"Gary" > wrote in message ...
> Julie Bove wrote:
>>
>> "jmcquown" wrote:
>> > Yes, they have. But she says "civilian doctors" like it's a bad thing.
>> > If
>> > there isn't a military hospital around of course you can go to a
>> > civilian
>> > doctor. And the military pays for it.
>>
>> The military doesn't *pay* for it!
>
> Jumping in here to support Julie! In their teenage years, my daughter's
> best friend was a navy brat. One Sunday she hurt her arm and thought
> it
> was broken. Since the navy doctors were not available that day, her mom
> refused to take her to some civilian medical place. She waited until the
> next day to take her to the Navy doctors.
>
> Pretty cheesy, IMO. If my daughter was hurt and i thought she needed
> immediate medical treatment, I wouldn't have worried about the cost.
>
> G.

There are different medical plans you can choose. One is an HMO. If you
choose that plan you are limited to where they allow you to go. One of my
neighbors in NY chose this plan because her family was rarely sick. Then
something happened to a family member and she dialed 911. She didn't stop
to think that it might not be covered. It wasn't. There was a hospital
(had filed bankruptcy) that was on her plan but it had no ambulances. So
she just dialed 911. They had to pay thousands of dollars OOP.

I do not have that plan. I have what I think is the best plan for us. We
can see any Dr. or specialist, usually with no referral, provided they take
our insurance. But it is not free to us until/unless we meet the
catastrophic cap which since my husband is now retired is $3,000 per family
and not $1,000 like it used to be.

If a military facility were available to us, not only would it have limited
days and hours but more limited still for dependants. Yes, it would be
free. No, it probably would not have specialists for us. Might have
specialists but dependants might not be allowed to see them. And they have
a limited formulary. Prescriptions would be free but they might not have
what we need.

It is sad that people go without medical care because they can't pay or
don't want to. But I know that it happens.