I keep hearing people on the right asking people

[Drale]

if they want to wait a month to see their doctor under socialized medicine. Well, I just tried to make an appointment with a psychiatrist and guess what? The next appointment he had is 6 weeks from now. I've called several offices and its all the same, so STFU right wingers.

PS. I really think this shows that there is something very wrong with our society that so many people need mental help, but it is good that they seem to be seeking that help.

[rfranklin]

1. Will not do any good to complain...

Conservatives do not believe in psychiatry. Just tough it out and sublimate your problems into a diaper vetish or some such thing!

[Crazy Dave]

2. And...

Nearly zero psychiatrists offer therapy anymore. I heard that on NPR the focus now is just giving patients medications rather than the couch anymore.

Therefore, you are probably going to wait 6 weeks just to get some pills.

Good luck friend :hi:

[Javaman]

9. Well, it also depends on the therapist. Many are pill happy because of kickbacks. nt

[Crazy Dave]

18. True as far as drug companies but according to the program I heard on NPR...

...it's the insurance companies that are forcing doctors to prescribe pills by denying claims for therapy. They can write six prescriptions for six different patients in an hour versus having a counseling session for an hour with one or maybe two patients. It's all about higher profit margins for the insurance companies, see a patient for 15 minutes and write a prescription instead of spending 30 - 40 minutes with one. And of course the objective can't be to make a patient better, no way. The drug companies want repeat customers.

Of course some people can afford to pay counseling and therapy out of their own pockets and there's probably still a few psychiatrists with a couch left out there.

[harun]

3. I hear the same thing from them all the time.

Having just gone to a few specialists I had a few of them say I had to wait 6+ weeks to see them. I did find one that I could go to but that is only because my wife is a nurse and knew which places would be the right ones to go to for less of a wait.

Our healthcare system is about making $$$. You're not optimizing profit if you have doctors waiting around to see people. So you make a shortage of specialists then have all their time spent optimized. Making the most $$$ they can.

[CopingBarker]

4. That's probably a good sign that he's a decent psychologist

If he had all kinds of free openings, maybe his services aren't in much demand. Those guys book themselves up pretty tight, gotta keep the money rolling in.

Now six weeks to see a GP? That would be a problem.

[Shagbark Hickory]

14. It's really not. And lots of good doctors drop the number of plans they accept.

a lot of them won't take anything put select PPO plans from certain insurance companies.

[CopingBarker]

25. But that wouldn't affect their schedule

If they were that picky, chances are you could probably get in a lot more easily, and it would cost a lot more. Some doctors don't take any insurance at all, that's the dream scenario for a lot of them. Fewer patients, less hassle, more money. You can only pull that off after you've built a solid reputation and client base though.

[Shagbark Hickory]

29. So what happens with everyone's forced to sign up for "insurance".

It's going to be the same dog and pony show.

[Lint Head]

5. My mother in law just made a re-appointment with her doctor for critical testing

because the doctor had to cancel on her. They said it would be another month before she could have the test. What's this bull shit that people in Canada have to wait for a doctor. You have to wait longer here.

[Shagbark Hickory]

6. Yep. Last time I tried to make appoint for a dentist it was 3 weeks, foot doctor 3 weeks, ENT doc 2

weeks.

The waits already are that long.

Of course I guess they could get longer.

This is one of their talking points that I think actually has merit. If we don't add healthcare workers but add lots of more patients that will now be seeing doctors, we're going to be faced with longer waits. I also think you're going to see doctors not accepting a lot of the insurance, or any of it to capitalize on people that just want to pay more money to be seen faster.

Many critical components were probably left out of the ACA. Such as educational programs and incentives for people going into a field that could very well be known for heavy workloads and very long days. (if it isn't already)

[CopingBarker]

8. Such an attractive scenario for someone entering medical school

And if you take away the profit motive, who's going to bother? Better to have fewer doctors that actually know what they're doing than tons that just read webmd and write scrips.

[ret5hd]

11. In what way is the profit motive (of individuals) being threatened?

Are you afraid the gov't is going to enslave you???

:rofl:

[CopingBarker]

20. Medical school costs $$$$, and takes years (6 years plus 4 undergrad)...

requires massive amounts of committment and is extremely stressful. Oh yeah, you have to get good grades all the way through as well.

Why do people do it? Because they love medicine or are just good at it, and they expect to get their investment back and then some. Expecting people to spend that kind of money and time and then not expect to make good money is unrealistic, unless you want to start churning out doctors via 2 year trade schools just to fill offices and reduce wait times. I know I wouldn't go to such a doctor.

Not sure where the "enslavement" comment comes from. Apparently it was pretty funny though.

[ret5hd]

22. You didn't answer the question.

[Shagbark Hickory]

12. What do you propose then?

What's more attractive than healthcare for the highest bidder?

[CopingBarker]

24. To reduce wait times? Who knows.

The OP was regarding wait times and then it was mentioned that having many new people going to the doctor is only going to make it worse. Unless you increase the number of doctors, your wait times are going to increase. Otherwise you can just restrict access to the doctors you supposedly have access to, which is what people complain about with socialized medicine. Sorry, get in line, see you in three months.

If there's no incentive to bear all the suffering of becoming a doctor and you vastly increase the number of people that can go to the doctor for free, whenever they want, you're going to have limited access.

Maybe a home biometric scanner that perfectly diagnoses ailments and provides the remedy. Feel free to head into your garage and work that one up.

[Shagbark Hickory]

28. Who said anything about taking away the incentive to be a doctor?

I think more should be done to help people become doctors and other healthcare professions.

[JoeyT]

31. Or we could just have programs that pay for medical school.

Or government funded medical schools.

As it is, the doctors we're getting aren't necessarily the brightest students, they're the brightest students that can afford medical school. That would fix both problems.

[LiberalAndProud]

26. Better to have fewer doctors...

Limit the number of health care providers and you'll decrease demand by placing care out of financial reach for most ... That doesn't seem to me to be a recipe for a stable society.

[jwirr]

7. The only doctors we do not have to wait for is (if we are lucky) the

GP. Specialists are usually booked solid.

[Generic Brad]

10. The insurance companies already ration healthcare

Republicans bitch that they don't want a government bureaucrat rationing health care, but they are A-OK with insurance companies doing it. The very thing they try to scare voters into thinking will happen is the situation we have right now with HMO's.

[Shagbark Hickory]

13. Yes they absolutely do. n/t

[AllyCat]

15. We had to wait 3 months to get an appointment with an ENT for a little

guy with massive ear infections not responding to antibiotics. They were making a special exception to "get us in right away".

[GoCubsGo]

16. Back when I had health insurance and could afford to see a doctor...

...I had to make my annual gynecologist appointment two months in advance. It took nearly three weeks to get surgery scheduled to remove an ovarian tumor. My sister had to wait more than three months for her health insurance to even start after she got a job, let alone see a doctor. STFU, indeed. I'm guessing the idiots who make these comments haven't had to make a doctors appointment lately.

[nichomachus]

17. Called my dermatologist -- 10 week wait -- and I have good insurance

[Cid_B]

19. I think it is an over dependence on psychiatrists...

There is a definite need for them but some folks just need to quit their complaining. Saw a show the other day about folks who had "eco anxiety."

They couldn't function in life because they thought everything they did was killing the earth.

Stupid crap like that sucks up the time for people who really need it...

[uppityperson]

21. Indeed, annual appointment is 4 wks out, urgent problem like ear infection 3 days, though

was instructed to go the ER since they had no openings in the any clinic for several days.

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[thelordofhell]

27. if they want to wait a month to see their doctor under socialized medicine?

Better than not being able to see a doctor at all because you're uninsured and poor.

Life is the first unalienable Right

[Quantess]

30. I've been to the doctor 3 times here in Sweden.

First 2 times it was a general practitioner, no emergency or anything. The first time I got an appointment the same day, and the second visit was scheduled 4 days ahead. I paid about $25 for each visit.

Oh, and the 3rd visit was a free-of-charge gynecological exam that they signed me up for. They took the initiative of setting up an appointment and mailing me a letter telling me they wanted me to show up.