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Head In Sand

I probably should not belabor the point, but very simply... anyone who thinks that the American Health Care system is "the best" unfortunately is either a) too enamored with his/her political party line, or b) has his/her head in the sand.

Our health care system... is composed of EXTREMELY good doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals... most of whom are denegrated and downtrodden due to the overload of work that is NOT of their training.... namely the enormous beuracuracy involved in getting insurance companies to pay for services needed by patients.

Our health care system... is a nightmare for nearly every patient. If you have no insurance, poor insurance (read 100% of HMOs and many other insurance systems), or inadequate insurance, you live in fear of being able to GET treatment. If you have adequate or even good insurance, you live in fear that the denegrated, downtrodden, and overworked health care workers will slip up and make horrendous mistakes in your care.

Our health care system.... is torture for anyone who has a loved one participating in the system (as a patient or a health care worker), for it turns your life topsy-turvey and shoots your stress hormones through the roof continually. I know, I live and lived the experience. I live it with a myriad of relatives who are in the health care profession (wife, sister, cousins, nieces), and I LIVED it most certainly in trying to help my beloved mother receive care. I had to be a nearly 24 hour a day patient advocate to get my mother the care she needed. I sometimes fear that she died because I WAS NOT at the hospital with her at 5am (I had been numerous times previously) and did not monitor her every symptom while I was there (like I had numerous times previously). I was not there at 5am because I was sleeping for a few, brief hours to try to get ready to teach my course and quickly get back to her hospital bed. Families should be COMFORTED that their loved one is being looked after and is getting adequate medical care if in the hospital. I never felt that way, after the numerous oversites, delays, and outright mistakes they made during the over 15 years I was my mother's primary care giver in terms of health care awareness.

I would gladly trade the above (which is DUE TO THE HORRID INSURANCE COMPANIES who step on patients and kick health care workers to increase their already enormous profits) for what they have in Canada, England, or France.

It is appaling.

PipeTobacco