If No Health Insurance - Will People Not Seek Med Attention For Possible Swine Flu?......

[global1]

We've been getting instructions the last few days by the government, MSM and health officials - that if you have certain symptoms that may be swine flu you should seek health care immediately.

I wonder how many people might not seek care worrying that they cannot afford to go to a MD, ER or a med clinic because they don't have health insurance and/or can't afford it? Certainly many people have heard how much an ER visit can cost.

I think the government should set up triage centers in major cities where people can go to get checked out without worrying about the cost? Essentially free testing and diagnosis. Wouldn't that be the best thing to do in light of the potential a pandemic could unleash on us? Wouldn't it be cheaper in the long run if we caught people at early stages or prevented the spread by treating them as quick as possible?

I'm surprised that this hasn't come up yet.

Even in Mexico - they are passing out masks and taking precautions for their people.

I'm a bit disappointed as to how we're dealing with this potential crisis. This country tends to be reactive versus proactive. If we want to do something pre-emptively - this would be the place to start.

[havocmom]

1. throw in 'can't take time off from work AND keep roof over head'

along with the wait to get an appointment and you have a mess of people (many WITH insurance) who can't go to the doctor every time they feel like crap.

[librechik]

2. They should stay home--the antivirals the doc can give them aren't all that effective

and at this point, unavailable (where I am sitting-- we have been on the phone for hours trying to get hold of some relenza for our crew which is going to Mexico City Friday. Docs seem to like it better, plus we can't get Tamiflu.)

Also, going out with a cough is not fair to others. Just drink a lot of fluids and keep your temperature down with antiinflammatories like aspirin and tylenol.

Also, the doctor's office is a great place to get exposed.

Tough Love--Chicken soup has immune system boosting lysine--and I'm a big believer in the Airborne style herbal remedies that fizz in a glass. Good luck, comrades!

[kestrel91316]

6. Tylenol isn't an anti-inflammatory. Aspirin and other NSAIDs are.

Tylenol treats pain and is a "fever reducer".

[fasttense]

3. I know many bosses who would not allow their employees to stay home when they are sick.

Wal-Mart is one that comes to mind. So, these employees will go to work anyway and pass along the virus. I hope they cough in their boss's face.

[kestrel91316]

7. I am normally pretty strict about employees NOT coming in here to

infect me and clients if they have the flu. And I stay home a day or two if I have it.

If I were to be diagnosed with this bug AND it turns out to have a higher-than-normal mortality rate, I would stay home longer. Of course that could bankrupt me, as I am THE key person here, lol.

[Coyote_Bandit]

4. Ummmm......

I have health insurance of a sort. High deductible catastrophic coverage. Mostly worthless coverage for which I pay a substantial sum. I'm fortunate to be able to afford this meager level of health insurance.

I have not seen a doctor for any reason in well over a decade.

I don't intend to see one unless I am seriously injured or deathly ill. I am not going to see the doctor for the flu - not unless it progresses to a place where I feel like my life in endangered.

Anybody that has a problem with that choice needs to (1) put up the money to pay for that care and (2) guarantee that I will not lose what meager health coverage I have.

So sorry if I infect you. It is not intentional. Likewise, I am sure that others do not intend that I face an unnecessarily shortend and diminished quality of life due to my lack of meaningful access to health care.

The insured really should realize that they could be directly and negatively impacted by the lack of health care available to 1 in 6 uninsured Americans - and countless more folks like me. I guess what goes around really does come around.

[JenniferJuniper]

5. Gathering people up in centers in major cities

is not generally a good idea in a situation like this.

On September 12, 1918, just before the influenza virus took off in the US, the third draft registration for WW1 took place. This one was for younger and older men who had previously been exempt. Men were sent into various centers - schools, courthouses, etc, to sign up. This alone is thought to have caused the virus to spread rapidly down the east coast.

My great-grandfather was one of these men. I've got a copy of his card signed that day. He was dead less than three weeks later.

[Warpy]

8. The masks won't do much of anyhing

So don't worry about the NG coming around and distributing them.

What I wish would happen is a national announcement about how important it is to STAY HOME if you get sick with this thing. That's the best way to control it, keep contagious people away from healthy people.

People with no insurance just tough it out. I know that because I lost insurance in 1987 and have been declared uninsurable since then.

[JVS]

9. People will only seek help when it has become most severe.

Nobody is going to pay a big bill to be told 72 hour stomach bug

[elocs]

10. There's always the assumption that everyone has a primary health care provider

to see when they are ill. There's millions out there without insurance as well as millions who cannot afford to simply stay home and miss a day of work. This is clearly a case where it is in the best interest of the public and society for people to be treated for an infectious illness that has the potential to have an enormous negative impact on our life, health, and even our economy.

[K Gardner]

11. Oh, that won't stop them. We're already seeing people in our ER who "think they have it" and gettin

phone calls nonstop from people wanting us to tell them if they have it over the phone.