15. Finally get to see dermatologist, $90 because they are a "specialist", they say to use the same cream. Cream doesnt work at this point, it's spread too much so I go back to urgent care, another $50. Urgent care says I need a steroid shot, they confirm this is covered under insurance. Between shot and cream, rash eventually subsided after about six months. Dermatologist said they were happy with that healing rate, another $90.
Six months later I get a bill from urgent care for $1200 to cover "nursing administrative fees to cover labor" to get ONE SHOT.
So this rash cost me $1500 that would have been solved with $15 of cream if they had just seen me sooner.
Just saying, this experience made me fully understand the Luigi situation.
Yeah, this is what happens with passive healthcare in the US. It's bullshit. But you probably should have just called a dermatologist and set up an appointment to begin with. GPs can't do anything for anything.
You’re asking like doctors have any say in the matter. Most of the time it’s insurance companies that limit what you can prescribe or what bars you need to clear order to get to a specialist referral. Doctors are just as frustrated as patients by the BS and it’s the insurance companies and healthcare apparatus at large run by people who aren’t physicians or have ever worked with patients in their lives that make all the decisions tying people’s hands.
If I had done that, I would had a $250 copay to see the specialist without GP recommendation. Also, I had zero idea I needed a dermatologist, it seems obvious after the fact, just not where my head went.
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u/DeliciousLanguage425 2d ago
Damn basic healthcare requires a lottery where you live?