Government run health care is no different anywhere.
Try finding a Medicare neurologist these days here in the US. Three month wait, if you are lucky.
And a Medicaid neurologist? Non-existent.
Of course, not mentioned in the article is that an Irish citizen can see a private neurologist and get a private MRI instantly. Such services are not however “free.”
Why does it take 10 months to get an MRI? So few machines purchased with the limited funds of a government paid health plan? So few operators of said machines due to low pay, or there is no money in the plan to pay for more?
What limits all this? The government just doesn't have the $$ to pay for these things? No one wants to work in healthcare due to the low wages? Can someon help me out hre so I have ammo against those I talk to who advocate universal healthcare?
As an aside, I can tell you this: My county free health clinic has a policy of only taking daily appointments. This means you have to start calling them at 8 am and hope you get through before all of the appointments for the day are taken. Of course, you are calling them along with a thousand other people, so it's always busy. If you do not get through in time, too bad! You'll have to try again tomorrow, as they do not accept appointments for anything but the current day.
Contrast this with you-pay-your-way healthcare: I call my Dr. and if I'm really bad off, I'll get squeezed in somehow, otherwise, I'm given an appointment for the next day or a few days from now.
Folks, government run healthcare is not the answer!
The good news: Healthnet is very, very inexpensive. I pay $230 a year for full outpatient and inpatient care. $10 copay. Prescriptions are $3-$9. I get Healthnet as part of military retirement.
The bad news: service runs between fair and bad. It takes six weeks to get a doctor's appointment. It takes a minimum of six months to schedule a physical. When I go to the doctor I usually see a PA or NP. The doctor comes in at the end for less than five minutes and reviews, punches-up his Blackberry, and vanishes. It is impossible -- impossible -- to get the doctor's office on the phone. All communications must be done by fax. There is a delay each way. Getting a referal to see a specialist takes months. This is not good medical care.
Good. Fast. Cheap. Choose two.
I have MS. Initial visit to a neurologist can be a wait, unless your GP is willing to go to bat for you and say it’s urgent. But once the neurologist said, “Could be brain tumor or MS,” I had an MRI within days. And every subsequent MRI I’ve had, there was never much of a wait.
My understanding, from Canadian friends who have MS, is that the wait in Canada is caused by lack of machines, thus making the wait longer.