The next time they tell you Americans are “happy” with their employer provided health insurance remember that that “happiness” is fueled by willful ignorance of what the alternatives are really like and fear of losing what little crappy health care they currently have.
What’s a referral?
A referral is basically authorization you get from your GP to go see a specialist who is also in your insurance network. If you DON’T have the referral, you’re basically screwed. If you go, you gotta pay for it yourself, which is a quick route to having no money. Without a referral, seeing a specialist is basically the same as not having insurance at all. (Depending on reliability and timelines, you also gotta double check to make sure the referral went through, or you might be screwed anyway.)
Obviously, this is a huge problem if your GP sucks at paperwork or believing you.
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