Tuesday, September 20, 2005
getting a fix.
so, i don't have health insurance anymore, since i changed jobs. which is not great, but not catastrophic because there is a clinic in midtown that's free for members of the performing arts unions. the doctor there is a good one, and i like him, and i called his office this morning because i am almost out of birth control pills and figured since he'd prescribed them for me before, he would again.
but his receptionist told me that i would have to have the results of my latest pap smear faxed over (the one i got while i had insurance) before he would write the prescription.
and really, that isn't a terrible idea. i know there are some people who are not good about routine preventative health care, and that there have to be some checks to ensure that everyone's getting adequate exams and not just cruising in for birth control.
but this doctor's office i went to while i had insurance, where the exam was done, was terrible. they never call me back. they never call the pharmacy back. some of the doctors are assholes. sometimes when i call, no one answers. they were always at least twenty-five minutes late getting me in for my appointments, sometimes forty. i was transferred four times on the phone this morning when i tried to talk to them about getting the records transferred, during which time two different people told me that faxing the test results would be impossible. i eventually left a message for someone named paula, who i hope is more capable than her outgoing voicemail message implies. she has not yet called back. and i can't help feeling that it should be enough that i tell the doctor that i did, in fact, have a pap smear like a good girl, and it was normal.
because i did. and by the time the doctors' offices get it together (which will undoubtedly require three more mornings of phone calls), i will be out of pills. and the reason i don't want to be out of pills isn't because i'm a junkie, or a sex-fiend, or an irresponsible consumer who cares only about her immediate needs and can't be trusted to organize her own health care. it's because i don't want to get pregnant.
it could be a lot worse; it'll just take phone time and some moderate frustration. but it shouldn't be this hard at all. there shouldn't be so many hoops. i'm not trying to get away with something. it's birth control, not methadone.
paternalistic bastards. if men got pregnant, you'd be able to get the pill in gumball machines.
but his receptionist told me that i would have to have the results of my latest pap smear faxed over (the one i got while i had insurance) before he would write the prescription.
and really, that isn't a terrible idea. i know there are some people who are not good about routine preventative health care, and that there have to be some checks to ensure that everyone's getting adequate exams and not just cruising in for birth control.
but this doctor's office i went to while i had insurance, where the exam was done, was terrible. they never call me back. they never call the pharmacy back. some of the doctors are assholes. sometimes when i call, no one answers. they were always at least twenty-five minutes late getting me in for my appointments, sometimes forty. i was transferred four times on the phone this morning when i tried to talk to them about getting the records transferred, during which time two different people told me that faxing the test results would be impossible. i eventually left a message for someone named paula, who i hope is more capable than her outgoing voicemail message implies. she has not yet called back. and i can't help feeling that it should be enough that i tell the doctor that i did, in fact, have a pap smear like a good girl, and it was normal.
because i did. and by the time the doctors' offices get it together (which will undoubtedly require three more mornings of phone calls), i will be out of pills. and the reason i don't want to be out of pills isn't because i'm a junkie, or a sex-fiend, or an irresponsible consumer who cares only about her immediate needs and can't be trusted to organize her own health care. it's because i don't want to get pregnant.
it could be a lot worse; it'll just take phone time and some moderate frustration. but it shouldn't be this hard at all. there shouldn't be so many hoops. i'm not trying to get away with something. it's birth control, not methadone.
paternalistic bastards. if men got pregnant, you'd be able to get the pill in gumball machines.
