Unfortunately, I’ve been far too quiet around these parts for the past month. The biggest reason for this is that I have been struggling on a daily basis with a so far undiagnosed illness. Long story short, I have been in constant pain throughout my abdomen — so bad that I have incredible trouble sleeping, and at times it is so severe that I’m not able to focus on anything. It has been a struggle every day for me, but at the same time it has taught me a valuable lesson that has very much reinforced my concerns about public health insurance.
Based on my primary care doctor’s recommendation, I need to see a specialist (a gastroenterologist, or a GI doctor) for this matter. The problem is this: the average wait time to get into a GI doctor’s office as a new patient in Pittsburgh is somewhere between three to four weeks. The pain is so severe that I have been to the emergency department for this (where they fortunately were able to rule out any immediate emergency situation), yet the nearly month-long waiting time to see a specialist has not changed.
Meanwhile, it is a well-documented problem in countries with public health insurance that wait times for even the most basic of procedures are incredibly problematic. A study by the American Medical Student Association ,
On average, U.S. citizens experience some of the shortest wait times for non-emergency surgeries among industrialized countries, although the waiting times vary considerably by procedure… If there were universal healthcare without an expansion of capacity, one might see how waiting lines in the U.S. could increase.
As I mentioned earlier, the wait time to see a specialist for my situation is roughly one month. The same AMSA study also notes that in Canada, where universal healthcare exists, the median wait time between visiting a general practitioner and consultation with specialist is more than twice that, or 8.4 weeks. So accordingly, if I lived in Canada, I’d have to wait more than twice as long — in other words, I’d have to endure another full month of pain, sleeplessness, and overall discomfort before I’d even see a specialist. Even the New York Times concedes that wait times in Canada cited by a member of the Canadian Senate to defend Canadian health care “were nevertheless arguably long by American standards.” Similar with for care are in with public health insurance as well.
The bottom line here is that as a somewhat sick person, I have come to recognize that there are flaws in the American health system. However, by implementing the public option, it is incredibly likely that these flaws will only become worse. As I continue to wait to see a specialist for the diagnosis and treatment of my health problems, this much is clear to me: with public insurance, the wait — and accordingly, my misery from pain and overall discomfort — would only be longer. And that’s my brief personal story as to why I fear a public option.
Last 5 posts by Aaron Marks
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Your also forgetting that in canada they are also willing to transport you to a facility that can treat you sooner. And if there is nothing they can do not only will they set up and confirm a connection to an american hospital they will pick up the bill and your traveling expenses. The AMSA study you mention was also noted by the canadian government that the people running it only contacted people who were waiting for organ transplants or specialty problems. Another thing that was noted in the review you have quoted there their study mainly based their statistics off of letter sent to random patients and were never followed up with a physician or seen in person during the study. I also remind you that you live in pittsburgh….a city known world round for having not just excellent medical facilities but has the largest influx of patients world wide.
While I absolutely sympathize with you, we might ask the obvious question: *why* would there be a sudden increase in wait time? It seems likely that this increase will be a result of the increase of patients who would be able to afford healtcare…ie, people who currently wait indefinitely for basic healthcare because they can’t afford it. This is not to say that the problem of increased wait time does not need to be addressed–your story proves that it does–but let’s not ignore those who simply don’t get healthcare–many of whom I’m sure have similar painful conditions–when having this debate.
Let us consider also, Joe, those presently eligible for care under present laws but lack it for whatever reason. When such considerations are made, the number of uninsured is minisule at best. Is restructuring 15% of the economy really worth it under such circumstances?