Getting What We Need

Hey Everyone! :-)

The other day, I spent a morning calling around to doctors' offices, trying to find a new doctor. And would anyone like to guess what the first question from every single receptionist I spoke to was? I bet you don't even need three guesses; I bet everyone reading this can get it right on one try: What insurance do you have?

Yep, that's right. They didn't ask about the reason I wanted an appointment, when was the last time I saw a doctor, what time of day or day of the week might be convenient, or even my name. Nope. The one and only thing they wanted to know was what kind of insurance I have.

And you know what? I don't even blame those receptionists. Not one little bit. For one thing, if they make an appointment for someone who doesn't have insurance or who has insurance that doesn't have a contract with their practice, they're the person the patient will be screaming at when they get their bill.

Plus, I have no doubt, whatsoever, that the doctors they work for all require that they ask that question first. And I don't blame the doctors for that, either. I'm sure the vast majority of them are up to their eyeballs in student loans, and they need to get paid. And, even if they aren't underwater on loans, I don't begrudge someone who spent the better part of two decades learning their profession getting paid for their work. That's only fair.

Now, I am so, so, so fortunate, privileged, blessed, whatever you want to call it, and I actually do have insurance. It's really shitty insurance that hardly covers anything but costs an arm and a leg, and I can't really afford it. But I do have it. And just having it is enough.

It was like magic. I could almost hear them straightening in their chairs and focusing their attention the moment they heard the name of my insurance. The fact that I could give them a policy number was like a golden ticket that changed me from a problem to a person.

Again, I don't blame them. They didn't create this shitty system, and I shudder to think how many times they've been yelled at by people who were desperate for medical care that they were unable to access. It isn't easy to be blamed for things that aren't your fault and that you have no control over, day in and day out. I've worked in enough customer service jobs to know what that feels like. Hell, if I had to guess, I'd say the majority of the people I spoke to would welcome a change in our healthcare system that would allow them to stop asking that question.

No, I don't blame them at all. The people I blame are the people who oppose the change we need to ensure every US citizen can receive the healthcare they need, namely moving to a single-payer system. I blame the people who selfishly say, "I've got mine, so fuck everyone else." I blame the politicians who are more concerned with serving the insurance and pharmaceutical companies that gave them money than they are with doing what's best for the American people.

This country needs a single-payer healthcare system, and we need it now. If everyone has the same healthcare coverage, then doctors will finally be able to prioritize based on patients' medical needs instead of the size of their wallets. And if our elected representatives won't give us what we need, then it's time to replace them with some who will.

Peace!

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