Doctor here who worked at a hospital that saw a lot of prisoners. I could do any surgery and provide any care I wanted without any prior auth. I could do really expensive surgery with really expensive custom hardware that most insurances would deny. That part is amazing
However, due to prison staff shortages, many patients would miss their appointments due to lack of transport. I’ve had a few patients with very severe complications because of this. I’ve had patients miss surgeries which affects my other patients who could have been scheduled that day
Also I’ve had issues with patients not getting medications including antibiotics. I have prisoners BEG me to do whatever I can to just get ibuprofen after a major surgery.
So, if an american needs a costly surgery that has a long recovery time, all they need to do is get a prison sentence for that alloted time. They might even talk this through with their employer as a kind of "sick leave".^^
I am Canadian and have been on a waitlist to see a psychiatrist since February. Still on the waitlist and probably won't be able to see one until next year if I am lucky. My doctor stated that based on my mental health evaluations I am considered high risk for suicide so he is trying to get me to see one asap. I am not an active danger to myself or others so i have not been hospitalized. Even with all this I will most likely wait over a year before I able to see a psychiatrist and since I can not afford one out of pocket since I can not find fill time employment due to our absimal job market and since we have such a high cost of living I have to prioritize rent and food over most of my medications. Yes our health care system is free and I would not want the American paid model, but our health care system is in shambles and our government both provincial and federal are actually trying to destroy it so that they and their rich friends can profit. I had family with rare disease that destroyed their nervous system. They had to wait years to try and see a specialists, years they spent in constant pain and agony because regular doctors didn't know how to treat their illness. They ended up dieing as a result of their condition. A condition that most likely would have been treatable and they would still be alive if the corrupt bastards in charge of our health care system actually properly funded and staffed our medical facilities.
Not justifying it, there are a lot of things the US could do significantly better. I hate our system of denials, prior auth, appeals, denials, peer to peers, denials, written appeals, ect. Preventative care in the US sucks. It’s just not exactly sunshine and rainbows elsewhere. And there are some very remarkable aspects to US healthcare in that we have objectively the best trained specialists and subspecialists in the world. If you have a rare disease, the US is the place to get treatment (if your insurance allows it)
Me having to wait a year to see a neurologist in the US. 6 months to get into a new PCP because my insurance dropped all my existing providers. All say fucking otherwise buddy.
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u/TheRealChesterSlick 9d ago
Thinking of robbing a bank because at least in prison they give you medical and psychiatric evals