I need to vent about military health care, and find out what wrong with my son

So Ryan was in the military for 10 years, and because of this for the last 5 year we have been "blessed" with health care. The reason why I say "blessed" is because nothing has ever been done to help us. Here is a little back dated info as to why I feel like venting today. So I have hashimoto's thyroiditis disease (its where you have both hypo- and hyper-thyroidism) and it took me 4 years to get it diagnosed. Not because its rare or its hard to find but because every time I went to a military dr (which is all you can do when you have military insurance) they thought that they could handle it instead of sending me to an endocrinologist. Unlike a PCM (normal every day dr) an endocrinologist works just with your endocrin ie your thyroid. 5 years later I am still not getting the help I need.

But that's fine because its not a big deal and has not bothered me much. But really makes me mad is when you call the base for your 2 year old child to make an appointment for same day because hes breaking out in a rash all over his back that has now spreed to his arms, behind his ears and starting to come to his cheeks. There should be NO REASON AT ALL WHY IF YOUR CALLER #1 YOU SHOULD HAVE TO WAIT 20 MINS JUST TO TALK TO SOMEONE. Then to top if off if they can't see you today you CAN'T go anywhere else. They just tell me because they provide the survive there that we will just have to wait a few DAYS before getting seen!

As a mom of a child who is sick this is not right and not fair! If this was for me then fine, but a child should always come first.

I know some of you might be like, well be glad you have free insurance but, with free your not really getting anything out of it. Your not getting the help you need. Here is a picture as of Saturday (oh yeah they have NO ON CALL DR OR NURSERS YOU CAN TALK TO ON OFF HOURS), the redness comes and goes but the bums are still there. Oh and its about twice the amounts of bumps and red spots. I just want to get my son the help he needs. I don't feel like I'm asking for the moon...... end of rant thanks for reading! I'll let you know when we find out whats going on with him.

Comments

Beth R said…
I am so sorry. My sister's husband is in the army and they have the same problem and also have the problem where they can only go certain dr's etc. I hope he feels better soon.
Unknown said…
I am very sorry to hear that! I know this isn't the same but I work for a pharmacy and it's hard because we can only go to our chain pharmacy. So if I want to get something all my co-workers know. I know they can't say anything but still. Another problem I had was our pharmacy couldn't get a drug in stock. So I had to go to another pharmacy and pay out of my own pocket and send it in to get paid back which took forever! Hope things start to look up!
Tattedmom said…
I'm dealing with the same thing. I'm thinking I have Hashimotos disease (my mom and several aunts have it), but every time I go to the doctor on base to have my thyroid checked, it comes back hypothyroid one test and hyperthyroid the next, but they refuse to send me to a specialist because the tests are within normal range (at the outskirts of normal range). My husband is military, and whenever I blog about it, I get the same crap about be thankful I have insurance and stuff (except from other military wives, then they jump in on the venting, lol). If the rash with your son is coming and going, as much as it sucks, take him to the ER when it shows up. You don't need a referral to go to the ER, and if Tricare (or whatever branch insurance y'all have) calls you about it, explain to them that you called to get a regular appointment, they never had any, so you took the only option you had left. They can't deny you an ER visit.
Anonymous said…
that is too bad about the military insurance. is there a way that you can switch to a different tricare plan? we just switched but we are not on the prime plan, its something else i forgot the name of. but we can go to any doctor and don't need referals either...i hope you can switch! what good is insurance if you can't see a doctor!
Anne Marie said…
We had tricare for a while, too, when my husband was in the Army and while nice is free, it's an unfortunate fact that most government services are below par. Waiting is something you just get used to, and seeing a specialist involves a lot of red tape. Anne Sweden at Zephyr Hill

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