Bureaucratic hang ups

Allow me to set some background for this topic. I grew up in a family that operated a small family farm, which meant paying huge monthly amounts for health insurance for very little coverage. I can fully appreciate government paid health care and the comfort it can give every American. However, with all the benefits to government health care- there are so many challenges and so many places to fall through the cracks.
My most reoccurring frustration with a bureaucracy is dealing with military health care system. The challenge starts with simply trying to get an appointment. With military health care, you can not set up appointments in too far in advance. When you need to be seen by a doctor, you must call that morning as close to 7 am as possible in order to get an appointment for that day. If all appointments are full; your only option is to wait at the ER or to try and call again tomorrow morning around 7. I have several times tried the ER. I have waited till I got off work, and let me tell you there is no good time to try and be seen. Every time I have visited the ER it has been a 4 hour minimum wait and although none of my problems were life threatening there were times when I was in immense pain. A couple of times, I was even admitted for IV to rehydrate me after waiting so long in the ER.
When sitting there helpless, it is hard not to watch employees and wish they could move with just a little more urgency. I do realize that they deal with people hurting every day and that it is not possible to always move with speed, but every time I visit I see more people without that sense of urgency.
If you are able to get an appointment, you have to realize it is NEVER the same doctor you saw last time. In the 6 years I have been receiving health care with Ft. Campbell military system I have never had the same doctor. This is one reason I believe the wait is so long, even with an appointment. Each visit requires extensive background work because you are dealing with a new person.
Often times, it simply comes down to this. Do I want to spend the next several hours (minimum of 2-3 with an appointment, 4-6 without an appointment) waiting for health care? The other option is of course to be seen off post and pay for your treatment. I have to admit I have always chosen to save money and just spend my time. I simply feel this is just part of the problems you deal with when dealing with a bureaucratic system.
Ann