[rescue] SparcCenter 2000E on Ebay

[N. Miller]

--On Sunday, June 22, 2003 1:25 PM -0700 Francisco Javier Mesa-Martinez 
<lefa at ucsc.edu> wrote:
> But please do not let figures and facts get in the way.... As a
> transplanted Euro who has experienced both systems I get really tired of
> some people trashing our socialized ways when they have not experienced
> anything but American way of doing things. But by all means, if you feel
> comfortable putting your health in the hands of corporations who are
> looking out for their profits first and your health second (or third) by
> all means enjoy the treatment.

Facts and figures can be twisted to meet the political agendas of
the people who are writing the articles.  And I do believe that
the WHO has a vested interest in slagging the American health-
care system b/c we have not toed the line of "universal health-
care." If you want to believe everything you read without access
to the raw data, feel free.

I have not lived in Europe, so I cannot comment.  However, I have
lived in Canada, and experienced their healthcare system first
hand.  I also have a group of friends who still reside in Canada,
and some of them have some extraordinary medical problems.  As an
example, I will mention my friend who has epilepsy.  He was 'triaged'
in their "universal" healthcare system for almost 15 years even
though his epilepsy was *obviously* getting less responsive to the
drug therapies.  It took him nearly killing a bystander during a
grand mal before they increased his priority in the system to get
the operation that he should have had near the beginning.  Of course,
this begs the question of how such a 'good' healthcare system managed
to misdiagnose his cocaine overdose as an epileptic fit, thereby
giving him epilepsy in the first place by giving him epilepsy drugs
for the cocaine overdose.

My observation of the Canadian healthcare system from my own experiences
with it: emergency healthcare, generally is pretty good, the misdiagnosis
above probably an anomaly (but at least in the US he would have been
compensated for it and gotten it fixed a hell of a lot sooner).  I had
to have emergency surgery in Toronto (I lived in BC--I traveled for my
job) and it was a fairly painless from a monetary standpoint.  However,
it might not have been needed had my healthcare provider had an honest
discussion with me about the risks of me traveling.  The doctors I dealt
with in this case seemed very disturbed and uncommunicative with a
patient (me) that was knowledgeable and demanding about what was going
on with me.

As for "regular" healthcare, I noted similar things.  Most people
I knew did not have a regular doctor they could refer their friends to--
most people simply went to the 24 hour clinics, which were really just
the fast food equivalent of health care (Americans may be familiar with
"Urgent Care clinics--places you go to instead of the emergency room
for stitches on the weekends).  The doctors at these clinics pretty much
let you self-prescribe if you are reasonably well-versed with your own
healthcare issues.  But what happens if you are not?  Most of them
seemed bored and disinterested at best.

I won't say that the American healthcare system is perfect--there needs
to be some alternative for people who have no job or healthcare coverage
at their job.  But at least with the private insurance system you have an
opportunity to find a doctor that fits your way of thinking and deal with
him or her, and pay for expertise when you need it rather than being
forced to wait because your case is not considered "critical" enough.

=Nadine=