A brief disclaimer: I am by no means an expert in health care, whether in America or Israel. However, the citizenship of both countries, a few years of life in both places, a child born in any country, I am least qualified to share their experiences and opinions about the whole health care debate is happening in America right now.
I gotta say, I'm torn into pieces.
Here's my story, with lots of comments:
Growing up in America, I absolutely despised the doctor. I felt I was losing mass amounts of my time, and were quite immoral and / or dishonest. I have horror stories from my childhood doctor was promising me the procedure will not hurt, followed by the most excruciating pain imaginable.
My strongest memory of the doctor was waiting for 45 minutes in the waiting room, and then my sister checks, waiting for another half hour, and then the doctor comes, we are catching all kinds of strange ways, and it tells me I have a cough. I'm sure there is no limit on how much you can charge a ton of wasted time and such a brilliant diagnosis.
of course I remember years ago a doctor asked why I was having severe pain in the chest košu.Odgovori I got were useless and varied, so I finally gave up trying to ask. I remember the first answer I got was "Growing Pains ".
So, the doctors became a miniscule part of my youth (and frankly, I am still very reluctant ).
When you hear my experience it is easy to assume that I am a big fan of health reform, but I can not wait until all the various accounts at the end of the pass.
However ...
Later I moved to Israel, home of socialized health care.
My impressions:
This is very nice and comforting to know to care, regardless of prior conditions, indiscriminately, with a fairly high level of quality ... often.
However, the story must be told, but facts are facts.
When I was approached by an Israeli doctor about the pain in my chest (which I have always had more than ten years later), he sent me to endoscopy are based on theory.
in a hospital arrived, and I was not at all worried. Why? Friends from America told me about her endoscopies. They are put to sleep and woke up happily look at their results, such that the process did not happen.
So what happened to me? I laid down and had a tube shoved down my throat. I felt every last drop. I actually gagged for ten minutes straight.
And then they brought me in another room ... I fell asleep in the chair.
I had a sore throat for a week.
my cousin, who was in medical school at the time, looked over my files. Her mouth dropped when she saw how messed up the amount of anesthesia they gave me (clearly a poorly timed, and ).
But what could I do? What outlets are available for concern when it socialized medicine?
My wife had an experience with a dentist who socialized to a long story short, culminating in the dentist yanking wrong cap cemented in the mouth with a zero anesthesia, or warnings.
In any of these cases, we filed a malpractice lawsuit in the U.S., and we continue to raise money for the day.
, but not under Israel's socialized health care system. Not one to complain. No matter where you go. If you were disappointed with the attention, you can always return to their country of origin.
(By the way, the theory that the doctor turned out to be correct, and under his care, I began to have far fewer symptoms than my recently diagnosed with acid reflux .)
So, which system is better?
in Israel (and I guess it's that way in most countries with socialized medicine) you have little control over when and with whom you will be treated. If you are dissatisfied with the treatment, you have nowhere okrenuti.Sustav is definitely cheap and on, but then again, Israel's taxes are through the roof. Does it make health care cheap or expensive?
, on the other hand, things are not so hot.
That would cost a fortune to a child (whether or not your insurance decides to cover it). Emergency rooms here are far less effective than those in Israel (practice makes perfect). Recently, we brought her son to the ER worried that maybe he broke his nose. My wife waited four hours in the ER five years. It turned out to be fine ... And despite our insurance will cost us almost a thousand dollars!
We have also encountered problems with pre-existing conditions, as well as companies dictate when we can be covered from birth.
I know plenty of people happy on both sides of the Atlantic ... and many who are dissatisfied. I know people who use Israel remedy for small things, but for all serious come to America because it is well known for superior care. In America, it costs a small fortune to have a child in Israel is not only free, but modest hand you see when you leave the hospital.
So in the end what we have?
Two very imperfect health model.
Americans have every right in the world to be frustrated with the state of health in the U.S. right now. But they should think long and hard about what direction the country should be getting rid of their problems. We have no room for error. Better yet, we should learn from other people. After all, one wrong could be disastrous.
