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Welcome back. I feel your pain on not being able to do the hobbies and physical activities that hit that release valve. It'll be hard, but you'll be back to 100% (as long as you do your PT). Health is definitely important.

I used to work in digital healthcare because similar to you, I knew that our system was fucked up. Anytime I had to have any procedure done, it was never clear how much it would ACTUALLY cost me. It was "covered" or "uncovered" and then you'd get sent a paper bill (even though you explicitly requested digital) explaining how your benefits covered a certain proportion, based on diagnostic code and need. Somehow at the end of it all, you'd owe only the copay or in other situations, hundreds of dollars.

Unfortunately, most of my work in digital healthcare was working within the confines of the existing system. I eventually left because I grew frustrated with how many bells and whistles had to be rung and re-rung in order to turn the huge, fat ship of healthcare. Maybe I went about it wrong.

There are many levels to it. The explanation of benefits is really low-level, and probably more a symptom of the greater problem. It's also intertwined with our work culture. Health insurance is tied to gainful employment. Costs skyrockets unless you have insurance. I have fellow Canadian friends who don't have to worry about this kind of stuff. Same with my parents, when they're in Taiwan. They can book an appointment, get an MRI, get a healthcare plan of action, and medications if necessary, start to finish, in 1-2 hours. That would take almost half a year here with PCP referrals, wait times, billing times, diagnostic necessary, etc.

Anyway, rant over you probably just went through the same thing. Glad you're back, happy to dig into my network to see if there are people you might want to talk to.

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Welcome back David! Looking forward to hearing more about your journey ahead.

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