Why Is Health Care So High In This Country?

Posted 06-20-2008 at 08:13 PM by GCSTroop

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As a relatively young person (26 years old) I have had little experience with doctors other than the occassional check-up. Most of my adult life, until this past year, was in the military and you only went to the doctor (what we called the "medical hobby shop") as a last resort. So, it was my first "real" experience being referred to a specialist earlier last week.

It all started when I went to my primary care physician early last week for my regular checkup. One of the first things I did was step on the scale and notice that I'd lost 15 pounds in about a year. Now, that may sound like a lot, and I'm sure some people would wish they had the good fortune of being able to do this without even exercising or caring what they ate. But, for me, as someone who has been underweight his whole life, this was a little concerning. However, given the wide range of events in my life over the past year it, it didn't seem that crazy. Buying a new home, changing jobs, working night shift, and so on and so forth added up to quit a bit of stress and I had also had acid reflux problems within that time frame as well.

At least, I suspected it was acid reflux. I would get about halfway through my meals and feel like someone was sticking a finger down my throat. So, I wasn't eating all of my food either. It's not hard to see where the 15 pounds could be shaved off at this point. Now, my doctor was a little concerned even after I told her all of this and she said she wanted me to gain 12-15 pounds over the course of the next two or three months but she also wanted me to see a gastroenterologist for "just in case" purposes.

So, I made the appointment, went to the gut doctor and told him what was going on. He asked me the regular questions that you would expect and said that everything appeared normal. However, he wanted to eliminate as many possibilities as he could so he said he was going to draw blood and check for everything from hyperthyroidism to AIDS?! He also wanted to take stool samples and then he was going to have me come in this upcoming Monday so he could have me drink radioactive waste, do a CT scan on my "upper", and also put me under anesthesia so he could ram a camera down my throat and look at my stomach.

At this point, I'm beginning to wonder. All of this for acid reflux? I mean... my doctor gave me Omeprazol to help with the acid reflux and it seems to have helped quite a bit. No doubt, my stomach surely feels like it has shrunk a bit - probably because I haven't eaten normal portions in over a year - but the "finger down the throat" feeling is gone. It was at this point that I drew the connection as to why health care is so outrageously ridiculous in this country.

Imagine... Just think about it in this light. Let's say you take your car into the shop because you hear your brakes squeaking. The mechanic looks it over, runs the usual range of tests, and even though you said that the pads hadn't been changed in a while he insists that they inspect every single part of the brake system for "just in case" purposes. However, for each point that they check, it's going to cost you and your insurance company an enormous sum of money. There very well COULD be something wrong with some of the points but if you pull the tire off and see worn brake pads isn't it an obvious indication as to what is wrong?! And, wouldn't you possibly change the brake pads and take it for a test drive? I certainly would.

Yet, this is not the type of practice my gastroenterologist insisted on. Rather, he wanted me to have CT scans done, he wanted me to have my stomach scoped and all of this before my blood tests even came back! Now, imagine this... Imagine that my blood tests come back and show a bacterial infection that could easily be cured with antibiotics. Does that not mean that the CT scan, anasthesia, and radioactive sludge was all a waste of time?! Imagine that! And yet, who's going to foot the bill for all of this? My insurance company and myself. And yet, we sit here and we wonder why health care is so high in this country.

What it boils down to is this:

Just like when you take your squeaking brakes to MIDAS, they offer a "thirty-something point inspection" for your brake system at no extra charge. Now, while I realize it's easier to visually inspect a cars brake system than the human body, I also have to wonder at why each individual component isn't included in some sort of "inspection package." I find it abhorrently ridiculous that I was expected to pay for a gauntlet of tests before I knew the results of preliminary tests. All in all, I cancelled my "upper" CT scans, radioactive waste drinking binge, and other things until I find out if I start gaining weight and seeing if the antacids work. If, in two or three months, there is no improvement, than I'll go ahead with it.

Be skeptical folks! I'm not saying I'm right. For all I know, there could be a tumor the size of a tennis ball growing in my esophagus. However, I've been dealing with acid reflux for well over a year (more like two or three at least) and I don't imagine that whatever is causing it just cannot wait for another two or three months. I could be dead wrong, but use a little common sense when you see your doctor. They have mouths to feed too!

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Comments

1. 	Follow your Drs orders, young man..My daughter went through the same thing and they found several ulcers and they had to do surgery.. The one in the esophagus.was so bad that they had to detach the esophagus repair, and reattach it. Glad you are blogging.....
   	Posted 06-20-2008 at 08:27 PM by Miss Blue

2. Troop, this is nothing to mess around with, believe me. Now, while I may agree the "complete works" might be a slight overreaction, it won't hurt to have it done. It could save your life. My FIL had "mild" symptoms as compared to yours. So they scoped him (camera down the throat). They found cancer. He's gone through 1st round of chemo and surgery is on 7/7, followed by more chemo. I myself have been dealing with acid reflux (GERD). I'm on precription meds, and every so often I have to be re-examined with the scope and actually have to have a ballon inserted to stretch my esophogus. I have ulcers and lacerations. The way things keep going, I wouldn't be surprised if soon they found cancer too. Acid reflux is one of the causes of esophogial cancer. Yes, it's an inconvenience. Yes, it probably is the reason healthcare costs are so high. But it is truly better to be safe than sorry. Peace be with you.

   Posted 06-20-2008 at 09:39 PM by mams1559

3. 	Quote: Why Is Health Care So High In This Country? To find this answer, I have two words..... Rent "Sicko" (the Michael Moore documentary on health care in the United States)
   	Posted 06-20-2008 at 09:45 PM by FedupWNY

4. Let me clarify. I'm not entirely against going to the Doctor and having myself scoped, but I find it to be a little "over the top" to request the full gauntlet of tests before initial test results have even come back. Scoping my stomach and doing a CT scan may very well be necessary if the problems continue and I do not gain any more weight. No problem. I'll gladly open up and say "Ahhhh". But, I'm also not going to run through the doctor's office like a lab rat before my blood work comes back such as they were trying to push me into doing. That's where I have the problem. One step at a time. Let's check each result before we just run the full range of tests. Ultimately, there is a cause for my acid reflux. It could be ulcers, gall stones, a bacterial infection, whatever... But, to just test for everything under the sun without examining the results is not really doing anything beneficial for my wallet or for the health care in this country. That's why I cancelled my appointment this Monday. I'm going to wait for other tests to come back. If I need to do more than so be it.

   Posted 06-20-2008 at 11:04 PM by GCSTroop

5. 	You make a good point. It's a balance, trusting doctors and using our own judgement. Hope you get the answers you need soon enough, and that stress lessens for you.
   	Posted 07-02-2008 at 04:00 PM by emeraldsky

6. 	I agree Troop...........Tests for every little thing is just overboard. I think it is better to go slowly as you are, and see whats what first..........Good posting
   	Posted 07-20-2008 at 05:27 PM by Summering

7. I had a doc once that I give credit to for saving my life. Some months later he asked another patient about allergies to meds. The answer was none. The most commonly prescribed and main steam med was given and the man dies with a severe allergic reaction. Who's to blame? Well the widow cried before a jury and now we all pay a little more while she spends her millions. I've had bad docs too. Seems like it is common practice and becoming politically correct to steryotype docs. Now I've moved away and went thourgh a few more docs but have the best once again. What is happening all to often is that even the best docs are damned if they do and damned it they don't. One thing that is wrong with our health care system who abuse it and the attorneys who help them. Greed is Greed. I don't have an answer for you. It's your decision and yours alone. It may be trivial and then at some point there may be a point of beyond a cure. Who knows, not I or any one on this forum. I see more first hand that is not hear say. I'm not a doc and have none in my family. I have seen cancer strike some younger than you. The last place I would go for advice on any medical problem is a blog. Think about it. Maybe WebMD.com or similar while waiting on the blood work. But not in this type of environment. I'm not scolding but concerned about you. Don't neglect your health out of fear that the doc is ripping you off. If you are uneasy with him/her find another.

   Posted 07-20-2008 at 05:39 PM by Nomadicus

8. A few years ago, my hubby had the same experience, sudden drastic loss of weight, about 40 lbs in a short period of time. Like you, he had acid reflux which doesn't seem to respond to any Rx for it, so he lived off Rolaids. They did an endoscopy, to try to find bacteria in his esophagus..found some but not quite the cause. Blood and stool tests followed...underactive pancreas? More tests since results were inconclusive...hyperactive pituitary??? CT scans, PET scans, colonoscopy. He was frustrated and tired of being made into a pin cushion, tired of being probed, prodded, filmed, scanned. The scariest part was when they had to do a PET scan, which when I asked what for, was supposedly looking for something occult? What's that? A cancer or growth somewhere so hidden that any of these tests that are targeted cannot find. PET was negative. That was both good and bad. In the end, they found nothing...seemed like stress, since he had since put on all that weight back. Throughout all these procedures I read up and offered possible diagnoses. His doctor knew I knew what I was reading and wasn't just guessing. I thought it was Crohn's disease, gluten allergy, etc. etc., none of which was confirmed by the results. Am I sorry for all the tests and costs? No I'm not because I felt his docs would not give up until the very end when the most expensive ultimate test yielded nothing. Nomadicus is right in all counts. Between a damn if you do and damn if you don't, doctors don't have much of a choice. When it comes to your life, I'd rather err on the side of caution. Get a second opinion if you must, but just don't do nothing.

   Posted 07-20-2008 at 07:18 PM by BagongBuhay

9. For any that are curious... The cause of everything was drinking too much coffee. Once that stopped, my appetite increased and I have started to gain weight as a result. I never did get scoped and don't feel I need to as of right now. It's been several months since I quit drinking coffee. And... none of those doctors ever asked me if I drank coffee - they just assumed the worst and wanted to put me through every single test known to man. Now... I don't have a problem with all these tests - I have a problem with jumping the gun on them and insisting they be performed before a possibly easier, cheaper, and simple procedure (such as asking me to fill out a list of my eating/drinking habits) may unlock the answer. I think it should be progressive and not all-inclusive.

   Posted 12-04-2008 at 12:36 AM by GCSTroop

10. You hit the nail on the head in the last line..Doctors have mouths to feed too!..its sad but people in the medical field don't go there to help others any more...young people get into medical studies in order to live like rock stars one day...I am totally against government take over of anything...but greed has ruined many aspects of our culture...and a lower paid government doctor might be better than a high priced private one!

    Posted 09-14-2010 at 10:59 AM by springfieldhater!

11. 	well'if u ask me,its ur choice, besides we all will die one day regardless of dem ole rich doctors.evertything is blown out of portion for money these days,greed certinaly has ruined our goverment and our country
    	Posted 04-10-2011 at 05:19 PM by runner5175

12. Greed and stupidity are the #1 and #2 reasons for medical costs being so outrageous. Pure and simple. Hospitals want to make millions in profits, doctors want to make millions in salaries, medical equipment suppliers want to make millions for their companies and millions in bonuses for themselves, employees want to make 6 figure salaries, insurance companies want to make billions in profits, pharmaceutical companies want to make billions in profits, distributors want to make millions in delivery costs and last but not least advertisers want to make billions on advertisement. People in the U.S. are very dumb when it comes to medical ads. They are bombarded approximately every 5-7 minutes, 24 hours a day with pharmaceutical ads that tell them they are sick...take this drug you are sick, take this drug you are sick, take this drug you are sick……. Its brainwashing. 95% of all RX's issued in the world are sold here in the U.S. and yet we are #47 in the world in terms of health. What does this tell you? Think about this also; there are only 2 countries in the world that allow pharmaceutical advertising; U.S and New Zealand. The majority of the world outlaws it for a reason. This is no longer subliminal programming of your brain, it is blatant brainwashing. Wake up America. Mute your commercials and let your medical doctor determine what medicine if any should be taken for your illness. We should follow the rest of the world in banning RX commercials and then the cost of medicine might come down a little instead of sky rocketing out of control.

    Posted 08-06-2011 at 05:42 PM by CWL721

13. 	I AGREE WITH YOU . DOCTORS HAVE MOUTHS TO FEED BUT THE BEST DOCTOR HAVE AN OBLIGATION AND THEY TRULY CARE ABOUT PEOPLE AND WHATS WRONG WITH THEM. I HAVE BEEN A DIABETIC FOR 12YRS NOW AND DURING THIS TIME I COULD NEVER FIND A DOCTOR TO CARE ABOUT ME UNTIL I MET MY DR BONYO BONYO. HE'S A GREAT GUY AND HE CARES ABOUT ME AND SO MANY OTHERS ESPECIALLY MY HEALTH.
    	Posted 09-11-2011 at 11:55 AM by demetria1982

14. 	Because the government needs more money for war! Simple answer. Their the pimps and were the pimpees!
    	Posted 10-03-2011 at 01:50 PM by MREXXTREME

15. Let me preface this by saying that I worked for 20 years in the military health care system as a credentialled and licensed healthcare provider and never charged anyone a dime for the care I provided, including those 2 a.m. emergency room visits on holiday weekends. Here is my take on why civlians pay so much for health care in the civilian health care system. Medical care in the US costs so much for 2 main reasons: Amercians tend to sue anytime there is an unwanted medical outcome and Americans take poor care of their health (too many calories, too little exercise, too much substance use). Gone are the days when people assumed that luck or fate had a role in whether one recovered from an illness or injury. The cost of medical malpractice insurance for all medical specialties is high and getting higher. No health care provider is perfect at diagnosing every problem for every patient every time -- yet that is the expectation of most patients. Physicans and other healthcare specialists dare not avoid ordering certain expensive tests for fear they will later be sued if the patient or patient's family does not like the outcome and the sueing attorney will claim that if only the health care provider had done a certain test/ procedure/ etc. everything would have worked out well. Yet health care insurers place cost limits on how many medical tests and check-ups can be covered for a patient's problem (it's managed cost, not managed care, folks) so a health care provider (physician, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, etc.) has to be an expert every time and right every time when guessing/diagnosing (it's an educated guess, but still a guess) what the problem is and choosing exactly which tests, procedures, medicines will be exactly right for the patient's problem regardless of whether the patient is willing to fully disclose relevant information (illicit drug use, self-medicating with someone else's meds, dosing with odd ball herbal remedies, etc.). Are you right, perfect and error-free, every time at your job? Few medical school graduates chose to take residency in obstetrics these days --the cost of malpractice insurance for this specialy is just too high as is the cost of defending against foolish lawsuits (malpractice insurers don't pay the full cost of legal defense and will drop coverage if a medical practioner is sued too often even when the practioner prevails in the lawsuits). It seems that distressed and grieving parents of any less-than-perfect newborn or any still born baby tend to automatically assume the health care system is to blame, never mind that the real cause might be an unlucky combination of genes or poor prenatal choices (like meth use by the mother). If you want to avoid the high cost of medical care, keep yourself in good health (good nutrion, regular exercise, good dental hygiene, manage your weight, avoid substance abuse and risky actitivites, get a genetic screening/counselling before choosing to have children with someone) and get those annual check-ups even if your mecial insurance doesn't cover them. If I had a dollar for every time a patient lied to me or willfully chose to conceal some crucial piece of information, I'd be booking that around the world cruise right now. So when you do go in for a check-up or for a problem, do your job as a patient and answer your health care provider's questions truthfully to the best of your abilitity -- it could save your life as well as save you money.

    Posted 11-22-2011 at 12:05 PM by 295linda

16. Sounds like Alfred2 received his education from the government or else he is smoking crack. If he thinks this new health care system is going to be better he is crazy. It will put us all on a level playing field for sure. We will all be in line waiting months to see a doctor that the government chose for you. Oh I know they said we could keep what we had if we liked it. Guess what when the government one size fits all plan comes out your employer is going to opt out of your plan leaving you with no choice. Don't believe me just ask Canada or Europe. You want socialized medicine go live in a socialist country and leave our free market system alone. Competition keeps cost down not government. Competition creates hard work and success. If the government going to take and distribute equally, who’s going to be the bosses who give jobs? Yes government will be the boss of everybody. Is that what we just eliminated in Iraq? [SIZE=3] [/SIZE] [SIZE=3]GOD help this county.[/SIZE]

    Posted 07-11-2012 at 10:24 PM by jnppro

17. 	It's amazing that people will spend tons of money on a doctor or so called"specialist" ...When a simple Herbal Remedy would have solved the problem...IMHO prescription drugs are over-rated,and too expensive.
    	Posted 03-07-2013 at 01:59 PM by Sunwilt

18. I completely understand what you are saying, but given my father in law's current situation (I will go into more details). We were grateful they all the "just in case" tests. Same as you, he was suffering through some pretty extreme acid reflux and the doc referred him to the specialist. She also prescribed him the meds to help, as he too was losing tremendous amount of weight and couldn't eat a normal plate of food. Going to the specialist, running all the "just in case" tests, they found a tumor on his stomach. He had surgery and they removed half of his stomach and he is now on chemo. We never expected, him being seen for acid reflux, that we would hear cancer in return. But had they not ran all the tests, the cancer would have spread to the liver before they caught it.

    Posted 03-10-2014 at 01:19 PM by Concerned Aunt 936

19. Hi, You have a point and I quote "wouldn't you possibly change the brake pads and take it for a test drive?" The problem is most people don't know better. People think doctors know everything but they only know what they were thought. Let me in light you a little bit. I am going to send you YouTube clips that I really want you to pay attention to and this mite help. 1) [url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUUNrGlSAKA[/url] 2) [url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryHAcqlLxaI[/url] Regards, Shawn

    Posted 09-02-2014 at 03:50 PM by Shawn Best

20. Welcome, dear America asking for your help, just don't know what! I can't save up the money to purchase the House. Working day and night, but money is often not enough food even to my family, two children, and live in a House as will, then friends, then with relatives. If you is not difficult, very please help if anything that has an electronic purse in WebMoney system, here's number Z335164462564. will be very thankful even for dollar. Just want to live in normal conditions, get an education and work in a good area, but does not work, not enough!

    Posted 10-17-2014 at 09:35 PM by saltan14

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