I posted this back in February but thought in light of all the fuss about healthcare reform I would post this again!
My husband found this little article in the February 1947 edition of The Reader's Digest. I thought it was very interesting & worth passing along - considering this article was written more than 60 years ago! Almost Prophetic!
STAND UP AND SAY "AH"
Michael Wright in Better Homes & Gardens
This is how it is in Britain. The doctor got back to his office just at two o'clock. "How many?" he said to his nurse.
"Forty."
Casually, he put on his white jacket and poked his head into the waiting room where the 40 patients sat. "Will those of you troubled with headache please stand," he said.
Six stood. The doctor took identical printed prescriptions out of his desk and handed one to each of the six and dismissed them.
Then he said, "Will those of you troubled with a cough please stand." Another group got up, and again he handed them printed prescriptions and dismissed them.
The others he took one by one into his private office for a few minutes. Two hours later the office was empty, the 40 patients gone. This was an average of three minutes to a patient.
And that, Dr. Edward H. Ochsner of Chicago testified at the recent Wagner-Murray-Dingell bill hearings in Washington, is how it is with socialized medicine in Britain.
In Germany, where they also had a compulsory system, some doctors did even better - 30 to 40 patients in one hour.
This is how most doctors believe it will be here in America if our own womb-to-tomb compulsory health scheme becomes law.
Something to think about........
Except of course that is not how it works in Britain at all. When ever I had to see the doctor, I got individual time with them and even though my complaint (asthma) is a lifelong one, the doctors always checked me out each and everytime. In South Africa, healthcare is mostly private, and as a result doctors tend to try and set speed records in seeing patients since the more patients they see, the more money they earn. I would far rather have Britains medical scheme than anything else.
ReplyDeleteThis was WRITTEN in 1947.... I don't know if this was completely factual. At any rate, I agree the US needs healthcare reform but I don't believe America can afford the proposed health plan... nor would I want to be herded in & out like cattle or given a "general" prescription. If the fine folks in the Senate are forced to use the same healthcare they're proposing the rest of the US is having forced upon them, they may think twice. Look for more home remedies, herbalists, home births, etc. if this bill passes.
ReplyDeleteWell I know some Brits, and have family in Cananda. I have specifically asked them to tell me about their healthcare and their healthcare experience. I would trade them ours for theirs in a second.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend in Canada who was finally diagnosed with breast cancer & was basically told come back in 6 months (if you're still alive) and we'll see what to do. She did finally have surgery - a double mastectomy - after a year!
ReplyDeleteI can't understand - if their medical services are so great, why, over the years, have so many Canadians come to the US for their healthcare needs?
As a Canadian I am getting a little tired of Americans bashing our healthcare system. Sure, it's not perfect and sure, you can always find some disgruntled soul or other with a complaint and hold them up as a shining example of our system's "failure". But they are far from the norm. I don't know of a single Canadian who has gone - or plans to go - to the US for healthcare, altho I'm sure there are some. I have known all too many people in Canada with cancer (I was a hospital chaplain) and never once did I hear a complaint about the way they were treated. Let Americans decide what they will about their own healthcare options but please stop spreading blanket untruths about the Canadian system.
ReplyDeleteBefore I was laid off I paid $400 a month, My wife $300. We also paid about $400 a month for the meds niether covered. We both still had co-pays. I need to see a doctor right now and being laid off and in Idaho it is not going to happen!
ReplyDelete6 months is quicker than some folks I now that are un-insured. I have worked in the med equipment and sevices field for over a decade. If you have no money sometimes death is all that is left.