HMO-o-o-h!

HMOs have become a mixed blessing. Say what you want to about the vagaries and corruptness of Corporate America, but they do seem to be best way to get affordable healthcare...but that's only step one. Nevermind that the cost goes up each year, but the level of care remains the same and the cost of drugs continues to go up exponentially, yet the ingredients don't change. My 15 minutes with my primary care physician is invariably preceded by an hour's wait in the wating room and that's if I'm there on time. Then I get into the exam room and wait another 30 minutes for the doctor to arrive and then it's only a nurse to take my vitals and tell me the doctor will be with me "soon". How much sooner can he be after being an hour and a half late already? My symptoms are cataloged with the compassion and interest of a Burger King cashier and without further ado a prescription or two or three is written on my behalf and I'm quickly ushered down the hall to checkout feeling screwed without having been kissed. I have the sense that I have just completed a sordid transaction with a drug dealer, but on a much nicer street corner.

Even with the lack of bedside manner, the waiting and the hurried consultation, you certainly cannot beat a $20.00 co-pay. If I am fair, I have to admit that I have been reduced to a number in all other areas of my life, why should I be surprised that the medical community would be any different?