> persistent irritation > went to Urgent care

You waited until it became a problem, then went to an expensive option instead of contacting your GP and getting a recommendation for an in-network care? And were surprised that it was expensive? This is healthcare 101 in the US. You could have gotten the same care for a reasonable price had you done 1 hour of due diligence.

We do not need to remake the system--which will result in far greater inconveniences than the 1 hour of dd you found to be unreasonable, not only for you, but for people who are perfectly capable of navigating the current system--to save you from yourself.

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aidenn0 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

It takes about 6 months for me to get an appointment with my GP, and then it takes up to a month for their referral to a specialist to be approved, and only then can I make an appointment with my specialist, which is usually booking a few months out, making it about 9 months before I can see someone.

Or I can go into urgent care, and get a referral submited that day, and see someone in only 3 months.

My father in law has a tumor, and was able to start radiation therapy almost 18 months after he first went into a doctor for his symptoms. The specialist scolded him for how long it took saying "there's permanent damage if you don't start treatment within 6 months, you should have come in much sooner" He nearly punched the guy.

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marcusverus 4 days ago | parent [-]

> It takes about 6 months for me to get an appointment with my GP, and then it takes up to a month for their referral to a specialist to be approved, and only then can I make an appointment with my specialist, which is usually booking a few months out, making it about 9 months before I can see someone.

That is radically below par. The nice thing about the American system is that if your GP sucks (as yours clearly does), you can go out and get yourself a new GP! I'm able to get an appointment within a month for a checkup, a couple of days for pressing issues, and have gotten an in-network (non-specialist) referral for a same-day appointment the one time I needed urgent attention. The one time I got a specific referral whose office had a months-long waitlist, I found an in-network alternative, got an updated referral from my GP, and saw someone the following day. My wife regularly gets appointments with her GP or an in-network alternative within a day when she's sick and needs attention. It's worth noting that altering our system wouldn't improve your access to match mine, but would rather would diminish mine to match yours! Surely it's better for both of us if you just find a new GP?

> My father in law has a tumor, and was able to start radiation therapy almost 18 months after he first went into a doctor for his symptoms. The specialist scolded him for how long it took saying "there's permanent damage if you don't start treatment within 6 months, you should have come in much sooner" He nearly punched the guy.

What took so long?

	▲	aidenn0 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		> in-network (non-specialist) referral for a same-day appointment My HMO takes 5-10 business days to approve a non-emergency referral; 3-days for an emergency one doesn't matter what my GP does. Though it's partly moot by the fact that I would have to drive hours to find a specialist that isn't booking many weeks out, it's exacerbated by the fact that no specialists let one schedule an appointment prior to the referral being approved. > Surely it's better for both of us if you just find a new GP? Or I can just go to urgent care if I have an urgent issue?

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alexjplant 4 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

...in what world does it make sense to charge the cost of a motorcycle for a few minutes of a doctor/NP's time and $15 worth of drugs? Jumping through bureaucratic hoops to avoid this is a waste of everybody's time.

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BobaFloutist 4 days ago | parent [-]

Urgent care is pretty widely known to be a scam that preys on those too impatient to "jump through buerocratic hoops (make an appointment in the future with a highly-paid professional instead of paying the premium for the surplus staffing it takes to always have someone available for walk-ins)"

	▲	aidenn0 4 days ago \| parent \| next [-]
		That's interesting because my co-pay at urgent care is the same as with my GP. Maybe there are regional differences? (ER on the other hand I know I won't walk away without many thousands of dollars in bills, on top of a much larger copay, because even though the ER is "in network" none of the contractors working there are)
	▲	nemomarx 4 days ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		"make an appointment for several months for now or get treatment this week" is maybe a better explanation. your GP is good if you have a long term medical issue you want to ask about, less so if you think you've just gotten injured or sick in some way.

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inerte 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I thought by adding the bit about "navigating the complexities" it would prevent comment like yours. You're blaming the victim here.

"it is YOUR FAULT for not reading the fine print"... yeah I know. I am stupid regular guy who would rather NOT have to understand the fine print and have things just work better like the rest of the developed world.

	▲	marcusverus 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		You're an adult. You paid dearly for the convenience of an urgent care, and you clearly learned your lesson. You were not a victim, you were a sucker. In America, we do not reorganize entire industries to soothe the bruised egos of suckers. We just encourage them to do a quick Google search next time.