Emergency Room Waiting Times

I detest the ER. I had a very bad experience with it.

Last summer, I came down with something that affected my stomach (we did nearly 100 tests and never found out what), and I was hemorrhaging out the insides/lining of my intestines. I went to the ER and I was directed to my doctor again who told me to take some Tylenol. When the blood coming out of me (in little bursts every 10-15 minutes) got sooo painful that I fell unconscious, my parents called the ER again told them that I was coming and that I needed treatment immediately. They told me parents "OK, we will try to free up a bed for her." (this all took under one day). My parents drove me to the ER, and told them that I was here. They asked for my pain levels, which were obviously 10/10. The nurse took my blood pressure and saw that it was sky high because of the pain. They told me they would try to get me to a doctor asap. We waited 8 hours. Nothing. My parents told them that I could not sit up because of the pain, and that I needed to lie down. Did they have even just a blanket for me, so that I wouldn't have to lay directly on the cold, dirty ground? No, they weren't allowed to give me one. The receptionist (who was a sweetheart, despite all the people in the ER who were screaming at her. Bless her heart.) told us they could not get me in. She called surrounding hospitals (with a 1.5 hours drive radius). None of them would be able to have the tools to treat me. She told me parents to take me back home, so I could be more comfortable on a bed, instead of the plastic chairs. The receptionist told us that she listed me as priority and would call us to bring me back when they had room (I lived less than ten minutes away so it was easy enough to do). It took 4.5 DAYS for them to have me. I lost a lot amount of blood, had a dangerous blood pressure, and was seriously dehydrated. >.< And I have very good insurance.

Yay for living in America!

And it wasn't like my parents were rude, it wasn't late in the day, my problems were definitely not ranked as minor, I have insurance, and my family was willing to spend the money to have me get better.

That being said, the care way amazing when I was finally in the hospital. And the nurses were nice (in the ICU, not in the ER). So I am glad that I didn't die in they end (which I thought I was going to at first).

 

I doubt its the neo-liberalness that screwed up the hospitals, to be honest. The hospital (or at least the ER) wasn't very well equipped for the large mass of people that needed attention. Many hospitals in America are top notch with great, well-trained doctors. I wouldn't be able to generalize about the quality overall easily.

 

I'm confused by this too. The US has been under conservative or neo-conservative administrations since Carter left office in 1980. Even Clinton, a Democrat, is considered to be moderate to conservative on fiscal issues.

 

neo-liberalism is what Ms. Margaret Thatcher professed.

not necessarily liberal in the sense of left wing, but like liberty of laissez-faire.

 

I know in my section of Canada, all sorts of mental hospitals were closed at about the same time too.

 

I was rushed to the hospital once after passing out from a heart attack from giving blood. It turns out I have less than the average amount of blood and my body can't take it, the doctor said to not give anymore blood since it could kill me.

Anyway they put me on oxygen and took me to the hospital, I woke up later and the doctor was just coming in to see me. I looked at the clock and saw that it was about 2 hours later(from when I had the heart attack) yet the hospital is only 20 mins away. Then the doctor was talking slow and loud like I couldn't understand him or something. The he took my oxygen away! He said I didn't need it anymore since I was breathing on my own. He still didn't give it back even though I was gasping because I wasn't able to breathe properly.

I fell back alseep(the heart attack really weakened me I guess) and was awoken at like 5am by a nurse saying I had to leave cause they needed the bed for someone else. I hate the hospitals here! They suck!

 

Ah, it's a misuse of the term.

Mrs Thatcher was head of the British Conservative party.

In general, conservatives (right wingers) believe in reduced government and that private enterprise should manage things like healthcare with minimal government regulation. This is the position of the US Republican party.

Liberals (left wingers) believe in large, centralized government services with increased regulation. They would more likely to believe in socialized and nationalized healthcare. This is the position of the US Democratic party.

 

I don't know if it's exactly a misuse.... ..... neo-liberalism was created so that moderate liberals and conservatives can both be happy and even some socialist parties have adopted neo-liberalism as a platform, the Austrian Socialist Party famously refused to accept a neo-liberal platform (and conservative parties almost always support neo-liberalism).

Shown in the states, both major parties must advocate some form of this neo-liberalism whereas in Canada where I'm from, the term is kind of misplaced, it is mostly only the conservative party that stresses less government intervention and the liberal party don't necessarily advocate neo-liberal points of view.

 

so a discussion about political points of view stemming from "ER wait times" ... ....

well the two times I did and the numerous times my family needed to use the ER, it was not like lightning speed, but it was not bad at all ... sorry to hear all these horrific stories.

 

I often wondered - why doesn't the USA have a free health care system like we have in the UK and in Australia? Does anyone know?

 

^ Lots of reasons. General American libertarian attitudes such as wanting to pay less taxes, not trusting government to run anything effectively, freedom to make your own decisions, etc. Also add to that the greater power of the private sector and their lobbyists in the USA who have been able to scuttle (so far) any movement toward more universal healthcare.

 

Soz if I'm being dumb, but wot's libertarian? I saw that word in blogs and stuff, but I don't really know what it means. Actually I don't understand American politics at all. Like they talk about 'liberals' like it's a bad thing - but when I look up the word 'liberal' it sounds like a very good thing. It means someone who is tolerant and generous and all that stuff.

 

Thx for that, but why are you against universal health care?
It works great. When I got smashed up on my bike, I was in hospital and it didn't cost my mum a penny. We are not rich, and it would have been a lot of money without the NHS.

 

Why would it cost more per person, though? You would probably just have to put up tax like we do (which people might not like in America)
As for people getting out of work.. click me

 

It's a misuse in the same way that we had a bill in the US called the "Clear Skies Initiative" that loosened restrictions on air pollution in the US. Or the "Defense of Marriage Act" that prevents gay marriage from being recognized by the federal government or across state lines.

It's the Orwellian use of words. There's nothing liberal at all about Thatcher's policies. And I'm sure whoever coined the term "neo-liberalism" knew that.

In the early part of the 20th century, the labor movement lobbied to have health insurance added to benefits provided by employers. In the 1940s, employer-provided health care insurance became tax-deductible for companies and that's how it became a standard employment benefit. Health insurance costs are not deductible for individual people, so if I have my own policy, I can't write off the cost on my tax return.

So most of us in the US get our health insurance from our employers. The problem is that if we lose our jobs, we lose our insurance.

Healthcare isn't free anywhere. Citizens in countries like the UK, Canada and Australia pay for their healthcare system through taxes. In the US, employers pay anywhere from $500-1000 per employee per month for health insurance (individuals contribute anywhere from $0-200 from our payroll checks to supplement what our employers pay). In the US, we also have a payroll tax to finance Medicare which is the government insurance program that covers medical costs for people over age 62 who don't have employer-provided health insurance.

So, it works like this- if you're under 62 years old and not disabled, you pay for your insurance through an employer-provided policy. If you're over 62 years old and retired, the government covers most of the cost of your healthcare through Medicare (which is- yes- a socialized healthcare insurance program).

Libertarians believe that liberties come from the people not the government. A libertarian might believe that gay people can marry because the government has no business telling people what they can and can't do. They believe in minimal government and don't like paying taxes to support a government that they believe to be largely unnecessary.

It gets confused with fiscal conservatism. Fiscal conservatives believe that government is necessary but only to the extent to maintain order and protect the rights of taxpayers.

It's the social conservatives that most of us have problems with. They have issues with the separation of religion and government. They would be happy if their interpretation of religious law was incorporated into the laws of the state.

 

mk.