Welcome to Gaia! ::

@Sunset: Lol Michael Berry, Galveston, and Davy Crockett! xd No surprise where I fell on the quiz, either.

@Sunset & Ellavemia: Of course, y'all are both right about things being different in different parts of the country. I was thinking of how things work in Houston when I wrote my post. My apologies, especially since I should know better. The area where I went to school and where I actually live when not in H-Town with my parents is an extremely impoverished area and the number of health care provider options is extremely limited. In fact, I prefer to get health care in Houston because I have more options. Hopefully, as technology increases and different ways of doing things are spread more widely across the country someday the same options will be available to everybody.

@Ellavemia: Don't worry, you didn't offend me with your statement about Republicans, I am thicker skinned than that. I just hate to see the stereotype proliferate. It seems I have been guilty of a generalization of my own, and for that I am truly sorry.

@Pirhan: One or two line replies... xd I think you found a hot button!

@Everyone: Sunset mentioned some clinics that operate on a cash-only, first-come basis. I have been noticing a lot of them in the Houston area, and you may be surprised where they have been opening. I am going to post some links to them. Maybe it will be possible for a location to open in your area. It couldn't hurt to let these businesses know you are interested.
Take-Care Clinic, located inside of Walgreens stores
Minute Clinic, located inside of CVS stores
Wal-Mart Clinic, located in Wal-Mart stores
RediClinic, located inside HEB grocery stores (Major grocery store chain in Texas)

As to the question of generics, I prefer to take cheaper generics. I have run into the problem before that a generic had different inert ingredients than the name-brand. (Well, my mom and sister did, with two different medications.) Normally it isn't a problem, but sometimes different inert ingredients can cause allergic reactions when the name-brand did not (and vice-versa, of course). In this case, I think use of the name-brand is most definitely acceptable and understandable. For example, according to an info-sheet on the CDC website, flu vaccines (this specific type) all use the same active ingredient. The preservatives used, however, are different from vaccine to vaccine. In this flyer, it mentions that some vaccines use a preservative called thimerosal, while others do not. The same thing is true of drugs. There are people in this world, however, who want to take a name-brand drug for the sake of having a name-brand drug. It is just like the people who feel the need to wear designer clothing. Annoying.

When I first moved away to go to school I got sick much more often than I had living where I grew up. I blame stress, lifestyle, and lack of immunity to things in a new place I hadn't been exposed to. I avoided the campus clinic because they would only bill my student account and I didn't want to run up a balance that I couldn't pay and be blocked from enrolling in future semesters. I went to two of the clinics I listed, one for a sinus infection and one for strep throat, and had a reasonably good experience with the caregivers both times. Both times I was able to come on a weekend, without an appointment, and be seen fairly quickly (within an hour). These clinics do not have an actual doctor on location; They have a nurse practitioner (at both of the ones I went to) or an EMT (at another one that I called and couldn't make it to during their hours) who can diagnose common ailments and prescribe medication. The staff was very kind and very knowledgeable both times. The only problem I had was that the antibiotic I got for the strep did not cure the infection, although it most definitely helped. After asking my classmates (who were all sick with it) I learned that we had all seen different doctors/ nurses at different clinics in different cities and all been prescribed the same thing. Our infection was a resistant strain. Half of them went back to their doctors and were put on something stronger, some decided they were well enough, and I got well before I could make it to Houston. The point is, it was the disease, not the nurse or the drug, that was to blame. The cost was much lower than for traditional doctors, so I would go back. I remember seeing lists of the things they treat somewhere on the websites of the ones I went to. Anything not on the list they refer you to go somewhere else. Hopefully, they will be all over the country soon. (My little college town could have used one.)