Ethical Issues

"Why won't you take my health insurance?" This is a question almost every patient has. Why can’t I see this wonderful doctor that I believe is a great doctor? It is because they don’t accept my specific insurance. Yes, that’s exactly the issue and it has people being prevented some great care. This made me feel like I had to go back to the horrible doctors I have experienced because they are the ones that accept my insurance. Even though we face ethical issues in the health system, we are still left to deal with the issues of being able to find great doctors.

Struggling to keep doctors with insurance

With COVID-19 on the rise, there are plenty of reasons that it is hard for everyone to get a new doctor right now. First, in the state of Louisiana, we went back to phase 1. This means that only one parent per child appointment. They would like to see you, but if you can not come in you don’t have to. Sometimes If you did not want to come in you did not have to. Second, transportation is a real big issue. Some people feel comfortable with the hospital that is near because it is close to walking distance to their residence, but these hospitals and doctors’ offices do not accept their insurance. Third, there are shuttle buses that come and get you but those are also an inconvenience. Why? Most of the time these buses are extremely late, and some people even miss their appointments, so it's like a lose-lose situation.

Tracking down compassionate doctors

Fourth, some of the doctors that accept your insurance, their staff, and doctors have no compassion for their patients. They are very inconsiderate sometimes to people’s feelings. They do not listen to what their patient has to say. As a lupus patient, I have had doctors that would tell me that I missed a series of appointments and that could be because I was feeling sick that day. How can I get out the bed with a weak immune system and go out publicly knowing that I know there is a virus going around that is killing people on a daily basis? They were risks we had to take not know the consequences to them if we did not take these precautions.

Facing ethical issues within the health system

Fifth and most important, why do doctors and nurses think that every patient is lying about the pain that there are having? It's like you can not get a doctor to believe you to save your life. Until you look really swollen, it is like they would tell you what kind of pain you can deal with. They were times that I would cry out in agony in pain and they would not do anything. Then, I started to come back every day. There are a lot of ethical issues within the health system that is not addressed and it should be for the safety of the patient and how comfortable that patient would feel around their doctors and in certain situations that they maybe would be placed in.