We all know how frustrating the American medical system is. If you work in healthcare or get medical treatment often, you know it needs major reform in all areas. Many of us have gone to see a doctor and not found answers or have been told we are healthy and nothing is wrong. If you haven’t heard of functional medicine it’s a practice of medicine that aims to find the root cause. Currently, if you go to the doctor and complain of brain fog, fatigue, hormonal issues, etc. they often don’t find the answers or say it’s anxiety.
I am a registered nurse. Personally, I had issues with my gut and other things. To help heal myself, my first stop was a consult with a functional medicine doctor. She agreed I definitely sounded like I needed testing and treatment for various things and quoted me $12,000. This is NOT covered by insurance. Unfortunately, I could not afford $12,000, so I went to my primary doctor to talk about my issues and possibly see a specialist if needed. They saw me for 10 minutes and did a few basic tests and said everything was normal and wouldn’t give me referrals for specialists. This left me at square 1.
We need access to better healthcare. I truly believe our way of fixing our health concerns by just addressing symptoms is only going to keep us unhealthy. We need to start addressing the root cause for everything.
I believe the country needs functional medicine to be the main type of treatment when people enter the hospital or go to their doctor. We should not have to pay thousands out of our pockets. It should also be covered by insurance or at the very least, be more affordable.