It's been a week and as soon as this post is done I am going into weekend-mode, whatever that is. I've unexpectedly had to use my brain way more that usual the past few days no thanks to health issues and health insurance woes. It's been a roller coaster of a ride arriving to this point since last weekend, and tonight I'm left with this thought in regard to: Concierge Medicine.
Is this practice even regulated? Do hospitals limit how many concierge physicians they have on staff? All these things I'd like to know, because something doesn't seem right. And, I have more questions but have no idea where to find answers. Mostly, I'd like to know what are the rules of ethics when it comes to concierge medicine?
I heard that term a lot today. I know what it is. If you are familiar with a television show called Royal Pains you'd know what I'm talking about.
A search for a doctor this week required the following: researching insurance coverage and benefits; finding a list of providers who accept my insurance; placing calls to physicians' offices in hopes of finding an open appointment (sooner than later) and establishing care for chronic illness. Oh, and my husband's new-hire insurance paperwork needed to be filled out, and my under 19 year-old daughter's medicaid provider needs be chosen, and I needed to find out if she even still qualified for medicaid based on her dad's significantly increased income from his new job, and I had to map out how to make sure we all had the best possible health insurance coverage, and work out the numbers, and now I have a headache just thinking about how challenging this little task became.
All I wanted to do was find a doctor as soon as possible. What is worrying me right now are these spots that appeared on my shoulders and have spread across my back, chest and abdomen over the past few days. The spots don't itch or hurt, they just look dodgy because of their random size, texture and shapes. It's really weird and I want to know what exactly is going on.
But, I can't. I can't find out what is going on because... It is too damn hard to find a nearby doctor's office, where they are taking new patients, and will accept my insurance, and if I can make an appointment to take care of these damn spots as soon as possible, not four to six weeks from now. It didn't take long in my search to realize that the first question to ask in this town these days is: Is this a concierge medical practice?
Yep, times now are that if you have the wallet for it you can have members-only medical care*.
Also, there should have been a vlog added to this post but I can't find my camera and tripod. Maybe tomorrow.
*I bet those doctor offices don't smell like pee-pee... or worse.
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