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Re:Media Can’t Stop Presenting Horrifying Stories as ‘Uplift... by kaitai on Sunday August 18, 2019 @11:35AM (#20730812)
Respectfully need to split a hair on the VA comment: once you're into the VA system, their access is incredible. If you can't get an appointment in less than 20 days, or if you need to drive more than 30 minutes, they'll pay for you to see a doc in your community. So you certainly do not need to wait months to get an appointment at the VA.

There are veterans who are still waiting to get paperwork processed to show a service connection for health issues -- they're still waiting to get into the VA system -- but that's a different bureaucracy. The wait time at most VAs once you're in the system is substantially less than through my employer-provided insurance.

Re:Media Can’t Stop Presenting Horrifying Stories as ‘Uplift... by HeyLaughingBoy on Sunday August 18, 2019 @01:00PM (#20731375)
I'll preface what I'm about to say by pointing out that I am all in favor of universal healthcare.

BUT.

I have a hard time thinking of getting a doctor's appointment in 20 days as "incredible access." If I need to see a doctor, I can get an appointment at the local clinic within a day or two. And my employer-provided health insurance is pretty crappy! If I tell the clinic I think it's important (like I'm in pain but it's not an emergency), they'll try to fit me in the same day if possible.

And that's not even considering the Urgent Care facilities 15 miles away..

Re:Media Can’t Stop Presenting Horrifying Stories as ‘Uplift... by majewsky on Sunday August 18, 2019 @02:32PM (#20731960)
> I have a hard time thinking of getting a doctor's appointment in 20 days as "incredible access."

According to kaitai, those "20 days" are the absolute upper boundary. As a German, I don't find that upper boundary particularly high. When I need to see a specialist about something that's not an emergency, a wait time of a few weeks is normal since there are only so many specialists per area.

Re:Media Can’t Stop Presenting Horrifying Stories as ‘Uplift... by kungito on Sunday August 18, 2019 @12:03PM (#20731002)
Is 20 days period for seeing your family doctor or some kind of specialist?