I Was Treated to a Foreign First World Public Health Care System
Last Friday I learned what it was like to be part of a civilized, first world health system.
I was in England, staying at my godmother's house, when I got slammed by one of my chronic migraines. When I get migraines I usually resign myself to a dark room, take my medication and wait for the nauseating pain and blurry vision in my left eye to dissipate.
As I rummaged around my suitcase to find my salvation, high doses of Trexamet and Naprosyn, I discovered that I had forgot to pack them in my rush to the airport. Not having my medication doesn't mean enduring one bad headache. It means enduring about three days of completely crippling head pain. Instead of panicking over my fate, I picked up the phone and called my doctor in NY. I thought she'd be able to call in a prescription. No dice. She actually didn't even call me back. Plus, as my godmother reminded me, she wouldn't be able to call in a prescription because she's not part of the British health system.
So I resigned myself back to my dark room, put a cloth over my head and tried to do what my mother always tells me: "go to another place." Well, my godmother came upstairs shortly afterward and suggested that she could take me to that other place... a National Health office.
Since I thought getting an appointment there would require a referral, at least a day's wait and an exorbitant amount of money, I told her not to bother. She called anyways, got me an appointment for the next hour and we were off to the neighborhood clinic.
It was amazing. I filled out paperwork with my New York address, waited five minutes, met with the doctor, got a prescription, walked downstairs to the pharmacy under the clinic and was back at my godmother's house an hour later. Believe it or not, I didn't have to pay a cent for the visit. I did, however, pay a "private" prescription price for the medication that added up to about $30 dollars.
I'm not denying that there are problems with the British system. My problem wasn't life threatening, but it was temporarily crippling. For people with deadly diseases like cancer there are documented frustrations over access to certain treatment. My great-uncle actually got sent home from a British hospital because there weren't enough beds that day. He was scheduled for open heart surgery... an operation he endured the following week.
There will always be problems in a system that takes care of millions, but that shouldn't preclude us from not giving millions their rights to proper health care. What Obama said about energy applies to health care: "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good." From my experience the British system was good. It was also good to my great-uncle. Even though he was sent home, he was treated. His immediate family didn't have to haggle with insurers or cut costs. His country took care of him. America should be able to do the same.
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I had the great misfortune of having a mild heart attack while I had BlueKrass insurance. After all said and done, two nights in a hospital and a stent cost me 15K on top of the 700/month I was paying for my premium. I complained, and they informed me I should be grateful that I had insurance and the hospital charge would well have been over 150K. Can someone please explain who sets the costs of these procedures as well as hospital costs? Yeah, we need regulation and big time.
I now live in Germany. I pay 280 a month and have 100% coverage. I pay 10 Euro per QUARTER for all doctors combined. I have had deviated septum surgery and thumb reconstruction. I see a cardiologist 2Xs a year, .. had a back issue and saw a ortheopede
I don't think I could ever afford to move back to the US if something drastic isn't done!
What do they do in Germany for Dental insurance? That is my next priority after healthcare. It seems that either I can afford to go on a short vacation, or I can go to the dentist, and he in turn goes on that vacation with my money. Im to the point where Im thinking of letting my dental care be at a minimum due to costs for a family that are out of control.
It's part of the general insurance, actually. Dentists will charge as well for overage costs. But costs are about 1/3 or the US... and if you buy supplemental insurance (160 a year), that 1/3 cuts down to about 5 to 10% of the US costs. Cleanings and and general stuff are always covered. Special procedures need to be OKd through the insurance co first. But, if you need it, you need it. I lived in the UK and where dentists are suppose to take the NHI insurance, most do not and are private. And it costs a FORTUNE there just like the US.
In Italy for dental is exactly the same as for non-dental: pay almost nothing for anything.
Also why should dental be any different? Only in the USA.
My experience involves my two daughters. In July of 2006 one daughter was bitten by a spider and immediately began having respiratory problems. I drove her to the emergency room (it was a Saturday) and they treated her for 4 hours. Cost before insurance was $1468. Two weeks later my other daughter was visiting friends in London. In the middle of the night she began having respiratory problems. They called a ambulance and she was admitted for a 3 day stay in the hospital. The total bill was $80!! At one point she told a nurse "I'm not a British citizen." The nurse patted her hand and said "Darling, don't worry. Everyone is entitled to be taken care of when they are sick."
When are we going to think the same thing for our citizens?
"When are we going to think the same thing for our citizens?"
I really don't have the answer to this...We are Americans and that should have meaningful connotations. Correcting injustices in our system is one of them. I begin to question the character of people who stand idly by and allow people to die because lack of affordable health insurance. The current Heath Care System says "Come up with the money or you die". The current Health Care System says "So sorry, we do not cover this...you will just have to die." A person says, "But I don' want to die. I love LIFE, my family, my friends, my community.
where has the average American been for the last 6 decades? Did he not notice the truth? He/She was in front of the TV being scared about commies, nuclear blasts, wars Vietnam Iraq Arabs immigrants etc
The Americans have been so totally bamboozled by the media misinformation that they thought: we are number one, we are teh bets at EVERYHTING, etc we do not travel because who needs to see those other "poor" nations?
In the meantime corporations had free total complete control of their lives.
The results are in front of you, and I am convinced when things will get better nobody will care about green planet, health care etc.
A nation without enough civic patriots, that is the USA.
reading these comments, i find it somewhat amazing that my fellow Americans are finally starting to catch on to the ginormous scam which has been perpetrated on them by very greedy and very corrupt politicians like former congressman Bill Frist who, in an unholy alliance with the insurance industry, boosted his family's HMO fortune enormously while simultaneously gutting the entire concept of not-for-profit healthcare as a right rather than a privilege available only to those who can afford it .........
We lived in France for 4 years before returning to the US. We've had a baby in both countries, and even though my profession makes me part of our 'health care system', I say it is high time we adopted a one closer to that of France or Canada. A system without the insurance industry's greedy tentacles strangling it. That is the key difference between our high cost, inefficient, unfair, and unsustainable system and those of every other industrialized country on earth. Our system is controlled by insurance companies, while theirs are controlled by governments. Government control is unappealing to most of us in principle, however we must look at the facts. Those systems work better. They contain costs better, they serve people better, and even doctors and other healthcare professionals in the US are starting to understand the need to eliminate insurance company control if we are to have a sustainable system.
I could write a book about the contrasts between my family's experience in both systems, and yet when I explain this to people here, they typically dismiss what I say in favor of believing the bogus 2nd or 3rd hand urban myth horror stories about the Canadian or French systems that they hear from Glen Beck or FOX fake News. Most Americans have been so thoroughly brainwashed into thinking that they have the best of everything that they will deny even the harshest of realities if they don't fit their preconceived (and delusional) world view.
Please write the book or articles to spread information. I lived extensively overseas and am amazed at the misinformation fed to Americans, not only by the likes of FOX but by the media in general - and by economists/think tanks (CATO and Heritage, for instance).
Besides health care, dangerous myths are:
industrial policy doesn't work (all our successful manufacturing competitors have it),
mercantilism doesn't work or a country is better off to be open even if its competition isn't (hogwash, you lose industries),
markets in Japan/Korea, etc. are open (you have to be blind to believe this),
trade deficits don't matter (fancy reasoning but it comes down to whether it's ok to overspend your credit card. It's not.),
There is a whole industry that has been misleading Americans for years.
The health care issue is simple - Americans should get the same care, or better, than people in other developed nations at the same percentage of GDP, 10% vs. 16% plus.
If the for-profit industry has a plan, let's hear it now with details/firm time lines.
Matter of fact, the public is misinformed that the U.S. health insurance market is free. Not much choice really.
Where are the churches in all of this? Shouldn't Christianity dictate they opt for universal care. (Is it foolish to think they should be for social justice?) They could verify how foreign systems perform. Catholics could just contact Catholic churches in Europe, etc and learn what you know.
Don't get me started on the churches' roles in this kind of thing. This makes my blood boil. I know this is off topic but I'm Catholic and when the Pope (the good one, not our current reactionary one) condemned the Iraq war in 7 languages as an act of blind aggression, there was not a word from 99% of the Bishops here. The few that spoke out (as Jesus would have) were marginalized. This is a case of the entire church hierarchy turning a blind eye to what amounts to industrial scale murder for profit. And they are still doing it. Acting on an issue like our health care system I'm afraid is far too much to expect from them.
New Zealand also pays tribute to the system that drives American health care.
We have four systems.
1) A free publicly-funded hospital system for non-elective surgery and emergency services.
2) A primary health care system operated by private doctors whose fees are regulated and heavily subsidised by the state. This sits alongside a heavily subsidised pharmaceutical delivery system administered by a central government agency.
3) A private hospital and specialist system that fully charges patients. This is used primarily by those who can afford medical insurance or are wealthy enough to fund their own procedures. This is the American model and involves all the insurance hassles the American system does..
4) An accident emergency and accident rehabilitation system administered by a government insurance agency (ACC). This is completely free (ie paid for by employer/e
It is a mixed health delivery sytem that generally works well. Its downside is often long waiting lists for non-critical procedures in the public hospital system (much like Canada).
I was visiting the Czech Republic in 1993 and had a bad ear ache and went to the hospital around 2am. I was there less than 30 minutes and found myself being examined by a young Dr., she had been in practice for just a year. After an examination she told me in just a few minutes that I had bad allergies as a child which largely have subsided, that these allergies had left polyps in my nose, and if I had them removed I would breath normally for the firs time in my life. I went in for an ear ache which was medicated - but left with a diagnosis I had never heard before.
When I got back to the States I went to my Dr and a specialist who all told me that it was a mis diagnosis and spoke badly of the Czech Dr. Well I went to a Specialist a month ago (2009) and got the same diagnosis I heard from my Czech Dr. in 1993. Only the Czech Dr. didn't charge me and the US Specialist with tests cost over $2000 The Czech Dr. figured it out in a few minutes with a simple scope and the American Specialist needed to see me twice and sent me for a CAT scan.
Yes, yes, yes....tha
I have to say my GP is a very good one.(He has not taken new patients in many years) He diagnosed my frequent late Summer ear infections as allergies years ago. Now, when I have one, I simply take a mild decongestant rather than antibiotics and it does the trick.
Ihad this gnawing thought that I had an ulcer. I was also having mild bouts of vertigo. It was going to be something like a 500 dollar bill to have it investigated in the US where I'm 'self-insured'.
I toughed it out for a while and then found myself in Australia.
I figured I had better have it looked at.... The visit to the doctor cost AU$50 (~US$35 at the time, 2006). I got $12 back from Medicare reimbursement.
The test h. pylori test for the ulcer was covered. The CT scan of my head for the vertigo was covered.
I was given a 6 week prescription for a proton pump inhibitor that set me back the equivalent of a six-pack of Australian beer, and told to take a vacation.
It turns out that if stress of the US system gets to you, Australia is a great place to take a vacation -and- as a model for health care.
I live in Australia and have over the last 14 years of residence here had two hernia operations (different spots) and have been hopitalised for a week due to an infection. My total out of pocket cost for all procedures through the public system - $0.
Perhaps what is most impressive to me about the public health system here is that it changes the focus of care. Doctors and nurses are truly there to treat whoever comnes before them. Local hospitals in Sydney regular seek out people living on the street and give them treatment, medication and/or hospital stays if required for (again) $0.
And, of course, the conservative in you is saying "But what about the taxes?". The amount and proportion of tax I pay on my earnings is considerably less than that which I paid for less earnings in California.
Wake up America! Public funded healthcare is an excellent option.
Thanks for posting..t
and insurance and republican lies, lies, and more lies
I consider myself a conservative but not in the sense of GOP-type "Conservatives" who are actually "Radical Right Wing Fundamentalists" who hijacked the term. (Libertarians are more properly termed "Anarchist
What I want is less bureaucracy and value for money.
The economics of health care are such that the bigger the risk pool, the better. That means that a single payer system is the best way to go. One CEO or Director to eliminate all those highly (excessively) paid executives. Less paperwork for doctors and hospitals. Lower drug prices due to mass purchasing. (I note that the GOP is trying to protect the prohibition on Medicare to negotiate drug prices, even saying that drugs should be market price. If the government is the customer, a free market dictates it use its buying power for purchases. The GOP proposal has nothing to do with a free market. It is the opposite and is theft.)
My dollars don't know or care if they go for taxes or premiums. Anyone who wants to pay in premiums for a flawed product should have their head examined. Sorry, that would greatly increase the load on the system. Maybe there is really no medicine for stupidity.
Thanks, it's just good economics to have not for profit universal coverage. Americans waste so much time and money and kill themselves with stress fighting over these basic things. No wonder creativity, entrepreneurialism and innovation are stalled. Let's get this thing straightened out so we can all get on with the real business of living and making money.
One of the problems with American ideology is that we try to make everything turn a profit, even if it means creating and sustaining labyrinth systems of inefficiency. We then mistake this for growth. It's not real growth though, in that it doesn't actually add anything of value to the world. It's just chasing our own tails.
I just read the follow-up to this article, and wanted to add my story to the others' who had great experiences with foreign healthcare.
I broke my leg on a trip to Spain two years ago. It was a bad break (compound fracture) that required surgery to insert a rod in my leg and a week's hospitalization. I was taken by ambulance to the ER in the morning and had surgery that evening. Everyone I encountered during my stay was wonderful to me--even with though the language barrier made communication difficult--and I recieved excellent and very attentive care. When I was discharged, we had a difficult time finding anyone who knew how to bill us, because they aren't accustomed to having to charge people. When we got it figured out the bill for the ambulance, emergency room visit, surgery, and seven days in the hospital came to approximately $3000.
When I returned home, I saw an orthopedist in my area who, after examining me and my x-rays, said that the doctors there gave me the same treatment he would have, with the only differences being personal preference things, and I had no complications.
So, I'm sure there are plenty of people who will be willing to educate me, but judging from my experience, I don't see the downside.
i live in sweden, i dont often go to the doctors but the times i have been its been fine! Children up to 20 years of age have full coverage: dental, doctor, etc.. after 20 dental is paid in full with some subsidies and medical, medicine, etc... is free (theres a fee paid but there is a yearly cap on the fee, if you go over everything is free after that) .
The only thing here that lags a bit is emergency care after privatization of the ambulance business (its still free but a lot slower). Its getting better all the time, we are also a small country. I have been to the doctors in the US under health insurance and it was pretty good, but when i didnt have insurance it was a total nightmare. I actually got a boring office job for three months just to get an operation and dental (which the dentist screwed up my jaw and basically gave me tmj!)
The point is, a doctor should make good money, not millions, the same goes for hospitals and insurance companies, the business if for healing (like the swedish word for doctor: läkare, meaning healer) not money monger!
thnks
My dentist gave me a terrible case of TMJ for 2 years by jamming a crown too tight into my back molar. Finally it cracked under the pressure and my TMJ disappeared. I suffered terribly for 2 years for nothing.
When I told my dentist, no apology, no comment, nothing. He knew damn well he screwed up.
I am also from sweden and i must say since the rightwings here started to privatize hospitals and ambulances things start to lag and cost more.
We are still alot cheaper thne USA and rated 23 in the world and not 37 in the world but the rightwings here in sweden are turning us to US.
My wfie is from Va USA and she has had kids in both countries adn she prefere the swedish model over the american model, for it is cheaper, less buerocratic and the ppl treat you as a human being and not as an insurance case they should milk money out of.
Nice little fighter jet.
My last post cut off my last word - my final comment was that the US system is an absolute disgrace. Yes, there are problems with ANY system, but with what we pay here, those who are in charge should be ashamed. It's no wonder clinics about with people and worse yet, people, both elderly and young and unemployed DON'T seek medical care. Bottom line - this will cost us more and more in the end.
Here's something to mull over. Self-employed, paying for insurance directly under the guise of a group umbrella (Golden Rule, aka United). $10,000 deductible, do the numbers - reduces my monthly premium. Treated like a leper whenever I go to the doctor and they see the card. Paperwork comes back after filing with insurance company, repricing is all but ignored by the docs and more specifically the labs. They want every last dime, however they come up with their charges. Have some nice docs accept the repricing, knowing they get zilch from the insurance company. Here's the killer - every year do the mammogram thing, the insurance people from the hospital performing the mamo call Golden Rule to get the price, so they can charge me. Can't get the service unless I pre-pay. Fine and dandy - conversation takes place and I pay. ONE YEAR LATER, hospital comes after me for over $400 more, boils down to the fact that when hospital speaks with Golden Rule, they don't actually quote a definitive price - the pricing takes place when hospital sends paperwork to GR/United and THEN they decide what should be charged. What kind of insanity is this????? A mammogram has a price - period. Too many people, like myself, self-insured, are getting the shaft to be insured for catastrophic illness, and trust me, I know others like me, who have NOT gotten proper treatment or coverage when that high deductible hits. Shame on the US medical system - its a
You are not alone. I'm a faculty member at a very large medical school. I teach future doctors. And ironically we face a similar set of circumstances with our crappy (CIGNA) insurance. This system is broken, and it won't be fixed by incremental tinkering. The insurance mafia must be removed, period. I feel for those who will lose their jobs. But you know what, if you work for one of those blood sucking outfits, you are contributing to the problem and you should find a way to make a living that isn't destroying civil society.
In the 1990's I came down with a high fever and extreme weakness while in Lahore, Pakistan. My driver insisted that I go to a hospital and drove me to a nearby hospital EM . I admit to being a bit apprehensive as Pakistan is definitely a third world nation and as an American I was concerned about the level of care I would receive.
At the hospital I was examined by the doctor with less than three minutes wait. He was very professional with his examination. At the end of the examination he arranged for an assistant to bring medication to me. The next day I was fine.
When I asked for the bill I was told that it was their pleasure to have me as a guest in their country and that there would be no charge. I have often wondered how a Pakistani national visiting America would be treated at an American hospital under similar circumstances. More recently, I had a similar experience in Thailand except that the exam and several medications set me back about $13.00.
Yet when i tell my family and friends that I will soon return to Asia they always bring up how I will risk being far from "the best in the world" healthcare. It is sad that so many Americans accept "facts" that are simply not true and that the healthcare system is as broken as it is.
Bravo, bravo, bravo ... Our arrogance applies to the health care system. People are afraid of what they do not know. These stories need to get out there. Expats everywhere -- bring 'em on.
I think Pakistani doctors are frequently trained in the UK and Canada. As long as you go to a good hospital there you'll be fine. Go Commonwealth!
I was on a business trip in Australia and discovered I had left my xanax, which I take for panic attacks behind. Due to an unfortunate episode, I was in a full-blown panic attack when I discovered it.
Asked at the hotel expecting to have to go to a doctor's office, but no - the doctor came to my hotel room. He was professional, asked several questions about my history, what caused this attack, and wrote a prescription that would last for the rest of my trip. The hotel paid the bill and they were in no way responsible for it.
I've had good experiences here in America, but they are ridiculously expensive. And forget it if you go to an emergency room with a Medicare patient. You might as well move in because your stay is likely to be more than 8 hours.
I lived two years in Sweden in the 1980s, and while I was there was attacked by kidney-stones. Less than 48 hours after the diagnosis, the stones were removed by ultra-sound waves. At that time, that method of dissolving stones wasn't in the in the USA. Strangely enough, I didn't see a single bureaucrat standing between me and my doctor! I spent most of my adult life living in a half-dozen other countries, and I am angered whenever I hear American politicians announcing "...we have the best medical system..." That is just a flat lie!!
I have lived outside the US, in Toronto. In the 80's, they also treated stones with Lithotripsy. It was used in many countries.
Americans are raised with the mantra "we have the best _________ in the world." Just fill in the blank out loud, and you'll hear many people agree. It's maddening that we don't question things.
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