For those of us who end up pursuing and eventually actually having bariatric surgery – we think through a lot of things… What if insurance doesn’t cover weight loss surgery? What if you end up being a self-pay patient? Will your follow-up care – whether it be a complication for surgery initially, or just routine care later (labs, DEXA scans, general stay healthy check-ups…) be covered? There’s lots to think through.
Having traveled to Spain an even dozen times now for health-care related reasons, I can tell you some things about socialized medicine and how things look years down the line. It’s interesting to hear from folks who live with those systems day-in and day-out. Even more interesting to see how much more they spend out of pocket – simply out of motivation for basic quality – SAFE! – routine health care, than they ever dreamed possible.
It makes the current political issues – the big huge one this week – health care reform – a potentially really scary place to go.
If you read nothing else today – read this!
Dr. Wes: An Open Letter To Patients Regarding Health Reform.
