@@vrbe3694 You have to remember that the systems at pharmacies aren't made to look up your medication faster, it's made to optimize how best to charge insurance.
This was literally my experience with urgent care. Half the time they are super helpful and the other half they waste your time and money just to tell you they can't do what you need.
To be fair, if you’re having stomach issues, take a sh!t, have a bowl ready and you’re good to go. If you start experiencing diarrhea, vomiting and stomach cramps that don’t go away for days, then you can start wasting the Doctor’s time! I mean, seriously, they could be dealing with gunshot wounds and they’re stuck with you using their hard-earned medical license to figure out why your tummy hurts! Can you really blame them for wasting your time?!
@@IsaiahRichards692"tummy hurts" for severe stomach pain. To be fair, you're somehow more of a jackass than the bozos at Urgent Care. That's impressive.
@@PureSoulKyo Who’s the bigger jackass? The medical practitioner or the people that don’t know how to stay healthy, are only alive because of doctors and complain every time the care doesn’t meet their exacting standards?
@@mysteriousman3973 Exactly what @Pikaman20008 said. Except they charge us as though we had an entire country's care. "Why did you get sick or hurt if you didn't want to go bankrupt, idiot? "
i had a years worth of stomach and intestinal pain. after a year of frequent dr visits it started to get extremely painful and i began to vomit constantly, couldn't even sip water without puking. went to the ER and they literally just said "we don't have anything that can treat this" and sent me home. Came back by ambulance the next day because i was basically completely incapacitated by the pain, and they again tried to send me home with no treatment. Asked for a second opinion from a different dr whos response was "under no circumstances is anyone to send this guy home". spent a month on IV and heavy pain killers before getting proper treatment. Canada, fuck yeah :D
@@A.S._Trunks people like to debate what's better between canadian and american healthcare but in reality they are both atrocities compared to other developed nations
As a physical therapist I can attest that our healthcare system blows. I see most my surgical patients like a month after their surgeries. Mostly because of the shortage of healthcare providers.
@@Rspsand07 Yet according to a certain, not center or right-leaning political sect Canadian healthcare is the pinnacle of national healthcare systems that fixes everything instantly and for free. Are you implying they are deceptive liars? 😋
It felt like my arm was on fire for 3 weeks before I could get an appointment and then when I got there they were like “yeah, so it looks like there’s nothing wrong. That’ll be $750 please.” Now my arm is still fucked.
Nature provides everything we need. Nutrition & Naturopathy are corner stones of True Health. 102 Essential Minerals, Omega 3 Fats, Phyto-Nutritients from Spices, Herbs, Organic Fruits and Veggies. Alkaline the Body to cure disease. Apple Cider Vinegar, Ginger, Turmeric, Ginseng, Garlic, Onions, Radishes, Grapefruit, Lemons, Himalayan Salt, Chlorella, Spirulina, Coconut Oil, Olive leaf extract, Graviola, Sauerkraut, Kimchi, and Fasting. 70-80% of our immune system is made up of Probiotics (Gut Flora). Big Pharma and the public school system will Never Tell you this! Synthetic Drugs are Not substitutes to Nutrition and Naturopathy!
If you refuse to pay you would go to jail and would probably get fired if you work for a good company/job cause no company wants to ruin there reputation and having an ex prisoner would lower there reputation so they can't do anything about it and deal with it all they could do is do what you said but pay
You forgot the part where the pharmacy says "We didn't get the prescription" or "the insurance you have doesn't cover the brand your doctor prescribed"
@@GreenLeafUponTheSky funnily enough, I am on MassHealth (which is free for poor ppl) and it covers almost everything with 0 copays. Only thing that sucks is that it only covers a certain brand of prescriptions so when the doctors/nurses mess up I end up being charged instead :/
@@GreenLeafUponTheSky Talk to a veteran. They will tell you the government is no less corrupt. Or take a look at canada, where they prescribe euthanasia to treat depression and PTSD.
Accurate, but leaves out the hundreds of dollars of fees which may or may not be covered by insurance, but definitely get billed to me immediately, just in case I'm naive enough to pay them before my insurers do (after calling them multiple times). Heaven help those who gets badly ill, don't have a financial counselor, and don't have experience with how insurance "works" in America. (Hint: it works by compensating for the slim profit margins on negotiated rates by gouging those who dare to be sick and ignorant.)
@@SimonWoodburyForget 100%. I had cancer in America, was treated for it, and paid $12k per year for insurance premiums + out of pocket maximum, plus lots more for medications. My insurance plan covered charges exceeding 2 million dollars. If I hadn't had insurance, I highly doubt that I would have qualified for or been able to afford the stem cell transplant which saved my life, let alone received any of the medical services which detected the cancer early in the first place. Insurance in America is insanity, but it matches with the mindset of many Americans I know anyway. Most breeders here only seem to care about shit when it happens to them, so if the only people who would support it are those who actually get seriously ill, I doubt we'll be getting a public health care option any time soon.
I only REALLY learned how F-ed up our Healthcare system (and I mean the ENTIRE system, Insurance included) later in life, (a few years ago) when I had lost my job (& insurance) and had to refill a prescription. I have (had) REALLY bad acid reflux (I've improved my diet, but I STILL need to lose weight) and got a prescription for a double dose of those "24 hour antacid" tablets. A 6-week supply (3 week if you take 2 tablets a day) costs about $30 over the counter. I went to the pharmacy to be my Month & a half (about 6 weeks) Rx refilled when I learned my Health Insurance had expired. I figured, "what the hell. I've been paying a $10 co-pay for this over-the-counter medication; it probably costs somewhere between $30-$60-$90 without insurance. MAYBE a LITTLE more on the outside." so I ordered it. They tried to charge me $629 for a month and a half supply of over-the-counter antacids!!!!! I am NOT kidding!
Apple cider vinegar works miracles for acid reflux and heartburn. It takes a few weeks for the body to adjust to, but it works wonders. (Make sure to either mix or chase it with water, it's obviously very strong)
Nature provides everything we need. Nutrition & Naturopathy are corner stones of True Health. 102 Essential Minerals, Omega 3 Fats, Phyto-Nutritients from Spices, Herbs, Organic Fruits and Veggies. Alkaline the Body to cure disease. Apple Cider Vinegar, Ginger, Turmeric, Ginseng, Garlic, Onions, Radishes, Grapefruit, Lemons, Himalayan Salt, Chlorella, Spirulina, Coconut Oil, Olive leaf extract, Graviola, Sauerkraut, Kimchi, and Fasting. 70-80% of our immune system is made up of Probiotics (Gut Flora). Big Pharma and the public school system will Never Tell you this! Synthetic Drugs are Not substitutes to Nutrition and Naturopathy!
Sounds about right. I have a rare liver condition. I have to take meds every day for the rest of my life, or I will just die after about 5 years off my meds. Without insurance, my meds would cost $39,000 a month. I have to have additional insurance from the state, and a separate prescription insurance that basically does "charity cases" for free. That brings my meds down to $75 a month.
I sure do love paying 8k a year for a _basic_ healthcare policy! Love that! Oh, and this broken leg? It doesnt fall under our broken bones policy since you chose the basic plan!
@@Bruhecc Then don't choose the "basic" plan? They are legally not allowed to lie to you on the contract that you have to read and sign before paying them. You're complaining that you're too lazy to read your own contract?
"American healthcare ranks third among North America." Edit1: Holy crap! Mom, I am famous. Edit2: My mind just thought about this quote when the video ends. It comes from the Simpsons or others, so i dont know about islands in the response. In all honesty, this is just a joke but now turn into a debate about how many contries in NA.
I once broke leg and wasnt even able to get a cast for it because apparently urgent care didn't have the equipment for that bone and the nearest doctors appointment i could get was a month and a half away. I ended up borrowing some crutches from a friend before getting to the doctor and them being like so now is when you should be phasing out of a cast. It was the dumbest crap ever.
The only way this could've been more accurate is if at each place, you were required to hand them a $100 bill, which they then lit on fire whilst never breaking eye contact... and only THEN they referred you.
Ah ah ah American healthcare But to be fair it's pretty similar here, only that our emergency care and pharmacys seem to be better and there are quite a couple normal doctors that make sure emergencys get treaded immediately. Plus u don't get robbed blind. That sounds like I'm joking, it's similar just better
@@Bloom_PK It's not as bad as he is making it out to be. He just doesn't know who to call, and what to do in a given situation. His first instinct was to call the physician. Then he needed to be told to go to Urgent Care or the emergency room. He chose Urgent care. Then expected things to happen immediately. This is a story of high expectations vs realistic situations. If he thought there was an urgent problem that needed an immediate fix, the emergency room is the place to go. If he could hold off on the treatment, then Urgent Care is a good choice. But you should always look into the medicines that are prescribed. Your physician should be the last option. And all of this can be avoided if you have a good idea what your problem is to begin with.
0:14 I've had that exact same feeling on and off for months, but I've been refusing to go to the doctor. Part of the reason is because I'm expecting to have this exact experience, and the other part is that this exact experience is going to cost an unholy amount of money.
I don't worry about this because I pay for reputable health insurance like a responsible adult. Yes, healthcare costs are higher in the US but we also make more money and have fewer taxes than other countries on average. Stop complaining about the problem and actually fix the problem.
@@MinecraftMasterNo1 I got health insurance, but I stupidly decided to get the one provided by my company. It didn't occur to me at the time that since they are based out of a different city their health insurance program would not have any of the doctors in my city in their Network.
Early this year I went to the ER with stomach pains and they did no tests and assumed gastritis and sent me to a GI specialist. A few days later, I saw the specialist who prescribed some meds and scheduled an ultrasound the next week. A couple hours after seeing the specialist the pain got so bad that I went back to the ER (diff ER doctor on call this time), but he ordered a CAT and MRI (and actually gave me pain meds...thank god for morphine)...turned out my gallbladder was gangrene and septic and was affecting my other organs... Long story short, I was quite literally dying and the first ER doc missed it :-)
I feel you on that one. Whilst mine wasn’t as bad as that I did have to have my gallbladder removed after a year plus of issues. And then when that didn’t work the doctor remembered that he was supposed to prescribe me something prior to my surgery in September, I don’t get said prescription until nearly February. Fuck US healthcare
@@bable6314 some absolutely are criminally negligent and people die for it. but since this is murica where the rich get to avoid the law, they face no consequences
When I had covid I went to 3 different urgent cares because I was feeling horrible. First one said "we aren't accepting new patients" why call it urgent care then? Second one said you need to make an appointment a day in advance, again why call it urgent care. The third one closed at 4PM. We ended up going to the ER where I was for over an hour to find out I had covid. Us health care sucks
You forgot the most important part - 3 months later getting a $700 bill for “counseling” (aka the doctor giving suggestions but not actually doing anything)
Wow, this is unbelievable! You were able to get an appointment with a doctor in less than a week? Mine are scheduled 3 months out. You were actually able to get a diagnosis and path to treatment on the first visit? That usually takes me years of visits.
My spine surgery that I got this year was delayed from June to September because of shit like this where it takes forever to get referred and for doctors who really have no idea what they're doing. It's ridiculous
Yep, this fits just about every part of the medical industry here to a T these days. Makes one miss private practices instead of corperate medicine, especially if your insurance wont pay for it all. Been coughing and puking up a half pound of mucus and dried blood for a year and every doctor just wants me to "see the specialist in 6 montha or go to an ER if it gets worse" specialist then tells me to go do an expensive test that reveals nothing again and again while ignoring the ramping severity. This last time the guy doing the test marked it "breathing problems are due to weight" which, while an issue in its own right, ignored the whole reason i was sent there. Is bad these days to say the least
Every time I get call from CVS to remind me to pick up my medicine I am 100 percent sure they will not have it ready for me. Then I will go there and they will inform me my insurance declined to pay for it. Then I will have to get a hold of my doctor who will either fight with insurance company or prescribe me something else that gets covered. It will ruin half of my day.
this is honestly a little too real for me right now, on wednesday my dad passed away due to a heart attack, and hes been having chest pain all week but he brushed it off. I feel if it was easier and cheaper to get checked up he would've went and would still be alive right now.
As someone who's been going through an incredibly painful auto immune sickness coupled with GI issues, this has been my EXACT experience. Long days of scheduling visits, having to go to the ER only for them to tell me that they can't treat me here yanno, in the room where they treat people in EMERGENCIES. Was referred to a gastroenterologist and guess what? They are all on holiday so the soonest they could do is the 4th of this month, and that's to simply sit down to meet with the GI doctor. This video is so accurate it hurts, literally. Our health care system is a joke.
I had a kidney stone a couple of years ago, because I was being stupid and not drinking enough water. I woke up to a just tremendous amount of pain, and stupidly went to an ER. It was enough pain that my hands were trembling and my head was sweating, it was crazy. They gave me some dilaudid, and I had someone check me with an ultrasound and find that, yep, there's a small kidney stone. They gave me a prescription that included what was just regular old ibuprofen, but in a really high dose in giant horse pills. Since the kidney stone was pretty small, they told me to just drink a lot of lemonade. The whole thing took about a half hour. Later there was a bill for 10 THOUSAND dollars.
Now imagine you have regular stones and each one requires multiple trips to the ER because the pain is uncontrollable but they won’t give you anything that actually works for the pain while you’re not in the ER. At some point in the bills are their problem
@@tedarcher9120 I literally went to urgent care because I had a severe headache that felt like my head was a vise grip, lost any sleep I could have had to the past two days, could barely breath, had to MANUALLY breath, had been switching from hot to cold for a whole day, had been vomiting, had been cold sweating, had been- well you get the fucking idea. I was in a real shitty place. I fucking kid you not, this is not a joke, this guy who had the *gall* to call himself a "doctor" told me "I am recommending you to take and aspirin once a day to stop your beedy nose problem. Now get out." And hands me a piece of paper saying to take a fucking chewable generic aspirin! It wasn't even just the doctor! The nurses were rude and so was the reception lady the very moment when I walked in the door. It was 20 minutes before they closed up. I only kept them late by 5 minutes, but they acted like I ran over their dogs or something. This probably isn't representative of ALL American urgent care services... But that is my detailed account with it. I *_wish_* I were over exaggerating.
You forgot how expensive everything is. I also think this describes pretty much every healthcare system in general. "Hi. I have problem" "We help you in 20 days" "Hi. i want rare meds for rare condition" "we are out"
Here in Belgium I can see a doctor whenever? Like, I've never even made an appointment with a normal doctor. I'm sure exceptions exist but I've never had to wait more than a day to get shit done either.
@@Londronable In Portugal I was with a broken jaw for 6 days in the hospital waiting for surgery, like I went in to emergency care and left a week later With only 1 meal a day
All depends on where you live and finding the right place. Why living in a single area for awhile is a good idea. You get a feel for where you can be helped.
One time when I was younger, I was having an intense pain in my body and had to go to the clinic for Urgent Care. There was just one problem once I got there. Turns out Urgent Care wasn’t enough for my situation. They had no ER or equipment needed to help me at all so I had to drive to an entirely different hospital in traffic with the pain.
I just went to an urgent care recently and they had a full x-ray set up so they could diagnose my cracked rib. Probably a fraction of the price of the ER
OMFG THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I HAD TO DO EARLIER TODAY! Minus the primary care physician step, but yeah, I was having panic attacks over the last couple days because the internet managed to convince me 10% of the way that some mild stomach pain was a perforated colon, which was just enough to do pull ups on my anxiety.
I am glad i live in Europe.( Croatia) Basic insurance country takes money from working citizens. Additional insurance is around 9 euros and you are cowered . ( Public hospitals)
You should do one on australian healthcare. I haven't had feeling in my feet/legs for months and it'll take a 12 months before I can get scans and blood tests to diagnose me with severe nerve damage. Then probably another year to get surgery. But it's free...No it still costs me money. Just cheaper since i have medicare.
@@zepar6076 Just wait till you hear about mental health. It's free. BUT you need to find a psychologist in your area that is within a KM of your house to be qualified. Also those can take up to 3 years to get approved because theres a list. Oh theres literally a 90% chance you'd get denied most of the time because they're over booked. Dont get me started on legal aid.
@@greatleader4841 Id still take that over US healthcare where that shit cost legit like 10 to 20 grand to get that kinda stuff done. My mom had to get surgery to remove a cancer tumor a few years back and it cost nearly 100 grand once all expenses were calculated. So not only do you get painfully slow care here in the US too, but it cost you bucket loads of money as well, so if you're poor, I guess you can just go die in a ditch because the healthcare system or government certainly dont care.
@@eragon78 She had 2 options. 1. have health insurance. 2. Just not pay because hospitals have a slush fund like lawyers do to pay for people who refuse to pay and it's not illegal, even more collection agencies are not legally allowed to get money from you. I've gone through many ambulance rides and hospital visits where I don't pay and they give up contacting me because they just pay themselves.
I feel this so much right now. Had a back injury a month ago and my chiropractor sent me to the urgent care to get a prescription for the medrol pack. Urgent care said they didn't have x ray equipment for pack and sent me to er despite me saying I just want the prescription. Er spent 6 hours running tests only to say there's nothing wrong with me and give me pain killers that barely did anything while saying I didn't need the medrol pack. Two days later I got in to my regular doctor who final prescribed the medrol pack and I felt much better afterwards. The hospital sent me a bill for 3000 dollars a week later.
Sounds like the mistake is thinking an actual Doctor will listen to a Chiropractor. Chiropractor's hold a "Doctorate" degree but attend no med school. A Chiropractor saying "Hey prescribe this" has zero logic because they have no education on medication what so ever. Glad the regular actual doctor was of use though.
I've been trying to figure out my "stomach issues" for like 7 years. Doctors just go "eat more fiber" (I do) or take this and see if it helps but nobody can tell me what's wrong with me.
There is this extreme diet where you get rid of all common irritants for a month, then one month at a time introduce them back one at a time. It might help you figure it out.
I wish I could argue with this AT ALL! One year I started having back pain. Got to the point where I struggled to get out of bed, and standing/walking was horribly painful. Hospital kept blowing me off. Pain started in january, by april I was pretty much bedridden. In august I finally went to a chiropractor, and he diagnosed it as a particularly rare tumor that, even when it shows up, is only in the lower back 5% of the time. Got another appointment at the hospital with their 'chief orthopedic surgeon', and about 1.5 HOURS after the appointment was scheduled (and about 40 minutes after I got into the actual office, after being called in from the waiting room) The doctor walks in with... I GUESS an intern? Throws up month old x-rays, says I see nothing wrong here and starts walking out. Had not even said hello or registered my presence... Almost had to GRAB him to get him to talk to/look at me, and after 2 HOURS of arguing, trying to get a bone scan done (as that was what the chiropractor said would actually DETECT the tumor he said I had...) finally got him to run another x-ray... Intern was LONG gone, never said a word. When the new x-rays came in, he threw them up on the machine next to the old ones, and saw that my spine was now curved sideways about an extra 30 degrees compared to a single month ago. At this point, he has the gall to turn around, look at me and ask "Would you allow us to run a bone scan?" As though it was entirely his idea and I had been fighting to keep him from doing the relevant tests the entire time... Got the scan done, and guess what? It was EXACTLY what the chiropractor said it was! Got referred to a specialist, and after THAT things started finally going better though. Turned out the only person with the experience necessary to remove the tumor had someone cancel a surgery, so I only had to wait 2 weeks for the appointment in late september, and eventually I made a nearly full recovery. For some reason when I walk now, my right leg is almost incapable of moving straight forward, and each step is pretty much centered under me, instead of being in a straight line forward from my hip/shoulder as it should be. No problems in daily activity though. Being able to leave the hospital after the surgery was basically a birthday present to me, as the release date WAS my birthday:D But yeah, Kaiser jerked me around for about 8 months, refusing to believe anything was wrong even after I was basically bedridden for 4-5 months. Probably would have NEVER done anything if I had not basically forced them to take a closer look WHILE having the exact diagnosis already made...
Went to urgent care the other day and they asked me if I had an appointment. Then made me make an appointment for the next day. Why yes, I would love to live for an entire day not being able to hear out of my right ear. 75 dollars on Amazon and a few hours later I have my own equipment and managed to get relief on my own and save lots of money.
I had appendicitis, I was near death and in a shit ton of pain. I almost died because of how hard it was to find an open office. We didn't want to go to the ER because we didn't think it was that serious (and the ER is expensive as shit). But me and my mom ended up driving for like 6 hours to god knows how many different offices trying to find one that doesn't need appointments.
there is nothing wrong with our health care system, i just have debt collectors call me everyday asking about the money that my insurance doesnt cover for things like ER visits and for anytime i needed a doctor for things that were going to kill me, even with insurance the amount left after the insurance pays most the bill is still so much that if i HAD to pay it i wouldnt have a place to live or anything, so just going to get a voice mail everyday from debt collectors for my healthcare, and a letter in the mail everyother day
Yikes. I hope shit gets better. Maybe check out debt collection anti harassment laws? Document everything n try to seek legal aid? Some places can provide you with free legal consultation Idk man good luck
Idk about what happens after it goes to debt collectors, but in my state (and I think the whole US, but tbh I'm not sure) as long as you're paying *something* towards a medical balance, even just $10 a month towards a $100,000 balance, they can't come after you. So if the hospital is sending you bills, pay a small amount you can afford and let them send you another one next month.
If it’s in America I’m surprised they came after you, someone I know got into a little accident that cost him thousands and never paid and eventually they fucked off
@@deadmcsteve6681 yep, funny thing, I avoid the doctor as much as possible, still have to go every couple months, going to eventually need surgery or I'll die, but hey since I live in such an amazing place I'll get some money for disability when I'm practically bedridden, so between that and savings I'll be able to keep up with rent
Oh my god I felt this! I just had my first medical complication while living on my own and I texted my mom like “hey I feel ____ what do I do” and she went “oh go to Walmart get x produce and you’re good to go 👍” cost $15 and saved me a visit that would’ve prescribed the same thing. So glad I got to avoid this
Here, in Italy, public healthcare can really take a lot of time. One of the main reasons is that many people from other country come here to attend free healthcare. Most of them are, you guessed it, Americans.
I feel like a "this entire video is sarcastic" entry from the perspective of, any other health care system, about americas would be a perfect follow up
Doctors office. Yeah, your covid test will be ready tomorrow afternoon when you are at work. Urgent care. 1 hour ready. You have covid, please don't go to work.
I just recently heard that in Canada they have this new suicide assist program. Doctors are recommending that instead of surgery because it will be affordable, and less painful in a long run.
They just passed euthanasia bill in my country, and we are having some issues with healthcare system before the winter... They are basically saying to the old people in urgent care "Are you in serious pain and want it to stop? Sign this paper and just fuckin die".
This is unfortunately relatable ☹️ I’ve been learning changing definitions of “now” for almost a year. I want my health to be okay enough that I can actually support myself! 😭
Have fun waiting 50+ years for that surgery you need. xD (Obvious exaggeration for dramatic effect but you get the idea; and in all honesty, all healthcare systems suck, just in different ways, I'm just pointing out yours sucks too.)
@@aurenkleige I dont get the idea actually. Have had 15 different surgeries in my family since I was born and every single one of them happened after a maximum of 5 days after the diagnosis. And cost no money.
@@Shazam1998 It's okay. Americans have to invent problems with other healthcare systems just so they can keep themselves from burning the US to the ground every night.
Now in UK is in 2 weeks if you are lucky or you have to ring at 8 am and wait on the phone for a hour to be told to ring back tomorrow as all appointments gone
The fact that your primary care doctor was willing to see you the next day means you’re more fortunate than 99% of Americans. Best I’ve ever gotten was 3 days later. And he gave you a referral to see a specialist who could see you in a few days? That’s even luckier!
Totally unrealistic! Usually its more like (calling specialist): Hi I have a referral to get my stomach looked at, when is your next appointment? Oh, we are booked solid for about 3 months. How's your Tuesday three months from now at 3 pm on the 13th? Well, I'd have to try driving across 60 mi of rush hour traffic but ok. What's your insurance info? We will need you to fill that out before you come in. [also the insurance has a large deductible, so you'll be paying for it anyway AS WELL as the insurance, and wait until you need the meds and get that bill, if you are alive 3 months later].
You should see what its like with our socialised healthcare here in the Netherlands. I had to wait for over three months to get a sleep study (a basic one where they attach a small machine and you sleep at home) and have to wait a little over a month to even speak to my gastro-enterologist even though I'm an active patient and my stomach issued have been getting pretty concerning recently. Still had to spend hundreds of euros for my sleep study even though I'm insured, had to pay hundreds to get two cavities filled as well. Luckily I pay a shit tonne of tax and insurance money! Gotta love how good it is here.
My favorite memory was being in the waiting room to see my doctor when I literally had severe nausea and had been throwing up for days. Then I actually had to walk outside to puke. I told the person at the desk, who glared at me and said “I guess I’ll clean it up”. Then they ushered me into the doctor’s room early. To wait another hour for them to finally come inside and talk to me.
Pharmacy Tech here. We are constantly getting a stream of new prescriptions, so I'm probably typing the prescription in front of you which is why it takes me a while. Then I run it through the insurance. If all goes well, then it goes to a pharmacist to make sure I typed it correctly, then to the tech or pharmacist that's filling prescriptions, then back to a pharmacist to make sure it was filled correctly. I will totally tell you if the over-the-counter medication is cheaper. One less prescription to fill! 😊 I WISH I could look up another pharmacy's inventory online! I have to choose a pharmacy I think MIGHT have it, go through their automated menu, then wait on hold. If they don't have it, I chose another pharmacy and do it all over again. Depending on the medication (like, if I don't think anyone will actually have the medication in stock because it's rarely prescribed or if the insurance just doesn't cover it and the medication is too pricey for the customer to just pay for it) then I call the doctor's office to see if they'll change it to a different medication. So, I call the office, go through their automated menu, wait on hold, and leave a message with the receptionist/medical assistant/nurse. If I'm lucky, they'll be able to ask the doctor while I'm on hold (which might take a while, but it's the better option). If not, then I have to wait for the office to call back with the doctor's response. That could be minutes, hours, days, or not at all. While I'm on hold with either a pharmacy, a doctor's office, or the insurance's pharmacy help desk, I'm scrambling to get any work done while I have the phone on speaker so I can hear when an actual person picks up the phone. This means I can't answer any other phone calls (or I just put them on hold from another phone), I can't be at the register (or I might miss when a person answers the phone and they hang up on me because there's not a quick response on my end), I can't go outside to help a customer find a product and have to yell the location to the customer from ten feet away (hoping they can understand and follow my directions). No, there's no "special" line for pharmacies to call other pharmacies or doctor's offices that will prioritize our phone calls. 😢 We call the same phone number you do--with the exception of the insurance's pharmacy help desk which you can't use or they'll just transfer you to the customer service line. So, this was longer than I'd meant for it to be. Thank you for coming to my TED talk! 😁
Lol it's like my experience with the VA the other day. Hey, I'm freshly out of active duty and soon I'm going to be running out of the meds that keep me a functioning member of society who reacts normally to things. Ok! We have an appointment for psychiatry end of MARCH or we can refer you out into the network! (Look up psychiatrists and therapists in my area online...not taking new clients...they don't deal with the problems I'm having...not taking new clients...and oh not taking new clients). Ok! Cope until I break and end up in a psych ward or turn to alcohol again it is! 😃
I've been getting this sharp shooting pain in my gut for about 5 months now. Military medical "yea your blood test shows somethings wrong but we don't know what". 5 months later and I'm just resigned to live with it, but it's ok the pain only wakes me up from deep sleep a couple times a week.
Welcome to the club, pal. I've been dealing with this my entire life, and now that I literally can't speak due to medical issues, and since I don't have insurance idk if or when I'll even be able to see a doctor haha
I live in Maine, and I've been waiting for a primary care physician appointment for over 8 months. I was supposed to see a doctor 3 months ago, but they quit and none of the other doctors were " accepting new patients " so I was sent to the back of the line again.
My clinic stopped excepting walk ins and Saturdays for regular patients, last I went was I told him I have loss of appetite and I might be pregnant but wanna check to see if the pregnancy test is accurate, I took 2 more pregnancy test and I had to Google an obgyn .. I literally can pay 5 dollars for the same pregnancy tests and they charged me 100 dollars for it .. yes America health care is so amazing
I was born in USSR and I have to report that *their* health care was way worse. Most doctors say patients as nuisance and tried to avoid them; the technology was very outdated. E.g. a tooth filling lasted ~2 years at the very best, before failing...
... and when you go to the ER, the insurance would deny the service as "Diagnosis not EMERGENCY-RELATED" ... I have to deal with this crap everyday as a hospital claims collector. I've also worked with a case where the patient passed out (near highway), we dispatched an ambulance but then the insurance denied our claim as non-emergent and the rationale is that, it is "not life threatening". Also I've seen patients unable to get their chemo meds because it is UNAUTHORIZED. It is terrible and I feel bad
I still remember laying at the ER for 8-9 hours with splitting, vomit-inducing headaches - on the ground because they didn't have any free beds - then finally getting hooked up to a drip with painkiller, getting an EKG, a CT and other basic diagnostic stuff to finally be told I just needed some coffee; I don't drink coffee so I got caffeine pills...
Reminds me of when I broke my arm and went to Urgent Care and they didn't even have a sleeve for it so I had to go another day with a broken arm to wait for the hospital
so true i once went to urgant care twice got the same lady who didnt have any intrest on what she was doing and said i was dehydrated both times neither time was i dehydrated
What always got me is why the pharmacists really do seem to be typing a whole goddamn essay just to look up your prescription.
It just easier it use keyboard shortcuts rather than using a mouse lol!
@@vrbe3694 💀
They are just trying to spell the name of whatever the medication is.
@@vrbe3694
You have to remember that the systems at pharmacies aren't made to look up your medication faster, it's made to optimize how best to charge insurance.
@@NerdyBernie66 Oops, I put an extra S in the end... Well, Ctrl + A delete. Here we go again!
This was literally my experience with urgent care. Half the time they are super helpful and the other half they waste your time and money just to tell you they can't do what you need.
To be fair, if you’re having stomach issues, take a sh!t, have a bowl ready and you’re good to go. If you start experiencing diarrhea, vomiting and stomach cramps that don’t go away for days, then you can start wasting the Doctor’s time! I mean, seriously, they could be dealing with gunshot wounds and they’re stuck with you using their hard-earned medical license to figure out why your tummy hurts! Can you really blame them for wasting your time?!
@@IsaiahRichards692"tummy hurts" for severe stomach pain.
To be fair, you're somehow more of a jackass than the bozos at Urgent Care. That's impressive.
@@IsaiahRichards692 i see you have not experienced truly worse than nightmares level of "tummy hurts", a blockage in the guts can be fatal.
@@PureSoulKyo Who’s the bigger jackass? The medical practitioner or the people that don’t know how to stay healthy, are only alive because of doctors and complain every time the care doesn’t meet their exacting standards?
@@comediangj4955 We’re not talking about blockage of guts, we’re talking about indigestion.
You missed the part where urgent care bills you 3200$ to check your stomach
How else they gonna pay off that headset?
What do you mean by "Bills you" ? Other countries has to pay for healthcare?
@@mysteriousman3973 Just America
@@mysteriousman3973 Exactly what @Pikaman20008 said. Except they charge us as though we had an entire country's care. "Why did you get sick or hurt if you didn't want to go bankrupt, idiot? "
@@Pikaman20008 Well, that sucks, I can't imagine how that would feel.
Getting billed because you are seeking care when sick or injured.
The comment on the last video that said zach is basically just venting all his frustrations in the funniest way atp is so real rn
He’s gonna go double viral off this streak. Calling it
Yes🤣🤣😅
I'm all for it :D
@@HomicidalTh0r Everyone is :]
literally thought of the same comment as soon as i saw the title of this video. glad i wasn't the only one XD
i had a years worth of stomach and intestinal pain. after a year of frequent dr visits it started to get extremely painful and i began to vomit constantly, couldn't even sip water without puking. went to the ER and they literally just said "we don't have anything that can treat this" and sent me home. Came back by ambulance the next day because i was basically completely incapacitated by the pain, and they again tried to send me home with no treatment. Asked for a second opinion from a different dr whos response was "under no circumstances is anyone to send this guy home". spent a month on IV and heavy pain killers before getting proper treatment. Canada, fuck yeah :D
Huh, I thought you were talking about America for a second there.
@@A.S._Trunks people like to debate what's better between canadian and american healthcare but in reality they are both atrocities compared to other developed nations
@@bobowon5450 Yes we are definitely behind.
Have you considered help from a MAID?
Edit: Pun btw, I just realized this might be taken quite aggressively
@@RandomPerson-kq9fr Ehhhh...
OK, the gaming headset as a fake stethoscope was actually quite funny
They might as well be wearing a gaming headset.😑
Thats what im saying
That's a gaming stethoscope. Duh. It's Razer Grim Reaper V2 Pro.
@@MeowtronStar ominous name…
idk what your talking about thats a real stethoscope
As a physical therapist I can attest that our healthcare system blows. I see most my surgical patients like a month after their surgeries. Mostly because of the shortage of healthcare providers.
A month is really good, in Canada you'll wait like 5 years and then they'll just ask you if you've considered M.A.I.D.
@@Rspsand07 truth
@@Rspsand07 Yet according to a certain, not center or right-leaning political sect Canadian healthcare is the pinnacle of national healthcare systems that fixes everything instantly and for free. Are you implying they are deceptive liars? 😋
@@botspotter8379 I imply that the person that said that is not canadian
@@botspotter8379 Have you considered that canada has similar issues as the us?
It felt like my arm was on fire for 3 weeks before I could get an appointment and then when I got there they were like “yeah, so it looks like there’s nothing wrong. That’ll be $750 please.” Now my arm is still fucked.
100% go to another Doctor and refuse to pay until someone actually does somethint
Nature provides everything we need. Nutrition & Naturopathy are corner stones of True Health. 102 Essential Minerals, Omega 3 Fats, Phyto-Nutritients from Spices, Herbs, Organic Fruits and Veggies. Alkaline the Body to cure disease. Apple Cider Vinegar, Ginger, Turmeric, Ginseng, Garlic, Onions, Radishes, Grapefruit, Lemons, Himalayan Salt, Chlorella, Spirulina, Coconut Oil, Olive leaf extract, Graviola, Sauerkraut, Kimchi, and Fasting. 70-80% of our immune system is made up of Probiotics (Gut Flora). Big Pharma and the public school system will Never Tell you this! Synthetic Drugs are Not substitutes to Nutrition and Naturopathy!
If you refuse to pay you would go to jail and would probably get fired if you work for a good company/job cause no company wants to ruin there reputation and having an ex prisoner would lower there reputation so they can't do anything about it and deal with it all they could do is do what you said but pay
@@hernanperez5737 Tha's absolutely untrue lmfao. You won't go to jail for refusing to pay. That's not how medical bills work.
@@hernanperez5737 Not just jail, but ex prisoner?? God DAMN, not paying a medical bill has some real stakes these days.
You forgot the part where the pharmacy says "We didn't get the prescription" or "the insurance you have doesn't cover the brand your doctor prescribed"
This is why the government should just cover the expenses and root out the corruption that’s resulting in overpriced medication and expenses
@@GreenLeafUponTheSky funnily enough, I am on MassHealth (which is free for poor ppl) and it covers almost everything with 0 copays. Only thing that sucks is that it only covers a certain brand of prescriptions so when the doctors/nurses mess up I end up being charged instead :/
@@GreenLeafUponTheSky Talk to a veteran. They will tell you the government is no less corrupt.
Or take a look at canada, where they prescribe euthanasia to treat depression and PTSD.
They don't cover 30mg tablets, only 20s or 40s. And they only do one month at a time and it takes a week to verify with your doctor for every refill.
@@SloppyJoe_Blob ewwww that's disgusting :(
It is terrifying how accurate this is........
Accurate, but leaves out the hundreds of dollars of fees which may or may not be covered by insurance, but definitely get billed to me immediately, just in case I'm naive enough to pay them before my insurers do (after calling them multiple times). Heaven help those who gets badly ill, don't have a financial counselor, and don't have experience with how insurance "works" in America. (Hint: it works by compensating for the slim profit margins on negotiated rates by gouging those who dare to be sick and ignorant.)
@@SimonWoodburyForget 100%. I had cancer in America, was treated for it, and paid $12k per year for insurance premiums + out of pocket maximum, plus lots more for medications. My insurance plan covered charges exceeding 2 million dollars. If I hadn't had insurance, I highly doubt that I would have qualified for or been able to afford the stem cell transplant which saved my life, let alone received any of the medical services which detected the cancer early in the first place. Insurance in America is insanity, but it matches with the mindset of many Americans I know anyway. Most breeders here only seem to care about shit when it happens to them, so if the only people who would support it are those who actually get seriously ill, I doubt we'll be getting a public health care option any time soon.
My mom works in the healthcare system and she will do anything to avoid going to urgent care or the hospital 😅
My mom too. You should see my first aid kit. I have 3 stethoscopes…. 3. 💀💀💀
Doctors are the worst patients
Says a lot.
The Native hospitals here in Alaska will bring in a woman with the sniffles first over the guy with a gaping wound in his leg.
@@MyShiroyuki Only because the former would be easier to “treat”, right?
God that’s fucking disgusting.
I only REALLY learned how F-ed up our Healthcare system (and I mean the ENTIRE system, Insurance included) later in life, (a few years ago) when I had lost my job (& insurance) and had to refill a prescription.
I have (had) REALLY bad acid reflux (I've improved my diet, but I STILL need to lose weight) and got a prescription for a double dose of those "24 hour antacid" tablets. A 6-week supply (3 week if you take 2 tablets a day) costs about $30 over the counter.
I went to the pharmacy to be my Month & a half (about 6 weeks) Rx refilled when I learned my Health Insurance had expired. I figured, "what the hell. I've been paying a $10 co-pay for this over-the-counter medication; it probably costs somewhere between $30-$60-$90 without insurance. MAYBE a LITTLE more on the outside." so I ordered it.
They tried to charge me $629 for a month and a half supply of over-the-counter antacids!!!!! I am NOT kidding!
Apple cider vinegar works miracles for acid reflux and heartburn. It takes a few weeks for the body to adjust to, but it works wonders. (Make sure to either mix or chase it with water, it's obviously very strong)
Nature provides everything we need. Nutrition & Naturopathy are corner stones of True Health. 102 Essential Minerals, Omega 3 Fats, Phyto-Nutritients from Spices, Herbs, Organic Fruits and Veggies. Alkaline the Body to cure disease. Apple Cider Vinegar, Ginger, Turmeric, Ginseng, Garlic, Onions, Radishes, Grapefruit, Lemons, Himalayan Salt, Chlorella, Spirulina, Coconut Oil, Olive leaf extract, Graviola, Sauerkraut, Kimchi, and Fasting. 70-80% of our immune system is made up of Probiotics (Gut Flora). Big Pharma and the public school system will Never Tell you this! Synthetic Drugs are Not substitutes to Nutrition and Naturopathy!
Fucking disgusting. We need to tear down the whole thing and rebuild it from the ground up. As is the case with 90% of everything.
Sounds about right. I have a rare liver condition. I have to take meds every day for the rest of my life, or I will just die after about 5 years off my meds. Without insurance, my meds would cost $39,000 a month. I have to have additional insurance from the state, and a separate prescription insurance that basically does "charity cases" for free. That brings my meds down to $75 a month.
@@B_B-420 FFS that sucks. Got a lot to work on in our system
And the worst part isn't even shown: the bill.
PoV: You're insured
@@srirampatnaik9164 insurance is bullshit
@@justinshavers4692 A good insurance (like State Farm) would not leave you any financial burden after availing medical care.
I sure do love paying 8k a year for a _basic_ healthcare policy! Love that! Oh, and this broken leg? It doesnt fall under our broken bones policy since you chose the basic plan!
@@Bruhecc Then don't choose the "basic" plan? They are legally not allowed to lie to you on the contract that you have to read and sign before paying them. You're complaining that you're too lazy to read your own contract?
"American healthcare ranks third among North America."
Edit1: Holy crap! Mom, I am famous.
Edit2: My mind just thought about this quote when the video ends. It comes from the Simpsons or others, so i dont know about islands in the response. In all honesty, this is just a joke but now turn into a debate about how many contries in NA.
That's actually surprisingly high considering Canada and Bermuda are in the same continent with us.
@@srirampatnaik9164 tristes ruidos centroamericanos :(
@@srirampatnaik9164 I doubt he meant Bermuda, MEXICO is in north america
Canada is the same, the only difference is that you don't get billed $7000 for that hospital visit.
Anerican Healthcare ranks fifth in USA
I once broke leg and wasnt even able to get a cast for it because apparently urgent care didn't have the equipment for that bone and the nearest doctors appointment i could get was a month and a half away. I ended up borrowing some crutches from a friend before getting to the doctor and them being like so now is when you should be phasing out of a cast. It was the dumbest crap ever.
The only way this could've been more accurate is if at each place, you were required to hand them a $100 bill, which they then lit on fire whilst never breaking eye contact... and only THEN they referred you.
I mean the appointment for the referral, then any fees to see the specialist.
No way that's just $100.
More like 5-10 of those bills
this is the most relatable video on this entire damn site god i hate healthcare 🗿
Ah ah ah
American healthcare
But to be fair it's pretty similar here, only that our emergency care and pharmacys seem to be better and there are quite a couple normal doctors that make sure emergencys get treaded immediately.
Plus u don't get robbed blind.
That sounds like I'm joking, it's similar just better
This says less about American healthcare, and more about how he doesn’t know what he’s doing.
@@QuantumLeaper25 can you elaborate? im not sure i understand what you mean
American healthcare****
@@Bloom_PK It's not as bad as he is making it out to be. He just doesn't know who to call, and what to do in a given situation.
His first instinct was to call the physician. Then he needed to be told to go to Urgent Care or the emergency room. He chose Urgent care. Then expected things to happen immediately.
This is a story of high expectations vs realistic situations. If he thought there was an urgent problem that needed an immediate fix, the emergency room is the place to go. If he could hold off on the treatment, then Urgent Care is a good choice. But you should always look into the medicines that are prescribed.
Your physician should be the last option.
And all of this can be avoided if you have a good idea what your problem is to begin with.
0:14 I've had that exact same feeling on and off for months, but I've been refusing to go to the doctor. Part of the reason is because I'm expecting to have this exact experience, and the other part is that this exact experience is going to cost an unholy amount of money.
Sometimes you have to be like your ancestors and die for what you believe in. lmao
Its the American way! You’d probably get given some mildly functional pills that cost $45 per pill too
I don't worry about this because I pay for reputable health insurance like a responsible adult. Yes, healthcare costs are higher in the US but we also make more money and have fewer taxes than other countries on average. Stop complaining about the problem and actually fix the problem.
@@MinecraftMasterNo1 I got health insurance, but I stupidly decided to get the one provided by my company. It didn't occur to me at the time that since they are based out of a different city their health insurance program would not have any of the doctors in my city in their Network.
I recommend asking the pharmacist if anything over the counter mught help.
They're about to update the healthcare system any day now*...
*This is the new new definition of now.
Early this year I went to the ER with stomach pains and they did no tests and assumed gastritis and sent me to a GI specialist.
A few days later, I saw the specialist who prescribed some meds and scheduled an ultrasound the next week. A couple hours after seeing the specialist the pain got so bad that I went back to the ER (diff ER doctor on call this time), but he ordered a CAT and MRI (and actually gave me pain meds...thank god for morphine)...turned out my gallbladder was gangrene and septic and was affecting my other organs...
Long story short, I was quite literally dying and the first ER doc missed it :-)
Some doctors should never have gotten their doctorate.
I feel you on that one. Whilst mine wasn’t as bad as that I did have to have my gallbladder removed after a year plus of issues. And then when that didn’t work the doctor remembered that he was supposed to prescribe me something prior to my surgery in September, I don’t get said prescription until nearly February. Fuck US healthcare
@@bable6314 some absolutely are criminally negligent and people die for it. but since this is murica where the rich get to avoid the law, they face no consequences
@@LilacMonarchI mean, I'd sue
@@ivibivivgig6425 good luck suing them when they can just drag it out until you're broke
When I had covid I went to 3 different urgent cares because I was feeling horrible. First one said "we aren't accepting new patients" why call it urgent care then? Second one said you need to make an appointment a day in advance, again why call it urgent care. The third one closed at 4PM. We ended up going to the ER where I was for over an hour to find out I had covid. Us health care sucks
My mom when I say be there in a second, and proceed to play a game for 2 more hours:
Did they update the definition of a second again?
stop doing that
You forgot the most important part - 3 months later getting a $700 bill for “counseling” (aka the doctor giving suggestions but not actually doing anything)
Wow, this is unbelievable! You were able to get an appointment with a doctor in less than a week? Mine are scheduled 3 months out. You were actually able to get a diagnosis and path to treatment on the first visit? That usually takes me years of visits.
Being able to see your doctor the next day is actually pretty amazing.
My spine surgery that I got this year was delayed from June to September because of shit like this where it takes forever to get referred and for doctors who really have no idea what they're doing. It's ridiculous
The fact that the thumbnail is Zach giving the double flip off already perfectly describes the American Healthcare System
Tomorrow is still better than 2 months from now.
Yep, this fits just about every part of the medical industry here to a T these days. Makes one miss private practices instead of corperate medicine, especially if your insurance wont pay for it all. Been coughing and puking up a half pound of mucus and dried blood for a year and every doctor just wants me to "see the specialist in 6 montha or go to an ER if it gets worse" specialist then tells me to go do an expensive test that reveals nothing again and again while ignoring the ramping severity. This last time the guy doing the test marked it "breathing problems are due to weight" which, while an issue in its own right, ignored the whole reason i was sent there. Is bad these days to say the least
Every time I get call from CVS to remind me to pick up my medicine I am 100 percent sure they will not have it ready for me. Then I will go there and they will inform me my insurance declined to pay for it. Then I will have to get a hold of my doctor who will either fight with insurance company or prescribe me something else that gets covered. It will ruin half of my day.
This is why I always default to over-the-counter meds when i feel like shit.
this is honestly a little too real for me right now, on wednesday my dad passed away due to a heart attack, and hes been having chest pain all week but he brushed it off. I feel if it was easier and cheaper to get checked up he would've went and would still be alive right now.
That sucks man. I'm so sorry.
Doesn't even get to the billing...
"How is this $10,000?!"
"Dude, doctors are owned by the mega-rich."
As someone who's been going through an incredibly painful auto immune sickness coupled with GI issues, this has been my EXACT experience. Long days of scheduling visits, having to go to the ER only for them to tell me that they can't treat me here yanno, in the room where they treat people in EMERGENCIES. Was referred to a gastroenterologist and guess what? They are all on holiday so the soonest they could do is the 4th of this month, and that's to simply sit down to meet with the GI doctor. This video is so accurate it hurts, literally. Our health care system is a joke.
I had a kidney stone a couple of years ago, because I was being stupid and not drinking enough water. I woke up to a just tremendous amount of pain, and stupidly went to an ER. It was enough pain that my hands were trembling and my head was sweating, it was crazy. They gave me some dilaudid, and I had someone check me with an ultrasound and find that, yep, there's a small kidney stone. They gave me a prescription that included what was just regular old ibuprofen, but in a really high dose in giant horse pills. Since the kidney stone was pretty small, they told me to just drink a lot of lemonade. The whole thing took about a half hour. Later there was a bill for 10 THOUSAND dollars.
Now imagine you have regular stones and each one requires multiple trips to the ER because the pain is uncontrollable but they won’t give you anything that actually works for the pain while you’re not in the ER.
At some point in the bills are their problem
This was LITERALLY THE EXACT SAME experience I had recently when I visited urgent care too!!!
British people be seething at such a quick doctors appointment lol
@@tedarcher9120 I literally went to urgent care because I had a severe headache that felt like my head was a vise grip, lost any sleep I could have had to the past two days, could barely breath, had to MANUALLY breath, had been switching from hot to cold for a whole day, had been vomiting, had been cold sweating, had been- well you get the fucking idea. I was in a real shitty place.
I fucking kid you not, this is not a joke, this guy who had the *gall* to call himself a "doctor" told me "I am recommending you to take and aspirin once a day to stop your beedy nose problem. Now get out." And hands me a piece of paper saying to take a fucking chewable generic aspirin!
It wasn't even just the doctor! The nurses were rude and so was the reception lady the very moment when I walked in the door. It was 20 minutes before they closed up. I only kept them late by 5 minutes, but they acted like I ran over their dogs or something.
This probably isn't representative of ALL American urgent care services... But that is my detailed account with it. I *_wish_* I were over exaggerating.
"my stomach feels like it has ass cancer" man this shit is comedy gold XD
You forgot how expensive everything is.
I also think this describes pretty much every healthcare system in general.
"Hi. I have problem"
"We help you in 20 days"
"Hi. i want rare meds for rare condition"
"we are out"
I mean I never had that problem here with urgent care
There's always at least a small hospital or something that's gets things done any time
Here in Belgium I can see a doctor whenever?
Like, I've never even made an appointment with a normal doctor.
I'm sure exceptions exist but I've never had to wait more than a day to get shit done either.
@@Londronable In Portugal I was with a broken jaw for 6 days in the hospital waiting for surgery, like I went in to emergency care and left a week later
With only 1 meal a day
All depends on where you live and finding the right place. Why living in a single area for awhile is a good idea. You get a feel for where you can be helped.
2 hour wait for a MAX (and this is pushing it) 5 minute appointment to basically get told "Yep just drink water and sleep."
One time when I was younger, I was having an intense pain in my body and had to go to the clinic for Urgent Care. There was just one problem once I got there.
Turns out Urgent Care wasn’t enough for my situation. They had no ER or equipment needed to help me at all so I had to drive to an entirely different hospital in traffic with the pain.
I just went to an urgent care recently and they had a full x-ray set up so they could diagnose my cracked rib.
Probably a fraction of the price of the ER
That must have sucked alot.... and people wonder why so many die there...
It really does all depend on the urgent care or clinic.
just finished binging your videos, to find out that you have a new one! nice!
OMFG THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I HAD TO DO EARLIER TODAY! Minus the primary care physician step, but yeah, I was having panic attacks over the last couple days because the internet managed to convince me 10% of the way that some mild stomach pain was a perforated colon, which was just enough to do pull ups on my anxiety.
the part where you see a specialist next tuesday and you think that's a long time is cute. in canada it's not next tuesday, it's next year
I am glad i live in Europe.( Croatia) Basic insurance country takes money from working citizens. Additional insurance is around 9 euros and you are cowered . ( Public hospitals)
You should do one on australian healthcare. I haven't had feeling in my feet/legs for months and it'll take a 12 months before I can get scans and blood tests to diagnose me with severe nerve damage. Then probably another year to get surgery. But it's free...No it still costs me money. Just cheaper since i have medicare.
Nice..
@@zepar6076 Just wait till you hear about mental health. It's free. BUT you need to find a psychologist in your area that is within a KM of your house to be qualified. Also those can take up to 3 years to get approved because theres a list. Oh theres literally a 90% chance you'd get denied most of the time because they're over booked. Dont get me started on legal aid.
@@greatleader4841 Id still take that over US healthcare where that shit cost legit like 10 to 20 grand to get that kinda stuff done. My mom had to get surgery to remove a cancer tumor a few years back and it cost nearly 100 grand once all expenses were calculated.
So not only do you get painfully slow care here in the US too, but it cost you bucket loads of money as well, so if you're poor, I guess you can just go die in a ditch because the healthcare system or government certainly dont care.
@@eragon78 She had 2 options. 1. have health insurance. 2. Just not pay because hospitals have a slush fund like lawyers do to pay for people who refuse to pay and it's not illegal, even more collection agencies are not legally allowed to get money from you. I've gone through many ambulance rides and hospital visits where I don't pay and they give up contacting me because they just pay themselves.
It isn't free. They just hope you die before the surgery, so that they don't have to pay up.
I feel this so much right now. Had a back injury a month ago and my chiropractor sent me to the urgent care to get a prescription for the medrol pack. Urgent care said they didn't have x ray equipment for pack and sent me to er despite me saying I just want the prescription. Er spent 6 hours running tests only to say there's nothing wrong with me and give me pain killers that barely did anything while saying I didn't need the medrol pack. Two days later I got in to my regular doctor who final prescribed the medrol pack and I felt much better afterwards. The hospital sent me a bill for 3000 dollars a week later.
That almost sounds like a deliberate scam. My condolences bro
@@voodoodolll Honestly the cynical side of me wants to say it is
@@voodoodolll I'm pretty sure scam is the main job of the medial system in US. Helping people is just a rare side effect.
Sounds like the mistake is thinking an actual Doctor will listen to a Chiropractor. Chiropractor's hold a "Doctorate" degree but attend no med school. A Chiropractor saying "Hey prescribe this" has zero logic because they have no education on medication what so ever. Glad the regular actual doctor was of use though.
I've been trying to figure out my "stomach issues" for like 7 years. Doctors just go "eat more fiber" (I do) or take this and see if it helps but nobody can tell me what's wrong with me.
I have a friend with a similar problem. They were tortured all throughout their childhood until being diagnosed with celiac.
Could try the opposite.
Fiber is trash, though if you eat carbs(which are trash) you might need it.
Turpentine (not medical advice)
IBS?
There is this extreme diet where you get rid of all common irritants for a month, then one month at a time introduce them back one at a time. It might help you figure it out.
My friend son had an asthmatic attack...5k usd for ambulance and 32k usd for emergency care w nebulizer... no hospitalizations.
I wish I could argue with this AT ALL!
One year I started having back pain. Got to the point where I struggled to get out of bed, and standing/walking was horribly painful. Hospital kept blowing me off. Pain started in january, by april I was pretty much bedridden.
In august I finally went to a chiropractor, and he diagnosed it as a particularly rare tumor that, even when it shows up, is only in the lower back 5% of the time.
Got another appointment at the hospital with their 'chief orthopedic surgeon', and about 1.5 HOURS after the appointment was scheduled (and about 40 minutes after I got into the actual office, after being called in from the waiting room) The doctor walks in with... I GUESS an intern? Throws up month old x-rays, says I see nothing wrong here and starts walking out. Had not even said hello or registered my presence...
Almost had to GRAB him to get him to talk to/look at me, and after 2 HOURS of arguing, trying to get a bone scan done (as that was what the chiropractor said would actually DETECT the tumor
he said I had...) finally got him to run another x-ray... Intern was LONG gone, never said a word.
When the new x-rays came in, he threw them up on the machine next to the old ones, and saw that my spine was now curved sideways about an extra 30 degrees compared to a single month ago.
At this point, he has the gall to turn around, look at me and ask "Would you allow us to run a bone scan?" As though it was entirely his idea and I had been fighting to keep him from doing the relevant tests the entire time...
Got the scan done, and guess what? It was EXACTLY what the chiropractor said it was!
Got referred to a specialist, and after THAT things started finally going better though. Turned out the only person with the experience necessary to remove the tumor had someone cancel a surgery, so I only had to wait 2 weeks for the appointment in late september, and eventually I made a nearly full recovery. For some reason when I walk now, my right leg is almost incapable of moving straight forward, and each step is pretty much centered under me, instead of being in a straight line forward from my hip/shoulder as it should be. No problems in daily activity though.
Being able to leave the hospital after the surgery was basically a birthday present to me, as the release date WAS my birthday:D
But yeah, Kaiser jerked me around for about 8 months, refusing to believe anything was wrong even after I was basically bedridden for 4-5 months. Probably would have NEVER done anything if I had not basically forced them to take a closer look WHILE having the exact diagnosis already made...
The basics of the phrama company, they charge $20 when you can get it for $3 :|
Went to urgent care the other day and they asked me if I had an appointment. Then made me make an appointment for the next day. Why yes, I would love to live for an entire day not being able to hear out of my right ear. 75 dollars on Amazon and a few hours later I have my own equipment and managed to get relief on my own and save lots of money.
You went to urgent care..... because your ear was blocked?
I had appendicitis, I was near death and in a shit ton of pain. I almost died because of how hard it was to find an open office. We didn't want to go to the ER because we didn't think it was that serious (and the ER is expensive as shit). But me and my mom ended up driving for like 6 hours to god knows how many different offices trying to find one that doesn't need appointments.
there is nothing wrong with our health care system, i just have debt collectors call me everyday asking about the money that my insurance doesnt cover for things like ER visits and for anytime i needed a doctor for things that were going to kill me, even with insurance the amount left after the insurance pays most the bill is still so much that if i HAD to pay it i wouldnt have a place to live or anything, so just going to get a voice mail everyday from debt collectors for my healthcare, and a letter in the mail everyother day
Yikes. I hope shit gets better. Maybe check out debt collection anti harassment laws? Document everything n try to seek legal aid? Some places can provide you with free legal consultation
Idk man good luck
Idk about what happens after it goes to debt collectors, but in my state (and I think the whole US, but tbh I'm not sure) as long as you're paying *something* towards a medical balance, even just $10 a month towards a $100,000 balance, they can't come after you. So if the hospital is sending you bills, pay a small amount you can afford and let them send you another one next month.
If it’s in America I’m surprised they came after you, someone I know got into a little accident that cost him thousands and never paid and eventually they fucked off
@@deadmcsteve6681 yep, funny thing, I avoid the doctor as much as possible, still have to go every couple months, going to eventually need surgery or I'll die, but hey since I live in such an amazing place I'll get some money for disability when I'm practically bedridden, so between that and savings I'll be able to keep up with rent
@@lunard8690 Don’t pay. The debt collectors won’t do anything
Oh my god I felt this! I just had my first medical complication while living on my own and I texted my mom like “hey I feel ____ what do I do” and she went “oh go to Walmart get x produce and you’re good to go 👍” cost $15 and saved me a visit that would’ve prescribed the same thing. So glad I got to avoid this
Here, in Italy, public healthcare can really take a lot of time. One of the main reasons is that many people from other country come here to attend free healthcare. Most of them are, you guessed it, Americans.
This is scarily accurate. As in the exact same thing that happen to me.
Perfection as always
I feel like a "this entire video is sarcastic" entry from the perspective of, any other health care system, about americas would be a perfect follow up
"It's only in the directors cut for a reason" has to be one the best things I've heard.
Wow that skit, is just like the NHS in the UK, especially if you pay your National Insurance tax.
Respect for each posting daily for the last god knows how long 👍👍👍
Doctors office. Yeah, your covid test will be ready tomorrow afternoon when you are at work.
Urgent care. 1 hour ready. You have covid, please don't go to work.
Love your videos. Hope your stomach feels better.
dying is much easier than to handle this shit
Yeah they can't make money off you if your dead
This dud has been uploading like crazy and im all about it!
I just recently heard that in Canada they have this new suicide assist program. Doctors are recommending that instead of surgery because it will be affordable, and less painful in a long run.
It’s an attempt to eliminate those who are the biggest burden on the universal healthcare system: the poor and the mentally ill.
sign me up
They just passed euthanasia bill in my country, and we are having some issues with healthcare system before the winter... They are basically saying to the old people in urgent care "Are you in serious pain and want it to stop? Sign this paper and just fuckin die".
Stop reading garbage and read the actual law. That's not happening. God people are dingbats
You talking about medically assisted suicide for people who are about to die to a disease (like brain tumors)?
This is unfortunately relatable ☹️ I’ve been learning changing definitions of “now” for almost a year.
I want my health to be okay enough that I can actually support myself! 😭
This is so much funnier watching from europe :)
+1
I've travelled most of Europe, and this same scenario played out in Alborg in Denmark when I had diarrhea XD
Have fun waiting 50+ years for that surgery you need. xD
(Obvious exaggeration for dramatic effect but you get the idea; and in all honesty, all healthcare systems suck, just in different ways, I'm just pointing out yours sucks too.)
@@aurenkleige I dont get the idea actually. Have had 15 different surgeries in my family since I was born and every single one of them happened after a maximum of 5 days after the diagnosis. And cost no money.
@@Shazam1998 It's okay. Americans have to invent problems with other healthcare systems just so they can keep themselves from burning the US to the ground every night.
Now in UK is in 2 weeks if you are lucky or you have to ring at 8 am and wait on the phone for a hour to be told to ring back tomorrow as all appointments gone
I mean hey, at least you're feeling better and not bankrupt for spending less then 5 seconds in a doctors office
Huge win in my book
The fact that your primary care doctor was willing to see you the next day means you’re more fortunate than 99% of Americans. Best I’ve ever gotten was 3 days later. And he gave you a referral to see a specialist who could see you in a few days? That’s even luckier!
Totally unrealistic! Usually its more like (calling specialist): Hi I have a referral to get my stomach looked at, when is your next appointment? Oh, we are booked solid for about 3 months. How's your Tuesday three months from now at 3 pm on the 13th? Well, I'd have to try driving across 60 mi of rush hour traffic but ok. What's your insurance info? We will need you to fill that out before you come in. [also the insurance has a large deductible, so you'll be paying for it anyway AS WELL as the insurance, and wait until you need the meds and get that bill, if you are alive 3 months later].
You should see what its like with our socialised healthcare here in the Netherlands. I had to wait for over three months to get a sleep study (a basic one where they attach a small machine and you sleep at home) and have to wait a little over a month to even speak to my gastro-enterologist even though I'm an active patient and my stomach issued have been getting pretty concerning recently. Still had to spend hundreds of euros for my sleep study even though I'm insured, had to pay hundreds to get two cavities filled as well. Luckily I pay a shit tonne of tax and insurance money! Gotta love how good it is here.
That aggressive typing only to say they are out💀
My favorite memory was being in the waiting room to see my doctor when I literally had severe nausea and had been throwing up for days. Then I actually had to walk outside to puke. I told the person at the desk, who glared at me and said “I guess I’ll clean it up”. Then they ushered me into the doctor’s room early. To wait another hour for them to finally come inside and talk to me.
That will be $54,000 please. You have until now to pay it.
Oh, and by the way, Now has JUST reverted to the original definition! Will that be cash, card, or lawsuit in one week?
Pharmacy Tech here. We are constantly getting a stream of new prescriptions, so I'm probably typing the prescription in front of you which is why it takes me a while. Then I run it through the insurance. If all goes well, then it goes to a pharmacist to make sure I typed it correctly, then to the tech or pharmacist that's filling prescriptions, then back to a pharmacist to make sure it was filled correctly.
I will totally tell you if the over-the-counter medication is cheaper. One less prescription to fill! 😊
I WISH I could look up another pharmacy's inventory online! I have to choose a pharmacy I think MIGHT have it, go through their automated menu, then wait on hold. If they don't have it, I chose another pharmacy and do it all over again.
Depending on the medication (like, if I don't think anyone will actually have the medication in stock because it's rarely prescribed or if the insurance just doesn't cover it and the medication is too pricey for the customer to just pay for it) then I call the doctor's office to see if they'll change it to a different medication. So, I call the office, go through their automated menu, wait on hold, and leave a message with the receptionist/medical assistant/nurse. If I'm lucky, they'll be able to ask the doctor while I'm on hold (which might take a while, but it's the better option). If not, then I have to wait for the office to call back with the doctor's response. That could be minutes, hours, days, or not at all.
While I'm on hold with either a pharmacy, a doctor's office, or the insurance's pharmacy help desk, I'm scrambling to get any work done while I have the phone on speaker so I can hear when an actual person picks up the phone. This means I can't answer any other phone calls (or I just put them on hold from another phone), I can't be at the register (or I might miss when a person answers the phone and they hang up on me because there's not a quick response on my end), I can't go outside to help a customer find a product and have to yell the location to the customer from ten feet away (hoping they can understand and follow my directions).
No, there's no "special" line for pharmacies to call other pharmacies or doctor's offices that will prioritize our phone calls. 😢 We call the same phone number you do--with the exception of the insurance's pharmacy help desk which you can't use or they'll just transfer you to the customer service line.
So, this was longer than I'd meant for it to be.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk! 😁
right after i finished the 'if God was a bro' video, this came out immediately, awesome
Lol it's like my experience with the VA the other day.
Hey, I'm freshly out of active duty and soon I'm going to be running out of the meds that keep me a functioning member of society who reacts normally to things.
Ok! We have an appointment for psychiatry end of MARCH or we can refer you out into the network! (Look up psychiatrists and therapists in my area online...not taking new clients...they don't deal with the problems I'm having...not taking new clients...and oh not taking new clients).
Ok! Cope until I break and end up in a psych ward or turn to alcohol again it is!
😃
Did he get better because of the OTC or because the problem just went away on its own?
It was just masking the real issue. He is dead.
What a great Zach Star Himself video!
best comedian on youtube
I've been getting this sharp shooting pain in my gut for about 5 months now. Military medical "yea your blood test shows somethings wrong but we don't know what". 5 months later and I'm just resigned to live with it, but it's ok the pain only wakes me up from deep sleep a couple times a week.
This is why its important to know the basics of healthcare for yourself.
This trip cost him $15,000
You know at least we can see a doctor within a few days, in other countries you have to wait weeks or months to get in to a doctor.
You forgot the part where you had to pay 5 trillion dollars for it :)
It's very similar in the UK.
First
Ok dude, what the flip
You actually ARE 1ST!! Lol
@@robbymounce5764 i was second
@@metalhazard6443 Your momma
Welcome to the club, pal. I've been dealing with this my entire life, and now that I literally can't speak due to medical issues, and since I don't have insurance idk if or when I'll even be able to see a doctor haha
I'll never get over how Zach masterfully recreates each scenario in his videos.
JUST jumped through healthcare hoops this week. TOTALLY feeling this! I'm (hopefully) getting my meds in an hour.
I live in Maine, and I've been waiting for a primary care physician appointment for over 8 months. I was supposed to see a doctor 3 months ago, but they quit and none of the other doctors were " accepting new patients " so I was sent to the back of the line again.
From the UK we're seeing similar problems. As always thank you for the content sir 👍
My clinic stopped excepting walk ins and Saturdays for regular patients, last I went was I told him I have loss of appetite and I might be pregnant but wanna check to see if the pregnancy test is accurate, I took 2 more pregnancy test and I had to Google an obgyn .. I literally can pay 5 dollars for the same pregnancy tests and they charged me 100 dollars for it .. yes America health care is so amazing
I was born in USSR and I have to report that *their* health care was way worse. Most doctors say patients as nuisance and tried to avoid them; the technology was very outdated. E.g. a tooth filling lasted ~2 years at the very best, before failing...
... and when you go to the ER, the insurance would deny the service as "Diagnosis not EMERGENCY-RELATED" ... I have to deal with this crap everyday as a hospital claims collector. I've also worked with a case where the patient passed out (near highway), we dispatched an ambulance but then the insurance denied our claim as non-emergent and the rationale is that, it is "not life threatening". Also I've seen patients unable to get their chemo meds because it is UNAUTHORIZED. It is terrible and I feel bad
I still remember laying at the ER for 8-9 hours with splitting, vomit-inducing headaches - on the ground because they didn't have any free beds - then finally getting hooked up to a drip with painkiller, getting an EKG, a CT and other basic diagnostic stuff to finally be told I just needed some coffee; I don't drink coffee so I got caffeine pills...
I love the rolling definition of now. It's better than now!
Your doctors are generous. Mine can't see any urgent patients for at least 3 weeks, 6 if it's a nonemergency.
Reminds me of when I broke my arm and went to Urgent Care and they didn't even have a sleeve for it so I had to go another day with a broken arm to wait for the hospital
so true i once went to urgant care twice got the same lady who didnt have any intrest on what she was doing and said i was dehydrated both times neither time was i dehydrated