Entitled "Needed health care put off because of high cost, UW study shows", it reviews the results of a study which shows that people often avoid going to a doctor because it costs too much.
The high cost of health care is hurting everyone, with parents forgoing taking their sick kids to the doctor even if they have health insurance and make enough money to cover the cost, according to a new study from researchers at UW-Madison.
A research team from the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health said the cost of health care relative to a family's income, plus having a child with a limitation such as asthma, autism or obesity, can make families put off needed medical care.
Regular readers may recall that I was diagnosed with kidney stones earlier this year. I ended up going to the UW Clinics to see a urologist. First I checked in with a receptionist who reminded me that privacy is for all intents and purposes dead today. You see, they took biometric data on me in the form of a palm print. So now they have my name, address, phone #, social security #(at least I think they do), insurance info, scan of my palm, pictures of my insides, samples of my bodily fluids, and who knows what else. They don't need me to show up anymore because they've got it all. The hospital need only pull up my records and then send me a bill.
I finally make my way to the urology department and it's a zoo. The waiting area is quite full and people are constantly going in and out, back and forth. I oblige the new receptionist's request to piss in a cup and afterwards find a seat to do some reading. A short wait ensued before my name was called and I was led to a room. On the wall were posters showing the male and female urinary tracts and there was even a section of one that had a blurb on kidney stones with a picture to go along with it giving examples of the various types of stones. It looked something like this:
I recoiled in horror at gazing upon the hideous, jack-like stone. Surely only Cthulhu and his minions would get such eldritch-looking growths in their bodies. I could only imagine how passing something looking like that would feel. It'd shred my urethra to pieces. I hastily averted my gaze.
After an x-ray and more waiting I was with a nurse practitioner named Daniella. Although friendly she seemed to be in a bit of a hurry. Considering the full waiting area outside, I wouldn't be surprised if she felt a bit like Noah trying to get that ark loaded before that flood. She compared the hodiernal x-rays with the ones taken several days ago and admitted that one of my two stones was nowhere to be found. Presumably it was just in position that rendered it invisible to the x-rays whereas a lateral view would have been better. Although the size of the stones kept growing with each visit to a doctor, Daniella basically concluded that I need to keep drinking lots of fluids and pass the bastards. Harrumph.
She was fairly young and very pretty but I didn't let her escape until I had broached the subject of how kidney stones can effect ejaculation. This made her seem uncomfortable which was odd considering that she was a urologist in-training. My vas deferens is supposed to be her specialty. She launched into her doctor routine and pointed at the diagram of men's naughty bits on the wall poster next to her. There was something humorous to me (in the most puerile sense) about her saying the word "ejaculate" over and over. It was like being a kid and tricking an adult into saying a bad word.
"Vas deferens…blah, blah blah….ejaculate…semen…blah, blah, blah…ejaculate…"
In the end I passed my stones without evening knowing it. All was good and well until the bills started pouring in. That initial visit to Meriter's emergency room that snowy morning in February was a $4,000 affair. Whoever it was that devised today's medical billing practices ought to be drawn and quartered. Every fucking hospital employee that comes within a few feet of you bills you for the privilege and they all bill separately. After my stepmother died I helped my father plow through her hospital bills and we found a couple billing errors. And so I logged onto my insurance provider's webpage and started comparing numbers. Lo and behold one of my bills contained two charges that had not yet been submitted to my insurer. I thought we had computers for this kind of thing and firmly believe that such "errors" are simply fishing expeditions to see if they can get people to pay more. Had I paid that bill right away and without checking on it, I highly doubt that the error would have been brought to my attention and a refund issued.
Getting back to the article in the paper from which I got sidetracked…A notice from UW Clinics arrived a couple weeks after my last visit there saying that they had scheduled a 6-month follow-up visit for me. Now, considering that it cost me over $200 just to walk into the door there (less than $10 of which was covered by insurance) and I am no longer in pain, that appointment needs to be canceled. The UW study mentioned above concerned families with children instead of guys like me financing their own health care alone but I can understand if only slightly why some families forego treatment. I can afford to pay $200 for what I highly suspect would be a one-minute consultation and am grateful not to be in a situation where it's either pay doctor bills or go hungry. However, $200 to have someone ask me if I'm in pain and how my pee has been just doesn't seem worth it.
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