On this excursion I spent time in a doctor's private office, a pharmacie, and a medical supply shop. At all stops of the medical professionals we dealt with were kind, patient, and attentive. We never waited longer than 5 minutes to be helped (and that was at the pharmacie -- at the doctor's office, the doctor himself showed us into his office the moment we arrived, and also took our payment at the end of the visit). The total cost for the entire afternoon, was less than 75 euros. When we spoke to the pharmacist, he said that if we were French citizens, we could either submit receipts to our private insurance company for a 60% reimbursement, and then the government would reimburse the other 40% of the day's costs; or, if we were too poor to afford private insurance, the government would pick up the whole thing.
Although I'm terribly sorry any member of our party this summer is having to deal with medical issues while abroad, I'm glad I got to witness just a bit of the French experience of medical care. I have the benefit (I'm trying to be positive here) of having just been immersed in the American medical system last month as we dealt with Vivi's pneumonia. When Vivi got sick, it took a trip to the emergency room, four days in the children's hospital, and six visits to our pediatrician's office to get her well. So I feel I have a pretty wide experience of medical care in the States. Although we were blessed with--for the most part--friendly and sympathetic health care providers during Vivi's illness (save one horrible doctor in the ER who looked Vivi over quickly and casually said, "It could be as bad as meningitis"--not the thing to say to an exhausted and frightened mother before you've actually examined her baby), and definitely had excellent and attentive medical care, the cost was astronomical. Thankfully, we're among the lucky percentage of Americans who have "Cadillac" insurance--care of my job at the State University of New York--and so most of Vivi's medical bills will be covered by our insurance. But what if we hadn't had insurance? What would we do? The bill for the whole ordeal would certainly break us. (Just for some perspective, the total cost of her four days in the hospital is equivalent to one year of tuition at a mid-sized private liberal arts college.)
Having just lived through that experience in the U.S. I found yesterday's turn with the French system a wonder. Why can't healthcare be so stress-free at home? I realize that the French system isn't entirely without problems, and also, as I've noted in other posts, the French lifestyle is much more frugal and less expansive than the average lifestyle in the U.S., in part because taxes are higher here (the value added tax here is 20%). But it's not as if people here are uncomfortable. It's not as if they're suffering privation. In fact, they seem pretty darn happy. There's a 35 hour work week here, and it doesn't seem most people work more than that. Most of the population gets 6 to 8 weeks of vacation per year. And, though this is purely anecdotal evidence, it seems pretty apparent that people are simply less stressed out. They take time to socialize, sitting for long stretches over meals or coffee or wine. They walk a lot. They eat a lot. They pause in their daily tasks to enjoy conversation with one another (something that, I'll admit, has frustrated me while waiting in line at the patisserie and the clothing store, though I think if I were a local I'd appreciate my neighbors' amiable attitude and the feeling that I was part of a socially happy community). That whole thing I mentioned about time being slower here? Yeah, it is, and that seems to make life more pleasant. I suppose what I'm getting at is that this doesn't sound so bad, does it? Couldn't we Americans all agree to individually give up a little in order to gain everyone a lot? (Yikes! Did I just advocate for socialism? Okay, okay. None of you who knows me is surprised about that.)
I know some will look at this and say that I'm simplifying matters, and perhaps I am. A bit. But I think the American healthcare system could use a little simplifying.
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