Schmedical
A couple of weeks ago, I had 4 jobs. Now, I’m officially unemployed!
As a result, my medical and dental insurance will expire at the end of this month … so naturally, I’ve been making a run on the medical facilities. In the past two days, I’ve gotten a physical, had my teeth cleaned, had both Hepatitis vaccines, gotten an EKG, had some bloodwork done, had an MMR titre, gotten a root canal, got a prescription for Traveler’s Diarrhea medication and Malaria medication, and spent a good deal of time fighting with my insurance company. Yippee!
The irony in it all is that I’ve rarely used any medical care in the past five years of my life … I’m generally healthy, but now it’s simply time to prove it on paper. Hopefully, if I do that now, I won’t have to deal with the Chinese medical community too much:
In some Chinese hospitals, patients must wear stickers indicating how much they can pay to get well. With the quality of treatment linked to the patient ’s financial means, unexpected illness is among the biggest reasons Chinese families are some of the world’s most committed savers.
Tomorrow I’ll be fighting two main battles … I’m hoping that I can avoid spending the $200-300 on a chest x-ray that the Chinese government wants for my Visa application, and I’m hoping that I can somehow convince my insurance company to give me more than a 4 week supply of anti-malarial medication!
I’ll also be completing the DVD project I’ve been slaving over, moving out of my classroom, finishing some grad school assignments, and solidifying some financial investments. Godspeed the day when this life of mine can simplify, when the drivel can dissipate and the essential can remain!
June 7th, 2006 at 7:52 am EST
i did all the shots and malaria stuff for china, but in the end i think it was a waste. (at least my company paid for it.) most people from my work who travel to china just skip all the shots and stuff. but then again, we usually only do 1-4 week stints. i do have a really good friend who is doing a 2 year work stint over there, in suzhou. and i don’t think he got any shots… (for what its worth).