patient care or money maker?

Essentially when did Healing The Sick turn into a get-rich-quick scheme? Sometimes Healthcare makes you wonder if they see patients as they really are, as people that need medical care for bodies that are failing them, or if they see them as proverbial cash cows for the drug companies and everyone else who stands in line to benefit from sick people. The Hippocratic Oath says Do no harm; however, it does harm. Medical cost are constantly  skyrocketing and people can barely afford the basic things just to take care of themselves medically. If you have any type of chronic illness be prepared to spend money just to stay remotely well,or at least try to.  When did it become less about patient care and more about the bottom line? It really makes you wonder are we in this business to help people or are they in it to make big Pharma rich?  Instead of people being set up and taught how to manage their illnesses and change their lifestyles they will write you a script for pills quicker than you can blink an eye. Here, take this magic pill it will solve all your problems and make your illness better or it won't but either way here is another pill.  It has gone from patient-centered medicine, to greed centered Medicine, where it is all about how much you can bill for. Working in the medical field when you have a chronic illness especially on the insurance side of things makes you feel like you have sold your soul to the devil sometimes. There is a problem with the system when people are dying because insurance companies won't approve medicine that people need to live. Why does a stranger who has never met me nor knows anything about my medical history get to make a decision on what medication could help my condition? Everything comes down to insurance companies. Sometimes what is in the best interest of the patient is on the back burner because the insurance company is the one who has the ultimate say. A lot of times it feels like insurance companies and big pharma are more like used car salesmen than in the business too help people.  People should not be going broke and spending their life savings or most of their monthly income on drugs just to stay alive. After dipping my toes into the water of healthcare I got a quick lesson in how it really was instead of this proverbial Florence Nightingale ideal that I would graduate from school and come into it helping people. Eventually in my career I did get to help people but when you start your career off being the person that calls them for an overdue bill you are not exactly helping people.  Later in my career I would get to directly help people but it would come at a price. But that's another blog for another day. Have you ever looked into the process of who is on the medical boards for insurance companies who decide about your medical needs? If you want a good read, go down that rabbit hole. It will blow your mind. I have a friend who has a son who was on 2 types of ADD medication. Both were name brand and both were the only two out of the many they had tried that actually worked correctly. It required her to go all Mama Bear on the insurance company just so her kiddo could get the medication combination he needed that worked for him. Until the curtain is pulled and people have an honest conversation about how truely broken the health care system is we are stuck in the hampster wheel of broken healthcare.