> I almost never got adequate medical care. The medical system was strange and winding. There were all kinds of approvals needed for very simple things.
The military implements socialism _poorly_.
By contrast, when I had a horrific gout flareup in Australia, there was no approvals needed to admit me for a nine day inpatient stay with rheumatologist, PT, etc.
I am getting surgery on a heavily deviated septum, in the US. It shows up on imaging so notably that even when I had a head CT for something completely else, the radiologist flagged it as being of note. When I went to an ENT, he confirmed a "90%+" occlusion that would need septoplasty and a bilateral turbinate reduction to relieve. He talked me through the pros and cons of surgery for informed consent purposes.
"I'm fine with all of that, let's schedule."
"So, no. Not yet. First I'm going to give you these two nasal sprays for six weeks, that you'll take and come back and tell me didn't resolve your issue, and _then_ we can schedule. That way your insurance won't reject it."
I had to spend $180 on two nasal sprays that, according to my insurer, may have resolved a cartilage issue in my nose.
i.e. 1) the non-socialist system in the US also requires all kinds of approvals (I'm also a paramedic - UHC years ago got fined for denying Heli EMS coverage for people involved in among other things, car accidents, for "lack of preapproval"), and 2) "socialist" systems in other countries don't require all kinds of approvals - that isn't an inherent aspect of the socialism.
The military implements socialism _poorly_.
By contrast, when I had a horrific gout flareup in Australia, there was no approvals needed to admit me for a nine day inpatient stay with rheumatologist, PT, etc.
I am getting surgery on a heavily deviated septum, in the US. It shows up on imaging so notably that even when I had a head CT for something completely else, the radiologist flagged it as being of note. When I went to an ENT, he confirmed a "90%+" occlusion that would need septoplasty and a bilateral turbinate reduction to relieve. He talked me through the pros and cons of surgery for informed consent purposes.
"I'm fine with all of that, let's schedule."
"So, no. Not yet. First I'm going to give you these two nasal sprays for six weeks, that you'll take and come back and tell me didn't resolve your issue, and _then_ we can schedule. That way your insurance won't reject it."
I had to spend $180 on two nasal sprays that, according to my insurer, may have resolved a cartilage issue in my nose.
i.e. 1) the non-socialist system in the US also requires all kinds of approvals (I'm also a paramedic - UHC years ago got fined for denying Heli EMS coverage for people involved in among other things, car accidents, for "lack of preapproval"), and 2) "socialist" systems in other countries don't require all kinds of approvals - that isn't an inherent aspect of the socialism.