And yet people think the HMOs don't need competition.

[stanwyck]

I need a tetanus shot. We're going scuba diving next week, primarily wreck diving, and I need a tetanus shot. So, I called every possible number listed on my HMO member card this morning at 8:30am EST. Busy signals for one hour. I went online. Nothing. I finally got an answer when I called tech support for the online service (which I didn't need.) I was told that the reason there was no answer on any of the member services lines was that it was "too early in the morning where I was. It's only 6:30am". Actually, I said, it's now 9:30am here in Atlanta. You might want to google U.S. time zones and keep a copy handy.
Meanwhile, still no appt. to get my tetanus shot.
And yet people don't think our HMOs need competition.
By the way, Kaiser Permanente is my HMO. I've had more assigned primary physicians since I've been with KP than I've had boyfriends in college. And I had a lot of boyfriends.
Meanwhile, my daughter needed a tetanus shot while we were diving in Mexico. A doctor came to our run within 20 minutes of the concierge making the call and the cost was under $20.00.
No busy signals. No waiting on the phone tree. No future online attempts. No one telling me it was "too early" to call.

[HopeHoops]

1. I wanted a throat culture some years back - just the test.

That wouldn't be possible without having a physical examination first. I couldn't find ANY clinic that would just take the fucking culture and process it! Fortunately, I guess it wasn't strep. I never got the damn culture.