Moondoggie
Verified User
[h=3]mhood[/h] Paris
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/17/...gressional-budget-office.html#permid=23287948
As an American who moved to France in 1995, I can only shake my head in disbelief as I follow from afar the tortured healthcare saga in my homeland. Selfishly, I also breathe a huge sigh of relief: My oldest, 19, has cerebral palsy and her sister, 17, was born two months ahead of schedule. Had I still been living in the US – even with a good job and solid health coverage – my wife and I would have spent the last two decades battling insurance companies and fending off bankruptcy. In Paris, we have never seen a bill for all the surgeries, weeks of intensive care, regular therapies, medication, etc. Ditto the removal of a benign tumor from my spinal column which, in the US, would have likely cost me $100,000 out-of-pocket. The very affordable single payer + complimentary insurance system here is not perfect, but it is surely preferable to the game of Russian roulette that Americans – even many with insurance – are forced to play with their health. Is basic health care a human right? The rest of the developed world seems to think so. Surely even pull-up-your-bootstraps libertarians and Republicans must one day see that allowing the principle of self-reliance to include shouldering the burden of no-fault-of-my-own health catastrophes is simply uncivilized.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/17/...gressional-budget-office.html#permid=23287948
As an American who moved to France in 1995, I can only shake my head in disbelief as I follow from afar the tortured healthcare saga in my homeland. Selfishly, I also breathe a huge sigh of relief: My oldest, 19, has cerebral palsy and her sister, 17, was born two months ahead of schedule. Had I still been living in the US – even with a good job and solid health coverage – my wife and I would have spent the last two decades battling insurance companies and fending off bankruptcy. In Paris, we have never seen a bill for all the surgeries, weeks of intensive care, regular therapies, medication, etc. Ditto the removal of a benign tumor from my spinal column which, in the US, would have likely cost me $100,000 out-of-pocket. The very affordable single payer + complimentary insurance system here is not perfect, but it is surely preferable to the game of Russian roulette that Americans – even many with insurance – are forced to play with their health. Is basic health care a human right? The rest of the developed world seems to think so. Surely even pull-up-your-bootstraps libertarians and Republicans must one day see that allowing the principle of self-reliance to include shouldering the burden of no-fault-of-my-own health catastrophes is simply uncivilized.
