VWFringe
Naruto Fan
I remember for years when Kaiser was new I'd hear horror stories about cancer going untreated and undiagnosed.
We were given the impression that they did not have quality doctors, not that they were cutting care to make extra money. I believe kaiser has gotten better, or maybe their PR is just more PC (billboards about preventive health and get lots of excercize), but it's still a for-profit system and each doctor is given 15 minutes for each patient. I hope they've stopped dumping poor patients.
Anyway, my grandfather of 95 went to Canada on a long train ride with his girlfriend, and she had a reaction to some medications...they got an ambulance to the hospital. On the way there, the ambulance driver told him about his aunt, who had been on a surgery waiting list for many months, and when things started looking bad, Canada paid for surgery in America, and paid for a family member to accompany her. My grandfather's bill for the ambulance and hospital was only $1,800, but here in the states it would have been more like $18,000.
When I tell people here it's like they don't even care, so I'd like to invite people from other countries to chime in and share what it's like where they live, in the hopes that we in the USA will listen, learn from them and... eventually take action even though we may not know what that looks like yet.
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has everyone seen this film clip?
http://www.blip.tv/file/273293 ...skip to 11:02 for just a minute, then watch the whole thing.
I believe everyone in America should see the woman at the eleven minute mark and understand the context of what she's speaking about.
She speaks about the guilt she feels over the disparity between benefits and healthcare in France compared to those of her parents in the USA.
We were given the impression that they did not have quality doctors, not that they were cutting care to make extra money. I believe kaiser has gotten better, or maybe their PR is just more PC (billboards about preventive health and get lots of excercize), but it's still a for-profit system and each doctor is given 15 minutes for each patient. I hope they've stopped dumping poor patients.
Anyway, my grandfather of 95 went to Canada on a long train ride with his girlfriend, and she had a reaction to some medications...they got an ambulance to the hospital. On the way there, the ambulance driver told him about his aunt, who had been on a surgery waiting list for many months, and when things started looking bad, Canada paid for surgery in America, and paid for a family member to accompany her. My grandfather's bill for the ambulance and hospital was only $1,800, but here in the states it would have been more like $18,000.
When I tell people here it's like they don't even care, so I'd like to invite people from other countries to chime in and share what it's like where they live, in the hopes that we in the USA will listen, learn from them and... eventually take action even though we may not know what that looks like yet.
----------------------------------------------
has everyone seen this film clip?
http://www.blip.tv/file/273293 ...skip to 11:02 for just a minute, then watch the whole thing.
I believe everyone in America should see the woman at the eleven minute mark and understand the context of what she's speaking about.
She speaks about the guilt she feels over the disparity between benefits and healthcare in France compared to those of her parents in the USA.
(woman 12) Something that I experience
a lot of with my own family is guilt.
Guilt for being here almost,
and seeing the advantages and
the benefits I have at such a young age.
Things that my parents worked their whole
life for and haven't come close to touching.
It's really hard
to know that you're here
in a very privileged position,
you know, not living the highlife,
but in comparison, definitely.
And that seems completely unfair.
(second woman
One of the things
that keeps everything running here
is that the government
is afraid of the people.
They're afraid of protests,
they're afraid of reactions from the people.
In the States, people are afraid of the
government. They're afraid of acting up.
They're afraid of protesting,
afraid of getting out.
In France, that's what people do.
