(no subject)
Wow... I understand how epidemics in America start, now.
I had to leave work early yesterday because either I have a cold or my allergies have decided they hate me. My nose is stuffy, my eyes water constantly, I have those deep down in your lungs kind of sneezes and when I do cough, there's crap moving in there. I don't think it's CAUSED by work, but they're renovating our building and there's crap in the air and it's definitely not HELPED by work. There's no fever, so I'm not super concerned about it, honestly-- certainly not enough to toss more money into the hole that is emergency health care.
But the earliest my doctor can see me is Monday. And that's for a new patient evaluation, not to actually see a doctor or get diagnosed with anything.
Hopefully it will be alright because this will be gone by then anyway, I can get new patient certified or whatever and get a note that says "hey, I was sick, but I can come back now" from the doctor, and I won't get a negative point on my already kind of tarnished records for being absent for what's going to amount to about 16 hours of work. So I'm upset that I can't have someone OMGFIXTHISNOW, and I'm nervous that they aren't going to give me the right note, but overall, it doesn't really MATTER for me.
But I can EASILY see how it WOULD matter.
Let's consider Jane.
Jane is a youngish single mom, mother of two. Dad pays child support (mostly). Jane works 40 hours a week and works in an industry (food/beverage, hospitality, entertainment, customer service, etc) that doesn't have normal working hours. Jane comes down with a head cold that's worse than mine which is actually the beginnings of a milder flu case. She calls in to work on Friday because she's really not feeling well, and seeks medical assistance. Her provider tells her the first available appointment is on Monday. Jane is (unlike me) scheduled to work on Saturday and Sunday. It's true that Jane *could* seek urgent non-emergency assistance but (like me) doesn't really have the $250-$300 that out-of-network emergency medical care costs on the LOW end. What's more likely is that either:
A - Jane will stay out of work for a little more than three whole days, seriously impacting her financial state for the month and will be contagious and trying to live her life in spite of it, telling herself it's not that bad and she'll see the doctor on Monday, spreading germs to everyone she comes in contact with.
B - Jane will suck it up and go to work anyway, spreading her germs to everyone in her office at best, and everyone she flips a burger or takes an order to at worst.
C - Things will become serious enough that Jane's life is threatened and she MUST seek emergency care that is likely more expensive than the original non-emergency urgent care she was going to receive, causing her to have additional financial difficulties.
And, of course, if blue-collar/white-collar-but-barely Jane passes her flu to everyone around her at her place of work, then suddenly there are 5-30 more people with exactly the same problem who have exactly the same network of doctors to go to. CAN Jane even choose to stay at home?-- I've worked plenty of jobs where if you couldn't find someone to cover your shift, you came into work unless you were in the hospital.
The whole thing makes me kind of tilt my head in puzzlement that we aren't all sick ALL THE TIME, or that every flu season EVERYONE doesn't get it. Our bodies fight off crazy, crazy amounts of things.
Also, something in this system really fucking sucks.
I had to leave work early yesterday because either I have a cold or my allergies have decided they hate me. My nose is stuffy, my eyes water constantly, I have those deep down in your lungs kind of sneezes and when I do cough, there's crap moving in there. I don't think it's CAUSED by work, but they're renovating our building and there's crap in the air and it's definitely not HELPED by work. There's no fever, so I'm not super concerned about it, honestly-- certainly not enough to toss more money into the hole that is emergency health care.
But the earliest my doctor can see me is Monday. And that's for a new patient evaluation, not to actually see a doctor or get diagnosed with anything.
Hopefully it will be alright because this will be gone by then anyway, I can get new patient certified or whatever and get a note that says "hey, I was sick, but I can come back now" from the doctor, and I won't get a negative point on my already kind of tarnished records for being absent for what's going to amount to about 16 hours of work. So I'm upset that I can't have someone OMGFIXTHISNOW, and I'm nervous that they aren't going to give me the right note, but overall, it doesn't really MATTER for me.
But I can EASILY see how it WOULD matter.
Let's consider Jane.
Jane is a youngish single mom, mother of two. Dad pays child support (mostly). Jane works 40 hours a week and works in an industry (food/beverage, hospitality, entertainment, customer service, etc) that doesn't have normal working hours. Jane comes down with a head cold that's worse than mine which is actually the beginnings of a milder flu case. She calls in to work on Friday because she's really not feeling well, and seeks medical assistance. Her provider tells her the first available appointment is on Monday. Jane is (unlike me) scheduled to work on Saturday and Sunday. It's true that Jane *could* seek urgent non-emergency assistance but (like me) doesn't really have the $250-$300 that out-of-network emergency medical care costs on the LOW end. What's more likely is that either:
A - Jane will stay out of work for a little more than three whole days, seriously impacting her financial state for the month and will be contagious and trying to live her life in spite of it, telling herself it's not that bad and she'll see the doctor on Monday, spreading germs to everyone she comes in contact with.
B - Jane will suck it up and go to work anyway, spreading her germs to everyone in her office at best, and everyone she flips a burger or takes an order to at worst.
C - Things will become serious enough that Jane's life is threatened and she MUST seek emergency care that is likely more expensive than the original non-emergency urgent care she was going to receive, causing her to have additional financial difficulties.
And, of course, if blue-collar/white-collar-but-barely Jane passes her flu to everyone around her at her place of work, then suddenly there are 5-30 more people with exactly the same problem who have exactly the same network of doctors to go to. CAN Jane even choose to stay at home?-- I've worked plenty of jobs where if you couldn't find someone to cover your shift, you came into work unless you were in the hospital.
The whole thing makes me kind of tilt my head in puzzlement that we aren't all sick ALL THE TIME, or that every flu season EVERYONE doesn't get it. Our bodies fight off crazy, crazy amounts of things.
Also, something in this system really fucking sucks.