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The Joys Of Medical Polygamy
As Published In WBCCI Blue Beret Magazine —
The Joys Of Medical Polygamy
When you’re on the road 365 days of the year, you never know where you’ll be when you need medical attention or which doctor you will see. A full-timing lifestyle really requires you to be pro-active and take charge of your health situation in order to protect your best interests — because no one in a lab coat is going to do that for you!
Modern Healthcare Dilemmas
I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that healthcare in this country (even if you have insurance) is poor. Even before I hit the road, I’d already given up on the idea of having a “personal physician” — at my GP’s office, I was seen by a different practitioner every visit. These people had access to my records but they didn’t “know” me and each appointment required building a rapport with a new healthcare worker. There was also very little continuity of care — none of that “so last time you were concerned about such-and-such; how are things going now?” If I didn’t mention it, the problem didn’t exist.
I’m pleased to announce that my medical situation as a full-time RVer is markedly better. Circumstances have forced me to draw a few physician-related boundaries that have actually improved the level of service I receive. I’m unable to wait three or four months for an appointment (by then, I’ll be in a different city) — when I explain the situation to receptionists, they seem to understand my scheduling challenges and are willing to work me into their calendar.
A Higher Level Of Care
I feel that I’m actually a more discerning patient now that I’ve visited a number of different practices and can make an educated comparison. Of course, when I need an appointment, I ask local friends for a referral — but lacking a personal recommendation, I’ve been content to let my fingers do the walking. (The Internet makes it much easier to research a physician’s history, find out if (s)he has had any sanctions, and see how other patients rate their experiences.
You might imagine that I would experience lower-quality healthcare because I’m “transient,” that only bottom-of-the-barrel does would have room for me in their lineup — not so! My most recent annual exam is a case in point. I was cared for by a Russian D.O. who has opened his own private practice here in the land of opportunity. He believes in seeing all the patients himself, his wife is the nurse, and I received more personal attention from this man with the thick Gorbachev accent during my two-hour physical than I have from any American-born M.D. I’ve encountered in years
When Something Goes Wrong
Fortunately, I’m relatively young and in good shape — for years, the only involvement I had with doctors is for an annual checkup, eye exam, and dental cleaning, with the odd cold virus thrown in here or there for sheer entertainment value. I’ve been very lucky since I hit the road — no broken bones, no car accidents, no trees falling on my head. However, I did have a run of bad luck a couple of years ago (with a foot surgery, some weird vertiginal whooshes that made the room spin around and a tonsillectomy all in the same 12-month period). Fortunately, I had the flexibility to park it in one place while I dealt with these issues- God bless anon-traditional nomadic existence!
I can’t even imagine what it’s like for RVers who have a conglomeration of chronic conditions to deal with. What are you supposed to do when you need regular treatment for diabetes, heart dis-ease, high blood pressure — or something more serious like cancer? One RVer told me that she lived in the parking lot of the hospital while her husband was in end-stage renal failure — they actually had a section set up to accommodate big rigs. Can you imagine having to make a detour in your trip for several months’ worth of dialysis? And then being stranded in some strange part of the country, alone, after your spouse has just died? Here’s wishing us all many years of good health before we have to deal with anything like that!
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6 Responses
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Great post! Although we are young RVers, our medical care has posed some challenges since my husband takes prescribed medication that is considered a controlled substance. As a result, he is required to get a written prescription every 30 days. With us being on the road and never knowing where exactly we will be, it actually hasn’t been challenging to get a doctor’s appt. at the last minute but finding a doctor that will prescribe a controlled substance is a different story. We carry our medical history with us but sometimes it isn’t enough. Several doctors have refused to prescribe the medication and refer us to an emergency room – which only increases the cost and time and still doesn’t guarantee the prescription. It’s definitely been one of our more frustrating challenges but we’ve learned to adapt. But, you’re right, I can’t imagine those RVers who have more serious medical concerns and how those issues are handled. Some offices are understanding of our living situation while others don’t get it and aren’t interested in helping. I am just thankful that, so far (knock on wood), we haven’t had to deal with anything too serious.
Again, great post and one that always sparks an interesting discussion in our humble abode. Safe travels!
Annual exam? WTH is that? Did you pay out of pocket or do you have some kind of gold plated insurance I don’t know about?
Just curious, because as self-employed people my hubby and I have the crappiest insurance around. I’m sure you’ve run into that too.
As fulltimers, an annual exam, especially while away from our home state, would costs us a few hundred bucks each at least, that we just can’t afford. How do you swing annual exams, eye doctors and dentists? I’m scrounging pennies just to see a dentist 1x a year. We are healthy and youngish but still, decent medical care is unaffordable.
I’ve found that the only way we can get affordable medical care is to use the walk-in mall clinics. What a rip, considering that we pay a monthly premium to keep an insurance policy that we never use (with a $10k deductible, who wants to?).
The only thing I miss about our old stick house life is we used to have a concierge GP doctor. We paid him a retainer 1x a year ($1500 for the 2 of us) and got his services 24/7 on demand. It was unlike any kind of care we’ve ever had. Breaking up with him was the only difficult thing about hitting the road!
We are self-employed, and we have the kind of insurance where we pay out of pocket until we hit like the $2500 mark — then insurance takes over. So everything at this point is out of pocket, but we get a “negotiated rate” that is quite a bit less expensive than the regular cost. Even so, this last round of very affordable annual exams cost us about $400 for the two of us. I don’t know what state you’re in, but SD has much more affordable health insurance than the stuff we had while living in the DC area (one of the most expensive health care markets in the country.) We find deals on the annual cleanings (lots of “exam, x-ray, cleaning for $49” offers for new patients), do the eye exams at Lenscrafters, and then bite the bullet to pay out of pocket for the annual physical. But since we have few other health issues throughout the year, it doesn’t break the bank.
Good article Ramona! Interesting that we posted articles about the health care system today. Have a healthful day…
Kathleen, great minds think alike :)
Hey Ramona, I’m so glad you wrote about this. I called my insurance co. and found out that as of 1/1/10, our home state passed a law that requires health ins. co doing business in the state to cover annual exams (including mammograms!) at 100 percent of the cost. Yipee! Thanks so much. If you hadn’t have written about this I never would have called.