Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Health service?

So I'm chatting to my dietician about my hunger pangs (I'm starving, believe me you can here the rumbling from here to San Francisco), and she asks if I'm getting my thyroid tested before I go for my next endo appointment. I was a little nonplussed and said I thought I'd get blood taken at the office and then the endo could ring me with the results. "Oh, that will depend on your insurance" she said. Apparently your HMO can decide whether your doctor takes your blood or they send you to another special vampire facility.
I kid you not, if they can't take blood while I'm at the office, that's it, I'm quitting. I cannot believe the hoops the insurance companies make you jump through in order to manage a chronic disease. I've been through three health systems in three different countries and this is by far the worst. It's also the most expensive. It's as if medical practitioners provide care in spite of the roadblocks thrown up by the HMOs.
My particular bugbear? The slogan of my insurance provider: "There is a better way". There sure is, and this isn't it.

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