None of that is great. Everyone deserves better.

I hate seeing my family and friends nickel and dime their own health care. They pass on annual health checks-ups, they put off going to hospital or Urgent Care unless they're dying, they hesitate to call ambulances and then claim that America is great (or will soon be Great Again).

I've had literally family members say this shit and somehow pointing out to them that I, their daughter/niece/cousin, live in a country with UHC and things are great, does literally nothing to change their mind a single fraction. I don't know what to do.

Every time I look at the news or check Twitter or read Facebook comments I feel like I'm just slapped in the face with the stupidest, most uneducated slop, and there's just... no way to convince these people that they are misinformed or biased? They just don't fucking engage, they don't care.

"But my taxes wah wah wah"-- I'm sorry, you DON'T want your taxes going to the health care system that benefits you and your loved ones? You're fine with your tax dollars covering bombs dropped in foreign countries, but health care, wow, that's fucking socialist???

I just feel so insane. Many countries around the world have UHC systems, and yes, not all of them are the same, but for so many people to so confidently just swear up and down that the system doesn't work or could never work is so incredibly narrow-minded and ignorant.

Turns out, I did have the condition they were testing for. Now, I take two daily heart meds and carry nitroglycerin spray on me. If I lived in America, this would be a financial burden on me for the rest of my life. But last time I picked up my monthly supply at the pharmacy I paid ¥1650 ($10.50).

The procedure and hospital stay cost me, all-in-all, about ¥65,000 ($420). The average price for a heart catheterization in my home state of NC is ~$117,018, and that "doesn't include anesthesia, imaging, and other fees". I can't imagine paying that just to find out if you MIGHT have a condition.

I filed a form through my employment for a special cap on my medical charges where you tell the health insurance system that you are having a specific medical problem (heart, cancer, whatever) that will necessitate you going to doctors a lot for the next year. It was granted no problem.

I always hear the anti-UHC people saying that you definitely have to wait FOREVER for your procedures and surgeries and tests as a consequence of the system. I was told I needed a catheterization in mid-November and quickly had an appt. on the books for early December.

Most clinic appointments cost me between ¥1000-¥1600. So I was able to shop around for a good doctor and find someone to start testing me all for less than ¥6000. Bloodwork, EKGs, and monitors were usually <¥5000. Eventually I was told I would need a heart catheterization and short hospitalization.

Seeing a specialist "requires" a referral from a GP... but not really. They just charge you more if you make an appt. w/o one. But when I say "more"... I once went w/o for an urgent issue and the appt., x-ray, and meds was like ¥7500 ($48). This felt so expensive to me after 13+ years here, but lol.

I had to see several doctors at different clinics/hospitals until I found one willing to think beyond "lose weight?". At no point did I have to check or worry if those doctors were "in network" or not, and the cost never prohibited me from going to a specialist.

After I got sick in the first month of the pandemic, before we knew how bad things really were, I developed a heart condition. I knew something was wrong with me, but I had trouble finding a doctor who would take my concerns seriously bc woman + not skinny. (A universal issue in healthcare.)

Also, like, some of the rest of the shrine…

Some more playful placements by an anonymous stranger who came before me… and my fruity artist’s tool

Very much looking forward to potentially seeing that!

Okay that had to be a bit, right… Next intermission she whipped out a messy oozy ankake bento… then all through the next play kept opening a pungent coffee thermos and just leaving the lid open as she considered drinking it… ma’am… mA’AM… 😰