Down-to-Earth Étoile Michal
9 years ago
Thursday, January 17, 2008
On Health Care
I would never trade Canada's free health care system for anything. It does has its drawbacks, though. I always had to laugh when reading pregnancy books that said things like "Make sure you choose a health care provider that you are comfortable with and shares your views on birth." Around here it should read, "If you don't already have a doctor, good luck finding one who is accepting new patients." I considered myself fortunate when, finding myself pregnant with Monkey, and in a new community, I was not only able to find a Doctor, but one who I really liked. So you can imagine my disappointment when my Doctor announced that she was leaving at the end of the year to move to The City for her husband's work. The clinic got a couple of new Doctors in fall, one of which was to take my Doctor's patients. So in November I had an appointment with this new Doctor. But I didn't like her. I can't say exactly why, but I didn't. I had been worrying for the last couple months about what I would do when I actually needed to see this Doctor for a medical reason. I couldn't imagine making an appointment with her.
So last week I called the clinic to ask, rather apologetically, if there were any other Doctors accepting new patients. The receptionist on the phone reassured me that it was not a problem that I was asking about other doctors, and that, in fact, it was a good thing that I was taking responsibility for my own (and Monkey's) health care. Yesterday, after another hour long waiting room visit, I met another Doctor. She was sweet and lovely and I can imagine taking Monkey to her for even a small concern. I mean, she's not my old Doctor, but she'll do.
I am interested to know - - do you have a choice in Doctors where you live? Do you have to wait months for an appointment? How is the balance of male and female physicians (our clinic seems to have an unusually high number of "Lady Doctors")? Do you like your Doctor? Just some thoughts.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
Our insurance limits the physicians you can choose to "in network" ones, but generally we have TONS and TONS to choose from.
At one point, our local clinic didn't have any female primary care doctors, do I just didn't go to the doctor until they got some new ones there.
I personally have never had any problem getting an appointment for anything. However, I have heard that other people sometimes do. We live in an area with a lot of hospitals within a few hours drive, so there are a lot of physicians too.
Since my insurance carrier is denying a bunch of claims, I have wondered what my care would be like if I lived in Canada or France or somewhere with free healthcare.
We have no medical choices here at all because there's one doctor in town. Still, it beats my in-laws town where there's none and so you have to go to the emergency room if ANYTHING is wrong. Ick.
YIkes, that sounds sucky to have no choice. Our insurance that is provided through my husbands job is good insurance but not everyone is lucky. We have HMO's where you are pretty much assigned a doctor and a hospital and you dont' get a choice. It is usually cheaper to pay for. Then PPO's are the "better" more costly choice which allows for more freedom among doctors and hospitals. I think our lady/men docs is a good balance although there are LOTS of OBGYNS that are men and not so many women. We have a lot of Indian or Muslim doctors here for some reason too. Any more quesitons?
I was just talking about my doctor the other day. I love her. She has been my doctor for 10 years, she listens to me and trusts me and I trust her. She even delivered Girlkiddo! I do have quite a bit of choice despite being in an HMO. Waits for appointments depend on what they are for. A well-child visit can take a month or more. But if we are sick we get in within a day. I'm glad that you found someone that you like.
I got SO lucky up here! I saw three different midwives when I was pregnant and I liked all of them for different reasons. Then after the Little Goat came I had to make an appointment to find a primary care physician.
Boy, did I hit the jackpot! There just happens to be a Women's Medical Clinic in the hospital and the doctor is amazing! Like talking to your Great Aunt Myrtle who's the sweetest lady ever and just happens to have tea ready for you when you get there. Oh yes, and has a medical degree and a knack for decorating clinic rooms so they look more like a living room.
The clinic has a whole library of books you can borrow and the office is only staffed by women. It's estrogen heaven!
I remember what it was like in Manitoba though and I can only imagine it's tougher in a smaller city....boo!
There are some weird doctors around though. Shet, Hottentot, Tartar...and SWEENEY.....who is far too big for his britches and looks like a weasel.
Didn't want you to think it's all roses.
We pay out of pocket for all regular doctor's visits so our choices are unlimited. Our insurance is only for major medical expenses (a surgery or hospitalization, etc.) so we don't typically file with it, as we pay less without it - most doctor's give a self-pay discount.
Even when we did have a more comprehensive insurance plan (which turned out to be only so in name-not in what it actually paid) we were virtually unlimited in our doctor's choices. Which I really appreciate.
As for waiting a long time to get an appointment, that just depends on the practice. I have just decided to switch pediatricians because it's too hard to get in there. By my own personal doctor can always see me that week and someone in her practice can typically see me that day in case of an emergency.
This has been interesting to read the responses.
Post a Comment