pjbooks Chapter 192 Visiting a Mental Hospital
Chapter 192 Visiting a Mental Hospital
Chapter 192 Visiting a Mental Hospital
Located in Blaine County, north of Greater Los Angeles, it is about 200 kilometers from downtown.
You need to cross the entire Hollywood Hills, pass through bigleaf forests and the Senora Desert, and then go through a large area of farmland to get there.
It's such a long distance; if you drive, it would take at least a morning to get there.
So after careful consideration, Ma Jieke decided to take a helicopter instead, which he would pilot himself.
There are two reasons for doing this: first, to save time spent driving on the road, and second, to complete the daily tasks that have just been updated.
[Main Mission: Complete the first helicopter flight independently without assistance] Reward: ★
[Side Mission: Freely explore the city in a helicopter, covering a distance of at least 300 kilometers. Current progress: 0/300]
Settlement Reward: ★★☆
After glancing at the [Helicopter Pilot Iv1] skill in the skill panel, Ma Jieke gained a new understanding of the mission refresh mechanism.
The fact that such highly overlapping tasks can appear must be directly related to newly acquired skills.
Based on this theory, the system will definitely not assign tasks such as "driving speedboats and submarines" because there are no prerequisites.
Although the helicopter piloting skill level is only 1, it is sufficient for basic operations, and it's not like you're performing any stunts.
"Dude, are you sure you want to come by yourself?" After driving to the hangar, Jimmy looked worriedly at the Robinson R22 two-seater light helicopter on the tarmac. He had gotten it from a hangar blind box during the "Warehouse Treasure Hunt King" competition, but Boss Ma was reluctant to sell it, thinking he would need it sooner or later.
"Otherwise what?" Ma Jie stood in front of the bright red airplane, banging on the cabin door. "This thing costs me $100 a day just sitting here. If I don't fly it, isn't that like throwing money into the water?"
"One hundred dollars? My goodness, that's $3000 a month, enough to pay three months' rent for me. You're really generous."
"Stop talking nonsense and get on." After crawling into the cabin, Ma Jieke sat in the pilot's seat. Because it was a light helicopter, the interior space was quite cramped, so much so that after Jimmy boarded, the two of them were almost pressed together.
After confirming that the cabin door was closed and fastening his seatbelt, Ma Jieke initiated the "migrant worker's three-step maneuver," which involved turning on the main battery switch, the fuel booster pump, and the ignition switch in sequence.
The helicopter was ready at this point, and the main rotor made a loud "putt-putt-putt" noise.
The real test of skill came next. Master Ma gripped the master lever on the left side of the seat and slowly pulled it up.
The skid-type landing gear located at the bottom of the helicopter slowly lifted off the ground, but when it climbed to a height of about half a meter above the ground, it suddenly slammed down again.
Jimmy was terrified. He looked like he'd seen a ghost and said, "Dude, do you even know how to drive? Why don't you stop first, and we'll go buy some personal accident insurance?"
"Shut up, don't bother me." Hearing his sarcastic remarks, Ma Jieke felt a strange competitive urge ignite within him.
After two more attempts, the fuselage finally began to climb, albeit shakily.
After climbing to an altitude of about 300 meters, Ma Jieke took a few deep breaths, carefully stepped on the steering pedal, causing the nose of the aircraft to turn to the right, and at the same time moved the cyclic pitch lever, completing the difficult in-flight turn.
Once the heading is confirmed to be correct, push the control stick forward. After the fuselage tilts forward, gradually accelerate and fly forward.
Despite his clumsy handling, he escaped unharmed. Throughout the flight, Ma Jieke remained vigilant, fearing any deviation from the intended course.
After all, this thing has a limited maximum range, at most it can fly more than 300 kilometers. If it takes a wrong turn along the way, it may be forced to land in the desert, which would then become a survival challenge in the wilderness.
However, after flying a distance, Ma Jie quickly found his rhythm, the kind of flow state you experience when learning something. Once you enter this state, everything else falls into place naturally.
The fully transparent windshield and transparent cabin door provide him with an unparalleled panoramic view, allowing his gaze to extend beyond the dense urban buildings and all the way to the endless wilderness and skyline.
Seeing this, Jimmy was no longer nervous. He took out his phone and took a bunch of pictures, then posted them on social media to show off, and quickly received a lot of likes and replies.
About an hour and a half later, the helicopter finally arrived over Blaine County, and their destination was the county's renowned St. Mary's Mental Health Centre.
Anyone who has flown a helicopter knows that landing is the biggest challenge, especially a precise landing, compared to flying.
Ma Jieke's original plan was to land directly on the hospital rooftop in one step, but due to his clumsy technique and lack of experience, he failed several times.
In the end, under Jimmy's disdainful gaze, they could only park the plane on the empty lawn outside the hospital.
Unlike the University of Tokyo, where people like to bring food when visiting patients, Americans prefer flowers as gifts. So, Jack Ma followed local custom and bought a bunch of expensive carnations from a flower shop near the hospital.
Because it is a mental hospital, visitors must first register at the reception desk and then go through a security check.
However, there weren't many visitors at the moment, and the staff quickly let Jimmy through after verifying his identity.
For this day, the young man spent a fortune on a handsome suit, combed his hair neatly, and wore spotless leather shoes, looking quite dignified.
"Hello, nurse, I've come to visit my mother."
Upon arriving at the service desk of the inpatient ward in Building B, Jimmy handed his newly issued visitor pass to the nurse on duty. The nurse, a very friendly young woman, took the pass, quickly entered some information into the computer, and then looked up with a gentle smile: "Jimmy Sanchez? My system shows that it has been 132 days since your last visit to Ms. Margaret, so I suggest you talk to your attending physician before you see your mother."
"Why?" Jimmy asked, puzzled. "There was no such procedure when I came last time."
"Uh..." The nurse hesitated for a moment before choosing to report the truth: "Because your mother's condition is very unstable, last month when I accompanied her to a community event, she encountered a pregnant woman. So she chased after the woman she didn't know, begging her to forgive her, which terrified the woman. In the end, the police were called. After diagnosis, Dr. Horton identified her as having schizophrenia and that she was showing signs of developing schizophrenia."
Upon hearing these technical terms, Jimmy felt his mind go blank, and he uncontrollably fell into a state of confusion, his vision beginning to blur.
"Are you alright, buddy?" Noticing his unusual condition, Ma Jie quickly reached out to support his swaying body.
The latter paused for a few seconds, then gradually regained her senses. She clenched her fists and pounded the service counter in frustration: "How could this happen? She was perfectly fine before. I was already planning to pick her up from the hospital."
"Hey, calm down, okay? Let's go hear what the doctor has to say first. Don't scare yourself like this."
In contrast, Ma Jieke was much calmer. Accompanied by a nurse, she pulled him into the examination room.
The doctor in charge of reception was a middle-aged man in his fifties. After retrieving the patient's electronic medical record on the computer, he looked up and asked, "Which of you two is a family member?"
"I...I am." Jimmy looked at him with trepidation, his voice trembling noticeably, as if afraid that something frightening would come out of his mouth.
"Don't be nervous, child, please sit down." The doctor gestured for him to sit across the table before slowly beginning, "Let me introduce myself. I'm Dr. Horton. Before discussing your mother's condition, I need to confirm something with you. You should know that your mother's medical and hospitalization costs are shared by the insurance company and the medical association, right?"
"I know." Jimmy nodded, because before his mother's medical license was revoked, she was an obstetrician and gynecologist and a member of the medical association. In order to establish its glorious image, the association naturally had to provide assistance to its members, including his family.
After all, he was only eleven or twelve years old when the incident occurred. If the union were to leave it alone, it would definitely cause dissatisfaction among other members, since no one can guarantee that such a day will come.
Dr. Horton paused, his eyes filled with a complex expression. "Son, I know you're struggling financially, but I have to tell you the truth. Two months ago, the insurance company your mother was insured with started refusing coverage for over-medicalization, reducing their coverage from 72% to 40%. And even after much pleading with the union leader, they only agreed to pay an extra 5%. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"
"Yes." Jimmy sighed helplessly, "I'll have to pay the remaining 27% of the medical expenses out of my own pocket."
"That's right, son, you have a very sharp mind." Dr. Horton said, pulling a stack of stapled forms from a drawer and pushing them in front of him. "These are detailed statements of account. Since you didn't provide a valid address, the hospital didn't know where to send them, so they're temporarily stuck here with me."
Jimmy flipped to the latest page of the statement and looked at the outstanding amount of over eight thousand dollars, feeling so frustrated he could hardly breathe.
Even if I sold everything I owned, I couldn't possibly save that much money, because all my savings were invested in the scrap yard, and it would be almost impossible to recoup my investment in the short term.
"Why is the insurance company refusing to cover me?!" He seemed a little out of control and was quite dissatisfied with the matter.
"As I just said, the reason is over-medicalization." After saying that, Dr. Horton shook his head meaningfully, "But anyone with eyes can see what's going on, and as a doctor, it's not convenient for me to say it too bluntly."
At this moment, Ma Jieke sneered from the side: "I think the real reason is that the patient's hospital stay was too long, so those sons of bitches wanted to renege on their debts."
"Young man, I didn't say that. That's just your own judgment." Hearing his blunt interpretation, Dr. Horton neither agreed nor disagreed, but gave an ambiguous response.
Such a response is almost tantamount to admitting his statement.
The United States spends 17% to 18% of its GDP on healthcare each year, which is three to four times that of other developed countries. It not only ranks first, but also far ahead of other countries.
In other words, one-sixth of the country's money is spent on medical care.
So, since we've spent so much money, everyone should be living very healthy lives, right? Sorry, our life expectancy ranks 58th globally.
It ranks almost at the bottom among developed countries.
The reason for this stark contrast is inextricably linked to the world's supposedly most advanced healthcare system.
Simply put, there are two main pathways to purchasing health insurance in the United States.
First, the federal government's Medicare fund has low or even free premiums, but it only covers people with disabilities.
Open to seniors aged 65 and above, as well as some minors.
Second, commercial insurance provided by insurance companies is the way most people obtain insurance, rather than relying on the government to cover it.
Among commercial insurance policies, the largest proportion is employer-sponsored private medical insurance: that is, the employer pays part of the premium for the employee, and the employee pays the remaining part.
This is why many people lose their health insurance once they lose their job, because the prices for health insurance purchased by companies and for individuals are completely different.
If a company has a thousand employees, it's equivalent to buying a thousand insurance policies in bulk, which is like the wholesale price.
As an individual buyer, what right do you have to negotiate with the insurance company?
Of course, if you can't afford the expensive ones, you can buy the cheaper ones, such as the ACA (Affordable Care Act), also known as Obamacare.
To understand this bill simply, it involves the government taking the lead in establishing a health insurance market and setting uniform rules.
Before this, this is how insurance companies operated:
Healthy young people can buy the cheapest medical insurance.
If you have chronic illnesses, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or are older, insurance companies will either refuse to sell to you, charge exorbitant prices, or simply not cover your existing conditions.
In the newly established medical insurance market, insurance companies cannot refuse to sell, and the government will provide subsidies for low- and middle-income families, with the aim of enabling people who could not afford insurance to participate.
The bill also includes a very important policy—mandatory insurance participation.
The law requires that if you are a U.S. citizen, you must have health insurance, otherwise you will be penalized when filing your taxes.
The purpose of this is to attract a large number of healthy young people to enroll in the insurance program, using their premiums to balance the overall system's expenditures and keep premiums stable.
Otherwise, if all those who buy insurance are elderly people and patients, insurance companies will charge exorbitant prices in order to maintain a balance between income and expenditure.
Although this provision has been repealed by the new ruling party, some states still retain their own mandatory regulations.
After all, your federal government is at most like the Zhou emperor; the real power lies with the feudal lords below.
If you are too poor to afford affordable health insurance, the government provides you with Medicaid, also known as the white card.
Doesn't that sound wonderful? It seems like people from all walks of life can easily obtain medical insurance and get treatment for their illnesses with very little money.
But a new approach has emerged – denial of insurance!