Military Medicine

By Sarah Smiley




When people talk about the supposed would-be benefits of nationalized medicine, I wonder if they've studied military medicine. Sure, military families received excellent care from qualified physicians, but the system, which could easily be compared to socialized medicine, is not without its faults, and I wonder if the civilian world realizes it.

Here are some points that people can learn from military families and their experience with military medicine as it compares to the idea of nationalized medical care:

• Military families know the inconvenience of being assigned to a specific physician and needing to seek referrals for everything from dermatology to optometry appointments.
• Military families know about waiting for appointments, long lines for the pharmacy, and the jungle of paperwork when you sidestep the prescribed way of doing things and go out on your own (i.e.: getting reimbursed for prescriptions filled at civilian pharmacies, being seen by a non-assigned physician, seeking emergency medical care when you are on vacation)
• Military families know that doctors who aren't being paid per patient or procedure don't worry about time spent at each appointment or the amount of tests they prescribe. (This can be both a blessing and a curse.)
• Military families know that when medical care becomes a bureaucracy it creates more hoops than is necessary or desired when all you want is to receive good care.

There's a reason why some military spouses who have their own civilian health care choose to use it rather than their service member loved one's.