It is the arrogance of the healthy with which she comes to claim her supposed right to care. She is very concerned with her health: she eats very healthy and does a lot of sports. She wants blood work, just, as a check, to know the status of her vitamins and minerals.
‘Do you have any complaints?’ I ask. No Fortunately not. But many of her vegan friends have their vitamin B12 checked regularly. In the case of complaints, it is sometimes good to do a blood test and we also check preventively in people who have an increased risk of certain diseases. But the usefulness of general health checks is not proven and is not part of GP care, I say. She still wants it, isn’t prevention always better and I can fill out a lab form for her, right?
I tell her that she can request a test online at the lab. She will probably have to pay for it herself, usually the insurer does not reimburse that. She reacts annoyed. Precisely because she lives so healthy, she is not sick and has no complaints, she explains. It is strange that people who live unhealthy lives and are therefore ill are reimbursed for healthcare, but people like her, who live consciously and are therefore healthy, are not. She feels punished for her good behavior. ‘Should I lie that I’m tired? That’s idiotic.’
It makes me itchy. More and more people feel that they are entitled to care, not because they need care, but because the product ‘care’ exists and why should they have less right to use it than someone else? We also see this consumption behavior at the emergency post. People regularly come who think that we can see them in the evening for their non-urgent problem: they pay a premium, don’t they?
It’s like requiring the fire brigade to check your house annually for fire safety, because you have fire insurance after all. And the police must do a burglary test every year, because you also have home contents insurance. It’s ridiculous that they don’t do anything and only pay if there is a break-in, while you invest in good locks, which prevent burglary.
Health can only be made to a limited extent. Illness is mostly bad luck. And insofar as health can be influenced: those who have enough money, time and self-esteem to work on it may consider themselves lucky. Being able to invest in healthy behavior is also stupid luck.
There is something scary about the corpocentrism of the Arie Boomsmas of the world. The obsession with and glorification of one’s own body is diametrically opposed to the idea that health is above all a great happiness. Many people have more pressing concerns than body optimization.
Concerns will increase in the coming winter. With the rise in energy prices, many people will thunder down Maslow’s Pyramid into survival mode. With more stress and more illness as a result. Fortunately, they then have the right to care. If you’re lucky, you may not need care.
Rinske van de Goor is a general practitioner