Oh, yes. Just to be in contact with a Pancreatic Specialist, we arranged two or three appointments and paid co-pays with her treating physician to receive medicine while properly diagnosing.
Her physician then schedules imaging / blood work/ etc etc which you pay another co-pay at each, that's called a "referral." Referral results are then sent to university and you pay another co-pay to receive them, nowadays that's done via Zoom. Results are then placed in the hands of a treating specialist, now schedule and pay to see them.
It's a process valued around $300 out of pocket expense if you have premium medical coverage otherwise I can hardly speculate the price tag of a referral process here... 3-5k?? The entire duration, between day 1 with a personal physician to "specialist" and you're only exchanging dialogue at this point, treatment is yet to come: 2-3 months.
By that time you'd need a new specialist for complications of the initial condition, or you may no longer be around to see the specialist!
Plain crazy!
This is called a health system?
Our specialists are busy people and it can take time to get an appointment but if it's serious, they would squeeze one in or admit the patient to hospital and all the tests would be done there, which makes for less co-payments.
The best treatment she's received since we began fighting this was in Panama. Costa Rica helped too. Italy was VERY helpful we just ran outta time. Then we got to England and they really made some progress. Welcome covid.
Before that we thought everyone had medical like USA, we had no idea. In the US you can't even ask a pharmacist to check your blood pressure without paying money first. <-- FACT.
We'll be able to take this information back with us now to England (March'ish) and we're confident they will help and not let her die.
They call it "health care" here but I've always called it Healthless care. And everyone who lives here thinks it's normal to walk in an emergency room with a sick wife surrounded by sick people and nobody asks what your symptoms are.
First thing you'll do is enter your credit information, social security number and bank card. Only then will they offer you use of an ink pen.
In answer to your previous question, armed police officers are probably on duty at the hospital because in the United States of America, you have to have money to be treated even if your young child is dying.