thought on socialized medicine written between the 4th of July and Bastille Day

[bitterfig]

            Why it is that spending money I don’t have always makes me feel so much better about all things?

On Saturday I finally rode down to Chicago Comics and picked up issue #4 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and volume 7 of the digest sized editions of Runaways both of which I have already devoured.  I really can’t afford to be

Comments

[som_o]

I haven't seen the film, but several European countries are also busily dismantling the remnants of the welfare state and the forms of health care that are still available. It's just that they can't do it all at once. Also, health care in Europe is not "free" - a family might spend thousands of Euros a month for health insurance. That said, I also remember how shocked I was when I first came to the u.s. and heard an American recount the tale of 'how great it was to break his arm in Europe' (bc they actually treated him at the hospital and for free). I didn't get it, just thought how terrible it was that he'd broken his arm.
And then in subsequent years I was myself shocked by u.s. health care - its unavailability, the carelessness and lack of curiosity of the doctors, how unprofessional they are (except for specialists), the lack of range of medicines prescribed (they pick from about 3 it seems! and lots of old, outdated stuff), that hospitals can never schedule anything faster than in a month's time, that they cannot provide professional documentation of what they've done and constantly lose everything, etc. etc...

[bitterfig]

From comments I've received from people who live outside of the US it does seem that Sicko glossed over quite a bit about the health care systems of other nations showing them in a wholly positive light. It definately seems that health care troubles aren't limited to the US but for a country with our wealth and resources it does seem like America ought to be in the forefront of reform and improvement which we are very definately not. Also I think America's private HMOs, which earn money by not paying for treatment, make the situation here particularly bad.