#the american healthcare system is a dumpster fire

[eastberlin]

I got a bill from the local healthcare system saying I had a balance from Urgent Care. I assumed it was from when I went last year for a UTI which required labs etc but apparently it's from last month when I had swimmer's ear? It costs $175 all-American goddamn dollars for someone to look in my ear, go "oh wow, yeah that's really red", write me a prescription, and let me go?? It doesn't even cover the cost of the antibiotics bc I paid for those separately at Walgreens???

[greetings-inferiors]

Oh shit new Hippocratic oath just dropped

Forget about applying, for the benefit of the sick, all measures that are required.

Forget about remaining a member of society, with special obligations to all fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.

You get to pick and choose now. Sick!

[subaru8mysox]

Did you know Dounia was 12 when biden sent weapons and aid to Israel so they could bomb a children's hospital and take her life. Did you know her name meant the world in Arabic? Is the cost of the world the price you're willing to pay for lower healthcare premiums? Is the life of a child the price you're willing to pay to protect your own rights? While she was in the hospital for an amputated leg from an Israeli airstrike that killed her whole family, biden made sure to veto every ceasefire vote and to maintain his constant commitment and support for genocide. Gaza has no healthcare system left, families that sought refuge in hospitals had to go hungry and were killed when Israel decided to target the hospitals. Is genocide the price you're willing to pay to protect your own rights? Do you think biden values your life more because you're not Palestinian? Do you think your life is worth more because your an American? Is healthcare a right for everyone or just you who lives in America?

Did you know that Americans really only have two options when voting: Biden or Trump? Did you know that Trump and his family are all for helping Israel destroy Gaza - so Gaza can become some kind of resort for rich people? (For reference, please Google "Jared Kushner Gaza" - "Lindsey Graham Gaza" also yields results for what one of our shithead GOP Senators, and one of Trumps supporters, has to say.) Did you know that voting for a third party candidate is as good as not voting, and that not voting for Biden is essentially voting for Trump?

Trump doesn't want to be president to make the world a better place. He wants to become president for wealth and power, to keep from going to jail for a long list of crimes, and to punish anyone who doesn't worship the ground he shits on. He wants to sit back and watch the world burn and then point fingers and blame everyone else for it. Should we condemn the world because Biden, a single man who doesn't have as much power as you think he does, tried to go with the least horrible option out of an entire bucket of nothing but horrible options?

You also act like I'm quibbling over a small price increase for healthcare premiums for myself and my family. Let me assure you, I am not. I'm saying healthcare was unaffordable for our family pre-Obamacare/ACA, and for a lot of other families too. There's a big difference between $130/month and a few additional copays for medication, and $800/month and paying the full price for medication on top of that. Did you know that my aunt's medication, which she needs to live, is over $10k/month? Her co-pay is less than $50, so it's very affordable for her now, but without health insurance, she couldn't afford it. She would die. I give examples of my aunt and my dad, but they're not unique. Did you know that a lot of people in America, including children, would die without health insurance because they would not have access to healthcare? Are these lives worth less because they would die from lack of healthcare instead of a sniper or bomb?

Did you know that if we don't protect our own rights, we can't help protect anyone else's either?

I don't think my life is more valuable than anyone else's. I think all life is precious. I think healthcare should be a right for everyone. I think what's happening in Gaza is horrific. Like a lot of other Americans, believe it or not, I do have empathy, and I do care about what's happening, and I don't want innocent people to die. So yeah, I'm going to vote for Biden, because otherwise the orange narcissistic dumpster fire will win. If you think Biden's bad, what do you think of Trump, who truly has absolutely no respect or care for anyone's life but his own?

[rena-rain]

If anybody wants to know how it’s going in the US right now

I just listened to a Kaiser Permanente ad that said, “it is now a requirement for all California residents to have health insurance”

and my immediate reaction was “well that’s classist.”

**I know almost nothing about this law and they also said the state was helping out cover people, but I wanted to make a point about the general attitude and expectations around here

[the-bjd-community-confess]

Can someone tell fatv3nitu that Americans won’t ship outside the US because our post service is a complete dumpster fire? Shit is getting lost constantly now because of the pandemic, and the virus is so out of control here that anyone with half a brain cell wouldn’t dare risk exposing themselves at the post office to make a few bucks and then blow it all immediately on our broken healthcare system when we get sick. I’m soooooo so sorry I consider my health, sanity and safety more important than selling your entitled, selfish ass a doll.

The only international labels you can buy online are the break-your-bank expensive ones that cost nearly as much as the doll I’m trying to sell you. As soon as I give international buyers their shipping quote, the absolute angels of the bunch tell me it’s out of their budget and that they don’t want the doll. And then the vast fucking majority of you entitled dipshits either ghost me, call me a scamming liar, accuse me of overcharging on shipping, cuss me out, and then the assholes that actually pay me open PayPal cases and blast me over social media because the us’s nightmare of a post service lost the fucking package that I triple-checked the address and customs form of, sent you pictures of, confirmed your address, and sent you a fucking receipt picture and tracking number. I’m never selling outside the us again and it’s not just because our mail service is trash, it’s because people like you are also trash.

~Anonymous

[ben-wisehart]

anyways I’m going say this now and I’m going to say this once. Fellow non-Americans, if Trump somehow does manage to win again in November (I don’t believe he will, but I thought the same back in 2016), I do not want to see a single post calling America as a whole stupid or idiotic. If Trump wins, it will be because of voter suppression and gerrymandering and misinformation, not because the majority of their country actually wants him to be president. If your blog is anti-Trump, I guarantee that none of your followers are going to see your post calling them an idiot for re-electing him and think “Oh shit, my worldview has been changed”. The people responsible for electing Trump are not following you on Tumblr. 

Back in 2016, people were heartbroken and terrified. People were breaking down in tears (history now shows that those fears were not misplaced), and yet my dash was full of people from other countries calling America a dumpster fire, saying that its people deserved what they got for electing such a person. Guys. America is not a dumpster fire. It’s a country with a broken healthcare system and a broken election process and a broken government and the vast majority of its citizens are the victims of those systems. People are dying by the thousands every day, many of them had nothing to do with Trump being president—and you know what? Even the ones who did vote for him in 2016 do not deserve to die for putting their faith in the wrong person. Like, fuck. How fucking vindictive do you have to be to say shit like “they’re reaping what they sowed” or “this is what their country deserves for putting that man in office”. They know. They know their country has failed them and most of them (especially anyone who is actually likely to come across your spiteful “Americans are morons” posts on tumblr dot com) are scared for the future of themselves and their loved ones. If you’re American, I’m sorry. This is not your fault and you do not deserve what’s happening to your country. 

[sandershospitalau]

The Extra Late Night Show

What can I say except surprise?

CW: Surgery, Mentions of Death, suggested death, Talk Shows, POV Second Person, Remus being gross, Virgil mention, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, Sympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, only a tiny bit of angst at the end, Mostly funny

Archive of our Own

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You blend into the Miami crowds, lost in your own world. You consistently check your pocket to make sure your phone was still there. At this point, you aren’t entirely sure where you are. It's a nice part of town by the look of it, with shiny buildings on either side of the packed road and crowds mulling around you without a care in the world. You have quite a bit to do, but who would want to be doing that? The only way you can think of procrastinating is to take a walk.

You can almost feel the endless viruses floating into your mouth as you pass a gigantic building with more windows than walls. A large open courtyard pushes the building back from the road. Smooth paths cut through tenderly planted flowerbeds, looping around a large statue. The stone statue is a woman with a cloak draped around her modest black dress. She holds her hands to her torso. One hand loosely grips a large crucifix while the other nurses a tiny bouquet of flowers. Oh, now you know where you are! This is the main entrance to St. Gemma's Hospital! You passed by the statue a year ago to visit a friend who had heart surgery here. They got stuck with a pretty big bill (the joys of the American healthcare system), but the doctors did a fairly good job. You’re so distracted by the pretty statue, you’re not prepared for something to fly into your head and send you tumbling into the nearest stranger.

As you get your bearings, you look around for whoever hit you. Standing against the hospital wall with a trash bag over their back like a greasy Santa Claus is someone wearing a dark green jumpsuit, grinning wildly at you.

“Enjoy the show!” the person squeals. Before you can say anything, they race off, the trash bag jumping against their back. You look down at what the person threw at you. It’s a DVD, sitting in a clear case. There’s something written on the case cover in Sharpie.

The Extra Late Night Show!

Starring Remus Duke!

Now, when someone throws a mysterious DVD at you, the usual reaction should probably be to throw the DVD away. But you’ve got nothing better to do. So, nursing your aching head, you pick up the case and make your way towards home. You’ve got a movie to watch.

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The footage pops to life. You see a small office space, or what someone attempted to look like an office space. Shelves line the walls covered in cleaning supplies and napkins. The desk in the middle is a child’s school desk. The nameplate on the desk reads ‘Remus Duke’. Someone begins humming from somewhere off-camera.

“Do do Do do DoOoOoOoO,” they hum. “Do do Do do dooooooooo. Do do Do do Do! DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Do do do do do!” Someone pops out from behind the desk. It’s the same greasy person you saw throw the DVD at you!

“Welcome to the Extra Late Night Show!” The person chirps. “I am your Duke of Dirt and King of Chaos, Remus! As always, I have my loyal cameraman, Mitchell!” The camera shakes slightly.

“Dude, this place is a mess,” the cameraman, Mitchell, huffs.

“It’s a janitor’s closet, I don’t know what else you expected,” Remus laughs.

“I thought you had OCD,” Mitchell mutters.

“Nah, my writer decided to throw that out,” Remus scoffs.

“Huh?” Mitchell asks.

“Anywho, welcome to tonight’s show!” Remus declares, dramatically waving his hand overhead. “We’ve got a wonderful line-up for you, folks. Starting off tonight, we’re taking you on a tour of the geriatrics bathrooms! One of the grossest places in St. Gemma’s! Sprinkled throughout this show like eyeball shavings, we’ll include everyone’s favorite segment, Dumpsters of Miami, where I review the contents of my latest dumpster dive, alongside Emergency Room Horror, What’s In My Mouth, and tonight’s Top 5 Hottest Patients! Number 3 will surprise you!”

“You do know I have to work tonight,” Mitchell scoffs.

“Like anyone is going to notice one missing anesthesiologist!” Remus grunts, sitting on his desk.

“Yeah, my boss,” Mitchell huffs. “And the people I’m operating on.”

“But those segments will be highlighting tonight’s main event!” Remus continues. “We’ll be following Dr. D on his rounds tonight as he operates on burn victims and terrifies patients with his morbid scars!”

“Hold up,” Mitchell stammers. The camera pans down, showing Mitchell’s scrubs. “Dr. D? We can’t follow that guy! He’ll rip our skin off!”

“He’s a kitten,” Remus scoffs, waving his hand dismissingly. “We’re friends! It’ll be fine, trust me. Now come on, the geriatrics ward is calling our names!” Mitchell groans and turns off the camera. You decide to fast-forward through the geriatrics ward segment.

You stop at a clip of Remus pushing a large cleaning cart down the hall. St. Gemma’s hallways are just as clean as you remember them. You’re honestly surprised as you realize the dirty man you’re watching is the one in charge of cleaning this place. He polishes off a door handle, giving it a bright shine. He finishes the clean by sticking the doorknob in his armpit.

“You done?” Mitchell grunts.

“We’re almost at Dr. D’s office!” Remus laughs, continuing down the hall. “While we’re there, we’ll get an overview of what he does and convince him not to tear our faces off and let us film him! Here we are!” The camera pans to a wooden door with the words ‘Inter Hospital Consultant’ on it. “The doc’s not a fan of having his name on the door.” Remus pushed the door open and strolled right into the office.

Now THIS is what an office should look like. The room is very professional! Diplomas line the walls, but the names are covered with sticky notes inside the glass cases. The smooth faux-wood desk is clean and tidy, with a computer, a jar of pens and pencils, a black hat, and a phone. The man you assume is Dr. D seats in a comfy modern seat. Long burn scars trail down half of his face and turn a few strains of his black hair white. He wears a black shirt with a yellow tie under his white coat and a pair of yellow gloves. He’s glaring at the camera with an intense stare that makes you look away.

“Dr. Elting,” Dr. D sighs. “Shouldn’t you be preparing for the leg surgery on the 35-year old Latina woman that’s supposed to begin in…” He looks at the clock on his computer. “An hour and a half?”

“Relax, D, he’s with me,” Remus giggles. He sits on Dr. D’s desk and crosses his legs. “I called him in sick.”

“Dude, you can’t—” Mitchell stammers.

“I told them you had explosive diarrhea,” Remus says. “They didn’t ask too many questions. So, D, how does it feel to guest star on the Extra Late Night Show?”

“Your world famous talk show,” Dr. D groans. “It’s wonderful, Remus.”

“Woo!” Remus whoops. He lays on his back, knocking over Dr. D’s jar of pens. “So here’s what we’re going to do. You, my rough-skinned friend, are the star of our show! The audience wants to know what a night in the life is like for a surgeon! What’s it like consulting at other hospitals? You ever get the urge to squeeze someone’s heart and feel it beat in your hands?”

“Remus, Remus, Remus,” Dr. D tuts, shaking his head. “I already have that power. Now leave.”

“Nah,” Remus says. You hear a soft beep from somewhere in the room. Dr. D pulls something out of his pocket. His face tightens.

“A 7-C-3 from the EMTs,” Dr. D mutters. “Emergency surgery.”

“Oooo, what’s that?” Remus purrs, but Dr. D ignores him. He launches out of his chair and out of his office. Remus scrambles off the desk.

“Remus, this is an emergency call, we can’t follow him!” Mitchell hisses as the pair stumbles out of the office. The camera shakes so much, you can’t see much of what’s happening.

“Do it or I’m putting the leftovers from the geriatrics ward in your locker, chicken,” Remus growls. “Bak-Kah!” The camera angles towards Mitchell’s feet as the pair jog after Dr. D.

“You’re lucky I like your humor, Prince,” Mitchell chuckles.

“It’s Remus Duke when we’re filming!” Remus groans. “You have to use my stage name! Get the camera up!” Mitchell pulls up the camera, and you get a better view of the St. Gemma’s halls. Remus runs alongside the edge of the camera. “So, what’s a 7-C-3?”

“I don’t know EMT code,” Mitchell explains. “I think sevens are for burns.”

“Well then no wonder they called D!” Remus laughs. “He’s the best in the business for burns! I’ve handled the ‘hazardous materials’ from those operations, they look like chicken!” You can see Remus do quotation marks around ‘hazardous materials’. The camera pans around a corner just in time to see Dr. D enter a large elevator.

“Welp, he’s gone,” Mitchell says, stopping. “We better end the show.”

“He can’t lose me that easily!” Remus barks. Remus runs into the nearest elevator and presses a button. The camera barely gets inside before the doors closed.

“Dude, you left your cleaning supplies outside Dr. D’s office,” Mitchell remarks.

“If someone steals it, hey, free food!” Remus laughs. His face pops on camera. He’s so close, you can see each individual hair of his mustache. “This seems like the perfect time to cut to the next segment of our show! We’ll be right back!” Static fills the screen before going black.

You think it glitched out for a moment before white words slide into view. ‘Getting Personal With Remus’. Remus’s messy office pops on screen, but the lights are off. The only light in the room is a small fire inside a trash can beside Remus’s desk. Remus sits on top of the desk, staring into the camera with a smile and a wink.

“Happy Valentine’s!” Remus says. “Hope you like the candle. On tonight’s ‘Getting Personal’, we’re talking about how I met Dr. D. It’s quite the story! I was looking for a job when I suddenly stumbled upon a Help Wanted sign for… can you guess? You’re right, Taco Bell! I began working that same day! I loved tossing frozen food into the fryer. Well one day I got a bit too carried away with my tossing and I got shipped to St. Gemma’s with second-degree burns! And Dr. D was my doctor. I got fired from Taco Bell. Once I was all healed up, I got a job as a janitor here, and D and I have been friends ever since!” Remus kicks his leg out. His foot knocks against the trash can and tips it over. Fire begins to crawl towards the desk. “Now back to your regularly scheduled program.” The screen goes black again.

The DVD cuts back to the elevator just as the doors slide open. You vaguely remember seeing an article online about how good the burn ward at St. Gemma’s was, back when you were trying to find where the hospital was to visit your friend. It’s tough to get a good look inside with the moving camera, but you can see plush furniture and gentle lighting over a receptionist’s desk. Voices shout and give orders somewhere in the ward. The receptionist doesn’t seem to care.

“The patient in Room 705 just kicked it,” the receptionist mutters, glancing up at Remus. “You need to clean it out.” Remus ignores the receptionist and jogs down the hall towards the voices.

“Is there enough undamaged skin for the graphs?” one person asks.

“We may have to use some cadaver skin,” another responds.

“Oh, they’re doing skin grafts!” Remus chirps. He stops by a half-open metal door. The sign on the side reads ‘Operating Theater 2, Level 7’. Remus carefully pulls the door open.

“Remus, no!” Mitchell hisses. He grabs Remus’s arm and tugs him back. “You aren’t sterile.”

“I should hope not,” Remus chuckles, wiggling his eyebrows.

“If you go in there, you could spread an infection!” Mitchell groans. “Burn victims are the most in danger from them! You could kill the guy!”

“All in the name of a good show, right?” Remus sighs, shrugging. “Here, give me the camera.” The camera switches hands, and you finally get a good look at Mitchell. His long blonde hair is tied into a ponytail behind him. He’s wearing black scrubs under a thick white sweatshirt. While Remus’s stare bounced all over the place and Dr. D glared into your soul, Mitchell had the eyes of an emotional teenager ready to do something dangerous.

“I’m not getting fired because of you,” Mitchell hisses with gritted teeth.

“Relax, Anx-Mitch,” Remus says, correcting himself halfway through. The camera pans down and slips just inside the door. The operating theater is split in half. The half you can best see is a long row of sinks below a long window. Through the window you see doctors huddling around a patient. The angle is so bad you can barely tell what they’re doing. You can pick out Dr. D, since his burns pop up under the harsh OR light. He’s focused on the task in front of him, silent while the other doctors discuss how to proceed. He simply works.

“What are you doing?” the receptionist’s harsh voice screams. The camera jumps back and flies through the air, landing in Mitchell’s arms. Remus and Mitchell zoom down the hall with the receptionist’s threats echoing behind them.

“Time for a commercial break!” Remus laughs. He grabs the camera and pushes it down as it cuts to another segment. Here, Remus is outside in the middle of the day, leaning against a large, dirty, green dumpster.

“Here at the Remus Academy of Dumpster Diving,” Remus states with the full professionalism of an actual salesman. “You’ll be taught all the best locations in Miami to score some sweet goods! But don’t come near St. Gemma’s or I’ll steal your kneecaps!” Remus flips open the dumpster with a loud clang. He hoists himself up and tumbles into the half full pit of disease. “For the simple cost of your social security number, you’ll get first hand experience at discovering the untold treasures of garage cans and curbside trash. For example…” Remus pops up with a broken baseball bat. The top half has been ripped off. “Weapons! Or…” He ducks back down and brings up a handful of shredded paper. “Confetti!” He tosses the paper in the air. “Call the number below in the next half hour and you’ll get your dumpster personally looted!” The ‘phone number’ Remus mentioned isn’t even composed of numbers. It’s A#@-JRD-(D#$. “Join the Remus Academy of Dumpster Diving today!”

The show quickly cuts back to Dr. D’s office. Remus is laying on the floor, kicking his legs in the air. The camera sits beside him.

“Can I stop filming now?” Mitchell groans. “My phone’s going to die.”

“Sadly, we couldn’t get more juicy surgery footage,” Remus huffs. “So we’ll just have to wait for D to come back!”

“Surgery takes a while, Remus,” Mitchell scoffs. “Don’t whine about it. It’s only been a few hours.” The office doors creaks open. Dr. D steps inside his office, slipping on his yellow gloves. You get a glimpse of the burns covering his fingers. Remus shoots up like a puppy. Mitchell clambers up, groaning.

“So how’d it go?” Remus chirps. Dr. D slinks to his desk and sits down.

“Do your job, Remus,” Dr. D grumbles, staring into his computer.

“What, too squeamish to share details?” Remus scoffs, sitting on the desk.

“Exactly,” Dr. D sighs.

“Come on,” Remus purrs. He pokes at Dr. D’s cheek with each word. “Come on come on come ON!” Dr. D glares at Remus and the camera takes a step back. He settles his hands flat on his desk.

“I want you to imagine you have some resemblance of medical training,” Dr. D mutters. “You’re creative, I trust it’s not too difficult. Now I want you to imagine your patient is a 30-something man who was nearly beaten to a pulp by his abusive parents.” Something drops in Remus’s gaze. He’s no longer poking at Dr. D. “I want you to imagine yourself in surgery trying to repair the damage to this man, but as soon as you fix one issue, another issue comes up. The man’s body is destroying itself on the table and there is nothing you can do until a fellow doctor announces the time of death.” Dr. D’s words come out as a violent hiss. His fingers clench inside his gaudy gloves. “Now imagine myself in that situation, but the patient was asleep as their apartment burned around them, and tell me if you would be excited to talk about it!” Remus hops off the desk. Dr. D’s hands unclench slightly, though his jaw is threatening to break his teeth.

“I am in no mood for your ridiculous show,” Dr. D grumbles. For the first time in the show, Remus seems softer. His edges aren’t so sharp. His dirty nails rest over Dr. D’s glove. Dr. D fixes his black hat and takes a deep breath. Then he glares into the camera.

“Leave,” he hisses. Mitchell takes off, out of the office and into the hall before the camera cuts. After a few seconds of darkness, Remus’s office space reappears. He’s sitting behind his desk, once again carrying his demonic smile.

“Come on, don’t be shy!” Remus laughs. Someone groans behind the camera. Dr. D steps into view and takes a spot standing behind Remus. He seems a bit calmer than earlier.

“That’s all the time we have for this episode!” Remus chirps, rocking back and forth. “We're ditching the rest of our line-up because I don't care! I’d like to give a warm thank you to Dr. D for being a fabulous guest on our show tonight!” Dr. D seems resigned to his fate, but far more happy than Mitchell ever did. “Tune in next time for live coverage of the Sanders Hospital hosted Nurse’s Rally!”

“A rally?” Dr. D asks, glancing down at Remus. He takes a phone out of his coat and types something in. “...organized by Virgil Lawson.” He puts the phone away again. His expression is unreadable, unchanged from earlier. “Remus, could I assist you in your next episode at this rally?”

“I’d love that!” Remus shouts, throwing his hands in the air. “See you next time on the Extra Late Night Show! Bye, everybody! Do do Do do DoOoOoOoO. Do do Do do dooooooooo. Do do Do do Do! DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Do do do do do! ” Remus waves goodbye. The screen turns black. The show is finally done. Without saying a word, you take the DVD out of your player. You gently put it back in its case. You walk into your kitchen. You open up the trash can and put it inside. Then you decide to look up how to rid a home of curses because you are certain there was a violent curse on that DVD.

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@purelyreblogstsedition @watchoutforthefanfics @moonlight22oa @mediocrity-at-best

[riflebrass]

That's an impressive level of brain rot to look at the Canadian healthcare system who just told her to give up and die, compare it to the American healthcare system that agreed to help her for a price, and come to the conclusion that she should have listened to the Canadian doctors and just died.

The US healthcare system is atrocious, especially when dealing with insurance companies. I'm not disputing that. It's just that we have small scale socialized healthcare through the Department of Veterans Affairs and they are so much worse than private insurance. Even ignoring the morality arguments of socialism just the fact that the people running this dumpster fire of a country clearly don't care about taking care of the veterans who fought their oil wars is reason enough to trust them to take care of everyone else too.

[katherineitacy]

I know it’s been a dumpster fire of a year, least of which being the 230,000+ American lives we’ve lost thus far (including RBG and John Lewis). We’ve faced a pandemic that appears to be playing Russian Roulette with our lives, our national politic seems to be as divisive as ever before (with a vast number of us sick of having to choose the lesser of two evil candidates), and to top it all off, I anticipate a lengthy, contested fight over election results that will probably drag on for the rest of the year and maybe even bring us into the next. And yet, I’m encouraged by the number of eligible voters taking this election seriously. I’m happy to see larger conversations taking place regarding criminal justice issues, race relations, systemic inequities in healthcare and education, and how to hold our political representatives accountable to their electorate. Maybe we can rise from the ashes of the fire and remember there’s a lot more that ties us together than tears us apart, that we don’t have to rip each other to shreds in order to make our points, and that none of us has it all figured out yet. We can all do better by learning from each other, working together, and striving to do and be better than we did and were yesterday. Make sure you go out and vote today if you haven’t already, but the real work continues in the days and weeks and months that follow. #vote #vote2020 #electionday #election2020 #election #stayactive #stayinformed #stayengaged #politics #knowyourrights #changethesystem #forthebetter #🇺🇸 https://www.instagram.com/p/CHI30K5HIOa/?igshid=qm72klxecmwm

[eastberlin]

The American healthcare system is a flaming dumpster fire inside another, larger flaming dumpster fire. A matryoshka of dumpster fires. 

[md-admissions]

Out of curiosity, if the AMA came up to you and said, "hey MD-A, we want you to redesign the entire process of becoming a doctor, from pre-med to post residency and you can also consult others" how would you redesign the system to make the process better and what sort of things would you address?

So many things. I mean. We got a lot of shit to fix. Now, how we want to fix that? People have opinions, for which I’m thankful. Because we need new ideas and perspectives. 

This could be a whole series. Also, not to be overly suspicious, but this sounds like a homework or essay question for an application. So I’m gonna keep it broad, casual, and touch on only one topic per training level. We can always go into it if you’re interested and this isn’t a homework assignment and if people want more discussion or elaboration.

Pre-med: If there was one thing I had to say: You don’t have to be a bio major to become a doctor. Why is this lore still disseminated? It makes people miserable. Pre-meds out there: do the major that makes you happy and provides meaning.

1st year of med school: Re-do the curriculum. We have to figure out a balance between the stuff that creates our foundation like biochem and physio with the new stuff that people are looking to doctors to answer for which we’re just not prepared: healthcare disparities, leadership skills, how to give feedback, communication skills.

2nd year of med school: Can USMLE Step 1 test me on actual medicine and not stuff like the Krebs cycle? Thx.

3rd and 4th year: Can we just get rid of the Match.  

Residency: Let’s get rid of Step 3. It’s stupid. 

Fellowship: Again, fuck the Match

Life after residency: Easy answer would be fixing burnout. But to fix burnout, we have to fix the dumpster fire that is American healthcare. How I’d fix that? Oh that’s a lifetime work that can’t be covered by a tumblr post. And it’s going to take all of us. Med students, residents, fellows, doctors, pharmacists, nurses, NPs, PAs, just to name a few of the players. We all have a role to play. 

[unscharf-an-den-raendern]

The German Healthcare System

Okay kids, let me tell you about the German healthcare system cause everytime I read about the dumpster fire that is American healthcare I’m very glad I’m German.

Everyone who lives in Germany is required to be insured, not excuses. There are several gesetzliche Krankenversicherungen you can choose from and they all have to charge the same basic rate of 14.6% of your monthly income. Half of the fee is payed by your employer, the other part is deducted from your monthly payment. Unless you earn less than 850€ per month, then your employer pays everything. There are some things that your insurance is legally required to cover and some things they choose to cover as well, but those are usually non-essential things.

But wait, there’s more. Everyone is also required to be insured in a Pflegeversicherung, which is payed for the same way like health insurance (though it costs less), but covers some of the costs in case you become depended on care.

If you decide “Nah, I don’t want this bullshit”, you can also opt for a private insurance, which covers more than the gesetzliche Krankenversicherung, but only if you earn more than 59,400€ per year. There are also some doctors and hospitals who only treat people who are privatly insured and privatly insured people tend to get appointments at specialists a lot earlier. If you think “That’s bullshit”, your’re not the only one. Some political parties want to reform that system. The good thing is you also don’t have to pay for your private insurance all on your own cause, guess what, your employer ALSO pays half of those fees (usually, there are a few exceptions). Problem is, your private insurance may tell you “Sorry, your high-risk, you have to pay more.”

[littlemarsling]

this is absolutely true and this is just the tip of the iceberg... I work in a hospital pharmacy and we’re literally getting our supplies on a day-to-day basis here.  We do not know if tomorrow we will have anything to give to patients.  basic IV fluids like saline, dextrose, electrolytes... we’re having to convert nearly all of our IV medications to IV push because we do not have bags to put them in.  which means nurses have to literally stand at the bedside and administer meds by slow push over 10-15 minutes.  and that’s if we have antibiotics to give, because from week to week we have no idea what will be available.  the situation is the same with narcotics - we have next to nothing at this moment in time.  we can’t give our post-op patients opioids because we have none.  the DEA now has ordered a 20% decrease in opioid manufacturing this year, which means that of the little amount available to us, we’ll be getting even less than that amount.  We got one bit of good news this week - one of our suppliers in PR has been approved to start manufacturing again, which may mean a slight increase in the amount of fluids available to the market - however, because of the situation as a whole down there, it’s unlikely we’ll be able to obtain those supplies any time soon.

yada yada, I know no one really cares to hear me rant.  but this is what I deal with at my job on a daily basis, and have been for many months now.  so aside from everything else, here’s a big fuck you to the entire Trump administration, and every single slimy subhuman piece of scum that voted for or supported him.  people are suffering.

[always-la-belle-epoque]

Man, I really hope they will cover your medics. America has such a fucked up healthcare system. Good luck 🍀

Thanks, sweet anon. American healthcare really is such a dumpster fire :( 

[dangerous-disposition]

I really, really, really need Americans to realize that universal healthcare, as it exists in the world today, will only fix a fraction of the problems they face in the healthcare system in the states.

This isn’t me being a downer, and this isn’t me saying the system y’all have is better than what we have. I will still take universal healthcare over privatized healthcare.

But universal healthcare will not solve your vision and dental healthcare woes. Universal healthcare will not solve your prescription medication woes. Universal healthcare will not solve your mental health woes. Universal healthcare will not solve your disability woes. Universal healthcare will not solve your physical therapy woes.

It will come nowhere near solving those problems. All of those above are still out-of-pocket and private healthcare if you need immediate and effective help.

If you want universal healthcare that actually works for the people and all of the people, it cannot be emulating systems already in place. It has to be better and more inclusive.

Like the US healthcare system is a dumpster fire, but universal healthcare, at least in Canada, is still a fucking dumpster, just not yet in flames.

[thetransmedtruscum]

What kind of conservative views do you have?

I’m a libertarian myself. Less government, pro-capitalism, pro-gun ownership.

- mod Baz

I’m a left-leaning centrist. I believe in capitalism, free speech, and I think that, honestly, America’s not half as much of a dumpster fire as everything thinks it is... though I do have a massive beef with our bipartisan political system.

I support gun ownership, but I do think American gun laws could stand some minor, commonsense-type improvements (ie federally enforced laws instead of different state laws to purchase and own, required classes regarding safe handling and legal rights, etc.). 

I also think we could stand to improve our healthcare system, but we would have to adopt a system different from the European models given factors such as population size and income disparity within our country. From my layperson’s perspective, we would also have to be willing to restructure other things in order to also restructure our healthcare system, so I don’t have a whole lot of faith of that happening anytime soon in the US.

- twshitlord