Other than the GPS not knowing where this place is the morning is going good. So far the experience has been positive. I am impressed by the facility and the staff so far.
I am not sure what I expected, perhaps not something as nice as this. Maybe I was expecting something on the order of a delapidated wooden building with antique equipment.
My last experience with large scale government medicine was at Tripler Army Hospital in Hawaii, but that was in 1972. That was when they thought they wanted to operate on my knees and remove my knee-caps. Thankfully they finally decided not to do that.
Now I am sitting here in the waiting room – nurse just called my name. That was fast.
What a very friendly nurse. I just answered all the preliminary questions and now waiting for the doctor.
The nurse was so apologetic that the VA doesn’t provide every new and latest drug that comes out. For myself I am not sure that every new drug that comes out is good anyway. Some drugs are just old ones rebranded and recommended for uses for which they were never originally intended with only minimul research into the new use. All to keep making money off a drug and to keep it from going generic.
OK, the worst part of this so far is not the waiting, its the waiting in waiting rooms with televisions. I haven’t watched TV in ages and ages and today I feel like I overdosed on it. All that was on were the Health Insurance Reform town hall meetings. What a farce.
People were so fake-mad and tossing out all sorts of wild claims about the current administration. Most of the time speaking in wildly over-inflated generalities to which there really is no sane rational response. Saying things like “their tearing this country apart” or “return America to the people (would that be Native American’s)” or taking away our liberties (would that be like the warrentless wiretaps done by the Bush administration).
It is clear that they really want nothing done. They would it seem prefer health care as it is distributed now to the ones who can afford it and then nothing for anyone else. Which is pretty much how the system works now, especially with so many people un-insured.
Though I have been eligible for VA healthcare all my adult life I have never taken advantage of it, thinking that well I had insurance so I would leave that for those who need it. I am saddened that even now I have to use the VA, I wouldn’t if it weren’t for “pre-existing” conditions that make health insurance impossible for me to afford. I could afford to pay for some health insurance but there is nothing I could buy now that would give me any coverage at all and I do need the coverage.
It reminds me of the time when I was in my early 20’s living in Hawaii. I broke my foot and lost my job because of it. I had medical bills to fix the foot and when I received them they were in the thousand dollar range (back in 1973 – pretty steep). So I applied for welfare and they in turn paid the bill to the hospital which was reduced to $190. I could have paid that but no I couldn’t be billed that.
So now I am taking advantage of my veterans benefit.
As I was leaving today the receptionist called me back and said that she needed to check to see if I qualified for transportation reimbursement. I thought for sure I wouldn’t be, I only live 6 miles away. Yet low and behold they gave me $7. I don’t know yet what my co-pay will be for sure but the lady thought it was $8 per month for ALL of my medications (7). I won’t get rich from this but at least I won’t go broke either.
It would be nice if there was some way we could all get together and come up with something for everyone. You would think that with as large a country as this, with all of our technology and clever people we could work something out. Looks like maybe we can’t.
