Saturday, August 22, 2009

Another Opinion

This is a comment that was on Rhea's blog The Boomer Chronicles HERE. I liked it and thought you might, too.
Tom Degan Says:
August 21st, 2009 at 2:59 pm

The other day, I received an interesting and very instructive e-mail from my brother Jeff who lives in France. He asked me to share it with the readers of my blog. I think I will share it with you also.

“As an American who has been living in Europe for most of the last 20 years, one who has visited doctors numerous times in four different countries, whose two children were brought into this world in European hospitals (France and England), who has himself spent a week in a public British hospital, and who underwent an operation in a private British clinic, I think I can say a thing or two about health care in Europe.

“Our out of pocket expenses for the births? Zero, even though in France my wife spent 5 days in the hospital after the birth, which is standard, by the way.

“During the three years we lived in England, we never once paid for medicine for our children. Children get drugs for free in the UK. Visits to the GP are free for everybody.

“My expenses for the week in the NHS hospital? Zero.

“The cost of the operation in the private clinic? Zero, it was covered by my work insurance, as was the post-op physical therapy I needed.

“In Western Europe you would never be forced to sell your home in order to pay for your medical bills, as happens all too often in America when catastrophic illness strikes and the insurance company decides that your condition was ‘pre-existing’.

“The quality of the care? Mostly good. French hospitals are excellent, even the food is decent. The food at the NHS hospital was beyond awful, but then again most English food is pretty bad (though they do have great Indian food). At night, they were understaffed, but I am guessing that, apart from that place where Dr. House works, most American hospitals are understaffed at night, too.

“In short, in the US, you pay more, get less, and die younger than we do in Europe. What part of that don’t you understand?

“My fellow Americans, you have nothing to fear except those who would use fear to keep you enslaved to the myth of the might of the American health care system.”

Jeff Degan

What can I tell you? The guy is a Communist. Not only does he live in France, he actually likes it there. An eternal shame to our family’s good name. Let us boil down his seven paragraphs to their juicy essentials, shall we?

HEALTH CARE IN THIS COUNTRY SUCKS.

Here is (Excuse me, I meant to say, “Here was“) a golden opportunity for real reform and the idiotic Americans are screaming about socialism. Is it any wonder that we have become the laughingstock of the Western world?

http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY

PS – I love English food!

7 comments:

Joy said...

You're quite welcome! I like your blog, and that was such a good post.

Suppositories, huh? Where to begin with the jokes!

Beth said...

Suppositories...what a pain in the ass. I guess that makes Rush Limbaugh one big walking suppository. Hahaha.

One of the many things that perplexes me about the hysterical cries from the right is when they say that people in Europe and Canada hate their health care. I'm not sure who they're talking to, because everyone from any of those countries I've encountered in Blogtropolis is quite happy with their health care, and find our system more than a little barbaric. Go figure.

Hugs, Beth

Ms. Moon said...

Yeah. I'd totally hate that sort of health care and the price you have to pay for it.
Wow. How much would THAT suck?
(You know I'm being sarcastic, right?)

Joy said...

If it's one thing I recognize it's sarcasm since that's the language I speak most often. Oh the irony!

gigi-hawaii said...

I looove your blog and visit several times a day, Joy. Thanks so much for posting that comment. It made me understand the health care available in France and England. I would like to see the same here in the States!

Rhea said...

Glad you reposted this. These kinds of first-person accounts are enlightening for Americans.

Joy said...

Thanks, Gigi. I like to learn about health care in other countries, too.

That comment was so helpful, Rhea, that I wanted to share it with people who read my blog. I'm so glad you wrote what you did that inspired that comment, aren't you?