No one studies the effort of managing one's health care

[firecat]

This is yet another thing that people with medical conditions get blamed for—not managing their own care well enough, although according to this article NO ONE studies the efforts required to manage one's own health care.

(Content note: one use of the "O-word")

"But American medicine demands another scarce resource from patients, and that is their time. The time it takes to check in on the status of a prescription, to wait for a doctor, to take time away from work to sit on hold and hope that, at some point, someone will pick up the phone.
...
"There is a risk associated with not measuring patient work: namely, that patients will give up when life gets in the way. This is an especially acute worry for lower-income patients, who often work for hourly wages and have little space to change their schedules."

http://www.vox.com/2016/6/1/11712776/healthcare-footprint

Comments

[mama-hogswatch.livejournal.com]

I have given up mostly going to the doctor because I can't keep up with the appointments, chasing down the paperwork, arguing with the insurance company to make sure it gets paid for properly.... (And yes, I know how incredibly lucky I am even to have insurance and all that smack, not to mention the fact that I'm in somewhat robust health for my demographics.)

I am sure I will die younger than otherwise because of it, but given what end of life care and its costs are, a small and cynical side of me wonders if there is not some engineering going on.

[firecat]

I'm glad you're healthy enough to make that choice, and I understand it. I don't avoid it altogether but I minimize it (refuse to get some of the ass-covering tests that doctors tell me to get, e.g.)

[mama-hogswatch.livejournal.com]

I'd make that choice if I had cancer. Palliative only, thanks. (I'd rather die and leave what little I have to my kids than bankrupt their futures).

[firecat]

I would consider that depending on what kind of cancer and what stage the cancer was at. Some cancers at some stages are mostly curable. E.g. I'm glad my mom chose to get treated for colon cancer when I was 20, I got to have her around for 30 more years.