[FirmwareBurner]

> finding doctors in your network (and checking again and again, with multiple sources)

I have a similar problem in Europe too. Most of the good public state-insurance doctors are overbooked and my option is to keep calling every doctor on a 50km radius continuously, hoping to find a free specialist with an appointment, or pay up privately out of my already small paycheck for a spot at a private doctor.

>hotels losing your reservation, airlines overbooking flights, mail and deliveries disappearing, people promising and not returning calls, etc.

That doesn't sound like anything US specific but more like a collection of things from the "shit happens" category. Same things can happen in Europe too, and some have happened to me.

I think you imagine the grass must be always greener elsewhere. It's not. Every place has its own set of perks and problems.

[landedgentry]

I should've been clearer about the doctors. Whether a doctor is part of your insurance network can change unexpectedly when the contract/relationship between your doctor and the insurance company changes, even if you yourself don't change insurance. And this happens relatively often (annually and sometimes more). So you can get a surprising bill if you go back to the same doctor.

The databases that maintain this information are not always accurate or up-to-date. So the doctor might say one thing, the insurance company another, and both be wrong in subtle ways. Nobody knows what's going on. It's often a crapshoot what you'll owe after a simple doctor's visit, even if you've asked all the right questions and stick with the same doctors.