So as many of you know, my husband and I are both without permanent jobs and along with that, health insurance. We have both been looking all summer (my husband more so than I) for jobs and with the economy being what it is, blah, blah, blah, you get the picture. At our previous employers we had great health insurance and great benefits. However, when we chose to move we lost those benefits. Enter Cobra. I've had Cobra benefits before and used them judiciously and all was well. This time has not been so successful. We simply could not afford to pay close to $800 a month when we had other bills to pay, and thanks to my in-laws we didn't have to factor monthly rent into that equation. We knew that finding gainful employment could be a long time coming and so we saved up some money to cover expenses. I was not prepared for the outrageous bill that health insurance was going to cost us. On top of that, the insurance we had was specific to our last location and all doctors would be out-of-network where we are now. It just wasn't a cost-effective option.
Cutting to the chase, I needed to see a doctor to renew a prescription I have. Luckily, thanks to Wal-Mart and many other pharmacies I can get said prescription for $4 a month. I just needed the slip of paper allowing me to get it. I called a few doctors and when they asked for insurance I said I didn't have it and they wouldn't give me the time of day. Enter a local community health center. I was able to make an appointment a week out with a general doctor. The wait to see someone in the mental illness clinic was two months out. (I have depression and it becomes very difficult to be around me without medication.) I had two weeks of pills left. So, I chose the general doctor.
I show up at the health center two hours before my appointment as instructed and show my meager paystubs from my part-time, temp job and hope to qualify for the sliding scale payment. The lady behind the desk had already been there for twelve hours and was
less than friendly and accomodating. Who could blame her really? She gives me my chart and sends me on my way.
When I reached the doctor's office the nurse questioned why I was there, and I told her about the prescription dillema. She did all the stuff that nurses do, weight (ugh), blood pressure (low), and family historyv (long). The nurse was great and left the room to have me wait for the doctor. I waited, and waited, and waited. I know, its a community health center and there are a lot of people who go there, but the waiting room was a ghost town earlier!
Then, this tiny lady who was of Central Asian or Middle Eastern dissent comes into the room. Her clothing was extremely disheveled (flowered silk elastic-waist skirt pulled up to her boobs and a cotton paisly shirt buttoned-crooked and tucked in askew) and I don't know if her hair has ever seen a comb. Now, I'm no beauty and I'm not expecting it from my health care workers, but I do expect hygene. I'm good with accents, having lived overseas as well as big cities with diverse populations, but I had to ask this woman to repeat what she was saying several times. It didn't help that she talked a hundred miles a minute.
After telling her my family history, again, even though I had written it down on a paper in full detail, she asks me why I'm there. I tell her I need my happy pills and she proceeds to go into what I should eat (no meat) and that I need a gyno appointment and a pap-smear and that I should take vitamins and that I need to have my bloodwork done and cholesterol and that I should have a mamogram. Whew. She pulls out her stethoscope and listens to my heart and breathing. Then, she tells me she needs to do a breast exam. I'm in shock, so I can't respond to this. She goes in and lifts up my shirt and pulls my bra up over my boobs. Then she starts squeezing. All of this while I'm still sitting upright. No laying down and lifting my arm over my head; I've got my bra around my neck with the underwire choking me. She doesn't feel anything and goes to write that down as I'm trying to get my clothes untangled and in the right place. While I'm still in shock, the good doctor tells me she's going to make the appointment to get my bloodwork done and to have my pap-smear and makes like she's going to leave the room. I shake myself out of my stupor and tell her I need my happy pills. She turns around and looks at me confused and then starts grilling me about that. Well, I told you at the beginning of the appointment Dr. Obvious! She reluctantly agrees to give me a two month prescription and tells me to come back in eight weeks but that she shouldn't be the one prescribing it and that I should see someone in the mental health section. She really was clueless, I had told her all of that! I didn't take her up on her offer of making another appointment.
I've heard the opposition to health care reform tout the benefits of these community health centers in solving the problems of uninsured patients. But frankly, the need is just too great and the quality suffers. Just because I don't have insurance doesn't mean that I don't deserve competent healthcare. I'm not asking for a miracle doctor, I'm asking for a doctor who knows what she's doing, knows the patient's needs and meets those needs. My needs were not met the day I went to that community center. That day made me feel both blessed that I've never had to rely on that system before and pissed that I was treated with such disrespect and condescension. I do understand that many of the people who patronize these centers haven't seen a doctor in years and that these doctors are trying to make up for lost time. But this doctor didn't even take the time to see if I had done any of the exams she was suggesting. All of which I had done within the past year.
Its a broken system and it needs to be mended. If everyone was insured then they would be able to see the doctors they trust and the burden could be spread out over a large group instead of a small group of underpaid workers at these community centers. It was clear that this doctor didn't suit my idea of what I needed, but to someone else she might. If I had insurance I could have picked someone else to see instead of getting what was sent to me. I'm not asking for the government to pay for my insurance, I will pay, but it needs to be something I can afford. Even if it just covers a yearly checkup and hospitalization. But hubby and I don't qualify for affordable insurance plans that are currently offered. I don't think our health should be penalized for that.
