I Missed Out

I was thinking the other day that I really missed out on some totally free healthcare when I was a bit younger and poorer.  There's a problem with healthcare in general, and it needs a major overhaul I agree, but I just don't have the time or energy anymore to try to fix everything that's screwed up in this world.  When I had just gotten married, we were fairly poor as most younger married folks tend to start out.  We had no insurance like most of the population, too.  However, I can remember going to the ER only once in those 5 years without insurance.  I apparently had a kidney stone, and it was pretty bad.  I got the bill a month later...$1300 for fluids, pain meds, and preventative antibiotics.  *Sigh*  I was crushed.  Not only were we already poor, but now we owed $1300.  But, we paid it off over the course of one year.  Little did I know that I could have just refused to pay it and got off scot free.  It's frickin ridiculous the stupid crap people come crawling into the ER with.  And they have no insurance and no intention of ever paying one cent for the care they receive.  Now, I understand that there really are cases of folks who downright really can't pay.  But you can't tell me that the lady who brings her toddler to the ER for a runny nose is utilizing our services properly.  Especially since she's visited us 35 times this year for similar complaints (mild headache, stuffy nose, zit on chin, etc.)  It's stupid.  They know what they're doing.  They don't give a shit, though.  They just keep coming back and wasting time and resources, which then drives the price of healthcare up even further.

Why does an aspirin given to you in the hospital cost $35?  Because of the dirt-lickin' idiot down the hall who came in for "toe pain."  A full workup later, and there's nothing wrong, but they want their pain medicine, and they want it quickly.  They don't care if someone else just got brought in by ambulance who can't breathe or who's heart has stopped beating.  They want their candy and they want it now (and for free.)  And then there's the stupid moronic people who call an ambulance to pick them up for a minor cough b/c they know that if they come in by ambulance, that they will get to go straight back and not wait in line.  They really need to change the law that says we can't turn anyone away.  We should be able to screen folks and say, "Sorry, but you're just an idiot with a hangnail trying to get some free medical care that you could do for yourself at home.  Goodbye." 

One man actually went on and on telling me about how he keeps coming back every week b/c of his particular ailment, and then he had the nerve to say, "And all y'all do is give me a shot of pain medicine and send me home."  Uh, duh.  We're here for emergencies, not primary care.  We stabilize you, not fix you.  Our job is to stabilize you to a point to where you can either last through the illness or make it to your primary care doctor.  From there, your dr should be able to devise a course of treatment for your problem and follow your progress.  But like I said, I missed out on loads of free health care.  I can't count the times when I stayed home for a day due to sickness and just slept and took Nyquil when I could've just gone to the ER and gotten some free drugs and wasted time.  Oh, what times I could have had...