along for the ride
Inspired by one of my fellow travelers to Uganda this summer, I'm going to try and take you along for the ride in all my preparation and planning--and update more frequently leading up to the trip.
And we'll start with culture shock.
The Canadian in America kind of culture shock that I thought I was over after marrying into this land.
But nope, I don't know if I'll EVER get over the way health care is done in this country.
I was supposed to get vaccinations for fun stuff like meningitis, typhoid and rabies today. Being the silly, NAIVE person that I am, I assumed that I could go to my travel clinic appointment, talk over the specific precautions with a doctor, get some shots, get my malaria drugs prescriptions, pay a nominal fee and be outta there.
In the midst of pages of paperwork, I realized that I was not in Toronto anymore. Nothing IS covered, "Because these are preventative measures." (My public health friends will know better than me, but isn't a major reason why health care is costing gajillions of dollars here because of the LACK of foresight to cover preventative care in the past?)
STICKER SHOCK: $100 consultation fee (with a nurse not a doctor) + $125 meningitis shot + $10/pill for malaria and on and on.
Anyway, chalk it up as a learning experience: the system SUCKS. I HAD called my insurance company last week to check that what I needed was covered. They said yes, this accursed clinic says NO. STUPID messed up annoying awful system.
And we'll start with culture shock.
The Canadian in America kind of culture shock that I thought I was over after marrying into this land.
But nope, I don't know if I'll EVER get over the way health care is done in this country.
I was supposed to get vaccinations for fun stuff like meningitis, typhoid and rabies today. Being the silly, NAIVE person that I am, I assumed that I could go to my travel clinic appointment, talk over the specific precautions with a doctor, get some shots, get my malaria drugs prescriptions, pay a nominal fee and be outta there.
In the midst of pages of paperwork, I realized that I was not in Toronto anymore. Nothing IS covered, "Because these are preventative measures." (My public health friends will know better than me, but isn't a major reason why health care is costing gajillions of dollars here because of the LACK of foresight to cover preventative care in the past?)
STICKER SHOCK: $100 consultation fee (with a nurse not a doctor) + $125 meningitis shot + $10/pill for malaria and on and on.
Anyway, chalk it up as a learning experience: the system SUCKS. I HAD called my insurance company last week to check that what I needed was covered. They said yes, this accursed clinic says NO. STUPID messed up annoying awful system.
posted by Duncan and Jen | 10:15 PM
1 Comments:
haha don't even get me started on the healthcare system.
but yes, lack of prevention is a serious and economically inefficient way of doing things. Gotta love it.
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