Technology

Yeah both insist on regulating medicine, but one wants abortion to be legal and bleach to not be medicine and the other disagrees on both points

But that's just a disagreement on the rules, not the overall system. My bugaboo is we often get the worst of both worlds with our regulation and sort of free market in medical stuff. Here's 2 examples:

1. I had a refill of a prescription, went to my normal pharmacy. I went to pick it up, pharmacy was closed. Tried again on the next day, found out it's just closed indefinitely. Ok, so I call the other one of the chain in town, same issue. Cannot talk to anyone about pharmacy, the answering system refuses. Ok, no problem, I call doctor, ask to send prescription to other chain in town. Then I call the other pharmacy - they can't fill it because the first chain that has closed their pharmacies in town has "taken the prescription fill". Ok, I call insurance company. No dice - the chain that won't talk on the phone or in person about prescriptions has to release the "fill" they HAVEN'T DONE. I ended up having to have a friend go to a location 45 miles away that was still open to pick up the prescription.

Now, if this wasn't so screwed up, I could have just ordered on Amazon, and whoever filled the prescription couldn't count it as filled against Insurance till they actually shipped or handed me the prescription - you know, like when I get my car repaired under insurance, or order a book!

2. I have a CPAP. There is a company that provides supplies that you need every 6 months or so. This company only exists because for some reason our government thinks regular people can't figure out a CPAP on their own (IDK if you can't tell if you're breathing or not, I don't think the government can help). And for some reason regular pharmacies and mail order ones cannot fill tubing and mask orders. Or well, they can, but not via insurance, so what is $17 to me via insurance is $150 retail. (This is also bullshit IMHO, and if we didn't have whatever regulation is going on here, similar tubing and the like - like elastomer respirators - it'd likely cost sub $30 retail). This company is so incompetent that if they weren't propped up by "you don't have a choice", they'd have been out of business years ago. Instead, we get to plead with them to figure out how to fill an order.