I work in healthcare. I see a lot of comments blaming the HC system for the shortages. I don't think they are correct.

**TL;DR:** I don't think healthcare workers are keeping away from work because of fear of non-payment of bills. For the most part we seem to be acting normally like before the pandemic. No HC worker likes to avoid taking care of patients because of money. Your medical bills are more than likely covered by your insurance anyway. Your medical bills are also not our responsibility anyway.<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>It seems that there are a lot of factors to blame for the shortages. Maybe its a combination of factors but I think it might be more than just HC workers afraid of medical bills. I don't really see any change in behavior of HC workers here. Sure some of them might be motivated by personal safety but the rate at which they seem to be getting sick is incredible.<br><br>Also, I don't really see the insurance companies playing a big role here. Most people who are getting sick by the virus are getting sick, in my opinion, because they are catching it at work. I really don't think insurance companies are the reason that HC workers seem to be getting sick more than they seem to during the flu season. The flu season is also almost over anyway. Plus, most of the time you don't really go to the hospital or doctor's office just because you caught the flu anyway. You usually go home and rest like the rest of the population. Your insurance will cover you if you are positive for COVID. You just have to show your positive test result.<br><br>Also, I don't think nurses and doctors are more prone to the virus than any other occupation. Our personal protective equipment will protect us like before during the SARS and other pandemics. We did not get sick then, and we do not get sick now. The only reason we are getting sick now is because we are being forced to work without proper PPE on a large scale. This is because we are running out of PPE. Not because we are taking risks and going to work without PPE. I don't really see any nurses or doctors doing that. HC workers are also not more prone to the virus than other occupations. If we are catching it more than other occupations it is because we are forced to be in the room with the patients for extended periods of time on a large scale. HC workers do not stay in the room with a patient for extended periods of time for normal patients. We only enter the room to do work, then usually leave. Sometimes we are forced to stay for longer periods for patients who require more attention, but that is not the norm. Also, a normal patient would not infect us because we have PPE on us. We don't enter a patient room without PPE on us.<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>So why are we running out of PPE on a large scale? We are running out because we are putting PPE on for **EVERY SINGLE PATIENT**.Why? Because our screening system is not working. Every patient look like they might have COVID to us. We can't really tell the difference between a patient with COVID and a patient with the flu or common cold. Why? We don't have enough testing kits to test every patient. So we have to put PPE on for every patient because otherwise we don't know if a patient has COVID or not. And we enter patient rooms for extended periods of time because these patients are coming in droves. This is why we are running out of PPE. We are using a LOT of PPE. We can't keep up to our demand for PPE because we are using so much of it. Also, because we are running out of PPE and are forced to work with patients with less PPE on us we are also getting sick on a large scale. We are getting sick because we are working in unsafe conditions. We are working in unsafe conditions because we don't have PPE. We don't have PPE because we don't have enough testing kits. So HC workers are catching the virus like everyone else. This is why we are calling in sick. Because we are catching the virus. And we are catching the virus because we don't have enough PPE and testing kits. Also, a lot of HC workers are being forced to self-quarantine because there may or may not have been exposed to the virus when they were taking care of a patient who might or might not have had COVID. So we are taking extra precautions and self-quarantining just in case. This is also why a lot of HC workers are calling in sick.<br><br>Its not money. We are not calling in sick because we are afraid of medical bills. We are calling in sick because we are catching the virus and we are catching the virus because of lack of PPE and testing kits.<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>Edit:<br><br>I should mention that I'm a student in training working at a large urban hospital. Your experience may vary. Thank you for the gold.