On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 21:15:23 +0100, June Hughes wrote (in article ):
Yes. They even say it themselves and are actually *proud* of it as though it's some measure of excellence and investment; when really it's a measure of bureaucracy and incompetence.
to be replaced by the business middle man in a nice suit creaming off the money, like the privatised water companies. Some things are done better by the public sector.
The US health care system is the sick giant of the world. It is disgraceful that the rich white old guys at the top can't see that they are creating a sick population. What can they do with that in the end? Bigger bombs?
You can pay an enormous sum for insurance in the USA and get denied necessary care. You can bleed to death in emergency services because the staff is taken up with care for kids who have no insurance coverage and therefore are brought into emergency care. They have no alternative.
Of all the schemes, I look at Australia's national insurance as attractive. I am not up to date and it may not be what it once was. Italy isn't bad, but there are some bad doctors hired because of nepotism. You do get to choose your primary physician-- if he isn't already full. I have worked as simultaneous translator for British businessmen who come here to buy NHS covered products. They are always looking for lower, ever lower, prices because the allowed price of something has been reduced. That often means leaving off some things to increase the order for others to bring up the economy of scale and get the price right. It is interesting to me to see the wide range of things covered, such as nutrients for sensitive or allergic patients, and packed protein IV fluids. Many are made in Germany but sell for lower prices here. Many of these products are covered here only while you are in hospital. It is an entire world, all to itself.
It's not bad at all, but people still complain. My husband died two years ago of motor neurone disease - we had incredible support from everyone connected to the Health system from the moment he was diagnosed and it was virtually free - not all our travelling expenses to Adelaide for sleep clinics, breathing clinics, dieticians etc were met, but 90% were. OTs,physiotherapy, domicilliary and palliative care were completely free from the regional service, alterations to the house to cope with wheelchair etc were at cost, and it all happened as and when we needed it - this is more than you wanted to know, probably :) We did not have private health insurance as it is prohibitively expensive on a fixed income - but the care he received was just the same as if we had. Waiting lists for elective surgery in capital cities, I understand, are long; in the country, they're not too bad.
However, in Tonga, if they couldn't treat what ailed you with paracetamol and/or penicillin, forget it. Towards the end of my time there, we had no qualified doctor for the whole Ha'apai group, just two valiant final-year medical students...
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