State of the healthcare system in America: Let's discuss why it's failing

Kevin Garcia12 said:I honestly don't get what the issue is 🤷 in this specific situation—every general hospital should basically have a dedicated "pain clinic" staffed with an anesthesiologist who manages chronic pain therapies. If a patient is immobile, their primary care physician just needs to write a referral to that specific clinic and request an ambulance for that day (this really needs to be sorted out at least 3 or 4 days in advance so the drivers can actually organize their schedules properly and we avoid all those headaches with executing the orders)... you can even provide a rough arrival time to the local EMS or medical transport service, and then the ambulance shows up right on time to take the patient to see the anesthesiologist, who then determines the appropriate analgesia and makes sure they get back home safely...

Every single primary care office should know how to handle this without breaking a sweat; I mean, even I know the protocol, and I don't even work in general practice...

As far as the emergency services are concerned, they aren't wrong, except for the fact that aside from providing immediate relief during a crisis, they shouldn't really be handling this long-term. According to current laws, palliative medicine is part of primary care, which means it should be supervised and carried out either by specialized teams (if we even have those available here in the States) or by the patient's own primary care doctor who is responsible for them...

The real problem is that some people with medical degrees are straight-up morons.

An incompetent primary care doctor should have explained this and suggested it to the family themselves, but no—instead, they just made some "smart" observation and told them to take their dad to the hospital. For God's sake, medicine is so easy I could practically practice it myself😳. Just because you and I have some experience doesn't mean everyone else out there knows the drill.

Nene, you totally missed my point—I’m not saying I don't get why your post was such a disaster, that part is crystal clear to me...

Kevin Garcia12 said:Nene, you totally missed my point—I’m not saying I don't get why your post was such a disaster, that part is crystal clear to me...

Oh, I hear you loud and clear... but hey, what can you do when you're dealing with someone that clueless?☕ Believe it or not, we constantly get hit with these incredibly trivial questions. Instead of just taking care of business immediately, people will spend the entire day blowing up the emergency room line just because they want an injection for their dad every time he feels a little off. They'll drive him halfway across the state just to waste time and money that the healthcare system is already starving for. If this had been handled properly from the jump, the guy would be sitting comfortably at home right now without any pain, not to mention how much money would have stayed out of the system's drain.
Total idiot.😳

It’s pretty obvious she just has zero motivation. Honestly, I really don't get people who act like that, especially when they're doing it with other people too...

First off, let me make one thing clear: I’m not here for any petty arguments or insults. Let's keep it civil.

I want to hear from both patients and medical professionals—how satisfied are you all, honestly, with our healthcare system? And if you could change one thing, what would it be?

I was watching this segment on FOX the other day about the healthcare industry. They were out on the street interviewing people, asking if they were happy with how things are run, and almost everyone said yes. I don't know if I'm living in some parallel universe or if those people just rarely ever have to see a doctor. 🤷

Also, a question for the patients: how much does this whole new electronic medical record system worry you? Do you think your privacy is actually going to be compromised with them?

It really depends on the department, the specific facility, and the doctor you end up seeing—it's not one-size-fits-all. Generally speaking, though, I’ve been very happy with my experiences across both the private sector and the Department of Health and Human Services.

The quality of a healthcare system is fundamentally tied to how much people actually trust it; at least, that's what one study suggested. While that statement seems pretty self-explanatory on its own, I guess there are some hidden layers to it. For instance, you often hear people claiming that things were "better back in the day," even though most metrics suggest otherwise—it just seemed that way because the top brass of the former country used to get treated in public hospitals, whereas our former president preferred getting his care in America, and the long-standing former Secretary of Health used to go all the way to Austria.

And if you look at it from a professional standpoint? Well, personally, I'm not a fan. People are being overworked, working under terrible conditions, and patients constantly demand things from you—they expect their ten minutes of undivided attention and basic humanity. They don't seem to realize that in a general practice serving roughly 2,500 people, we see about 80 to 100 patients a day; thank God most are just coming in for prescriptions, which should be handled by e-prescriptions, but there are also plenty of malicious individuals who expect a doctor to lie or falsify medical records just to suit them. As for the administrators... well, they vary, but many are incredibly stingy when it comes to staffing. Some clinics are running on rotating staff, and things are just disorganized, even for the on-call doctors. There’s no real distinction between institutions or physicians either; whether you're being treated in a small rural hospital or a major Mayo Clinic, the doctor gets paid the same and sees the same types of patients (take, for example, a young woman treating a chronic but well-managed condition at a major metropolitan center, when she could receive just as high-quality care at a local hospital back in her hometown...). Then there's the ER with its cranky staff, or simply people who just don't feel like working, yet for some reason, it's tolerated for certain individuals...
Then there is the overwhelming amount of paperwork, which, paradoxically, has actually increased in some places due to digitization; it drives a wedge between the doctor and the patient. There is much less conversation now, and much less trust. The family doctor has essentially become a glorified clerk for referral forms, which is just awful. And as for medical documentation... more doctors have told me that the primary purpose of keeping records nowadays is simply to defend oneself against commissions, inspections from Medicare, and lawsuits from patients!
Furthermore, there's a real lack of malpractice insurance; I mean, I think doctors ought to have an insurance policy to cover damages resulting from errors. Because as it stands, these issues just drag on through the courts and the news cycle. This kind of error insurance is standard in many other countries. It's important because people do—or at least I believe they do—realize that compromising someone's health or even death is a very possible outcome of any medical activity, and acknowledging that through financial compensation would provide some peace of mind. Instead, doctors and hospitals spend all their energy trying to prove their innocence because every lawsuit and settlement drains money straight from the budget.
Finally, there is what I consider a massive oversight by Medicare that alienates providers from patients and limits our authority. I can't always prescribe the medication I want for a patient; I can only prescribe what I'm permitted to, even if it is medically correct or even preferable, otherwise, Medicare penalizes me.
Personally, I've always liked the Belgian system. Over there, you first pay the full price—which isn't cheap—to the doctor, and then about 80% of it is reimbursed directly into your checking account (though it varies, as there are caps for particularly expensive treatments and specific populations that pay nothing). Belgium has one of the best healthcare systems in the world.

Well, seeing as our insurance covers procedures like this, I’d say we actually have quite a solid system in place... It really makes me wonder, though, what kind of policy would cover these types of surgeries over in the States...

http://www.crotalk.com/modules/news/...p?storyid=1908

Since you brought up the USA, it’s actually pretty fascinating how they topped a recent study on the best places to live. They looked at everything, including the quality of the healthcare system. Up until recently—and I know Obama started some reforms, but he didn't go nearly far enough—it was basically a "pay up or die" situation, or you end up drowning in debt. You either have no coverage at all, or you have a policy that covers absolutely everything except the one thing that actually happens to you. Honestly, if you look at it that way, it feels like one of the most inhumane societies out there, and I’d argue their healthcare system is probably the worst ever. So many people there just don't get treated because they can't afford it, and that includes the middle class and even the upper-middle class.
I honestly don't see the point of having such supposedly "genius," cutting-edge healthcare, world-class specialists, and elite hospitals if the average person can't access them. For whom is it intended?

Getting back to our own system here—there is so much that needs to change, and frankly, three pages wouldn't be enough to list it all, ranging from massive systemic failures to specific individual incidents.

Here is my top list of issues:
1. Milinović and the issues surrounding assisted reproduction.
2. Milinović and the merging of hospitals.
3. Milinović and Vuk Vrhovec.
4. As a chronic patient, I need specialist follow-ups—but the process is ridiculous. First, I have to see a GP via a referral, then wait for an appointment, then have the exam, then take the results back to the GP just to get prescriptions and more referrals for the tests the specialist requested. WHY? It’s as if I can't just receive subsequent referrals and prescriptions directly from the specialist after that first visit.
5. The current situation where clinics are handing out medications like candy, deciding what people should or shouldn't take, while chronic and critically ill patients have to live in fear wondering if their expensive life-saving medication will be approved. Why can't people just pay for their own nasal sprays or a box of antibiotics (which are overprescribed anyway), instead of forcing people to fight for their very lives?
6. Gynecologists who don't think it's necessary to send women for full swabs, opting for just a Pap smear instead—at least once! Not just right before pregnancy.
7. If I am on a permanent therapy regimen and need the exact same prescription and referral every single month, why am I forced to show up and wait two hours at the GP's office every time? Surely there could be a way to issue (semi)permanent orders.
8. The sheer rudeness and laziness of certain medical staff. You see nurses at the reception desks creating lines that stretch out the door simply because out of three people working, only one is actually helping while the other two are busy gossiping.
9. The level of hygiene and food quality in hospitals—we're talking dirty, stinking bathrooms and unappetizing cafeteria food that isn't fit for purpose, let alone meeting the dietary needs of recovering patients.

The American healthcare system actually excels at certain things—specifically, catering to those individuals who visit their doctors for every minor inconvenience just to demand expensive, utterly pointless diagnostic tests and treatments that drain resources. Consequently, when someone arrives with a genuine, life-threatening emergency, they find the bureaucracy either working against them or simply being dismissed and sent straight back home. I have this neighbor of mine who has spent years essentially camping out at various clinics; every single time we speak, the conversation inevitably spirals into endless discussions about ailments, scans, and medications—this one, that one, you name it. Honestly, if things were even half as grim for the rest of us as they seem to be for her, most people would have been buried underground a long time ago... 😁 In my view, every individual should proactively set aside enough funds every year or two to cover at least one comprehensive, fundamental physical exam...

Kyle Lee7 said:Since you brought up the USA, it’s actually pretty fascinating how they topped a recent study on the best places to live. They looked at everything, including the quality of the healthcare system. Up until recently—and I know Obama started some reforms, but he didn't go nearly far enough—it was basically a "pay up or die" situation, or you end up drowning in debt. You either have no coverage at all, or you have a policy that covers absolutely everything except the one thing that actually happens to you. Honestly, if you look at it that way, it feels like one of the most inhumane societies out there, and I’d argue their healthcare system is probably the worst ever. So many people there just don't get treated because they can't afford it, and that includes the middle class and even the upper-middle class.
I honestly don't see the point of having such supposedly "genius," cutting-edge healthcare, world-class specialists, and elite hospitals if the average person can't access them. For whom is it intended?

Getting back to our own system here—there is so much that needs to change, and frankly, three pages wouldn't be enough to list it all, ranging from massive systemic failures to specific individual incidents.

Here is my top list of issues:
1. Milinović and the issues surrounding assisted reproduction.
2. Milinović and the merging of hospitals.
3. Milinović and Vuk Vrhovec.
4. As a chronic patient, I need specialist follow-ups—but the process is ridiculous. First, I have to see a GP via a referral, then wait for an appointment, then have the exam, then take the results back to the GP just to get prescriptions and more referrals for the tests the specialist requested. WHY? It’s as if I can't just receive subsequent referrals and prescriptions directly from the specialist after that first visit.
5. The current situation where clinics are handing out medications like candy, deciding what people should or shouldn't take, while chronic and critically ill patients have to live in fear wondering if their expensive life-saving medication will be approved. Why can't people just pay for their own nasal sprays or a box of antibiotics (which are overprescribed anyway), instead of forcing people to fight for their very lives?
6. Gynecologists who don't think it's necessary to send women for full swabs, opting for just a Pap smear instead—at least once! Not just right before pregnancy.
7. If I am on a permanent therapy regimen and need the exact same prescription and referral every single month, why am I forced to show up and wait two hours at the GP's office every time? Surely there could be a way to issue (semi)permanent orders.
8. The sheer rudeness and laziness of certain medical staff. You see nurses at the reception desks creating lines that stretch out the door simply because out of three people working, only one is actually helping while the other two are busy gossiping.
9. The level of hygiene and food quality in hospitals—we're talking dirty, stinking bathrooms and unappetizing cafeteria food that isn't fit for purpose, let alone meeting the dietary needs of recovering patients.

I suppose I have to agree with that.

Kyle Lee7 said:Since you brought up the USA, it’s actually pretty fascinating how they topped a recent study on the best places to live. They looked at everything, including the quality of the healthcare system. Up until recently—and I know Obama started some reforms, but he didn't go nearly far enough—it was basically a "pay up or die" situation, or you end up drowning in debt. You either have no coverage at all, or you have a policy that covers absolutely everything except the one thing that actually happens to you. Honestly, if you look at it that way, it feels like one of the most inhumane societies out there, and I’d argue their healthcare system is probably the worst ever. So many people there just don't get treated because they can't afford it, and that includes the middle class and even the upper-middle class.
I honestly don't see the point of having such supposedly "genius," cutting-edge healthcare, world-class specialists, and elite hospitals if the average person can't access them. For whom is it intended?

Getting back to our own system here—there is so much that needs to change, and frankly, three pages wouldn't be enough to list it all, ranging from massive systemic failures to specific individual incidents.

Here is my top list of issues:
1. Milinović and the issues surrounding assisted reproduction.
2. Milinović and the merging of hospitals.
3. Milinović and Vuk Vrhovec.
4. As a chronic patient, I need specialist follow-ups—but the process is ridiculous. First, I have to see a GP via a referral, then wait for an appointment, then have the exam, then take the results back to the GP just to get prescriptions and more referrals for the tests the specialist requested. WHY? It’s as if I can't just receive subsequent referrals and prescriptions directly from the specialist after that first visit.
5. The current situation where clinics are handing out medications like candy, deciding what people should or shouldn't take, while chronic and critically ill patients have to live in fear wondering if their expensive life-saving medication will be approved. Why can't people just pay for their own nasal sprays or a box of antibiotics (which are overprescribed anyway), instead of forcing people to fight for their very lives?
6. Gynecologists who don't think it's necessary to send women for full swabs, opting for just a Pap smear instead—at least once! Not just right before pregnancy.
7. If I am on a permanent therapy regimen and need the exact same prescription and referral every single month, why am I forced to show up and wait two hours at the GP's office every time? Surely there could be a way to issue (semi)permanent orders.
8. The sheer rudeness and laziness of certain medical staff. You see nurses at the reception desks creating lines that stretch out the door simply because out of three people working, only one is actually helping while the other two are busy gossiping.
9. The level of hygiene and food quality in hospitals—we're talking dirty, stinking bathrooms and unappetizing cafeteria food that isn't fit for purpose, let alone meeting the dietary needs of recovering patients.

I have to agree with that; those old-school partisan tactics have never actually yielded anything positive, not even once.

Kyle Lee7 said:Since you brought up the USA, it’s actually pretty fascinating how they topped a recent study on the best places to live. They looked at everything, including the quality of the healthcare system. Up until recently—and I know Obama started some reforms, but he didn't go nearly far enough—it was basically a "pay up or die" situation, or you end up drowning in debt. You either have no coverage at all, or you have a policy that covers absolutely everything except the one thing that actually happens to you. Honestly, if you look at it that way, it feels like one of the most inhumane societies out there, and I’d argue their healthcare system is probably the worst ever. So many people there just don't get treated because they can't afford it, and that includes the middle class and even the upper-middle class.
I honestly don't see the point of having such supposedly "genius," cutting-edge healthcare, world-class specialists, and elite hospitals if the average person can't access them. For whom is it intended?

Getting back to our own system here—there is so much that needs to change, and frankly, three pages wouldn't be enough to list it all, ranging from massive systemic failures to specific individual incidents.

Here is my top list of issues:
1. Milinović and the issues surrounding assisted reproduction.
2. Milinović and the merging of hospitals.
3. Milinović and Vuk Vrhovec.
4. As a chronic patient, I need specialist follow-ups—but the process is ridiculous. First, I have to see a GP via a referral, then wait for an appointment, then have the exam, then take the results back to the GP just to get prescriptions and more referrals for the tests the specialist requested. WHY? It’s as if I can't just receive subsequent referrals and prescriptions directly from the specialist after that first visit.
5. The current situation where clinics are handing out medications like candy, deciding what people should or shouldn't take, while chronic and critically ill patients have to live in fear wondering if their expensive life-saving medication will be approved. Why can't people just pay for their own nasal sprays or a box of antibiotics (which are overprescribed anyway), instead of forcing people to fight for their very lives?
6. Gynecologists who don't think it's necessary to send women for full swabs, opting for just a Pap smear instead—at least once! Not just right before pregnancy.
7. If I am on a permanent therapy regimen and need the exact same prescription and referral every single month, why am I forced to show up and wait two hours at the GP's office every time? Surely there could be a way to issue (semi)permanent orders.
8. The sheer rudeness and laziness of certain medical staff. You see nurses at the reception desks creating lines that stretch out the door simply because out of three people working, only one is actually helping while the other two are busy gossiping.
9. The level of hygiene and food quality in hospitals—we're talking dirty, stinking bathrooms and unappetizing cafeteria food that isn't fit for purpose, let alone meeting the dietary needs of recovering patients.

That is quite possibly the most glaring example imaginable; I suppose this is where you'll finally see just how fundamentally flawed this entire reform actually is. 😢

Kyle Lee7 said:Since you brought up the USA, it’s actually pretty fascinating how they topped a recent study on the best places to live. They looked at everything, including the quality of the healthcare system. Up until recently—and I know Obama started some reforms, but he didn't go nearly far enough—it was basically a "pay up or die" situation, or you end up drowning in debt. You either have no coverage at all, or you have a policy that covers absolutely everything except the one thing that actually happens to you. Honestly, if you look at it that way, it feels like one of the most inhumane societies out there, and I’d argue their healthcare system is probably the worst ever. So many people there just don't get treated because they can't afford it, and that includes the middle class and even the upper-middle class.
I honestly don't see the point of having such supposedly "genius," cutting-edge healthcare, world-class specialists, and elite hospitals if the average person can't access them. For whom is it intended?

Getting back to our own system here—there is so much that needs to change, and frankly, three pages wouldn't be enough to list it all, ranging from massive systemic failures to specific individual incidents.

Here is my top list of issues:
1. Milinović and the issues surrounding assisted reproduction.
2. Milinović and the merging of hospitals.
3. Milinović and Vuk Vrhovec.
4. As a chronic patient, I need specialist follow-ups—but the process is ridiculous. First, I have to see a GP via a referral, then wait for an appointment, then have the exam, then take the results back to the GP just to get prescriptions and more referrals for the tests the specialist requested. WHY? It’s as if I can't just receive subsequent referrals and prescriptions directly from the specialist after that first visit.
5. The current situation where clinics are handing out medications like candy, deciding what people should or shouldn't take, while chronic and critically ill patients have to live in fear wondering if their expensive life-saving medication will be approved. Why can't people just pay for their own nasal sprays or a box of antibiotics (which are overprescribed anyway), instead of forcing people to fight for their very lives?
6. Gynecologists who don't think it's necessary to send women for full swabs, opting for just a Pap smear instead—at least once! Not just right before pregnancy.
7. If I am on a permanent therapy regimen and need the exact same prescription and referral every single month, why am I forced to show up and wait two hours at the GP's office every time? Surely there could be a way to issue (semi)permanent orders.
8. The sheer rudeness and laziness of certain medical staff. You see nurses at the reception desks creating lines that stretch out the door simply because out of three people working, only one is actually helping while the other two are busy gossiping.
9. The level of hygiene and food quality in hospitals—we're talking dirty, stinking bathrooms and unappetizing cafeteria food that isn't fit for purpose, let alone meeting the dietary needs of recovering patients.

I suppose being a chronic patient changes your perspective quite a bit, though I suspect most people don't realize how different that reality is. Our healthcare system is fundamentally built on the premise that an expert manages your care while you collaborate with them, rather than following a completely deregulated or hyper-liberal model. It seems like many people mistakenly view their specialist—say, a diabetologist—as the ultimate authority in their lives, when in reality, your primary care physician should be the one steering the ship, acting as the central coordinator who consults specialists only when they need a second opinion or recommend specific follow-up tests.
What we’re looking at here is a fundamental crisis in primary care. I guess you could say that a huge chunk of the work currently being handled by specialists at major institutions—like the Mayo Clinic—could easily be managed by general practitioners without any real issues. They could handle hypertension treatments, manage diabetes cases (provided they aren't extreme), perform wound care, or even prescribe medication for depression. These aren't exactly complex medical feats, but I suppose patients today seem to have this irrational obsession with seeing a specialist for everything.
I suppose you're clearly young enough to be proactive about managing your own health, but in my experience, I found that most people—especially older patients—were far more appreciative when I took the time to actually walk them through specific procedures, explain what a disease really means, interpret their lab results, or just provide a concise summary of everything. Older folks generally require a much higher level of guidance than you probably do.

But I suppose I agree that we have a fundamental issue here: you send someone to an institution to deal with a specific problem, and then they just don't follow through completely... which is honestly quite tragic, because it seems the administrators are constantly at war with family doctors over money; for instance, some hospitals won't even let you use their own treatment while you're admitted, instead asking if you have your own supply from home first. Similarly, they might avoid sending you for a necessary test that could easily be done in-house, preferring instead to say; oh, it isn't urgent, it isn't vital, let someone else pick up the tab. It doesn't happen every single time, but I've seen it, and I guess that is really the deciding factor between a good department and a bad hospital.

Kyle Lee7 said:Since you brought up the USA, it’s actually pretty fascinating how they topped a recent study on the best places to live. They looked at everything, including the quality of the healthcare system. Up until recently—and I know Obama started some reforms, but he didn't go nearly far enough—it was basically a "pay up or die" situation, or you end up drowning in debt. You either have no coverage at all, or you have a policy that covers absolutely everything except the one thing that actually happens to you. Honestly, if you look at it that way, it feels like one of the most inhumane societies out there, and I’d argue their healthcare system is probably the worst ever. So many people there just don't get treated because they can't afford it, and that includes the middle class and even the upper-middle class.
I honestly don't see the point of having such supposedly "genius," cutting-edge healthcare, world-class specialists, and elite hospitals if the average person can't access them. For whom is it intended?

Getting back to our own system here—there is so much that needs to change, and frankly, three pages wouldn't be enough to list it all, ranging from massive systemic failures to specific individual incidents.

Here is my top list of issues:
1. Milinović and the issues surrounding assisted reproduction.
2. Milinović and the merging of hospitals.
3. Milinović and Vuk Vrhovec.
4. As a chronic patient, I need specialist follow-ups—but the process is ridiculous. First, I have to see a GP via a referral, then wait for an appointment, then have the exam, then take the results back to the GP just to get prescriptions and more referrals for the tests the specialist requested. WHY? It’s as if I can't just receive subsequent referrals and prescriptions directly from the specialist after that first visit.
5. The current situation where clinics are handing out medications like candy, deciding what people should or shouldn't take, while chronic and critically ill patients have to live in fear wondering if their expensive life-saving medication will be approved. Why can't people just pay for their own nasal sprays or a box of antibiotics (which are overprescribed anyway), instead of forcing people to fight for their very lives?
6. Gynecologists who don't think it's necessary to send women for full swabs, opting for just a Pap smear instead—at least once! Not just right before pregnancy.
7. If I am on a permanent therapy regimen and need the exact same prescription and referral every single month, why am I forced to show up and wait two hours at the GP's office every time? Surely there could be a way to issue (semi)permanent orders.
8. The sheer rudeness and laziness of certain medical staff. You see nurses at the reception desks creating lines that stretch out the door simply because out of three people working, only one is actually helping while the other two are busy gossiping.
9. The level of hygiene and food quality in hospitals—we're talking dirty, stinking bathrooms and unappetizing cafeteria food that isn't fit for purpose, let alone meeting the dietary needs of recovering patients.

It's because some fool wrote into the law that healthcare in America is accessible and free to everyone. Which, obviously, isn't true since you still have to cover your co-pays.
Though I do agree; I feel a sense of disgust seeing people throw tantrums just because they have to pay for some cough syrup. "Doctor, is there anything available that won't cost me anything?" I hear that every single day. I agree that people lack funds, but at the same time, most of these medications aren't even necessary for them.
The whole system has become inverted: some people seem to think that if a drug can be bought over the counter without a prescription, it isn't a real medicine but just some placebo, while others believe that everything worth having costs a fortune, so if you have to pay for it, it must be effective (which just causes them to lose all faith in the system).
A real-life example: a woman comes in her late 30s with a sore throat, a runny nose, and a cough that's lasted three days (! I honestly can't believe how many people think a cough becomes a serious symptom if it lasts longer than a day and a half!), I examine her, listen, and the findings show nothing but slightly swollen tonsils—that's it! I tell her: "What you have isn't dangerous and it will pass; it's just a sore throat and a cold; drink plenty of fluids, suck on some spicy lozenges, you don't even need special medication, just take Tylenol if a fever develops." And she responds: "Oh, so you don't think I need antibiotics?" I tell her: "No, there's no reason, no pus, lungs are clear..." and then she asks: "Well, can I at least get two days of sick leave before the weekend?" But that's just how Americans are...

Kyle Lee7 said:Since you brought up the USA, it’s actually pretty fascinating how they topped a recent study on the best places to live. They looked at everything, including the quality of the healthcare system. Up until recently—and I know Obama started some reforms, but he didn't go nearly far enough—it was basically a "pay up or die" situation, or you end up drowning in debt. You either have no coverage at all, or you have a policy that covers absolutely everything except the one thing that actually happens to you. Honestly, if you look at it that way, it feels like one of the most inhumane societies out there, and I’d argue their healthcare system is probably the worst ever. So many people there just don't get treated because they can't afford it, and that includes the middle class and even the upper-middle class.
I honestly don't see the point of having such supposedly "genius," cutting-edge healthcare, world-class specialists, and elite hospitals if the average person can't access them. For whom is it intended?

Getting back to our own system here—there is so much that needs to change, and frankly, three pages wouldn't be enough to list it all, ranging from massive systemic failures to specific individual incidents.

Here is my top list of issues:
1. Milinović and the issues surrounding assisted reproduction.
2. Milinović and the merging of hospitals.
3. Milinović and Vuk Vrhovec.
4. As a chronic patient, I need specialist follow-ups—but the process is ridiculous. First, I have to see a GP via a referral, then wait for an appointment, then have the exam, then take the results back to the GP just to get prescriptions and more referrals for the tests the specialist requested. WHY? It’s as if I can't just receive subsequent referrals and prescriptions directly from the specialist after that first visit.
5. The current situation where clinics are handing out medications like candy, deciding what people should or shouldn't take, while chronic and critically ill patients have to live in fear wondering if their expensive life-saving medication will be approved. Why can't people just pay for their own nasal sprays or a box of antibiotics (which are overprescribed anyway), instead of forcing people to fight for their very lives?
6. Gynecologists who don't think it's necessary to send women for full swabs, opting for just a Pap smear instead—at least once! Not just right before pregnancy.
7. If I am on a permanent therapy regimen and need the exact same prescription and referral every single month, why am I forced to show up and wait two hours at the GP's office every time? Surely there could be a way to issue (semi)permanent orders.
8. The sheer rudeness and laziness of certain medical staff. You see nurses at the reception desks creating lines that stretch out the door simply because out of three people working, only one is actually helping while the other two are busy gossiping.
9. The level of hygiene and food quality in hospitals—we're talking dirty, stinking bathrooms and unappetizing cafeteria food that isn't fit for purpose, let alone meeting the dietary needs of recovering patients.

Huh, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by that, but you can always request the swabs. I don't know what the current guidelines are. :/

Kyle Lee7 said:Since you brought up the USA, it’s actually pretty fascinating how they topped a recent study on the best places to live. They looked at everything, including the quality of the healthcare system. Up until recently—and I know Obama started some reforms, but he didn't go nearly far enough—it was basically a "pay up or die" situation, or you end up drowning in debt. You either have no coverage at all, or you have a policy that covers absolutely everything except the one thing that actually happens to you. Honestly, if you look at it that way, it feels like one of the most inhumane societies out there, and I’d argue their healthcare system is probably the worst ever. So many people there just don't get treated because they can't afford it, and that includes the middle class and even the upper-middle class.
I honestly don't see the point of having such supposedly "genius," cutting-edge healthcare, world-class specialists, and elite hospitals if the average person can't access them. For whom is it intended?

Getting back to our own system here—there is so much that needs to change, and frankly, three pages wouldn't be enough to list it all, ranging from massive systemic failures to specific individual incidents.

Here is my top list of issues:
1. Milinović and the issues surrounding assisted reproduction.
2. Milinović and the merging of hospitals.
3. Milinović and Vuk Vrhovec.
4. As a chronic patient, I need specialist follow-ups—but the process is ridiculous. First, I have to see a GP via a referral, then wait for an appointment, then have the exam, then take the results back to the GP just to get prescriptions and more referrals for the tests the specialist requested. WHY? It’s as if I can't just receive subsequent referrals and prescriptions directly from the specialist after that first visit.
5. The current situation where clinics are handing out medications like candy, deciding what people should or shouldn't take, while chronic and critically ill patients have to live in fear wondering if their expensive life-saving medication will be approved. Why can't people just pay for their own nasal sprays or a box of antibiotics (which are overprescribed anyway), instead of forcing people to fight for their very lives?
6. Gynecologists who don't think it's necessary to send women for full swabs, opting for just a Pap smear instead—at least once! Not just right before pregnancy.
7. If I am on a permanent therapy regimen and need the exact same prescription and referral every single month, why am I forced to show up and wait two hours at the GP's office every time? Surely there could be a way to issue (semi)permanent orders.
8. The sheer rudeness and laziness of certain medical staff. You see nurses at the reception desks creating lines that stretch out the door simply because out of three people working, only one is actually helping while the other two are busy gossiping.
9. The level of hygiene and food quality in hospitals—we're talking dirty, stinking bathrooms and unappetizing cafeteria food that isn't fit for purpose, let alone meeting the dietary needs of recovering patients.

They are actually trying to fix this by using recurring prescriptions and digital referrals. But, I suppose the logic behind our system is that a family doctor needs to maintain oversight of your overall health and treatment plan. If you say you need referrals every month, then I guess one has to wonder what exactly you are doing with them?

Kyle Lee7 said:Since you brought up the USA, it’s actually pretty fascinating how they topped a recent study on the best places to live. They looked at everything, including the quality of the healthcare system. Up until recently—and I know Obama started some reforms, but he didn't go nearly far enough—it was basically a "pay up or die" situation, or you end up drowning in debt. You either have no coverage at all, or you have a policy that covers absolutely everything except the one thing that actually happens to you. Honestly, if you look at it that way, it feels like one of the most inhumane societies out there, and I’d argue their healthcare system is probably the worst ever. So many people there just don't get treated because they can't afford it, and that includes the middle class and even the upper-middle class.
I honestly don't see the point of having such supposedly "genius," cutting-edge healthcare, world-class specialists, and elite hospitals if the average person can't access them. For whom is it intended?

Getting back to our own system here—there is so much that needs to change, and frankly, three pages wouldn't be enough to list it all, ranging from massive systemic failures to specific individual incidents.

Here is my top list of issues:
1. Milinović and the issues surrounding assisted reproduction.
2. Milinović and the merging of hospitals.
3. Milinović and Vuk Vrhovec.
4. As a chronic patient, I need specialist follow-ups—but the process is ridiculous. First, I have to see a GP via a referral, then wait for an appointment, then have the exam, then take the results back to the GP just to get prescriptions and more referrals for the tests the specialist requested. WHY? It’s as if I can't just receive subsequent referrals and prescriptions directly from the specialist after that first visit.
5. The current situation where clinics are handing out medications like candy, deciding what people should or shouldn't take, while chronic and critically ill patients have to live in fear wondering if their expensive life-saving medication will be approved. Why can't people just pay for their own nasal sprays or a box of antibiotics (which are overprescribed anyway), instead of forcing people to fight for their very lives?
6. Gynecologists who don't think it's necessary to send women for full swabs, opting for just a Pap smear instead—at least once! Not just right before pregnancy.
7. If I am on a permanent therapy regimen and need the exact same prescription and referral every single month, why am I forced to show up and wait two hours at the GP's office every time? Surely there could be a way to issue (semi)permanent orders.
8. The sheer rudeness and laziness of certain medical staff. You see nurses at the reception desks creating lines that stretch out the door simply because out of three people working, only one is actually helping while the other two are busy gossiping.
9. The level of hygiene and food quality in hospitals—we're talking dirty, stinking bathrooms and unappetizing cafeteria food that isn't fit for purpose, let alone meeting the dietary needs of recovering patients.

I really shouldn't meddle in how other people do their jobs or judge their work ethic, but honestly, some of them are just complete animals.

Kyle Lee7 said:Since you brought up the USA, it’s actually pretty fascinating how they topped a recent study on the best places to live. They looked at everything, including the quality of the healthcare system. Up until recently—and I know Obama started some reforms, but he didn't go nearly far enough—it was basically a "pay up or die" situation, or you end up drowning in debt. You either have no coverage at all, or you have a policy that covers absolutely everything except the one thing that actually happens to you. Honestly, if you look at it that way, it feels like one of the most inhumane societies out there, and I’d argue their healthcare system is probably the worst ever. So many people there just don't get treated because they can't afford it, and that includes the middle class and even the upper-middle class.
I honestly don't see the point of having such supposedly "genius," cutting-edge healthcare, world-class specialists, and elite hospitals if the average person can't access them. For whom is it intended?

Getting back to our own system here—there is so much that needs to change, and frankly, three pages wouldn't be enough to list it all, ranging from massive systemic failures to specific individual incidents.

Here is my top list of issues:
1. Milinović and the issues surrounding assisted reproduction.
2. Milinović and the merging of hospitals.
3. Milinović and Vuk Vrhovec.
4. As a chronic patient, I need specialist follow-ups—but the process is ridiculous. First, I have to see a GP via a referral, then wait for an appointment, then have the exam, then take the results back to the GP just to get prescriptions and more referrals for the tests the specialist requested. WHY? It’s as if I can't just receive subsequent referrals and prescriptions directly from the specialist after that first visit.
5. The current situation where clinics are handing out medications like candy, deciding what people should or shouldn't take, while chronic and critically ill patients have to live in fear wondering if their expensive life-saving medication will be approved. Why can't people just pay for their own nasal sprays or a box of antibiotics (which are overprescribed anyway), instead of forcing people to fight for their very lives?
6. Gynecologists who don't think it's necessary to send women for full swabs, opting for just a Pap smear instead—at least once! Not just right before pregnancy.
7. If I am on a permanent therapy regimen and need the exact same prescription and referral every single month, why am I forced to show up and wait two hours at the GP's office every time? Surely there could be a way to issue (semi)permanent orders.
8. The sheer rudeness and laziness of certain medical staff. You see nurses at the reception desks creating lines that stretch out the door simply because out of three people working, only one is actually helping while the other two are busy gossiping.
9. The level of hygiene and food quality in hospitals—we're talking dirty, stinking bathrooms and unappetizing cafeteria food that isn't fit for purpose, let alone meeting the dietary needs of recovering patients.

I suppose I have to agree... the food can be absolute garbage; and it is quite strange how much it varies from one hospital to the next. My experience at the Mayo Clinic was actually great, but my time at the local county hospital was just awful; for breakfast, they literally serve you a single slice of whole wheat bread, one tiny sliver of bologna, and a small cup of black coffee.

Maria Gomez4 hit the nail on the head when she pointed out that we are facing a profound crisis in primary care. It’s been reduced to nothing more than endless paperwork, which is exactly why patients have lost so much faith in the system. Even their own colleagues—specialists—tend to mock them, dismissively calling them mere bureaucrats. In reality, family medicine specialists should arguably possess a deeper, more comprehensive knowledge base than any other specialist. Their training covers the fundamental pillars of every single medical field. Instead, we see this ridiculous trend where people are being funneled toward specialists for the most trivial ailments. It's absurd. Honestly, if it's that minor, just deal with it yourself or find someone else.

That’s exactly where the issue lies—with the people who absolutely insist on demanding a referral or a specific prescription, otherwise they just threaten to switch to another doctor. They always think they know better. Look, I’m not saying there aren't doctors out there who make mistakes, but if you don't trust your physician, then change them. Just make sure you actually take a moment to reflect before you jump ship; ask yourself if the problem is truly the doctor or if it's actually you. We have a serious problem with patients essentially holding doctors hostage. Honestly, I think we need to implement health education in our elementary and high schools. We could accomplish so much more if people actually understood the basics of their own bodies, rather than running to the clinic for every minor inconvenience just to demand a referral or a script. Of course, basic knowledge isn't a substitute for medical expertise, but everyone should understand certain fundamentals. At the very least, people should be taught that you don't need a doctor's visit for a 99.5°F fever, that swollen tonsils don't automatically mean you have strep throat, and that you shouldn't go in demanding antibiotics for every little sore throat or case of the flu. It sounds ridiculous, but it’s the truth. It would make a massive difference.

The next issue is the chronic shortage of specialists and high-end equipment in certain facilities, while other institutions are sitting around with absolutely nothing to do. When you combine that inefficiency with everything I mentioned previously, you get one of the primary reasons why the waiting lists are so damn long.

Then there’s the issue of arrogance and sheer disrespect among the staff. It’s a systemic problem. Some doctors—and unfortunately, this isn't an isolated case—take their personal frustrations out on patients and even their own colleagues. I see nurses being rude to patients on a daily basis, and more often than not, they’re overstepping by meddling in the doctors' work. Then you have the doctors who treat patients like commodities. Unless there's a payoff, they aren't interested. Some make it crystal clear that nothing happens without an envelope under the table; others are just passive about it, neither asking for a bribe nor refusing one when it's offered. I’ve personally witnessed elderly patients being written off entirely. There’s this cynical attitude that since they don't have much time left anyway, there's no point in putting in the effort, even when it comes to palliative care. It goes both ways, too. You see older physicians being incredibly condescending toward younger ones and residents. There’s constant shouting, chaos during procedures, laziness, and a general lack of care... I could go on. On the flip side, you have the younger doctors who think they know everything, constantly belittling those with actual experience. Just like any other profession, medicine is increasingly filled with people who completely missed the mark on what this job actually entails. We are seeing far too many "nepo babies"—kids whose parents pushed them into this—as well as straight-up nerds. To be a truly great doctor, specifically when it comes to diagnosis, you need a certain amount of innate talent and intuition. You can't just cram your head full of disconnected facts that don't help you explain anything. There is also an absurd amount of jealousy among the physicians. They literally compete over who has the flashier car, which is hard to do if you aren't taking bribes. So, what exactly are we supposed to expect from people like that? None of the individuals I've mentioned belong in this profession. It is meant to be noble, but they have no business being part of it.

The issue really boils down to doctors who juggle hospital shifts alongside their own private practices. It’s a frustrating pattern: when they're on the clock at the hospital, their bedside manner is nonexistent and they couldn't care less about the patient in front of them. But the second you walk into their private clinic? Suddenly, they're all smiles and attentive care. To make matters worse, I see way too many of them moonlighting privately during their actual hospital hours. We have far too many cases like this happening right now.

Finally, we get to one of the biggest issues out there: bribery. Honestly, both sides are to blame here. If you want to find the root cause, you have to look all the way back to the very beginning of how our healthcare system was built. Historically, people have always brought gifts to doctors as a way of saying thanks—a reward for helping someone, curing an illness, or quite literally saving a life. But really, a doctor should be the kind of person whose greatest reward and sense of fulfillment comes simply from the fact that they helped someone. That is their job. It’s what they get paid for, and it’s what your employer—and by extension, you—are paying them to do. A simple "thank you" should be more than enough. But, as we all know, that’s not how reality works. If someone enters the profession with those kinds of ideals, it’s only a matter of time before things go sideways. And let me tell you, this is a massive burden on the honest, decent professionals in the field. Even the most upright doctors deal with people showing up with envelopes or gifts every single day, and sometimes it is genuinely difficult to shake them off. There are times when people will literally show up at a doctor's front door just to hand them something.

There is still so much more to uncover that you could easily write a massive book about it—and honestly, it would probably be a bestseller. We aren't just looking at a minor hiccup here; we are facing a total systemic collapse, the kind that isn't going to be fixed overnight. Given the sheer scale of these issues and, frankly, the caliber of people currently running this country, it’s likely going to take several decades to sort through the mess.

fadedmarlin402 said:Maria Gomez4 hit the nail on the head when she pointed out that we are facing a profound crisis in primary care. It’s been reduced to nothing more than endless paperwork, which is exactly why patients have lost so much faith in the system. Even their own colleagues—specialists—tend to mock them, dismissively calling them mere bureaucrats. In reality, family medicine specialists should arguably possess a deeper, more comprehensive knowledge base than any other specialist. Their training covers the fundamental pillars of every single medical field. Instead, we see this ridiculous trend where people are being funneled toward specialists for the most trivial ailments. It's absurd. Honestly, if it's that minor, just deal with it yourself or find someone else.

That’s exactly where the issue lies—with the people who absolutely insist on demanding a referral or a specific prescription, otherwise they just threaten to switch to another doctor. They always think they know better. Look, I’m not saying there aren't doctors out there who make mistakes, but if you don't trust your physician, then change them. Just make sure you actually take a moment to reflect before you jump ship; ask yourself if the problem is truly the doctor or if it's actually you. We have a serious problem with patients essentially holding doctors hostage. Honestly, I think we need to implement health education in our elementary and high schools. We could accomplish so much more if people actually understood the basics of their own bodies, rather than running to the clinic for every minor inconvenience just to demand a referral or a script. Of course, basic knowledge isn't a substitute for medical expertise, but everyone should understand certain fundamentals. At the very least, people should be taught that you don't need a doctor's visit for a 99.5°F fever, that swollen tonsils don't automatically mean you have strep throat, and that you shouldn't go in demanding antibiotics for every little sore throat or case of the flu. It sounds ridiculous, but it’s the truth. It would make a massive difference.

The next issue is the chronic shortage of specialists and high-end equipment in certain facilities, while other institutions are sitting around with absolutely nothing to do. When you combine that inefficiency with everything I mentioned previously, you get one of the primary reasons why the waiting lists are so damn long.

Then there’s the issue of arrogance and sheer disrespect among the staff. It’s a systemic problem. Some doctors—and unfortunately, this isn't an isolated case—take their personal frustrations out on patients and even their own colleagues. I see nurses being rude to patients on a daily basis, and more often than not, they’re overstepping by meddling in the doctors' work. Then you have the doctors who treat patients like commodities. Unless there's a payoff, they aren't interested. Some make it crystal clear that nothing happens without an envelope under the table; others are just passive about it, neither asking for a bribe nor refusing one when it's offered. I’ve personally witnessed elderly patients being written off entirely. There’s this cynical attitude that since they don't have much time left anyway, there's no point in putting in the effort, even when it comes to palliative care. It goes both ways, too. You see older physicians being incredibly condescending toward younger ones and residents. There’s constant shouting, chaos during procedures, laziness, and a general lack of care... I could go on. On the flip side, you have the younger doctors who think they know everything, constantly belittling those with actual experience. Just like any other profession, medicine is increasingly filled with people who completely missed the mark on what this job actually entails. We are seeing far too many "nepo babies"—kids whose parents pushed them into this—as well as straight-up nerds. To be a truly great doctor, specifically when it comes to diagnosis, you need a certain amount of innate talent and intuition. You can't just cram your head full of disconnected facts that don't help you explain anything. There is also an absurd amount of jealousy among the physicians. They literally compete over who has the flashier car, which is hard to do if you aren't taking bribes. So, what exactly are we supposed to expect from people like that? None of the individuals I've mentioned belong in this profession. It is meant to be noble, but they have no business being part of it.

The issue really boils down to doctors who juggle hospital shifts alongside their own private practices. It’s a frustrating pattern: when they're on the clock at the hospital, their bedside manner is nonexistent and they couldn't care less about the patient in front of them. But the second you walk into their private clinic? Suddenly, they're all smiles and attentive care. To make matters worse, I see way too many of them moonlighting privately during their actual hospital hours. We have far too many cases like this happening right now.

Finally, we get to one of the biggest issues out there: bribery. Honestly, both sides are to blame here. If you want to find the root cause, you have to look all the way back to the very beginning of how our healthcare system was built. Historically, people have always brought gifts to doctors as a way of saying thanks—a reward for helping someone, curing an illness, or quite literally saving a life. But really, a doctor should be the kind of person whose greatest reward and sense of fulfillment comes simply from the fact that they helped someone. That is their job. It’s what they get paid for, and it’s what your employer—and by extension, you—are paying them to do. A simple "thank you" should be more than enough. But, as we all know, that’s not how reality works. If someone enters the profession with those kinds of ideals, it’s only a matter of time before things go sideways. And let me tell you, this is a massive burden on the honest, decent professionals in the field. Even the most upright doctors deal with people showing up with envelopes or gifts every single day, and sometimes it is genuinely difficult to shake them off. There are times when people will literally show up at a doctor's front door just to hand them something.

There is still so much more to uncover that you could easily write a massive book about it—and honestly, it would probably be a bestseller. We aren't just looking at a minor hiccup here; we are facing a total systemic collapse, the kind that isn't going to be fixed overnight. Given the sheer scale of these issues and, frankly, the caliber of people currently running this country, it’s likely going to take several decades to sort through the mess.

As long as doctors—not economists—are the ones calling the shots on the financial side of healthcare, the system is going to remain a bottomless money pit. This constant lack of funding will inevitably stifle medical innovation and service quality, which only fuels more frustration for patients. It's a vicious cycle.
The American healthcare system is bleeding cash through a million different holes. It’s exactly like any other massive corporation suffering under incompetent leadership.
Look, I’ve never heard anyone claim that a pharmacist runs the entire pharmaceutical industry. You don't see a software engineer calling the shots at a massive tech firm, and you certainly don't have an auto mechanic running an entire car factory. So why on earth do we insist that hospitals have to be managed by doctors? Most of them aren't even trained for administration, and honestly, they don't know how to do the job. It isn't even their primary career—it’s just an extra burden tacked onto their actual medical duties.😲😲😲
And let's not even get started on how much harder this is than running any corporation or massive conglomerate. When you factor in that human life is an immeasurable economic variable, the whole job becomes infinitely more complex and demanding.

The way our healthcare system works is backwards: it actually rewards laziness. It doesn't matter if you're looking at primary care, specialists, or major hospitals—it’s the same broken logic everywhere. The Department of Health and Human Services gets a set budget, and most of that just goes straight to payroll. But the rest? If you actually step up and do your job, you're viewed as a liability. In this system, being productive is treated like a loss on the balance sheet. Basically, if you want to get ahead, just don't do anything.
It all starts with primary care being funded through this broken fee-for-service model. It basically creates a system where the harder a doctor actually works, the less they make. So, to ensure they can actually pay their bills and survive, they end up writing prescriptions that don't cost them a dime.
Secondary care has basically vanished now that they've dismantled the community health center system.
Hospitals are a whole different story.
While surgeons around the world are pivoting toward minimally invasive procedures—designed to get patients out of the hospital quickly and back to work in six days instead of six weeks—our system is stuck in the past. Here, they admit you five days before the surgery, keep you an extra five days after, and then toss you onto long-term disability for weeks. To make matters worse, Medicare gets billed for fifteen days of hospital stays, even if the actual procedure only required three. It’s a massive waste of resources. That surplus cash could be used in a million different ways—upgrading equipment, advanced training, or better patient care—but instead, it just vanishes into the bureaucracy.
Of course, this also brings up the issue of staffing shortages in certain facilities—not to mention how much easier it would be if we could actually speed up patient turnover.
It’s actually pretty fascinating to watch private clinics like State Farm or Sunce thrive. They aren't just getting by; they are absolutely killing it, and everyone—from the patients to the doctors—seems genuinely happy with how things run. I wonder, do any of them have a director who is also a practicing physician? You know, someone who handles the clinical work in their own office while simultaneously running the whole show?

All at All, my take is this: if we actually put some competent people in charge of our healthcare system, they could—and honestly, they should—get everything back on track pretty quickly. If that happened, life would be a whole lot better for everyone.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services has zero business deciding which women are allowed to have children. That’s not his job. His actual job should be making sure the budget is handled properly so that anyone who wants to start a family can access the highest possible standards of medical care. Period.

Oh, come on, I think you’re exaggerating a bit: sure, money is an issue because funds get squandered and poured into foolish ventures, but at the same time, there just isn't enough cash... I suppose I should gently disagree with you there.

no, the crisis isn't necessarily caused by a lack of funds, at least not strictly speaking.

Susan Rodriguez4 said:As long as doctors—not economists—are the ones calling the shots on the financial side of healthcare, the system is going to remain a bottomless money pit. This constant lack of funding will inevitably stifle medical innovation and service quality, which only fuels more frustration for patients. It's a vicious cycle.
The American healthcare system is bleeding cash through a million different holes. It’s exactly like any other massive corporation suffering under incompetent leadership.
Look, I’ve never heard anyone claim that a pharmacist runs the entire pharmaceutical industry. You don't see a software engineer calling the shots at a massive tech firm, and you certainly don't have an auto mechanic running an entire car factory. So why on earth do we insist that hospitals have to be managed by doctors? Most of them aren't even trained for administration, and honestly, they don't know how to do the job. It isn't even their primary career—it’s just an extra burden tacked onto their actual medical duties.😲😲😲
And let's not even get started on how much harder this is than running any corporation or massive conglomerate. When you factor in that human life is an immeasurable economic variable, the whole job becomes infinitely more complex and demanding.

The way our healthcare system works is backwards: it actually rewards laziness. It doesn't matter if you're looking at primary care, specialists, or major hospitals—it’s the same broken logic everywhere. The Department of Health and Human Services gets a set budget, and most of that just goes straight to payroll. But the rest? If you actually step up and do your job, you're viewed as a liability. In this system, being productive is treated like a loss on the balance sheet. Basically, if you want to get ahead, just don't do anything.
It all starts with primary care being funded through this broken fee-for-service model. It basically creates a system where the harder a doctor actually works, the less they make. So, to ensure they can actually pay their bills and survive, they end up writing prescriptions that don't cost them a dime.
Secondary care has basically vanished now that they've dismantled the community health center system.
Hospitals are a whole different story.
While surgeons around the world are pivoting toward minimally invasive procedures—designed to get patients out of the hospital quickly and back to work in six days instead of six weeks—our system is stuck in the past. Here, they admit you five days before the surgery, keep you an extra five days after, and then toss you onto long-term disability for weeks. To make matters worse, Medicare gets billed for fifteen days of hospital stays, even if the actual procedure only required three. It’s a massive waste of resources. That surplus cash could be used in a million different ways—upgrading equipment, advanced training, or better patient care—but instead, it just vanishes into the bureaucracy.
Of course, this also brings up the issue of staffing shortages in certain facilities—not to mention how much easier it would be if we could actually speed up patient turnover.
It’s actually pretty fascinating to watch private clinics like State Farm or Sunce thrive. They aren't just getting by; they are absolutely killing it, and everyone—from the patients to the doctors—seems genuinely happy with how things run. I wonder, do any of them have a director who is also a practicing physician? You know, someone who handles the clinical work in their own office while simultaneously running the whole show?

All at All, my take is this: if we actually put some competent people in charge of our healthcare system, they could—and honestly, they should—get everything back on track pretty quickly. If that happened, life would be a whole lot better for everyone.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services has zero business deciding which women are allowed to have children. That’s not his job. His actual job should be making sure the budget is handled properly so that anyone who wants to start a family can access the highest possible standards of medical care. Period.

Ugh, you're thinking like a manager, but it’s actually more complicated than that; if I were in charge, I’d perhaps implement specialized courses, maybe graduate programs or something focused on healthcare administration—I suspect that would be quite sufficient (they are starting to introduce this, if they haven't already). I guess the fundamental issue with managing healthcare finances is that it's become a political mess, since politics has completely bled into the medical field.
Just look at how many doctors are involved in politics and how some of them lobby for their own interests, whereas actual health policy is rarely the priority. It's honestly appalling.

Susan Rodriguez4 said:As long as doctors—not economists—are the ones calling the shots on the financial side of healthcare, the system is going to remain a bottomless money pit. This constant lack of funding will inevitably stifle medical innovation and service quality, which only fuels more frustration for patients. It's a vicious cycle.
The American healthcare system is bleeding cash through a million different holes. It’s exactly like any other massive corporation suffering under incompetent leadership.
Look, I’ve never heard anyone claim that a pharmacist runs the entire pharmaceutical industry. You don't see a software engineer calling the shots at a massive tech firm, and you certainly don't have an auto mechanic running an entire car factory. So why on earth do we insist that hospitals have to be managed by doctors? Most of them aren't even trained for administration, and honestly, they don't know how to do the job. It isn't even their primary career—it’s just an extra burden tacked onto their actual medical duties.😲😲😲
And let's not even get started on how much harder this is than running any corporation or massive conglomerate. When you factor in that human life is an immeasurable economic variable, the whole job becomes infinitely more complex and demanding.

The way our healthcare system works is backwards: it actually rewards laziness. It doesn't matter if you're looking at primary care, specialists, or major hospitals—it’s the same broken logic everywhere. The Department of Health and Human Services gets a set budget, and most of that just goes straight to payroll. But the rest? If you actually step up and do your job, you're viewed as a liability. In this system, being productive is treated like a loss on the balance sheet. Basically, if you want to get ahead, just don't do anything.
It all starts with primary care being funded through this broken fee-for-service model. It basically creates a system where the harder a doctor actually works, the less they make. So, to ensure they can actually pay their bills and survive, they end up writing prescriptions that don't cost them a dime.
Secondary care has basically vanished now that they've dismantled the community health center system.
Hospitals are a whole different story.
While surgeons around the world are pivoting toward minimally invasive procedures—designed to get patients out of the hospital quickly and back to work in six days instead of six weeks—our system is stuck in the past. Here, they admit you five days before the surgery, keep you an extra five days after, and then toss you onto long-term disability for weeks. To make matters worse, Medicare gets billed for fifteen days of hospital stays, even if the actual procedure only required three. It’s a massive waste of resources. That surplus cash could be used in a million different ways—upgrading equipment, advanced training, or better patient care—but instead, it just vanishes into the bureaucracy.
Of course, this also brings up the issue of staffing shortages in certain facilities—not to mention how much easier it would be if we could actually speed up patient turnover.
It’s actually pretty fascinating to watch private clinics like State Farm or Sunce thrive. They aren't just getting by; they are absolutely killing it, and everyone—from the patients to the doctors—seems genuinely happy with how things run. I wonder, do any of them have a director who is also a practicing physician? You know, someone who handles the clinical work in their own office while simultaneously running the whole show?

All at All, my take is this: if we actually put some competent people in charge of our healthcare system, they could—and honestly, they should—get everything back on track pretty quickly. If that happened, life would be a whole lot better for everyone.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services has zero business deciding which women are allowed to have children. That’s not his job. His actual job should be making sure the budget is handled properly so that anyone who wants to start a family can access the highest possible standards of medical care. Period.

Pfft, it seems to me you don't actually know any leaders in that industry; for instance, Čović was someone from the field (okay, he isn't the best example 😁), but let's say Bayer is led by a chemist or a scientist, though it’s hard to say for certain because there isn't just one single person running such a massive corporation anymore; instead, it's a board of directors, which includes doctors, chemists, and scientists alike...

Susan Rodriguez4 said:As long as doctors—not economists—are the ones calling the shots on the financial side of healthcare, the system is going to remain a bottomless money pit. This constant lack of funding will inevitably stifle medical innovation and service quality, which only fuels more frustration for patients. It's a vicious cycle.
The American healthcare system is bleeding cash through a million different holes. It’s exactly like any other massive corporation suffering under incompetent leadership.
Look, I’ve never heard anyone claim that a pharmacist runs the entire pharmaceutical industry. You don't see a software engineer calling the shots at a massive tech firm, and you certainly don't have an auto mechanic running an entire car factory. So why on earth do we insist that hospitals have to be managed by doctors? Most of them aren't even trained for administration, and honestly, they don't know how to do the job. It isn't even their primary career—it’s just an extra burden tacked onto their actual medical duties.😲😲😲
And let's not even get started on how much harder this is than running any corporation or massive conglomerate. When you factor in that human life is an immeasurable economic variable, the whole job becomes infinitely more complex and demanding.

The way our healthcare system works is backwards: it actually rewards laziness. It doesn't matter if you're looking at primary care, specialists, or major hospitals—it’s the same broken logic everywhere. The Department of Health and Human Services gets a set budget, and most of that just goes straight to payroll. But the rest? If you actually step up and do your job, you're viewed as a liability. In this system, being productive is treated like a loss on the balance sheet. Basically, if you want to get ahead, just don't do anything.
It all starts with primary care being funded through this broken fee-for-service model. It basically creates a system where the harder a doctor actually works, the less they make. So, to ensure they can actually pay their bills and survive, they end up writing prescriptions that don't cost them a dime.
Secondary care has basically vanished now that they've dismantled the community health center system.
Hospitals are a whole different story.
While surgeons around the world are pivoting toward minimally invasive procedures—designed to get patients out of the hospital quickly and back to work in six days instead of six weeks—our system is stuck in the past. Here, they admit you five days before the surgery, keep you an extra five days after, and then toss you onto long-term disability for weeks. To make matters worse, Medicare gets billed for fifteen days of hospital stays, even if the actual procedure only required three. It’s a massive waste of resources. That surplus cash could be used in a million different ways—upgrading equipment, advanced training, or better patient care—but instead, it just vanishes into the bureaucracy.
Of course, this also brings up the issue of staffing shortages in certain facilities—not to mention how much easier it would be if we could actually speed up patient turnover.
It’s actually pretty fascinating to watch private clinics like State Farm or Sunce thrive. They aren't just getting by; they are absolutely killing it, and everyone—from the patients to the doctors—seems genuinely happy with how things run. I wonder, do any of them have a director who is also a practicing physician? You know, someone who handles the clinical work in their own office while simultaneously running the whole show?

All at All, my take is this: if we actually put some competent people in charge of our healthcare system, they could—and honestly, they should—get everything back on track pretty quickly. If that happened, life would be a whole lot better for everyone.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services has zero business deciding which women are allowed to have children. That’s not his job. His actual job should be making sure the budget is handled properly so that anyone who wants to start a family can access the highest possible standards of medical care. Period.

Of course they do—what about Bill Gates? Or Steve Ballmer, or Steve Jobs?

Susan Rodriguez4 said:As long as doctors—not economists—are the ones calling the shots on the financial side of healthcare, the system is going to remain a bottomless money pit. This constant lack of funding will inevitably stifle medical innovation and service quality, which only fuels more frustration for patients. It's a vicious cycle.
The American healthcare system is bleeding cash through a million different holes. It’s exactly like any other massive corporation suffering under incompetent leadership.
Look, I’ve never heard anyone claim that a pharmacist runs the entire pharmaceutical industry. You don't see a software engineer calling the shots at a massive tech firm, and you certainly don't have an auto mechanic running an entire car factory. So why on earth do we insist that hospitals have to be managed by doctors? Most of them aren't even trained for administration, and honestly, they don't know how to do the job. It isn't even their primary career—it’s just an extra burden tacked onto their actual medical duties.😲😲😲
And let's not even get started on how much harder this is than running any corporation or massive conglomerate. When you factor in that human life is an immeasurable economic variable, the whole job becomes infinitely more complex and demanding.

The way our healthcare system works is backwards: it actually rewards laziness. It doesn't matter if you're looking at primary care, specialists, or major hospitals—it’s the same broken logic everywhere. The Department of Health and Human Services gets a set budget, and most of that just goes straight to payroll. But the rest? If you actually step up and do your job, you're viewed as a liability. In this system, being productive is treated like a loss on the balance sheet. Basically, if you want to get ahead, just don't do anything.
It all starts with primary care being funded through this broken fee-for-service model. It basically creates a system where the harder a doctor actually works, the less they make. So, to ensure they can actually pay their bills and survive, they end up writing prescriptions that don't cost them a dime.
Secondary care has basically vanished now that they've dismantled the community health center system.
Hospitals are a whole different story.
While surgeons around the world are pivoting toward minimally invasive procedures—designed to get patients out of the hospital quickly and back to work in six days instead of six weeks—our system is stuck in the past. Here, they admit you five days before the surgery, keep you an extra five days after, and then toss you onto long-term disability for weeks. To make matters worse, Medicare gets billed for fifteen days of hospital stays, even if the actual procedure only required three. It’s a massive waste of resources. That surplus cash could be used in a million different ways—upgrading equipment, advanced training, or better patient care—but instead, it just vanishes into the bureaucracy.
Of course, this also brings up the issue of staffing shortages in certain facilities—not to mention how much easier it would be if we could actually speed up patient turnover.
It’s actually pretty fascinating to watch private clinics like State Farm or Sunce thrive. They aren't just getting by; they are absolutely killing it, and everyone—from the patients to the doctors—seems genuinely happy with how things run. I wonder, do any of them have a director who is also a practicing physician? You know, someone who handles the clinical work in their own office while simultaneously running the whole show?

All at All, my take is this: if we actually put some competent people in charge of our healthcare system, they could—and honestly, they should—get everything back on track pretty quickly. If that happened, life would be a whole lot better for everyone.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services has zero business deciding which women are allowed to have children. That’s not his job. His actual job should be making sure the budget is handled properly so that anyone who wants to start a family can access the highest possible standards of medical care. Period.

Well, it's not exactly an auto mechanic, but rather an engineer who worked on engine design within a division of the conglomerate currently headed by Ferdinand Piech.🙂
I am merely pointing out the flaws here; I'm trying to show that the entire system is profoundly broken, and these half-hearted assessments and temporary fixes... they just aren't real solutions.
Watch out so we don't end up facing that typical American problem, where some cold-blooded manager just decides to cut the power to the non-profit department! It probably wouldn't be such a bad idea to have an insider positioned as the chief.

Susan Rodriguez4 said:As long as doctors—not economists—are the ones calling the shots on the financial side of healthcare, the system is going to remain a bottomless money pit. This constant lack of funding will inevitably stifle medical innovation and service quality, which only fuels more frustration for patients. It's a vicious cycle.
The American healthcare system is bleeding cash through a million different holes. It’s exactly like any other massive corporation suffering under incompetent leadership.
Look, I’ve never heard anyone claim that a pharmacist runs the entire pharmaceutical industry. You don't see a software engineer calling the shots at a massive tech firm, and you certainly don't have an auto mechanic running an entire car factory. So why on earth do we insist that hospitals have to be managed by doctors? Most of them aren't even trained for administration, and honestly, they don't know how to do the job. It isn't even their primary career—it’s just an extra burden tacked onto their actual medical duties.😲😲😲
And let's not even get started on how much harder this is than running any corporation or massive conglomerate. When you factor in that human life is an immeasurable economic variable, the whole job becomes infinitely more complex and demanding.

The way our healthcare system works is backwards: it actually rewards laziness. It doesn't matter if you're looking at primary care, specialists, or major hospitals—it’s the same broken logic everywhere. The Department of Health and Human Services gets a set budget, and most of that just goes straight to payroll. But the rest? If you actually step up and do your job, you're viewed as a liability. In this system, being productive is treated like a loss on the balance sheet. Basically, if you want to get ahead, just don't do anything.
It all starts with primary care being funded through this broken fee-for-service model. It basically creates a system where the harder a doctor actually works, the less they make. So, to ensure they can actually pay their bills and survive, they end up writing prescriptions that don't cost them a dime.
Secondary care has basically vanished now that they've dismantled the community health center system.
Hospitals are a whole different story.
While surgeons around the world are pivoting toward minimally invasive procedures—designed to get patients out of the hospital quickly and back to work in six days instead of six weeks—our system is stuck in the past. Here, they admit you five days before the surgery, keep you an extra five days after, and then toss you onto long-term disability for weeks. To make matters worse, Medicare gets billed for fifteen days of hospital stays, even if the actual procedure only required three. It’s a massive waste of resources. That surplus cash could be used in a million different ways—upgrading equipment, advanced training, or better patient care—but instead, it just vanishes into the bureaucracy.
Of course, this also brings up the issue of staffing shortages in certain facilities—not to mention how much easier it would be if we could actually speed up patient turnover.
It’s actually pretty fascinating to watch private clinics like State Farm or Sunce thrive. They aren't just getting by; they are absolutely killing it, and everyone—from the patients to the doctors—seems genuinely happy with how things run. I wonder, do any of them have a director who is also a practicing physician? You know, someone who handles the clinical work in their own office while simultaneously running the whole show?

All at All, my take is this: if we actually put some competent people in charge of our healthcare system, they could—and honestly, they should—get everything back on track pretty quickly. If that happened, life would be a whole lot better for everyone.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services has zero business deciding which women are allowed to have children. That’s not his job. His actual job should be making sure the budget is handled properly so that anyone who wants to start a family can access the highest possible standards of medical care. Period.

The director at Sun is a doctor. Whether they still maintain a practice, I suppose I can't say for sure, but even hospital administrators don't spend much time seeing patients (if they see them at all). Why are private facilities so profitable? Well, I guess it's because they focus strictly on fee-for-service diagnostics. There have certainly been instances where private hospitals haven't performed particularly well either.

Susan Rodriguez4 said:As long as doctors—not economists—are the ones calling the shots on the financial side of healthcare, the system is going to remain a bottomless money pit. This constant lack of funding will inevitably stifle medical innovation and service quality, which only fuels more frustration for patients. It's a vicious cycle.
The American healthcare system is bleeding cash through a million different holes. It’s exactly like any other massive corporation suffering under incompetent leadership.
Look, I’ve never heard anyone claim that a pharmacist runs the entire pharmaceutical industry. You don't see a software engineer calling the shots at a massive tech firm, and you certainly don't have an auto mechanic running an entire car factory. So why on earth do we insist that hospitals have to be managed by doctors? Most of them aren't even trained for administration, and honestly, they don't know how to do the job. It isn't even their primary career—it’s just an extra burden tacked onto their actual medical duties.😲😲😲
And let's not even get started on how much harder this is than running any corporation or massive conglomerate. When you factor in that human life is an immeasurable economic variable, the whole job becomes infinitely more complex and demanding.

The way our healthcare system works is backwards: it actually rewards laziness. It doesn't matter if you're looking at primary care, specialists, or major hospitals—it’s the same broken logic everywhere. The Department of Health and Human Services gets a set budget, and most of that just goes straight to payroll. But the rest? If you actually step up and do your job, you're viewed as a liability. In this system, being productive is treated like a loss on the balance sheet. Basically, if you want to get ahead, just don't do anything.
It all starts with primary care being funded through this broken fee-for-service model. It basically creates a system where the harder a doctor actually works, the less they make. So, to ensure they can actually pay their bills and survive, they end up writing prescriptions that don't cost them a dime.
Secondary care has basically vanished now that they've dismantled the community health center system.
Hospitals are a whole different story.
While surgeons around the world are pivoting toward minimally invasive procedures—designed to get patients out of the hospital quickly and back to work in six days instead of six weeks—our system is stuck in the past. Here, they admit you five days before the surgery, keep you an extra five days after, and then toss you onto long-term disability for weeks. To make matters worse, Medicare gets billed for fifteen days of hospital stays, even if the actual procedure only required three. It’s a massive waste of resources. That surplus cash could be used in a million different ways—upgrading equipment, advanced training, or better patient care—but instead, it just vanishes into the bureaucracy.
Of course, this also brings up the issue of staffing shortages in certain facilities—not to mention how much easier it would be if we could actually speed up patient turnover.
It’s actually pretty fascinating to watch private clinics like State Farm or Sunce thrive. They aren't just getting by; they are absolutely killing it, and everyone—from the patients to the doctors—seems genuinely happy with how things run. I wonder, do any of them have a director who is also a practicing physician? You know, someone who handles the clinical work in their own office while simultaneously running the whole show?

All at All, my take is this: if we actually put some competent people in charge of our healthcare system, they could—and honestly, they should—get everything back on track pretty quickly. If that happened, life would be a whole lot better for everyone.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services has zero business deciding which women are allowed to have children. That’s not his job. His actual job should be making sure the budget is handled properly so that anyone who wants to start a family can access the highest possible standards of medical care. Period.

But that is exactly what the Secretary does! He basically says, "Hmm, I won't allocate funds to these specific women since their chances are slim, so I'll give it to others instead..." It's a mess. And keep in mind, we are talking about astronomical costs here.
People don't seem to realize how expensive everything in healthcare is—pretty much everything except for the labor itself. I think the fundamental issue lies within the concept itself... though I suppose I've already made that point.

Did you know that doctors belong to a rare group of employees in America who actually earn LESS per hour when working overtime or on call than they do during regular business hours?! (Which, I guess, is technically against the law, though there is a legal loophole for it).

Maria Gomez4
I’m not saying the healthcare crisis is solely about a lack of funding. What I am saying is that mismanagement of those funds throttles the entire profession and creates a mountain of unnecessary headaches. The systemic crisis runs much deeper than just a thin wallet.
From an economic standpoint, healthcare is one of the most demanding and complex industries out there, specifically because we are dealing with human lives.
That’s why, in the US, hospitals are typically run by people who are economists with a Master’s in medical economics, or physicians who have earned that same degree. We're talking about at least 3 to 4 years of specialized postgraduate training just to gain the competency required for the role.
Of course, hospital boards include a medical council to provide clinical guidance. And sure, you can't just cut the power to a non-profit department, but it’s the economist who manages the budget to ensure that never happens. They have the specific know-how to navigate those waters; a doctor doesn't.

We don't really have those specific programs here yet. I know a brilliant, driven young woman trying to pave the way in this field, and people in the hospitals actually laughed at her. They mocked her—as if a Master of Economics wouldn't know anything compared to a Professor with a PhD who’s spent 38 years doing organ transplants.🙄
There aren't even any courses available.
Nothing.
Anyway, my point is this: we need to let specialists manage the money. That way, doctors actually have the headspace, the time, and the resources to advance their expertise and improve patient care, which ultimately makes everyone happier. Look at the Holy Spirit example—where a physician with actual business savvy took over as director. It’s a rare exception that proves the rule, but even within this dysfunctional system, that person worked miracles in a very short time.

As for Milinović, you couldn't be more wrong. He chose a model that is more expensive, detrimental to women's health, strains the system with repeated attempts, and has a lower success rate. It is a total failure, both medically and economically.

Bill Gates is one of a kind. A man with a 170 IQ can do whatever he wants in life. Honestly, if he were running the Department of Health and Human Services, things would be waaaaay better for all of us. Both sides.

What you're calling "sweeping generalizations" actually come from 15 years of experience running a private practice with eight employees. Believe me, I know exactly what this job entails. I know exactly what it feels like when the doctor in me, who cares about the patients, goes head-to-head with the economist in me, who has to make sure everyone gets paid and the vendors are taken care of.😉

Susan Rodriguez4 As if I care what they say:
I guess there aren't even any courses available anymore, which seems rather ridiculous, if you ask me.
Nothing at all, I suppose.

Well, there's something there, I suppose. I'm not entirely sure if it’s actually worth the trouble, but it exists.

Susan Rodriguez4 said:Maria Gomez4
I’m not saying the healthcare crisis is solely about a lack of funding. What I am saying is that mismanagement of those funds throttles the entire profession and creates a mountain of unnecessary headaches. The systemic crisis runs much deeper than just a thin wallet.
From an economic standpoint, healthcare is one of the most demanding and complex industries out there, specifically because we are dealing with human lives.
That’s why, in the US, hospitals are typically run by people who are economists with a Master’s in medical economics, or physicians who have earned that same degree. We're talking about at least 3 to 4 years of specialized postgraduate training just to gain the competency required for the role.
Of course, hospital boards include a medical council to provide clinical guidance. And sure, you can't just cut the power to a non-profit department, but it’s the economist who manages the budget to ensure that never happens. They have the specific know-how to navigate those waters; a doctor doesn't.

We don't really have those specific programs here yet. I know a brilliant, driven young woman trying to pave the way in this field, and people in the hospitals actually laughed at her. They mocked her—as if a Master of Economics wouldn't know anything compared to a Professor with a PhD who’s spent 38 years doing organ transplants.🙄
There aren't even any courses available.
Nothing.
Anyway, my point is this: we need to let specialists manage the money. That way, doctors actually have the headspace, the time, and the resources to advance their expertise and improve patient care, which ultimately makes everyone happier. Look at the Holy Spirit example—where a physician with actual business savvy took over as director. It’s a rare exception that proves the rule, but even within this dysfunctional system, that person worked miracles in a very short time.

As for Milinović, you couldn't be more wrong. He chose a model that is more expensive, detrimental to women's health, strains the system with repeated attempts, and has a lower success rate. It is a total failure, both medically and economically.

Bill Gates is one of a kind. A man with a 170 IQ can do whatever he wants in life. Honestly, if he were running the Department of Health and Human Services, things would be waaaaay better for all of us. Both sides.

What you're calling "sweeping generalizations" actually come from 15 years of experience running a private practice with eight employees. Believe me, I know exactly what this job entails. I know exactly what it feels like when the doctor in me, who cares about the patients, goes head-to-head with the economist in me, who has to make sure everyone gets paid and the vendors are taken care of.😉

I guess I’m just curious, but what kind of business is the Holy Spirit actually running here?

Susan Rodriguez4 said:Maria Gomez4
I’m not saying the healthcare crisis is solely about a lack of funding. What I am saying is that mismanagement of those funds throttles the entire profession and creates a mountain of unnecessary headaches. The systemic crisis runs much deeper than just a thin wallet.
From an economic standpoint, healthcare is one of the most demanding and complex industries out there, specifically because we are dealing with human lives.
That’s why, in the US, hospitals are typically run by people who are economists with a Master’s in medical economics, or physicians who have earned that same degree. We're talking about at least 3 to 4 years of specialized postgraduate training just to gain the competency required for the role.
Of course, hospital boards include a medical council to provide clinical guidance. And sure, you can't just cut the power to a non-profit department, but it’s the economist who manages the budget to ensure that never happens. They have the specific know-how to navigate those waters; a doctor doesn't.

We don't really have those specific programs here yet. I know a brilliant, driven young woman trying to pave the way in this field, and people in the hospitals actually laughed at her. They mocked her—as if a Master of Economics wouldn't know anything compared to a Professor with a PhD who’s spent 38 years doing organ transplants.🙄
There aren't even any courses available.
Nothing.
Anyway, my point is this: we need to let specialists manage the money. That way, doctors actually have the headspace, the time, and the resources to advance their expertise and improve patient care, which ultimately makes everyone happier. Look at the Holy Spirit example—where a physician with actual business savvy took over as director. It’s a rare exception that proves the rule, but even within this dysfunctional system, that person worked miracles in a very short time.

As for Milinović, you couldn't be more wrong. He chose a model that is more expensive, detrimental to women's health, strains the system with repeated attempts, and has a lower success rate. It is a total failure, both medically and economically.

Bill Gates is one of a kind. A man with a 170 IQ can do whatever he wants in life. Honestly, if he were running the Department of Health and Human Services, things would be waaaaay better for all of us. Both sides.

What you're calling "sweeping generalizations" actually come from 15 years of experience running a private practice with eight employees. Believe me, I know exactly what this job entails. I know exactly what it feels like when the doctor in me, who cares about the patients, goes head-to-head with the economist in me, who has to make sure everyone gets paid and the vendors are taken care of.😉

I suppose if those procedures weren't being performed quite so frequently, maybe less money would actually be spent. 🙂 The minister comes out on top—though, just to be absolutely clear, I am certainly not defending him... not even a little bit.

Susan Rodriguez4 said:Maria Gomez4
I’m not saying the healthcare crisis is solely about a lack of funding. What I am saying is that mismanagement of those funds throttles the entire profession and creates a mountain of unnecessary headaches. The systemic crisis runs much deeper than just a thin wallet.
From an economic standpoint, healthcare is one of the most demanding and complex industries out there, specifically because we are dealing with human lives.
That’s why, in the US, hospitals are typically run by people who are economists with a Master’s in medical economics, or physicians who have earned that same degree. We're talking about at least 3 to 4 years of specialized postgraduate training just to gain the competency required for the role.
Of course, hospital boards include a medical council to provide clinical guidance. And sure, you can't just cut the power to a non-profit department, but it’s the economist who manages the budget to ensure that never happens. They have the specific know-how to navigate those waters; a doctor doesn't.

We don't really have those specific programs here yet. I know a brilliant, driven young woman trying to pave the way in this field, and people in the hospitals actually laughed at her. They mocked her—as if a Master of Economics wouldn't know anything compared to a Professor with a PhD who’s spent 38 years doing organ transplants.🙄
There aren't even any courses available.
Nothing.
Anyway, my point is this: we need to let specialists manage the money. That way, doctors actually have the headspace, the time, and the resources to advance their expertise and improve patient care, which ultimately makes everyone happier. Look at the Holy Spirit example—where a physician with actual business savvy took over as director. It’s a rare exception that proves the rule, but even within this dysfunctional system, that person worked miracles in a very short time.

As for Milinović, you couldn't be more wrong. He chose a model that is more expensive, detrimental to women's health, strains the system with repeated attempts, and has a lower success rate. It is a total failure, both medically and economically.

Bill Gates is one of a kind. A man with a 170 IQ can do whatever he wants in life. Honestly, if he were running the Department of Health and Human Services, things would be waaaaay better for all of us. Both sides.

What you're calling "sweeping generalizations" actually come from 15 years of experience running a private practice with eight employees. Believe me, I know exactly what this job entails. I know exactly what it feels like when the doctor in me, who cares about the patients, goes head-to-head with the economist in me, who has to make sure everyone gets paid and the vendors are taken care of.😉

I suppose you missed the fact that it wasn't actually like that. I quickly threw in names like Ferdinand Piech, Jobs, and Ballmer—plus how Bayer is essentially running the chemical industry—but that was just me offering some casual observations. It wasn't meant to steer the core argument itself, though one could argue that engaging in debate for the sake of debating is exactly what I enjoy doing most.

Susan Rodriguez4 As if anyone actually believes that.
My generalized assessments, if that’s what you insist on calling them, aren't just random guesses; they actually stem from fifteen years of running my own private practice with a staff of eight. Believe me when I say I understand exactly what this job entails, especially when the doctor in me—the one who genuinely cares about patient outcomes—finds itself constantly clashing with the business owner in me, who has to ensure every single employee gets paid on time and all our suppliers are kept satisfied.😉

Do you work in the healthcare sector?

Now, please don't get me wrong, because I truly believe that we could—and honestly, we must—manage our funds more effectively, but I just don't think money is the actual reason the system is failing (which is why some people tend to praise the American model and private healthcare). In my view, the issue lies with policy... I suppose I would compare it to running a major U.S. city, where you might argue that if we managed our budget better, we’d have more capital for development, and that makes sense. But what our cities actually lack is a robust urban planning strategy, a coherent idea, or a real vision... right now, we just seem to be dealing with haphazard construction and overpriced, poorly designed infrastructure..
Some international organizations have warned that per capita, we are overspending relative to our economic strength, while others (local ones) warn that we aren't spending nearly enough compared to our peers in Europe!

Maria Gomez4 said:I suppose I have to agree with that.

I have to agree with that; those old-school partisan tactics have never actually yielded anything positive, not even once.

That is quite possibly the most glaring example imaginable; I suppose this is where you'll finally see just how fundamentally flawed this entire reform actually is. 😢

I suppose being a chronic patient changes your perspective quite a bit, though I suspect most people don't realize how different that reality is. Our healthcare system is fundamentally built on the premise that an expert manages your care while you collaborate with them, rather than following a completely deregulated or hyper-liberal model. It seems like many people mistakenly view their specialist—say, a diabetologist—as the ultimate authority in their lives, when in reality, your primary care physician should be the one steering the ship, acting as the central coordinator who consults specialists only when they need a second opinion or recommend specific follow-up tests.
What we’re looking at here is a fundamental crisis in primary care. I guess you could say that a huge chunk of the work currently being handled by specialists at major institutions—like the Mayo Clinic—could easily be managed by general practitioners without any real issues. They could handle hypertension treatments, manage diabetes cases (provided they aren't extreme), perform wound care, or even prescribe medication for depression. These aren't exactly complex medical feats, but I suppose patients today seem to have this irrational obsession with seeing a specialist for everything.
I suppose you're clearly young enough to be proactive about managing your own health, but in my experience, I found that most people—especially older patients—were far more appreciative when I took the time to actually walk them through specific procedures, explain what a disease really means, interpret their lab results, or just provide a concise summary of everything. Older folks generally require a much higher level of guidance than you probably do.

But I suppose I agree that we have a fundamental issue here: you send someone to an institution to deal with a specific problem, and then they just don't follow through completely... which is honestly quite tragic, because it seems the administrators are constantly at war with family doctors over money; for instance, some hospitals won't even let you use their own treatment while you're admitted, instead asking if you have your own supply from home first. Similarly, they might avoid sending you for a necessary test that could easily be done in-house, preferring instead to say; oh, it isn't urgent, it isn't vital, let someone else pick up the tab. It doesn't happen every single time, but I've seen it, and I guess that is really the deciding factor between a good department and a bad hospital.

It's because some fool wrote into the law that healthcare in America is accessible and free to everyone. Which, obviously, isn't true since you still have to cover your co-pays.
Though I do agree; I feel a sense of disgust seeing people throw tantrums just because they have to pay for some cough syrup. "Doctor, is there anything available that won't cost me anything?" I hear that every single day. I agree that people lack funds, but at the same time, most of these medications aren't even necessary for them.
The whole system has become inverted: some people seem to think that if a drug can be bought over the counter without a prescription, it isn't a real medicine but just some placebo, while others believe that everything worth having costs a fortune, so if you have to pay for it, it must be effective (which just causes them to lose all faith in the system).
A real-life example: a woman comes in her late 30s with a sore throat, a runny nose, and a cough that's lasted three days (! I honestly can't believe how many people think a cough becomes a serious symptom if it lasts longer than a day and a half!), I examine her, listen, and the findings show nothing but slightly swollen tonsils—that's it! I tell her: "What you have isn't dangerous and it will pass; it's just a sore throat and a cold; drink plenty of fluids, suck on some spicy lozenges, you don't even need special medication, just take Tylenol if a fever develops." And she responds: "Oh, so you don't think I need antibiotics?" I tell her: "No, there's no reason, no pus, lungs are clear..." and then she asks: "Well, can I at least get two days of sick leave before the weekend?" But that's just how Americans are...

Huh, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by that, but you can always request the swabs. I don't know what the current guidelines are. :/

They are actually trying to fix this by using recurring prescriptions and digital referrals. But, I suppose the logic behind our system is that a family doctor needs to maintain oversight of your overall health and treatment plan. If you say you need referrals every month, then I guess one has to wonder what exactly you are doing with them?

I really shouldn't meddle in how other people do their jobs or judge their work ethic, but honestly, some of them are just complete animals.

I suppose I have to agree... the food can be absolute garbage; and it is quite strange how much it varies from one hospital to the next. My experience at the Mayo Clinic was actually great, but my time at the local county hospital was just awful; for breakfast, they literally serve you a single slice of whole wheat bread, one tiny sliver of bologna, and a small cup of black coffee.

Let me clarify my position here. It’s not that I’m specifically demanding a specialist just for the sake of it. The reality is that I’m managing some chronic conditions—specifically MS and asthma—that require regular check-ups and oversight from a specialist at set intervals. From a logical standpoint, if I'm seeing a specialist, they should be the ones able to issue my prescriptions. It makes zero sense that I have to loop back to my primary care physician just to get a script signed. Furthermore, if that same specialist tells me, "Come back in three months for a follow-up," I shouldn't have to run back to my GP just to schedule that appointment or get authorization. Why put patients through this unnecessary runaround? It feels like a lot of wasted movement.
What exactly is the point of having the internet if we can't use it to keep doctors connected? Instead of this constant back-and-forth walking around, why isn't everything streamlined digitally? It feels like the primary care physician is being relegated to nothing more than an administrator rather than a true medical provider.

Maria Gomez4 said:I suppose I have to agree with that.

I have to agree with that; those old-school partisan tactics have never actually yielded anything positive, not even once.

That is quite possibly the most glaring example imaginable; I suppose this is where you'll finally see just how fundamentally flawed this entire reform actually is. 😢

I suppose being a chronic patient changes your perspective quite a bit, though I suspect most people don't realize how different that reality is. Our healthcare system is fundamentally built on the premise that an expert manages your care while you collaborate with them, rather than following a completely deregulated or hyper-liberal model. It seems like many people mistakenly view their specialist—say, a diabetologist—as the ultimate authority in their lives, when in reality, your primary care physician should be the one steering the ship, acting as the central coordinator who consults specialists only when they need a second opinion or recommend specific follow-up tests.
What we’re looking at here is a fundamental crisis in primary care. I guess you could say that a huge chunk of the work currently being handled by specialists at major institutions—like the Mayo Clinic—could easily be managed by general practitioners without any real issues. They could handle hypertension treatments, manage diabetes cases (provided they aren't extreme), perform wound care, or even prescribe medication for depression. These aren't exactly complex medical feats, but I suppose patients today seem to have this irrational obsession with seeing a specialist for everything.
I suppose you're clearly young enough to be proactive about managing your own health, but in my experience, I found that most people—especially older patients—were far more appreciative when I took the time to actually walk them through specific procedures, explain what a disease really means, interpret their lab results, or just provide a concise summary of everything. Older folks generally require a much higher level of guidance than you probably do.

But I suppose I agree that we have a fundamental issue here: you send someone to an institution to deal with a specific problem, and then they just don't follow through completely... which is honestly quite tragic, because it seems the administrators are constantly at war with family doctors over money; for instance, some hospitals won't even let you use their own treatment while you're admitted, instead asking if you have your own supply from home first. Similarly, they might avoid sending you for a necessary test that could easily be done in-house, preferring instead to say; oh, it isn't urgent, it isn't vital, let someone else pick up the tab. It doesn't happen every single time, but I've seen it, and I guess that is really the deciding factor between a good department and a bad hospital.

It's because some fool wrote into the law that healthcare in America is accessible and free to everyone. Which, obviously, isn't true since you still have to cover your co-pays.
Though I do agree; I feel a sense of disgust seeing people throw tantrums just because they have to pay for some cough syrup. "Doctor, is there anything available that won't cost me anything?" I hear that every single day. I agree that people lack funds, but at the same time, most of these medications aren't even necessary for them.
The whole system has become inverted: some people seem to think that if a drug can be bought over the counter without a prescription, it isn't a real medicine but just some placebo, while others believe that everything worth having costs a fortune, so if you have to pay for it, it must be effective (which just causes them to lose all faith in the system).
A real-life example: a woman comes in her late 30s with a sore throat, a runny nose, and a cough that's lasted three days (! I honestly can't believe how many people think a cough becomes a serious symptom if it lasts longer than a day and a half!), I examine her, listen, and the findings show nothing but slightly swollen tonsils—that's it! I tell her: "What you have isn't dangerous and it will pass; it's just a sore throat and a cold; drink plenty of fluids, suck on some spicy lozenges, you don't even need special medication, just take Tylenol if a fever develops." And she responds: "Oh, so you don't think I need antibiotics?" I tell her: "No, there's no reason, no pus, lungs are clear..." and then she asks: "Well, can I at least get two days of sick leave before the weekend?" But that's just how Americans are...

Huh, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by that, but you can always request the swabs. I don't know what the current guidelines are. :/

They are actually trying to fix this by using recurring prescriptions and digital referrals. But, I suppose the logic behind our system is that a family doctor needs to maintain oversight of your overall health and treatment plan. If you say you need referrals every month, then I guess one has to wonder what exactly you are doing with them?

I really shouldn't meddle in how other people do their jobs or judge their work ethic, but honestly, some of them are just complete animals.

I suppose I have to agree... the food can be absolute garbage; and it is quite strange how much it varies from one hospital to the next. My experience at the Mayo Clinic was actually great, but my time at the local county hospital was just awful; for breakfast, they literally serve you a single slice of whole wheat bread, one tiny sliver of bologna, and a small cup of black coffee.

True, they don't strictly need it—though they actually do, but let them pay their own way—just like people shouldn't be taking sick leave for a simple cold. Actually, when I really think about it, I wouldn't even want people with colds coming into the office and spreading viruses around. Working in that environment, I have my own chronic condition to manage, and every single virus someone brings in could seriously impact my health. So, maybe we should all consider asking people to just STAY HOME when they're dealing with viruses, strep throat, or the flu.
When it comes to medication, I feel like we’re seeing a real disconnect in how treatment is handled. Many patients living with MS should ideally be on something like interferon while they still have a genuine window of opportunity to slow down or even halt the progression of the disease, yet so few actually receive it. On the flip side, doctors are prescribing a mountain of different medications, half of which end up sitting in a trash can because they aren't right for the patient—all while people are left footing the bill. It’s a tough situation when you consider that many patients simply can't afford to shell out nearly $1,100 a month just for interferon.

Maria Gomez4 said:I suppose I have to agree with that.

I have to agree with that; those old-school partisan tactics have never actually yielded anything positive, not even once.

That is quite possibly the most glaring example imaginable; I suppose this is where you'll finally see just how fundamentally flawed this entire reform actually is. 😢

I suppose being a chronic patient changes your perspective quite a bit, though I suspect most people don't realize how different that reality is. Our healthcare system is fundamentally built on the premise that an expert manages your care while you collaborate with them, rather than following a completely deregulated or hyper-liberal model. It seems like many people mistakenly view their specialist—say, a diabetologist—as the ultimate authority in their lives, when in reality, your primary care physician should be the one steering the ship, acting as the central coordinator who consults specialists only when they need a second opinion or recommend specific follow-up tests.
What we’re looking at here is a fundamental crisis in primary care. I guess you could say that a huge chunk of the work currently being handled by specialists at major institutions—like the Mayo Clinic—could easily be managed by general practitioners without any real issues. They could handle hypertension treatments, manage diabetes cases (provided they aren't extreme), perform wound care, or even prescribe medication for depression. These aren't exactly complex medical feats, but I suppose patients today seem to have this irrational obsession with seeing a specialist for everything.
I suppose you're clearly young enough to be proactive about managing your own health, but in my experience, I found that most people—especially older patients—were far more appreciative when I took the time to actually walk them through specific procedures, explain what a disease really means, interpret their lab results, or just provide a concise summary of everything. Older folks generally require a much higher level of guidance than you probably do.

But I suppose I agree that we have a fundamental issue here: you send someone to an institution to deal with a specific problem, and then they just don't follow through completely... which is honestly quite tragic, because it seems the administrators are constantly at war with family doctors over money; for instance, some hospitals won't even let you use their own treatment while you're admitted, instead asking if you have your own supply from home first. Similarly, they might avoid sending you for a necessary test that could easily be done in-house, preferring instead to say; oh, it isn't urgent, it isn't vital, let someone else pick up the tab. It doesn't happen every single time, but I've seen it, and I guess that is really the deciding factor between a good department and a bad hospital.

It's because some fool wrote into the law that healthcare in America is accessible and free to everyone. Which, obviously, isn't true since you still have to cover your co-pays.
Though I do agree; I feel a sense of disgust seeing people throw tantrums just because they have to pay for some cough syrup. "Doctor, is there anything available that won't cost me anything?" I hear that every single day. I agree that people lack funds, but at the same time, most of these medications aren't even necessary for them.
The whole system has become inverted: some people seem to think that if a drug can be bought over the counter without a prescription, it isn't a real medicine but just some placebo, while others believe that everything worth having costs a fortune, so if you have to pay for it, it must be effective (which just causes them to lose all faith in the system).
A real-life example: a woman comes in her late 30s with a sore throat, a runny nose, and a cough that's lasted three days (! I honestly can't believe how many people think a cough becomes a serious symptom if it lasts longer than a day and a half!), I examine her, listen, and the findings show nothing but slightly swollen tonsils—that's it! I tell her: "What you have isn't dangerous and it will pass; it's just a sore throat and a cold; drink plenty of fluids, suck on some spicy lozenges, you don't even need special medication, just take Tylenol if a fever develops." And she responds: "Oh, so you don't think I need antibiotics?" I tell her: "No, there's no reason, no pus, lungs are clear..." and then she asks: "Well, can I at least get two days of sick leave before the weekend?" But that's just how Americans are...

Huh, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by that, but you can always request the swabs. I don't know what the current guidelines are. :/

They are actually trying to fix this by using recurring prescriptions and digital referrals. But, I suppose the logic behind our system is that a family doctor needs to maintain oversight of your overall health and treatment plan. If you say you need referrals every month, then I guess one has to wonder what exactly you are doing with them?

I really shouldn't meddle in how other people do their jobs or judge their work ethic, but honestly, some of them are just complete animals.

I suppose I have to agree... the food can be absolute garbage; and it is quite strange how much it varies from one hospital to the next. My experience at the Mayo Clinic was actually great, but my time at the local county hospital was just awful; for breakfast, they literally serve you a single slice of whole wheat bread, one tiny sliver of bologna, and a small cup of black coffee.

What I mean is that until I hit my 30s, I was seeing a public gynecologist and was honestly pretty clueless about specific screenings. I used to think a Pap smear was plenty. When I finally decided to switch to a private specialist, I nearly had a heart attack when they asked if I’d done certain specific swabs—and I just sat there looking blank. You can carry a ton of infections without even knowing it, yet they can lead to infertility or cervical cancer. These screenings really should be the gold standard; I get them done once a year now, and I sleep much better for it. It feels like so many women only find out they’re carrying things like HPV or chlamydia once they actually get pregnant.

Maria Gomez4 said:I suppose I have to agree with that.

I have to agree with that; those old-school partisan tactics have never actually yielded anything positive, not even once.

That is quite possibly the most glaring example imaginable; I suppose this is where you'll finally see just how fundamentally flawed this entire reform actually is. 😢

I suppose being a chronic patient changes your perspective quite a bit, though I suspect most people don't realize how different that reality is. Our healthcare system is fundamentally built on the premise that an expert manages your care while you collaborate with them, rather than following a completely deregulated or hyper-liberal model. It seems like many people mistakenly view their specialist—say, a diabetologist—as the ultimate authority in their lives, when in reality, your primary care physician should be the one steering the ship, acting as the central coordinator who consults specialists only when they need a second opinion or recommend specific follow-up tests.
What we’re looking at here is a fundamental crisis in primary care. I guess you could say that a huge chunk of the work currently being handled by specialists at major institutions—like the Mayo Clinic—could easily be managed by general practitioners without any real issues. They could handle hypertension treatments, manage diabetes cases (provided they aren't extreme), perform wound care, or even prescribe medication for depression. These aren't exactly complex medical feats, but I suppose patients today seem to have this irrational obsession with seeing a specialist for everything.
I suppose you're clearly young enough to be proactive about managing your own health, but in my experience, I found that most people—especially older patients—were far more appreciative when I took the time to actually walk them through specific procedures, explain what a disease really means, interpret their lab results, or just provide a concise summary of everything. Older folks generally require a much higher level of guidance than you probably do.

But I suppose I agree that we have a fundamental issue here: you send someone to an institution to deal with a specific problem, and then they just don't follow through completely... which is honestly quite tragic, because it seems the administrators are constantly at war with family doctors over money; for instance, some hospitals won't even let you use their own treatment while you're admitted, instead asking if you have your own supply from home first. Similarly, they might avoid sending you for a necessary test that could easily be done in-house, preferring instead to say; oh, it isn't urgent, it isn't vital, let someone else pick up the tab. It doesn't happen every single time, but I've seen it, and I guess that is really the deciding factor between a good department and a bad hospital.

It's because some fool wrote into the law that healthcare in America is accessible and free to everyone. Which, obviously, isn't true since you still have to cover your co-pays.
Though I do agree; I feel a sense of disgust seeing people throw tantrums just because they have to pay for some cough syrup. "Doctor, is there anything available that won't cost me anything?" I hear that every single day. I agree that people lack funds, but at the same time, most of these medications aren't even necessary for them.
The whole system has become inverted: some people seem to think that if a drug can be bought over the counter without a prescription, it isn't a real medicine but just some placebo, while others believe that everything worth having costs a fortune, so if you have to pay for it, it must be effective (which just causes them to lose all faith in the system).
A real-life example: a woman comes in her late 30s with a sore throat, a runny nose, and a cough that's lasted three days (! I honestly can't believe how many people think a cough becomes a serious symptom if it lasts longer than a day and a half!), I examine her, listen, and the findings show nothing but slightly swollen tonsils—that's it! I tell her: "What you have isn't dangerous and it will pass; it's just a sore throat and a cold; drink plenty of fluids, suck on some spicy lozenges, you don't even need special medication, just take Tylenol if a fever develops." And she responds: "Oh, so you don't think I need antibiotics?" I tell her: "No, there's no reason, no pus, lungs are clear..." and then she asks: "Well, can I at least get two days of sick leave before the weekend?" But that's just how Americans are...

Huh, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by that, but you can always request the swabs. I don't know what the current guidelines are. :/

They are actually trying to fix this by using recurring prescriptions and digital referrals. But, I suppose the logic behind our system is that a family doctor needs to maintain oversight of your overall health and treatment plan. If you say you need referrals every month, then I guess one has to wonder what exactly you are doing with them?

I really shouldn't meddle in how other people do their jobs or judge their work ethic, but honestly, some of them are just complete animals.

I suppose I have to agree... the food can be absolute garbage; and it is quite strange how much it varies from one hospital to the next. My experience at the Mayo Clinic was actually great, but my time at the local county hospital was just awful; for breakfast, they literally serve you a single slice of whole wheat bread, one tiny sliver of bologna, and a small cup of black coffee.

I go to psychotherapy. That’s one referral per month.
And for the record, I haven't taken a single sick day in eight years.
If I need to stay home for a couple of days because of a virus, they just deduct it from my vacation time, and that's that.

Maria Gomez4Hey! I'm not sure if it's actually worth it, but hey, there's something there.

They aren't worth much. They basically just boil down to basic accounting stuff like tax payments and such. Half the time, someone from Medicare shows up, and their entire argument just circles back to the rights and obligations under health insurance... It has absolutely nothing to do with actual management or running a business.

Ugh, I'm honestly just curious—what kind of business is the Holy Spirit actually running?

I’ve been saying it from the start: running a hospital is a business. Period. So, what kind of business model is the Holy Spirit running right now? It's managing itself, and honestly, that's one of the few institutions that actually understands the need for that kind of approach.

About a year ago, he did this great deep dive on the Mayo Clinic during his morning segment. Honestly, even though the journalist was leaning pretty hard into the populist angle, it’s totally worth your time. There are about six or seven follow-up pieces that came out day after day right after.
I found this bit about the Holy Spirit. Take a look—it’s actually pretty interesting:

You missed the point there. I just quickly threw in names like Piech, Jobs, and Ballmer—plus, Bayer is basically running the whole chemical industry.

I didn't say that. I was just saying that Bill Gates is the one and only.

Do you work in healthcare?

Yes.

Don't get me wrong—I truly believe we can, and absolutely must, manage our money more effectively. But I don't think money is the actual reason the system is broken (which is why some people obsess over the American model or private healthcare). To me, the real culprit is the policy. I’d compare it to running a major U.S. city. Sure, you could argue that if we managed our funds better, we’d have a healthier budget and steady growth, and that makes sense. But what our cities are actually missing is a strong urban planning strategy, a clear idea, and a real vision. Right now, all we have is haphazard, chaotic development paired with overpriced, poorly designed infrastructure.

Of course, everything boils down to politics. It’s politics that decides to put incompetent, underqualified people into positions they have no business holding. It all happens because there's an open invitation to line their own pockets through shady deals or to consolidate power by exploiting the system rather than actually earning it through merit.

If Bandić's buddies hadn't spent so much time getting hitched, the city budget might actually have some money left in it. That's my personal way of describing all that insane spending in Washington, D.C.—you know how it goes. It’s always "hey, I need to throw a massive wedding for my godson," followed by "let me land a sweet contract." Then Bandić swoops in and says, "Sure, just build a public restroom over in Dubrava and I'll hand you a million bucks for it." Is that enough? Probably. But it’s a fact: if those connections weren't being cashed in through weddings and favors, the city would be a lot richer.
If our political system wasn't built on cronyism and backroom deals, we wouldn't even be having this conversation.
Look, we live in a country where it doesn't matter how rock-solid the urban planning is—whether it’s for healthcare, the economy, or education—and it doesn't matter how brilliant the vision or the idea might be. Nothing actually gets built or realized until the political cronies have married off all their buddies and secured every single relative down to the third generation. And let's be real: that's never going to happen.
Regardless of which political party is in power, we have to find a way to fix this system from the inside.
I’m still sticking to my guns on this: the healthcare system actually has enough funding. The real issues are that doctors are generally underpaid and overworked (though some definitely get overpaid because there's zero oversight), nurses have been stripped of their professional standing due to inadequate training, and the bureaucracy is just massive. People aren't dying because of poor medical treatment—let's not make exceptions there—they're dying because of red tape and terrible organization. On top of that, preventative care and palliative care are virtually non-existent. A huge chunk of these problems could be solved simply by managing the money the healthcare system already has much more effectively.

Looks like a solid debate broke out while I was away. 🙂

Regarding that segment on FOX, the only person who commented was some old lady complaining that her doctor is stingy with referrals. She didn't get why the doctor would care, since the doctor isn't paying for those referrals out of her own pocket anyway.

The truth is, most people have zero clue how primary care actually works. A few years back, I was floored when I found out Medicare actually penalizes general practitioners and gynecologists if they issue too many referrals in a single month. It makes sense—you have tons of patients coming in for nothing, getting unnecessary tests just to find out they're fine, and that ends up draining the resources meant for people who are actually sick.

If my mother hadn't pulled some strings and gone with me to demand specific testing from my—now ex—primary doctor, I wouldn't even know half of my diagnoses today.

Up until I was 22, I barely saw a doctor. Most of my visits were during high school just to get a note for being absent, because our parents could only cover one day before we needed an official medical excuse. Then, when I actually *needed* my doctor, she started rationing the referrals.

Look, I’m not happy with a system where I have to fight just to get the tests I need, or play the "who do you know" game just to see a specialist without waiting months, or hunt for connections just to get basic screenings done so I don't wait a year for a follow-up. The more I look at our healthcare system, the more it feels like we're sliding toward the American model. 👎 It's starting to feel like the rich will get treated while the poor just die.

I can’t say I have anything but good things to say about my primary care physician; she’s never denied me a single test—not that I usually go hunting for them myself, since they’re typically ordered by specialists.
If my doctor were to refuse anything that a specialist had actually requested, I’d simply grab my medical records and find a new practice immediately.

Generally speaking, the people who end up burning through the most insurance coverage on expensive, unnecessary testing are those struggling with anxiety, panic disorders, and the accompanying hypochondria, primarily because those conditions manifest with such intense physical symptoms.
Then it becomes a domino effect—heart tests, thyroid panels, neurologists, MRIs, CT scans, endoscopies, you name it. I completely understand the need to rule out physical illnesses first, but the catch is that a psychiatrist is often the last person a patient sees, rather than the first (or second, right after the ER).

Even many doctors fail to recognize the telltale signs of a panic attack, and honestly, many patients would much rather deal with almost any other diagnosis than (heaven forbid) admit the illness is psychosomatic.
I know of one case involving a college student brought to Washington, D.C. for testing—she was always the top student, incredibly driven, overextended herself with a hundred different activities, and then... well, in her rush to do everything, she ended up failing a year. Since then, she's dealt with a massive wave of symptoms. She’s seen every specialist under the sun and likely cost her family a quarter of their county's annual medical budget in testing alone. Her worried parents and fiancé are pulling all sorts of strings, only for her to finally land in front of a psychiatrist. After a thorough review of all her results and several consultations, the diagnosis comes back as anxiety (or something similar), but neither the parents, nor the fiancé, nor even the girl herself will accept it. They just keep demanding another full-body MRI and insist on an IV drip (?!). It doesn't matter what the fluid is; they just want the peace of mind that comes from having something dripping into her vein. ☕
Since the medical recommendations were rejected, they've brought their daughter back home (I'm not sure what happened after that).