Medicins, Frites, and Fromage
Universal Health Care in France and elsewhere...needs to immigrate to the US
I recently had the pleasure, so to speak, being injured in France. It was not terrorism, nor was it anti-American violence. It was, as so many so-called conservatives are fond of saying, “Americans saving the Frenchies’ asses once again.” I was helping a friend of a friend move into a new apartment, and sprained my back.
Within 12 hours, I could barely move without severe pain. Even turning over in bed was painful. The second day, back in Nice, on the côte d’azure, my friend phoned the local “S.O.S. Medecins,” as they are called. I was scheduled to fly back to the U.S. the following morning.
Within 60 minutes—I swear—a doctor came to the house, examined me, and prescribed an anti-inflammatory, a muscle relaxant, and even some sleeping pills for the flight (I hate flying). He had the best bedside manner of any physician I’ve ever seen. And he actually came to my bedside. The last time I had a house call was in 1972 in New York. That was also the last time I heard a doctor say “house call” without laughing.
The cost for the visit? 35 € (Euros), or at the time of this writing, about $38.50 US. My prescriptions? 23 €, about $26 US, including antibiotics for my friend who was getting an infection. And it didn’t matter that I wasn’t a French citizen. He didn’t even ask for my I.D.
I don’t know when the last time was that you went to the doctor, but I have great health coverage in the U.S., and it costs $10 each time I need to see the doctor, and $20 for each prescription. If your math is as good as mine, you’ll come up with about $60 for my home visit and prescriptions, plus another $30 if you include my friend’s consult in the calculation.
And if you’ve ever had to buy drugs or see a doctor without health coverage, you know that it would have cost at least $300 for all that in the U.S. on the open market. (Free Market, if you prefer). Of course, some claim that low-cost medical care is available in the U.S., but if you’ve ever had to use it (and I have), believe me, it’s neither low-cost nor easily available.
At a local/county clinic, typically you have to prove your identity, your address, whether you are employed or not, how much you make or don’t make, and then wait a week or two (in non-emergency situations. You may even have to go to the city or county social services department to sign up. Lots of fun when you’re sick or injured. (In emergencies, you’re allowed to take care of the more frustrating paperwork later.)
If you’re at the emergency room, you’ll wait somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 to 10 hours for treatment, depending on the city, your injuries, and how busy they are at the time. And the charge to just walk into the treatment area of most emergency rooms is about $200 minimum. That won’t include the doctor’s fees, medicine, things like gauze, tape, syringes, tests, etc.
Depending on your income, you may or may not qualify for assistance, and may or may not be billed hundreds of dollars either by the hospital, the city, the county, the state, or maybe all of the above.
Too bad the French are so stupid and pathetic and useless, huh? Otherwise we might learn a thing or two from them.
America is the world’s only superpower. It’s also the only Western nation not to provide health care for everyone. We spend the most per capita on health care (Source: Commonwealth Fund Oct. 1998) than any other country in the world, nearly twice what France or Germany or the UK spend, and have pretty much the worst coverage (Source: ask any managed care user).
Most insurance companies do as little as possible for as much as they can get. It’s a standard business model. Increased prices, decreased costs. But should health care really be a regular business like making cars, based on supply and demand, minimizing labor costs, outsourcing whenever possible to whomever offers the lowest price? In the medical industry profits are maximized by minimizing care.
Even with all the whining from insurance companies and for-profit medical organizations, and especially loud noises from the huge pharmaceutical industry, all this promised “privatized efficiency” has done absolutely nothing keep costs from skyrocketing. And where do al these skyrocketing costs go? Better quality healthcare? Not likely. Most of this money goes to increase the profit margins of for-profit medical corporations and the lion’s share to Big Pharma. Where do they get the money for all those cute ads? You got it.
The biggest complaints people have about Universal Health Care is “the cost to the public,” “long waits for care,” “inefficient government services,” and the like. Can you honestly say our system is better? Hardly. Our private, job-based health insurance system of managed care has been a fantastic disaster in each of these areas worthy of a bad film by Irwin.
Health insurance in the U.S. ranges from a low of about $70/month with terrible benefits to several hundred for excellent benefits. Don’t you think there’s something that can be done to provide a guaranteed health care for all Americans without either sewing golden parachutes and hubcaps for insurance and medical executives, or taxing Americans to death? There is.
Single-payer health care is an answer that works on all counts. It’s more efficient, less expensive, more effective, available to every U.S. citizen—and that’s everyone, not just if you have a job that provides them—and doesn’t line the pockets of those who don’t deserve it at the expense of the public. It also curtails the upward spiraling costs of coverage.
Single-payer is what works so well in Canada, and what most Universal Health Coverage proponents suggest for the U.S. (Single-payer is not what Hillary Clinton promoted in the 90s, which is one reason her plan was so complicated and failed so miserably). So-called “pro-business” Republicans (those who get large donations from the insurance and medical industries) often try to misinform the public by arguing that Canada’s system doesn’t work, costs too much, is inconvenient, it’s hard to get a specialist, etc. But how different does that sound from the lousy service and coverage we put up with here?
If you really need help in Canada, you get it. Ask any Canadian what they think, and they’ll tell you the American system is crazy and they love their health care, warts and all. The idea of competent health care being available only to those who can afford it seems criminal to citizens of every civilized country except America. Free public health care isn’t a perfect system anywhere, but the worst system in Europe, Scandanavia, or Canada is far, far better than 90% of what we have available here.
Find out more about Single-payer health care, then call your Representatives, Senators, Governors, and President to tell them you want Single-payer universal health care NOW.
More information is available at:
http://www.physiciansproposal.org http://www.masscare.org/
and many other sources.
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J Klein is the creator of DemocracyMeansYou and occasionally writes and pens cartoons for the site. He lives in an undisclosed location in North Carolina with Dick Cheney.
DemocracyMeansYou was started as both an artistic response to the ubiquitous flag stickers after 9/11 (the THINK sticker was the impetus for the whole shebang), and a forum for liberal and progressive opinion, humor (always important), and inspiring / urging / demanding participation in the democratic process.
He has written for various publications and websites over the years, has worked as a licensed Psychiatric Technician with both the mentally ill and the developmentally disabled; worked as a mechanic for several years; worked for local government promoting ridesharing and alternative transportation in California; quantifying school accountability for California schools; and marketing writing and web design.
