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Originally Posted by GoRedSox!
The US Census Department's American Community Survey just came out, and Florida is, indeed, the top destination for domestic migration with over 740,000 people moving in. However, what is far less discussed is that almost 500,000 people moved out of Florida, and the state is one of the top outbound states as well as inbound. It's still a net domestic migration of about 250,000, but that is still a lot of people leaving. Interestingly, medical care is one of the primary reasons given for leaving, along with high cost of living and insurance premiums.
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Reasonable, considering how insurance premiums for the most part are off the charts and doctors, especially specialists, are indeed scarce.
We were lucky: after a particularly bad experience with an overbearingly arrogant third-worlder who seemed to have graduated from the Josef Mengele school of doctor-patient relations, we found one who we are satisfied with, at least for the primary physician stuff. We see an NP, whose work is overseen by the doctor, and are quite satisfied thus far. Not so happy with the specialists but I've been seen by Mayo Clinic cardiologists for the past two decades and Jacksonville isn't that far away.
Sometimes though it seems we ignore answers that are right under our noses. Many other countries have doctor shortages but some don't, at least to the extent that we do. The government of Thailand for example will assist outstanding students who otherwise couldn't afford medical school, paying tuition and expenses. The payoff is that such students, once they attain their M.D., must work for the government in government-run hospitals and clinics for a certain period of time before setting off on their own. Such doctors are free to set up their own practices during the time-periods when they're not working for the government, and many do, moving into their established practices full-time once their obligation to the government is fulfilled. It has resulted in what is essentially a two-tier health care system there, with day-to-day care for those who otherwise could not afford it available at the government-run hospitals and clinics. That does NOT mean bad care however. Personal experience: my wife and I were partying with some of her friends one night. Hot over there in April and a lot of the guys, me included, shed our shirts. Next morning we were scheduled to go on a van trip upcountry to some park or other. I woke up that morning with a whole lot of red pinprick-looking things from the waist up and knees down. Didn't think much of it, but by 10:00 AM they were the size of dimes. At noon they were quarter-sized and itched like hell. The crew decided to stop at a small government hospital near the town we were going. It was a Saturday so there were quite a few people waiting, but they moved me to the front of the line. I was examined by a doctor who prescribed a salve and a drug. Turned out I had been bitten the night before by an insect too small to see, one that Thais are not affected by but we foreigners are. He said that the itching would be gone by evening and the splotches would be gone in 3-4 days. Right on both counts. We stopped and paid the bill on the way out. E.R., Doctor exam, and meds came to a total of 112 baht. About $4 American.
Why couldn't something like that work here, on a national or state level, or both?