oh those dreadful socialists.

[historian]

First of all, it appears that i have hepatitis C and need a transplant. Prior to Obama's health care plan, my insurance was ready to kick me out. That law stopped them.
Now as to socialized medicine, something civilized countries offer their citizens, read this and weep. Yes, people will pay for it with taxes, but we are taxed to death and get nothing back except wars. While traveling in Portugal recently, I fell off a step and broke my foot. The hotel called a doctor (3 in the morning) who came to my room to see me! Try that here! Next i was bundled off in an ambulance for a 40 mile ride to a hospital, was taken straight in for an xray, then after about 20 mins was seen by an orthopedic surgeon and placed in a cast.
Now get this! Not once did anyone mention money until i had been taken care of. Here you sit in a waiting room while the doctor is in the back somewhere humping a nurse or something while you sit and slowly die. How much did this cost? Since i hadn't lived in Europe for many years, I no longer had the right to free medicine but thats all right. Who can guess the bill? 150.00 euros!!! (approx 175 dollars)!!! Now tell me how i would have been treated here, and slapped with a 5000 dollar bill? If that is socialism then i'm all for it). Just let me jump the gun for a moment; yes i am going to live in Europe next year so telling me to go back where I belong is a little redundant!

[More_liberal_than_mo]

1. I lived in Europe

for several years back in the early 1980's. While living in Italy my wife became pregnant. She went to a private doctor who had his own clinic. She had better care than she did for our first child in the US. Both were Cesarean deliveries. The final bill for the operation with a 6 day hospital stay was less $2,000. When our third child was born 3 years later in the USA the bill was over $11,000 with only a two day hospital stay.
When my daughter was on a high school trip to New Zealand a few years ago she was hurt in a fall on the ice. The total cost for the ER visit was less than $5.
Three weeks ago my now 24 year old daughter got food poisoning while eating at a restaurant on a trip to Texas. She spent 4 hours in the ER. I'm still getting bills for that. I have really good insurance and still have had to pay out over $700 out of pocket (deductible was already met). The ER bill was over $11,000 but the insurance company negotiated it down to slightly over $3000 of which I had to fork over 20 percent. Then there's bill from the doctor and the radiologist. I expect more bills to come before this is over.
Why anyone with a brain would want to keep our inferior over-priced US health care system is a mystery to me.

[historian]

2. Hallelujah brother

Same thing has been bothering me for years!