★★★★★
Some of you are possibly labouring under the unfortunate misapprehension that everything is free over in the "Land of Milk and Money" but it "Aint necessarily so", as the song goes!
One could sum up by saying that our system relies on people looking after themselves (and largely paying for their own medical expenses) on a day to day basis, with the proviso that SOME drugs, medicines and doctors visits are subsidized to some extent (i.e. certainly NOT free).
Only after (sometimes) languishing on a long waiting list, can you get elective surgery done on the public system (if you are lucky - certain criteria apply). If the Country is short of money, surgeons or hospital beds you can actually be taken OFF the waiting list, especially if you are considered too old or too sick (really - it's a sort of rationing of resources aparently! ). HOWEVER, if you have serious cancer or heart condition or whatever, and could be expected to benefit from intervention, then you are marvellously whisked away and dealt with very professionally at NO COST, which is pretty amazing in this day and age.
Recently, I had a whole raft of expenses hit me at the same time, which was a bit of a shock to that bank balance I used to have.
The following have been translated into the type of dollar that Uncle Sam would understand and appreciate :-
Medical test for Driver's Licence Renewal $US16.75
Driver's Licence Renewal $12.53
New glasses $536.00 (using old frames)
Dentist check up with x rays $53.60 (i.e. no fillings - yippee!! )
(to put the above into context, a Dentist's quote for a crown
could be as high as $938.00!! ).
So there you go. America needs a Public Health system of some sort in this day and age. The pressure for even a "basic safety net" type one will prove overwhelming one day I feel certain!
Cheers from Down Under
Michael
