The Great Healthcare Debate... no not Obama's... mine

Why does health care have to be the BIGGEST pain in the butt!?! I want to find a good (dare I say it... great) Internist. I just learned this word today. Apparently its a fancy word for Doctor that specializes in overall adult care... we find pediatricians for our babes, and apparently 'Internists' are for the parents. In my research, this was better than finding an overall 'Family Care Provider' or 'General Practioner', because those Dr's have to know very little about everything from Diaper Rash to early onset Alzheimer's.... Instead I'll stick with Pediatricians specializing in all things to do with my babes, and find an Internist that is schooled in the art of identifying and addressing the issues that plague us as we age.

I found a great one.... I REALLY want to go to her. All of the information about the practice was how it specializes in treating the whole patient, mind, body, and soul through a collection of homeopathic and natural treatments. Don't worry peeps, I'm not going all woooosaaaa on you, my soul is covered, and quite healthy, as I have THE Great Physician taking care of things on that front... and he's free.... if only the rest could be that good! However, the natural, homeopathic methods for treating ailments is right up my alley. They're approach is a minimum of an hour initial visit to understand the patient and their needs, and do a full work up to understand what they're working with. It's not even on the same playing field as 99.9% of the other options out there, that will allow the nurse to weigh you, check your blood pressure, then sit you in a room for 10 minutes while you wait for a Doc... who will work with you for all of MAYBE 10 minutes prior to giving you some off the cuff diagnosis and moving on, possibly offering half a dozen pill popping prescriptions as your door prize for your trouble.... but then again you may have to wait for the 2nd or 3rd visit to actually get those.

So what am I complaining about.... why don't I just go to this wonderful woman?!? She is out of network, because the work they provide doesn't gel with the billing practices of Insurance companies that pay by how many patients you're able to see in an hour. God forbid you see ONE patient in an hour... Well actually God didn't forbid that at all.... these money grubbing insurance companies did! Grrrrrrr!!!!! The initial visit without insurance is $235.... yes QUITE a bit steeper than the $10 copay to grin and bear the machine that is in-network healthcare.

So now I'm torn. I want quality... this is my health we are talking about. For any I may have concerned that I'm dying or something with this post... rest assured, as far as I know I'm perfectly healthy. I would just like to stay that way, and am trying to find that ONE Dr. I feel comfortable sticking with that would actually be intelligent and diligent enough to identify something if it should come up in the future. Do I pay the steep price for the practice that matches what I'm looking for.... or continue taking my chances that in a 10 minute meeting once a year, some random Doc's gonna be able to tell me with any level of accuracy if something is actually wrong?

It would appear as though I answered my own question. The hiccup is I'm healthy, why mess with a good thing? If I thought there was something to find, I wouldn't blink at that price tag, but when I've been blessed with health for 29.5 years and paid nothing for it, my brain doesn't understand the logic of paying that kind of money, when a different Dr. could give me the same physical for a fraction of the cost.

What to do? The Great Debate continues....