American Mom vs. Socialized Healthcare

Our first brush with socialized medicine came after just being for a few weeks. I wrote in a previous post about a beautiful day at the beach gone awry by Ryleigh shoving rice sized pebbles down her ear canal. That sent us to the emergency room where we had to sit and wait for four hours before we could see a doctor that spent about 10 minutes fishing pebbles out of her ear. I've had some lengthy waits in emergency rooms in the states with a dislocated shoulder, a UTI and a throwing up infant, but seriously, never four hours. Once we were in a room I found it to appear dirtier and not as well stocked as you would typically find in an American emergency room/doctor's office. However, the doctors were nice and got the job done. We walked out without any hassle about payment, but since we do not have our medical cards yet, we knew a bill would be coming. And it did....$185 for the hospital...$38 for the doctor. What??? Seriously?? I would submit that to my insurance, but they would probably charge me more for the paperwork.

Last week I began to search for a pediatrician and a pediatric opthamologist for Ryleigh. Here is what I learned. Here, children do not go to a pediatrician for routine check-ups and common illnesses, they go to the family doctor. Women do not go to OB/GYNs for yearly check-ups and common issues, they go to the family doctor. And, if your family doctor delivers babies, then you still would not go to an OB/GYN. If you don't like that, too bad, because specialists (pediatricians and OB/GYN) do not take you without a written referral from your family doctor. Neither do pediatric opthamologists, so in order to get Ryleigh in for an eye check-up, I had to find us a family doctor.

I called about 10 different clinics last week, none of them were taking new patients. None in Torbay, none in St. John's, but I did finally find one in Mt. Pearl, about a 30 min. drive away. This is not Houston, if you are driving for 30 minutes, you are really making some ground. For those in West Texas, it would be the equivalent of not being able to find a family doctor in Monahans and being forced to drive to Odessa for all your family check-ups and illnesses. So, today we set out to see our new doctor. Our appointment time was 2:45 and we were seen pretty much on time. The doctor did not have a problem writing a referral for Ryleigh, however I didn't get a little slip of paper with a referral note. Instead, she sends a note to the specialist who in turn will contact me VIA MAIL to set up an appointment. I have heard that many specialists here are not taking new patients and those that are have very lengthy waits for an appointment. Pick me! Pick me! Please, pick me!! Cost of the visit today: $40.

There is a huge scandal going on right now in the province concerning cancer tests for women. Several years ago a whole batch of tests were incorrectly diagnosed. Many of the women from that batch have died or are still living with a cancer that should have been cured with treatment. The only two gynecological oncologists on the island (who are not taking new patients) claim that they have not been given the proper equipment and supplies to perform adequately. When the scandal broke, they both tried to quit, but the government begged them to stay.

I'm not taking sides, yet. I like to think that there is some solution to the health care crisis in the states. No child should have to go without the exact same health care that my husband's wonderful insurance provides for our children. I feel very passionately about that. That being said, if you want insurance in America, it's not that hard to get. You may not be able to drive that nicer car in order to afford it, but it is possible to put it into your budget at most any income level. I do like the family doctor that we found here, so that's a plus, but she is very young. After she saw Ryleigh, she went into a room where what appeared to be a 70 year old man waiting to be seen. It just doesn't set real well with me that the doctor that has been out of med school no more than 5 years is supposed to diagnose a problem in my 4 year old child and then turn around and diagnose an issue in a 70 year old man.

Stay tuned as the saga continues....