When is the last time you saw a medical Doctor?

[ThomWV]

When was the last time you saw a medical Doctor in hope of treatment?

[greennina]

1. Why only go to five years?

I haven't been in over 25 years, and I don't think most of my friends have been to one in over a decade. Only the rich can afford to go to the doctor yearly.

[ThomWV]

4. It says "More" than 5 years in the first block

[greennina]

9. Of course it does.

There's no reason for you to be insulting. The real point is that the poll is seriously flawed. Most people can't afford a doctor so the time will be greater than five years. Having no real options to show just how bad health care is in this country seriously disenfranchises many of us. Instead of being able to pick a reasonable option, I'm forced to pick one that makes it incorrectly appear that I have much better health care than I have. It is very slanted against the truth of what is really going on in this country. Pull your head out of the sand.

[ThomWV]

16. I'm sorry if you were insulted, that was not my intention

[Posteritatis]

30. Uhh, I'm not seeing an insult there. (nt)

[TexasObserver]

40. There was no insult. Lose the bad attitude.

It's a good poll, and you didn't bother to look at it closely before popping off about it.

Then when the thread starter plainly informed you, instead of thanking him and being respectful, you attacked him without any logical basis.

[Igel]

35. Hardly.

I saw a doctor once in 20 years, when I was younger.

Now I see one monthly, on average. Ophthalmologist, endocrinologist. From time to time a general practitioner. Just had hand surgery. If I hadn't seen a doctor there years ago, I'd be dead now--and most of the other doctor visits since then are related to that one problem. (Not the hand business, though--that's a different kind of recurring problem.)

Our kid sees one annually, since he has an annual checkup and most of his diseases are viral and not life-threatening.

My wife sees one a couple of times a year, if she gets a flu shot.

We're hardly rich.

[lildreamer316]

2. I had to vote 6 mos because I saw a doc for the first time in 10 yrs three mos ago.

I had a UTI that gave me a 103 fever and constant nausea - I was so dehydrated I had to get an IV. I lived with the condition for 5 days before taking myself to an Urgent Care facility, however. It has cost us about $250 or so.

[stray cat]

3. Not only a doctor but an ambulance and ER stay

My employer pays most of my insurance. I had a $20 copay for the doctor, $100 for the ER, $20 for x-rays and the ambulance was a volunteer group and didn't charge. The whole thing was a bargain! I usually go once a year but H1N1 was a rough ride.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

5. not me personally

but our little ones (3 of them) are prone to various conditions that lead to trips to the doc/ER...yesterday was a doc-in-a-box for a severe tummy ache...

sP

[KittyWampus]

6. This Spring was my first visit to a nurse practioner for a Gyn check up in maybe 15 years

But it was necessary and I am so glad to have gone. My insurance wouldn't cover it but money well spent.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

7. was it because it was an NP and not a OB/GYN?

I would think covering an annual checkup would be part of any plan...

sP

[madokie]

8. Yesterday morning

I would like to add: I wish everyone in this country had the quality of healthcare I enjoy with the VA system. The best there is bar none.

[Dogmudgeon]

10. Yesterday

I fit into the "continuous treatment" category.

However, I was without insurance for so long that I never saw a physician. This led to a collapse in my health, that put me on state medical assistance, and frequent medical attention.

So much for saving The Taxpayers' Dollars (TM) by denial of coverage.

On the other hankd, it is unlikely that I will require much, if any, in the way of "eldercare".

--d!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

11. I saw my MD yesterday

but then I work for her! :)

However, that being said, we did have a nice talk about my husband's health issues. And Doc has been known to come to me when I'm ailing and not saying anything about it.

But then Doc works for her patients, not for the money.

[morillon]

38. I read about your doctor in another of your posts.

She sounds like an incredibly cool woman.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

45. She is

She's been working for health care reform ever since Hillary tried to do something about it in the 90s. Doc is very much aware of the hold the insurance companies have on the issue.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. 9 months ago

I didn't see that as an option.

[no_hypocrisy]

13. I go to a naturopath for maintenance and a few issues.

I go to my "doctor" for lab tests mostly or for acute issues (e.g., sciatic pain).

[Bonhomme Richard]

14. Yesterday. Had a perianal cyst surgically removed.

Yeah, I know. Way too much information.
Drugs are my friend.

[DailyGrind51]

15. I go once a year for tumor marker screening.

[JustAnotherGen]

17. Constantly at the doctor

Diagnosed with an autoimmune/rheumatic disease 2 months ago. All I've done between Feb and two Mondays ago has been going to GP, Hematologists, R.A. specialist, etc. etc. This 'journey' has made me step 1000 fold my demand/annoyance to Leonard Lance (my rep)/insistence/petulance that EVERY SINGLE AMERICAN BE ABLE TO SEE A PHYSICIAN WHEN THEY NEED ONE - I.E. AFFORD IT!!!!!

My employer pays the vast majority of my health insurace, I have an HSA (ran through the $800 put aside in May), and my co-pays for GP are $10 and specialists $20.

I keep asking myself - What does another single bi-racial woman who only makes - let's say $$45K and lives by herself in NJ - that doesn't have health ins/or subpar health insurance do if SHE gets a disease that only white, 21 year old males with an x, r, or vowel at the end of their name do? She does nothing. Becasue she couldn't afford the $8900 in blood work alone. So a vibrant young woman becomes a hunch back and dies in 10 years because her rib cage compresses her lungs.


This isn't right. It's not right that a woman can't afford to see a gnecologist for 15 years. It's not fair that a child can't see a doctor for an ear infection until it could have possibly done permanent damage.


I may be a one woman army - but I think we a 10 Million person march on DC. Might just be me - but I'm protesting on the Sunday before Labor Day. Affordable accessible health care/insurance for all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[liberalhistorian]

18. Hubby and I don't have insurance right now, so

we'll only go to any medical professional if it's absolutely necessary. The difference between going to a doctor with insurance and without is almost like being in another world. If you can even find a doctor who'll take you without insurance, that is.

[ThomWV]

21. Interesting, I have insuracne and I still don't go.

I have insurance, the same insurance as Congress-critters. But even with it I avoid doctor visits like the plague simply because I can't afford them. Really, having insurance doesn't mean that the bill will be paid - its no guarantee at all.

[Blue Diadem]

19. Before my ER trip via rescue squad this past March, it had been 5 yrs or more

Deductibles, copays and periods of no insurance kept both my husband and I from seeking medical treatment. His ER trip was last year and we're still trying to pay off that deductible as well as my own from this year.

My DH was laid off in Feb. and his employer covered our insurance through the end of March. We won't be able to afford Cobra after the 9 month stimulus plan premium reduction runs out at the end of the year.

[buzzycrumbhunger]

20. I have crappy insurance

. . . and haven't bothered going for decades. Aside from shattering a knee and requiring an insanely expensive repair (far from perfect), which was only covered under thread of lawsuit (it was a slip and fall injury), I just don't go--and that includes broken bones (several), bad back, and delivering my second child at home myself (yes, I had marginal help, but I even had to get up and wash the sheets after), and this after my first pregnancy with a C-section.

With my OOP expense currently at $6K before insurance even kicks in and a maximum payout of $80K in a year, this doesn't even qualify as a safety net. I have had to raise a family on home remedies except for the most urgent injuries. I'd like to see these right-wing fucks splinting their own broken foot and still managing to not miss work or getting dinner on the table for their families. They might be signing a different tune if they actually knew what it was to lack the ability to just roll in for an office visit for a real illness or injury, let alone every runny nose or wart.

[global1]

22. I'm Self Employed And Pay $1938.04 Every Two Months For BC/BS......

health insurance for myself only. It is a policy with a $3,000 deductible. So before BC/BS has to spend dollar one on me - I'm into them for close to $15,000. And guess what - I'm afraid to go to see a doctor. Why? I'm worried that when I actually have some serious problem that I need to see a Doc about - that BC/BS will claim some silly 'pre-existing' condition clause - because of some minor ailment that I might have gone to see a Doc about prior to.

So bottom line - I try and keep myself in good shape and maintain my health. If I have a problem - I self medicate. That's my story. Sucks - don't it.

[TreasonousBastard]

23. I'm curious about some of the responses here...

mainly the "can't afford" ones.

How broke do you have to be that a $20 copay is going to take food out your kids' mouths? OK, copays and deductibles adding up to thousands before ridiculously expensive insurance kicks in sucks, but avoiding care because of that?

If you make around the median income for your area, why not be able to afford a doctor visit? Car payments? Mortgage payments on that house you overpaid for? (Or humongous rents from your greedy landlord?) Vacations? Eating out a lot? Something else eating up your paychecks? Why isn't health care a financial priority?

Afraid to go to the doctor because he might find something bad, and expensive? Truth is, that's an old one that used to be mainly men who believed ignorance is bliss, and suspected that if you didn't know what you had, it would go away.

OK, some people are broke enough to not be able to afford even minimal care, but then I see "Someone better pay the whole thing or I'm just going to sit here and suffer. That'll show 'em." Sure will. How about expanding Medicaid instead of Medicare? How about not letting Medicaid wither on the vine?

It's expensive to live in the US, and some places are much more expensive than others, sapping even good paychecks, but demanding completely free care for everything might be a bit much. Why not a free apartment? Free clothes? No limit on food stamps, and everyone gets them...

[laughingliberal]

28. The median income in my state is not much

And the point is that once we pay for a place to live, food, something to wear, there really isn't much left. Rarely do you get out of doctor visit with just the copay. At the very least there will probably be a prescription to fill. And there may be lab work, x-rays, CT scans, etc...No point is seeing the doc if I can't afford the treatment.

[tularetom]

24. I last saw a doctor in 1998 when my finger became disconnected from my hand

by a saw. on a memorial day weekend. I got the stump sewed up in the ER. Then, per instructions by the ER doc, I returned there 10 days later to have the stitches pulled. I debated doing it myself, but ultimately went back to the ER because I assumed it wouldn't cost me anything. After all, I had excellent employer paid health insurance.

Boy was I wrong. Because removal of stitches was deemed a "non emergency" by the bean counters at blue shield, they refused to cover it being done in an ER. Thus began a three month hassle between myself, my wife, the hospital, and blue shield over who must pay for this non emergency performed in an emergency facility. My contention was that I went back there under instruction by the ER doc and thus it was really just a continuation of my original visit.

Of course, we lost. And had to fork over the dough for the second ER visit. It wasn't a huge amount only 3 or 4 hundred bucks. But I'm sure all the hassle cost blue shield that much to keep denying our claims and appeals.

Want high blood pressure? Try actually using the "best health care in the world".

[SteveM]

25. 20+ years ago. Sixty-one, P-T jobs, no insurance. Typical (nt)

[BlooInBloo]

26. Over a decade. Don't know more specifically than that.

[Beaverhausen]

27. I'm due for my annual physical soon. I'm lucky enough to have really good insurance

I work for a large media corp so we have great insurance. I take advantage of it now that I have it cause I never know when I won't.

[Blue_In_AK]

29. I have to see a doctor yearly

to get my blood tested and my Synthroid prescription renewed. Other than that, I haven't been sick.

[WillowTree]

31. Thursday afternoon for an inflamed callous on my foor.

Also see the dermatologist at least every two months, more often if necessary, for blood work to check liver enzoymes due to the meds I take for psoriasis.

[MilesColtrane]

32. 19 years here...

I did go to a Quack Shack last year. A Nurse Practitioner saw me.

[Lugnut]

33. I saw my doctor in May.

I have a Medicare Advantage plan.

[Kali]

34. 3 to 5 for me

although I took my son for a back x-ray last year. Doc charged ~ $60 and the hospital/x-ray was around $350. I'm sure that was reasonable wasn't it?:eyes:

no insurance, all out of pocket

[Cleita]

36. Within the last month, but then I have a government administered program

called Medicare.

[havocmom]

37. Seeing one regularly (every six months). Problem is, doctor doesn't see me.

Lots of related visits to other clinic (big medicine business clinic) employees, err, doctors but nothing getting done. And how could we be making any progress restoring health in 5 minute visits, just long enough to justify a billing transaction?

Three hour drive each way, lots of $ paid monthly for insurance, lots of co-pays, no real medical care. The doctors are employees rather than practitioners. They seem to be concerned with getting people in and out of as many offices in the clinic, lots of billing, nothing resembling care for a very long time. One of the doctors I was refereed to was later extradited to another state where he was wanted for sex crimes. That clinic is doing fine work checking backgrounds, I tell ya.

And they are about the only game for hundreds of miles. Other doctors not taking new patients, lots leaving private practice.

But that clinic put on a fabulous, splendid, lavish expansion.

And my condition deteriorates to the point that I am losing too much function. Still no xray of the joints that are keeping me from walking, but regular advice to 'do more walking'. I walk, I fall, I get so much pain I am stuck at home for days at a time.

Yes, I have seen the doctor. But I can't get a doctor to see me. And I have pretty good insurance.

The whole system is broken. McMedicine big business franchises suck.

[morillon]

43. Sounds like the big orthopedic clinic I fired last month.

They were trying to scare me into having a very expensive surgery and wouldn't even consider starting the usual conservative treatments, such as a 6-day steroid treatment followed by NSAIDs, physical therapy, traction, and so forth. They basically wanted to dope me up on painkillers and schedule me for surgery right away. When I mentioned that I might get a second opinion, they got pissy with me, particularly when they found out it was with a very well-known local expert on the particular problem I have. I think they knew then and there that the game was up and they wouldn't be getting a big fat fee.

I got a second and a third opinion, as a matter of fact, and both agreed that the other guy was full of shit. I'm slowly improving, and if I'm very lucky, I won't ever need the surgery.

I hope you can get some help. Sometimes you can get around the "not seeing new patients" thing if a current patient asks on your behalf. A coworker of mine did that for me once with her doctor, who wasn't accepting new patients according to the web site and his office staff.

[DefenseLawyer]

39. 1987

Football physical, senior year of high school. Now please excuse me while I spend the next several days knocking on wood.

[nadinbrzezinski]

41. I do get regular care and damn it I know HOW LUCKY I am

really lucky.

[TexasObserver]

42. Recommend

[Skittles]

44. due for annual physical later this month

I'm still lucky enough to have insurance through my job and take advantage of the yearly physicals/screenings

[ipaint]

46. 1993 n/t

[Jennicut]

47. Have to go every 6 months to an endocrinologist for my diabetes and to my main doctor every year

Thankfully, my husband has insurance and we only have a 20$ copay. But Cigna could up the prices at any time. The cost of the medications can add up. Without insurance I would most likely be dead. Actually, I think my parents would help me pay for the medications before they let me get sick but without insurance I would be in real trouble. I am constantly nervous that my husband will lose his job and we will have some real problems on our hands. Relying on employers for insurance is a nerve racking thing for some of us.

[blondeatlast]

48. I voted "monthly" but since I see three doctors on a regular basis it is more like

one every 3-6 months (I try to scheduyle all visists the same day).

[ellie]

49. I had plantar fascitis last October

I didn't know it, I thought the pain was in my leg. Some Aleve and some ice packs and I healed very quickly.