randulo’s unblog

Talking to my brother about 'socialized medecine', the system under which I've lived for the last 30+ years, I remembered a story from a few years ago here in beautiful Southern California.

My wife needed to see an eye doctor, and we called and made an appointment in town. When we got there, the receptionist took our details and asked for a credit card imprint or a blank check. I asked how much it would be. She said she couldn't say until the doctor was done and they saw what he did. Funny, a rental car agency will put a hold of $250 or so for a car when you rent it, but the doctors office needs a blank check. Ok. After a relatively short wait, we were called into the exam room. At that point, we heard the doctor make a personal call a few feet outside the door. It was easy to hear the discussion, revolving around a trip to Tahoe, what equipment to bring, lengthy discussion of where to have dinner, etc. The call wasn't a few minutes, it was a leisurely chat among friends with the patient sitting there, anguished about her condition.

He came in, started talking about his honeymoon in Paris. After a few minutes, I literally had to ask him if he wouldn't mind examining the patient who was worried about an eye infection and possible glaucoma symptoms. He looked at each eye, told her eveything was fine, there was no need to treat any condition or write a prescription. Ok, better safe than sorry.

So I asked the receptionist how much it was going to be. She couldn't say until billing generated a statement, at the end of the month. In fact it took several weeks to get a bill for the $120 they charged for doing absolutely nothing other than a cursory exam.

A few years later our friend was visiting Paris with her daughter who needed to have recent stitches removed. The only place we could easily arrange was a small emergency room nearby in Montparnasse. Because it was a small place during a weeknight, the only available doctor was able to do the work immediately. When asked about the charges, our friend was handed a bill for around 8 euros, about $12.

Incidentally, I have no experience in Canada or the UK, but after 30 years of living in France, I have never waited in line for any normal medical services. I have been able to obtain a $1500-per-month treatment that lasted one year, then was repeated for another one and a half, free of charge, no cash outlay whatsoever. Had I needed to pay for it, I would not have been able to afford it. Of course, I did pay for it by paying into the system all my career.

While each country and each person's situation will vary, I do recommend that you NOT listen and swallow stories circulating everywhere about "socialized medecine" or socialism itself. Like a computer program, it depends on the choices and the implementation of the program.