In 2019 I had Covid, which turned into pneumonia. I was in the hospital for thirty-five days,
eight of which were in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit). The Covid exacerbated of my heart murmur and
damage to my heart that required surgery.
Since then, I’ve seen doctors lots and lots of times; all different
types of specialists.
It’s very different going to doctors in the US. For one thing, they’re very expensive. One doctor charged me $435.00 USD for a fifteen-minute
appointment. Of course, I carry
insurance for these things, but medical insurance in the US is also very expensive.
See, what happens is that since the doctors know that insurance will pay most
of the costs, they inflate their prices like crazy. Medication is really expensive there
also. Some drugs will cost more than
$1000.00 USD for a one-month supply. Again,
Insurance pays most of the cost, but it’s one of the reasons that insurance
costs so much.
In Taiwan, we have excellent medical care, that is
reasonably inexpensive. I had one doctor
that I went to here that only gave me professional advice, so he said, “There
is no charge!” I was amazed at that
idea. That is a phrase that I’ve never
heard from a doctor in the US, ever!
Insurance costs are reasonable in Taiwan as well, and
benefits are similar to US insurance benefits.
I really have to compliment the Taiwanese system. If I have a cold or flu or some other minor
sickness, I can go to a clinic for $100 NTD ($3.00 USD) including
medicine.
I had to go visit a cardiologist, and a Rheumatologist recently to get my medications up to date and have a blood test. The hospital has a very efficient
system. You make an appointment, and
they give you an approximate time. Then
they give you a number that tells you which number patient you are in the
line. So, you can kind of estimate the time when the
doctor will be ready for you. I have gone
to the doctor in the US and been there for my appointment time, then sat there
for an hour because the doctor was late.
A nurse scolded me once because I arrived at the time for my
appointment instead of fifteen minutes before the appointment time. “She said, Mr. Banducci, you’re late! You should have been here 10 minutes ago.” So, I asked if the doctor was inconvenienced
by my not being there before my appointment time, and would he be there waiting
for me? She said he wouldn’t, so I said, " then I’m not late, am I?" I can’t see
that happening here.
Anyway, I went to see my doctor and went to the clinic recently,
here are some photos. I’m pretty lucky, because on my street are two cold and flu clinics, an optometrist clinic, a rehabilitation
clinic and a pharmacy. All within a
block of my apartment. In Tucson, I had
to travel for 30 minutes to see a doctor, so I went as little as possible. My street is the road to good health.
我討厭去看醫生！不幸的是，我的健康問題一直都很複雜。這種情況一直如此。我小時候做過兩次心臟手術，一次是嬰兒時期，另一次是十六歲時。我看過很多次醫生，也花了很多時間待在醫院。有些是最近才發生的，但我認為自己還算健康。
2019年，我感染了新冠病毒，並且發展成肺炎。我在醫院住了三十五天，其中八天是在加護病房（ICU）。新冠病毒加重了我的心臟雜音和對心臟的損傷，導致需要手術。自那以後，我見過很多次醫生，各種不同的專科醫生。
在美國看醫生非常不一樣。首先，他們非常昂貴。有一次，一位醫生收了我435美元（約新台幣13,800元）看了一個15分鐘的診。當然，這些費用我有保險支付，但美國的醫療保險也非常昂貴。事情的問題是，因為醫生知道保險公司會支付大部分費用，所以他們把價格抬得非常高。藥品也非常貴。有些藥物一個月的用量會超過1,000美元（約新台幣32,000元）。保險會支付大部分費用，但這也是保險如此昂貴的原因之一。
在台灣，我們擁有優質的醫療服務，價格卻相對合理。有一次我在這裡看了一位醫生，他只給了我專業建議，然後說：「不收費！」這讓我非常驚訝。這句話是我在美國從未從醫生那裡聽過的！
在台灣，保險費用也很合理，保險的福利類似於美國的保險。我真的很欣賞台灣的醫療系統。如果我感冒、流感或其他小毛病，我可以去診所看病，花費只要100元新台幣（約3美元），還包括藥費。
最近，我需要去看心臟科醫生和類風濕關節炎醫生，更新我的藥物並進行血液檢查。台灣的醫院系統非常高效。你可以預約，他們會給你一個大概的時間，然後再給你一個號碼，告訴你在排隊中的順序。這樣你大致可以掌握醫生什麼時候會看診。我在美國看醫生時，按預約時間到達，結果坐了一個小時，因為醫生遲到了。
有一次，護士還批評我，因為我按照預約時間到診所，而不是提前十五分鐘到。她說：「Banducci先生，你遲到了！你應該提前十分鐘到。」於是我問她，醫生因為我沒提前到會感到不方便嗎？他會因為等我而提前到嗎？她說不會。所以我說，那我根本不算遲到，對吧？我無法想像這種事會在台灣發生。
總之，我最近去看了醫生，也去了診所。這是一些照片。我真的很幸運，我住的街上有兩家感冒診所、一家眼科診所、一家復健診所和一家藥局，這些全都在我公寓一個街區內。在圖森，我得開車30分鐘才能看到醫生，所以我盡可能少去看醫生。而在這裡，我住的這條街真的是通往健康的道路。
Check out Elizabeth's video about going to the doctor as well. 也去看看伊莉莎白關於看醫生的影片吧！
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.
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