By
Laura Winsky
I need to have surgery on my left foot. While coaching swimming this past summer, I injured myself walking barefoot, and it never properly healed. Which is probably my fault, I admit. So, my primary care physician gave me a referral, and, last September, I made an appointment. The kind receptionist told me, "The best I can do for you is late March."
"Late March?" I replied, dumbfounded.
"Yes, with the recent skin cancer scare, we're really backed up."
Well, this I could understand. Cancer is nothing to mess around with, so I took my March appointment, thanked her and hung up.
Much to my dismay, that same receptionist called back two days ago.
"Ma'am," she said, "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but your March appointment conflicted with the doctor's vacation, so it was moved to May.
"And, sorry for the inconvenience, but that May date conflicted with a conference of his, so it's now June 6th."
"Uh," I said intelligently. "Is this condition on my foot something that can wait until June? I injured myself in JULY."
"Uh," she said intelligently. "I don't know."
Now, maybe this is my fault. Maybe it's my bad attitude that causes my bad luck when I need medical attention.
But, bad luck aside, I'm not satisfied with our present national health care system. Who are we kidding? There is no system in that world of chaos. And that's just the problem.
In a recent CNN poll, 60% of Americans said that fundamental changes are needed in the health care system. Fundamental being the key word. I'm not alone when I envision a scenario somewhat like this every time I hear the words "HMO" or "managed care."
Close your eyes and picture an urgent care facility...
"Hello, and what can I do for you?"
"Hello (gasp), I have severe asthma, and I'm having great...difficulty breathing."
"Well then, please fill out these 45 pages of personal information for the insurance people, and I'll just see if the doctor is back from his game of golf."
I know what you're thinking. Our health care crisis should not be blamed on the professionals. And I don't. All kidding aside, I lost two grandparents last year to death in a hospital during what should have been routine treatment because of disorganization and miscommunication. Literally. Papers were misplaced, and they both lost their lives because of it. In one incident, an "unstable patient" form was removed from my grandfather's hospital door, and an unsuspecting tech unbraced him, causing him to fall. I felt sorry for my family, who had to go through it, but I felt worse for the techs, the nurses and the doctors who live through this everyday.
They've chosen one of the most noble careers, and their work is constantly hindered, if not completely destroyed, by insurance companies making the decisions and the flood of paperwork that just doesn't belong in the crowded emergency rooms.
Have you seen that recent credit card commercial? The guy enters the emergency room, and the doctors stop working on his heart and take the time to swipe his credit card. They all enjoy a good laugh. It's not funny. Over forty-three million Americans don't have health insurance. There is absolutely nothing funny about that.
Someone ought to tell the new president that the system needs to be centralized, organized and overhauled. Someone ought to tell him that Americans are tired of being the only developed nation in the world without a national plan. Someone ought to tell him that the World Health Organization probably knows what they're talking about when they rank us as the thirty-seventh best country in taking care of their citizen's health needs.
Someone ought to sit him down and explain it to him.
Laura Winsky is a political science and Spanish senior. She can be reached at perspectives@wildcat.arizona.edu.
