The Doc's In, but It'll Be a While (BusinessWeek)

via MichaelMoore.com:


June 22nd, 2007 5:24 pm
The Doc's In, but It'll Be a While

Despite spending lots more per capita on health care, the U.S. is often as bad or worse than other industrialized nations in wait times

By Catherine Arnst / BusinessWeek

Susan M., a 54-year-old human resources executive in New York City, faithfully schedules a mammogram every year, calling each April because she knows it will take at least six weeks to get an appointment. She went in for her routine screening at the end of May, and a few days later learned she would need a second mammogram because the first wasn't clear enough. First date available: July 3. After complaining to a supervisor, Susan (who didn't want her last name used) got an appointment for a week later, and that's when the real waiting started.

A doctor immediately reviewed the second mammogram and told her it showed an abnormality and that she would need a so-called stereotactic biopsy, an outpatient procedure in which a needle is inserted into the breast. But she couldn't get an appointment for the procedure until mid-August. "I completely freaked out," she says. "I couldn't imagine spending the summer with this hanging over my head!" After many calls to five different facilities, Susan found a clinic that would read her existing mammograms on June 25. They would also schedule a follow-up MRI and a biopsy, if needed, within 10 days. That's a full month after her first, suspicious mammogram. "We are constantly told that early detection of cancer is key," she says. "The system is clearly broken."

Sicko Release May Spark Debate

One of the most repeated truisms about the U.S. health-care system is that, for all its other problems, American patients at least don't have to endure the long waits for medical care that are considered endemic under single-payer systems such as those in Canada and Britain. But as several surveys and numerous anecdotes show, waiting times in the U.S. are often as bad or worse as those in other industrialized nations—despite the fact that the U.S. spends considerably more per capita on health care than any other country. In addition, 48 million people without insurance do not have ready access to the system.

The issue of health-care reform in the U.S. is likely to receive even more attention with the June 29 release of Michael Moore's latest film, Sicko. The sharp-edged film calls for dramatic reform of the U.S. health-care system.

While Moore doesn't focus specifically on wait times, delays are becoming a bigger issue. One disturbing study published last year by researchers at the University of California at San Francisco found average waits of 38.2 days to get an appointment with a dermatologist to check out a possibly cancerous mole. "Waiting is definitely a problem in the U.S., especially for basic care," says Karen Davis, president of the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund, which studies health-care policy. She attributes the delays to a number of factors. Only one-third of U.S. doctors are general or family practitioners, she notes, compared with half in most European countries. Also, only some 40% of doctors have arrangements for after-hours care, making it difficult to see a physician on nights and weekends. As a result, emergency rooms have become fallback systems for routine care. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/news/article.php?id=9930

I came down with a nasty virus. A French friend called his own doctor in the morning and made an appointment for later that same day. I paid 20 euros for the visit and 25 euros total for the 3 prescriptions he gave me which included an antibiotic. So, that worked out to the equivalent of $60 to get what I needed to be well again. Had I been French, most of that would have been reimbursable too.

Can you imagine what a European would pay in the US for the same care? My guess is $300 for the office visit and drugs.

Easily.