Well the pens, mugs clock, and fancy dinners thing officially became against the rules Jan 1st this year, so no more worries about that. Dinners can still be had, but now there must be a guest speaker attending. No more printing drug names on anything, not even sticky notes. (This was probably a huge blow for the worthless promotional crap industry.) This of course only applies to the big pharm companies, the smaller ones, the ones that don't advertise on tv, can still do what they want.
Really, at every stage of the process people are trying to save or make as much money as possible. From the pharmacist that switches you to generic even though it gives you a stomach ache and splits your rx in to two so they can collect two co-pays, to the clinic that won't lance your boil because insurance companies only pay them $5 to do it and it's not worth their time. It's not just the government or the big faceless corporations, it's everyone. It's shitty, but it works because personal health is one of those things few people like to compromise on.
There are problems on all sides of the equation. As bad as the pharma corps and the insurance companies are, I'd say a good portion of the care at an actual clinic is uselessly soaked up by hypochondriacs and well meaning people who spend time on diagnoseyourselfwithcancer.com and get scared shitless. Yeah, lets do 20 tests and a 30 minute consultation on your phantom eyelid pain that is most likely just some random nerve twitch but you think is lymphoma because the internets told you so. To top that off the people that really should be coming in, the ones with the life threatening chronic issues that need to be kept in check, ignore appointments and phone calls and only show up once blood starts coming out of a hole that it isn't supposed to. Oh god, and the self medicating patients that come in with a sack of pills with 20 different people's names on it. That's not to mention the constant threat of litigation. Dangerous essential surgery needs to be done and the priority is always "cover your ass." Which means it's just musical chairs with red tape until someone decides to give in and sign off on it. Everyone agrees it's essential, but who wants to be caught without a chair if the guy stokes out in the operating room? It's nobodies fault that happened, but damned if the family isn't going to try to get some cash out of it. Shitty patients do their part to fuck up the medical infrastructure.
Personally, I think Universal Health Care would be fucking awesome. For awhile I had to pay 480 bucks bi-weekly for one medication, and that was WITH full coverage on Blue-cross. But then I wonder if all the good doctors will branch off in to elective fields where the money is at, and we'll be left with a bunch of Dr. Nicks. And maybe the asshole patients, unchecked by monetary considerations, multiply and clog the gears so you'll have to wait three months to get some minor surgery done. Would the drug companies stop doing stupid shit like adding baking soda to an antacid and renaming it just to keep it from going generic, or would they stop hardcore research alltogether because the money just isn't there? Would it be better? Or would it just be a different brand of bullshit?
Anyways, if your stool is ever black and sticky for a time and you didn't just eat a bunch of tar... please go to the doctors right away because you're probably bleeding internally.
Really, at every stage of the process people are trying to save or make as much money as possible. From the pharmacist that switches you to generic even though it gives you a stomach ache and splits your rx in to two so they can collect two co-pays, to the clinic that won't lance your boil because insurance companies only pay them $5 to do it and it's not worth their time. It's not just the government or the big faceless corporations, it's everyone. It's shitty, but it works because personal health is one of those things few people like to compromise on.
There are problems on all sides of the equation. As bad as the pharma corps and the insurance companies are, I'd say a good portion of the care at an actual clinic is uselessly soaked up by hypochondriacs and well meaning people who spend time on diagnoseyourselfwithcancer.com and get scared shitless. Yeah, lets do 20 tests and a 30 minute consultation on your phantom eyelid pain that is most likely just some random nerve twitch but you think is lymphoma because the internets told you so. To top that off the people that really should be coming in, the ones with the life threatening chronic issues that need to be kept in check, ignore appointments and phone calls and only show up once blood starts coming out of a hole that it isn't supposed to. Oh god, and the self medicating patients that come in with a sack of pills with 20 different people's names on it. That's not to mention the constant threat of litigation. Dangerous essential surgery needs to be done and the priority is always "cover your ass." Which means it's just musical chairs with red tape until someone decides to give in and sign off on it. Everyone agrees it's essential, but who wants to be caught without a chair if the guy stokes out in the operating room? It's nobodies fault that happened, but damned if the family isn't going to try to get some cash out of it. Shitty patients do their part to fuck up the medical infrastructure.
Personally, I think Universal Health Care would be fucking awesome. For awhile I had to pay 480 bucks bi-weekly for one medication, and that was WITH full coverage on Blue-cross. But then I wonder if all the good doctors will branch off in to elective fields where the money is at, and we'll be left with a bunch of Dr. Nicks. And maybe the asshole patients, unchecked by monetary considerations, multiply and clog the gears so you'll have to wait three months to get some minor surgery done. Would the drug companies stop doing stupid shit like adding baking soda to an antacid and renaming it just to keep it from going generic, or would they stop hardcore research alltogether because the money just isn't there? Would it be better? Or would it just be a different brand of bullshit?
Anyways, if your stool is ever black and sticky for a time and you didn't just eat a bunch of tar... please go to the doctors right away because you're probably bleeding internally.
