Is this what winning feels like?

Only shocking if you haven't paid attention for the last 40 years.

How's the greatest country on earth over here 🙄

Anyone else in the US struggling to find and get into a primary care doctor?

I'm near enough to major metro area but can't find one that is:

1. within 10 miles of me
2. taking actual in-person appointments
3. is covered by my insurance
4. is accepting new patients

I tried going through the insurance carrier app, tried Zocdoc etc. Several of the options are telehealth only... How the hell do you do preventative physical exams, tetanus booster shots, blood tests etc. with only telehealth appointments?

Just got a $400 bill for the blood work for my yearly physical. Routine stuff, should be almost totally covered by my insurance (which isn't cheap). In the past, it has.

Naturally the bill is due within days of me receiving it, despite the visit being months ago. It just takes that long for anything to wind through the labyrinth-like entrails of coding, billing, and negotiation. Also I get the sense there's some high-pressure tactics here.

I waited until business hours then I spoke to an AI voice agent. These things now include small breathing sounds and "background noise" that sounds like they exist in a call center instead of the bowels of a data center that is deafening and poisoning everyone within a quarter mile. It still responds too quickly and too cheerfully to be human, though. This thing finally directs me to a person.

She sounds like she is in India. She also sounds terminally bored, which is good. That is the proper response and anything else puts me on guard. Turns out the bill was submitted with my middle initial, while the name on my insurance card is without my middle initial. This is a pretext, of course, the insurance company could easily make that connection (and hundreds of other services do). But they are hoping I would just pay the bill. She resubmits. Now I wait another two months for another bill, or perhaps nothing gets changed and the first bill is now overdue, with fines, or going to collections. Whatever.

What a fucking privilege to live in this system. I'm more insulted by how much of my doctor's time this wastes, since her time is so much more valuable than mine.

I'm one of them. My fucking ear has been clogged for a week and I can barely hear out of it unless I put pressure on it. Not that anyone gives a shit.

Had to drive an hour and a half to the nearest available doctor that took my insurance. I got a physical and then got recommended like a dozen other tests each requiring their own appointment. I take even more time off work to get a possible pinched nerve checked out. They do some stuff, tell me I probably do and should do physical therapy. It cost $800 with my insurance. I have not been to the doctor since then. Nerve feels fine after I stopped spending so much time at my desk and did some personal PT.

I'm surprised women put it off more than men. That's a stereotypical male thing to do. Unless women are expected to have more appointments (e.g. gynecologist), so there's more things to put off?

I just got slapped with a bill for $1600 for a few phone calls, didn't see a doctor in person just 4 phone calls and a prescription.

All working as intended, nothing to see here.

"But you don't understand, it's the iMmIgRanTs' fault!"

Guys, the the uberrich aren't paying their fair share and you have to pay for them. This is the source of your troubles. Tax their wealth. That'll really piss them off, but you'll have a better life and the state will be able to pay for shit without it just ending up in a billionaires account to end up never used.

I just moved from one state to a neighboring one and I might as well have moved to the moon as far as medicaid coverage goes.

I really should go for the back of my throat, it's had a sort of strep looking thing back there for like 8 months. But I went to the doctor in the first month of it, at which point they tested for strep throat which came back negative, shrugged their shoulders, and sent me on my way. Cost me $200 for a trip that lasted maybe 10 minutes.

So of course I'm reluctant to go back and have accepted that the back of my throat is just permanently strep throat-like although may or may not actually be strep throat. Don't really feel any symptoms from it, just feels a bit dry in the mornings

I once had a wellness exam which always comes with bloodwork. Extra bloodwork during my appointment.

The wellness exam bloodwork ended up costing me $900 out of pocket because of a minor insurance coverage rule nobody knew about. I fought it for a year, filed grievances but Red Cross Red Shield didn't budge. They tried to lose my grievance paperwork I sent certified mail as well.

Not just expensive, but also impossible to get timely appointments. Worse for those that dont have flexible schedules.

Family has moderately okay insurance. We already met our OOP max a couple months ago. Its literally free at this point for me to go to the doctor....

but what's this? Oh, the only appointments are 3 months out from now? Oh and you dont book appointments that far out? Oh, so I need to try and call back next month and try again then? Cool. Coolcoolcool.

Guess Ill just fucking die.

Who's the shithole country now, America?