Our healthcare system causes stress for stressed out people

[Emergent, RN]

My main complaint with our multi-payer, everyone's insurance is different, I don't know who to call to find out how things work healthcare system is the stress and anxiety it produces in the lives of our citizens.

It's the worst for the hardworking segment of the population who have copays and pay taxes. Obama care has basically failed that hard pressed demographic. It has made life more complicated.

The worst part is being in the middle of a health care crisis and having to be on phone tree after phone tree to figure things out. This is anxiety producing.

We need a simpler system. Of course, the American public wants gold-plated care. That's not financially practical though. What we need is basic healthcare for all in a user-friendly system that is compassionate and cost-effective.

[Davey Do]

the American public wants gold-plated care. That's not financially practical though. What we need is basic healthcare for all in a user-friendly system that is compassionate and cost-effective.

This portion of your post, Emergent, reminded me of a cartoon I did in my journal after a meeting with the CNO over a year ago.

The first part, "I believe patient care is at the center of Wrongway's endeavor" is almost verbatim of something the CNO said.

The second part is my interpretation of what the CNO was really saying:

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[Buckeye.nurse]

I read an article about healthcare spending a few weeks ago that a friend linked. For pretty much every other service we pay for, we go to a provider--car mechanic, baker, florist, chimney sweep, roofer, etc.--they provide a service description, give a price, and we agree to the service *AND* the price before work is done. Healthcare is one of the few areas where the providers (MDs, mid-level providers, nurses, etc.) not only don't determine the cost of service, they may not even KNOW the cost of the service they are providing. Then the patient gets a bill in the mail with an often shocking amount owed 1-2 months later. The lack of transparency is pretty crazy.

All that is to say that I agree with you Emergent. We need better access to preventative care...and educational programs to show the public how important prevention is--from wellness to early screenings. We also need to know that we can have a needed surgery without going bankrupt. There are no easy answers, but I'm glad you brought the topic up. :)