You have heard the debate. You have seen the Michael Moore movie. You may have received a denied claim. Some of us have worked in the health care industry and know the problems with our American healthcare system.
If you would have asked me just 3 years ago, what my position was on universal healthcare for Americans, I would have said hell yes! Having worked with many children with no insurance or the underinsured truly affected the way I felt about this issue. However, I have come to disagree with their view and my previous view on this issue.
Politicians and a film maker would have us believe that achieving universal healthcare would be utopia, a win-win situation for all. But, living in a country that has this system, as well as speaking to other expats (including our neighbors to the north), I just cannot see it the way I did before.
In Poland, every working citizen must pay a certain percentage of their salary into the system not unlike Social Security in the US. This would not be a problem if Polish citizens could actually get what they pay for.
If you have insurance in the USA and you get sick, you can pick up the phone and likely secure an appointment for yourself on the same day. If you have no insurance in the USA, you go to a free clinic, urgent care, or the ER and wait an infinite amount of hours equivalent to your degree of distress before being seen, but you will likely be seen at some point that day (unless you live in NC, click here).
However, what if you paid into the system and you get sick (minor to catastrophic illness). You’ve paid your dues and you deserve to see a doctor. But the next available appointment is not for several weeks, possibly months? You end up waiting hours (not unlike the ER) for something you have paid your hard earned money for. Then, you find out you need to see a specialist who does not have any available appointments for months or is on strike because the doctor’s are paid the equivalent of $700 USD per month. If you have the money, you can choose to go to a private practitioner and pay out of pocket for a visit that you technically already paid for. If you don’t have money, or friends with money, you wait and a) pray your symptoms go away on their own, b) hope it isn’t serious, or if it is serious, c) die!
Welcome to universal healthcare for all, folks! Does this sound like something you want invading our country? There is a reason so many people travel to the United States for medical care. Heck, former Polish president and Solidarity movement leader, Lech Wałęsa, traveled to Texas earlier this year to have a pacemaker installed. What does that say to you when a former head of state of another country chooses our country for his medical care?
Let me give you more to think about…
When you are hospitalized in the US, say to have a baby, you may bring some personal items from home to make you feel comfortable. However, the bulk of your needs are taken care of by the hospital. You get clean sheets (changed daily), towels, three meals and snacks, a phone, TV, even a gown if necessary. Your baby gets fitted like a clone in an outfit to match his nursery mates, he gets formula, diapers, a receiving blanket and a bulb syringe for his personal use (never lose this one – you will never find one of the same caliber).
From the accounts of people I have spoken to who have been hospitalized here, all you seem to get is a bed. You must provide your own supplies. This is no different than stories I have heard from family members about Cuba’s healthcare system that was so distorted in Michael Moore’s film. Do you really think that Castro allowed Moore to film in a real Havana hospital? A true Cuban hospital looks nothing like the one depicted in the movie. Many Cubans get their medical supplies (including gauze, stitches, ointments, and equipment) from their Miami family members. If you don’t have family in Miami, good luck to you!
An American friend whose son was hospitalized here in Warsaw could not wrap her mind around the fact that 1) the hospital ran out of the European equivalent to Tylenol and asked that she or her husband go to the local Apteka and purchase some and 2) that they did not have a thermometer for her son’s use. She had to bring her own. Her husband is Polish so they pay into the system, but they choose to pay privately for routine care because of time consumed in trying to find care publicly. Further, you may have a contagious illness, but you will still be placed in a room with a bunch of other beds. Forget private rooms, unless you are willing to pay for a private facility.
Another friend informed me that she is actually happy that she is having her baby here and paying privately because she knows she would not receive the same quality of care in Canada as she is here. Don’t get me wrong – medical care here is great for an expatriate with funds. It’s everyone else that gets shafted.
A Polish friend whose daughter plays with Thing 2 informed me yesterday that she spent two days trying to find a doctor after her daughter had an allergic reaction to some drops she was given for her eyes.
And, with that said, let me tell you about the hospitals here. I went on a tour of several hospitals with our Embassy nurse earlier in the year. I came home and told Thing 1 that breaking a bone or getting into a serious accident here is unacceptable. After seeing the trauma unit in Warsaw, I was traumatized! The private hospitals are comparable to where I previously worked. The public ones are not even remotely close to even Jackson Memorial in Miami or DC General. At a public hospital for adults, I saw a woman with a naso-gastric (NG) tube, smoking a cigar outside the hospital entrance. I’m sure our American patients try to do the same, but I want to think that our hospitals stop that kind of behavior. Then, again, I still remember healthcare workers at my hospital smoking in front of the Cancer Center! Still, these were healthcare workers, not patients!
I don’t deny the need to cover America’s children. I think that all children regardless of income should at least receive routine and preventative care. I don’t deny the need for coverage for the millions of Americans with no coverage. However, I have a big problem with someone telling me that they are going to take a portion of my earnings to fund something that takes my current level of insurance down several notches and expect me to use it and like it. I don’t think so. This is like my generation paying into Social Security that we will likely never see or see very little of. After receiving my annual SSA report this month, I compared it to last year to find that my monthly check has already been significantly reduced.
Certainly those who do not have coverage or are under insured would welcome this change. If you don’t have or have very little coverage why not support a plan that would give you full coverage? However, for all the other Americans who pay into an insurance plan and receive reportedly good care, why would they want to risk having the quality of their healthcare reduced? People are able to opt out of Medicare, why not universal healthcare? Further, it is not about having universal healthcare, but about having “access” to universal healthcare. You can print up billions of fancy universal health plan cards insuring everyone in America, but they don’t mean squat if you can’t access care when you need it.
In general, I have come to think that this is a bad idea. People who have the money will still get prompt, quality care, while those who don’t won’t.
If you still can’t wrap your mind around what I am saying, think about this…Polish healthcare workers (doctors and nurses) have spent the better part of the year on strike because of the pathetic wages their government is choosing to pay them. If they stay put in Poland, they only do the bare minimum in their job.
With Socialist style medicine, there is no incentive for such doctors or nurses to go beyond the call of duty. On one of the strikes earlier this year, people were turned away from hospitals unless their condition was an emergency. Even terminally ill people were turned away because, hey, you ‘re going to die anyway and there really is nothing they can do. Most doctors eventually choose to go the way of private practice or they move to the UK where doctors are paid in Euros and fair much better financially. The quality of care is compromised when situations like these are allowed to fester.
If our politicians want to provide such a plan, I think that 1) doctors who choose to participate need to be given a fair wage and 2) they should make it optional for citizens. I think that a person or family should be able to choose whether they want to invest in the system or retain their current employer funded coverage. If they want all children covered, they can ask parents to prove that their children are covered under another plan – problem solved. If people choose to invest in such a system, they should be able to recover some costs that they spend in seeing a private physician when a public one is not available. For example, if a physician charges $100 per visit, but a public provider charges $60 (completely covered by the government), then the patient should only had to pay $40 (like a co-pay).
A few years ago, our government instituted a law in which every American was eligible for one free credit report per year. Why not institute a law where every American regardless of age or ability to pay is eligible for a full physical with labs annually?
I have yet to see something that the government dabbles in turn to gold! Even Social Security has its caveats as we have found in the last 20 years. Like certain political philosophies, they all look good on paper, but have no practical application for the long run.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Condoleezza Rice Visits the US Embassy in Warsaw
So this week we received last minute notice that Secretary Rice would be dropping by after signing the US-Poland Missile Defense Shield Agreement with President Kaczynski.
Emails were sent, protocol put in place, children excused from afternoon classes. They asked us to arrive early around 1pm for the anticipated arrival of Madame Secretary at 2:45pm. They also suggested public transport.
I went back and forth on this one since Thing 1 was already in school and Thing 2 usually takes a nap in the afternoon. But, this was an important event where the US government is concerned so I felt that even if the kids had no clue who she was, the fact that she is on and will be on TV a lot in the coming months convinced me to bring them.
Thing 2 and I caught a taxi to and arrived around 12:45pm just in time to collect Thing 2 from his school bus. The kids played for a bit and then around 1pm they said we could go into the room where this meet and greet would be held. The only people to arrive at 1pm were those with children. Luckily, the room was pretty empty and afforded 6 and under crowd space to run around and be obnoxious for about an hour.
For some reason, they did not provide any seating - standing room only. I started out right in front of the podium, but since I had to manage the kids who kept escaping, I eventually ending up behind people.
Around 2pm, employees began to make their way into the room. At this point the novelty of getting out of school early and not having to nap had worn off. Thing 2 was getting hungry. Thing 1 was bored. I provided some snacks and drinks for them.
Secretary Rice finally arrived at 3pm and stayed for about 20 minutes. She provided some remarks about the US relationship with Poland and the importance of the Missile Shield agreement. She then proceeded to shake hands with the crowd, starting with mine. Thing 1, who was sitting on the floor next to me, refused to get up and shake hands. He then told me "well, she didn't try to shake my hand." As if he were that important. We had a talk about that later. I did get a snapshot of him being all shy next to Condi which I will likely use to blackmail him later in life.
My feet were aching from standing in heels for 2.5 hours, but I think it was definitely a once in a lifetime experience.
Emails were sent, protocol put in place, children excused from afternoon classes. They asked us to arrive early around 1pm for the anticipated arrival of Madame Secretary at 2:45pm. They also suggested public transport.
I went back and forth on this one since Thing 1 was already in school and Thing 2 usually takes a nap in the afternoon. But, this was an important event where the US government is concerned so I felt that even if the kids had no clue who she was, the fact that she is on and will be on TV a lot in the coming months convinced me to bring them.
Thing 2 and I caught a taxi to and arrived around 12:45pm just in time to collect Thing 2 from his school bus. The kids played for a bit and then around 1pm they said we could go into the room where this meet and greet would be held. The only people to arrive at 1pm were those with children. Luckily, the room was pretty empty and afforded 6 and under crowd space to run around and be obnoxious for about an hour.
For some reason, they did not provide any seating - standing room only. I started out right in front of the podium, but since I had to manage the kids who kept escaping, I eventually ending up behind people.
Around 2pm, employees began to make their way into the room. At this point the novelty of getting out of school early and not having to nap had worn off. Thing 2 was getting hungry. Thing 1 was bored. I provided some snacks and drinks for them.
Secretary Rice finally arrived at 3pm and stayed for about 20 minutes. She provided some remarks about the US relationship with Poland and the importance of the Missile Shield agreement. She then proceeded to shake hands with the crowd, starting with mine. Thing 1, who was sitting on the floor next to me, refused to get up and shake hands. He then told me "well, she didn't try to shake my hand." As if he were that important. We had a talk about that later. I did get a snapshot of him being all shy next to Condi which I will likely use to blackmail him later in life.
My feet were aching from standing in heels for 2.5 hours, but I think it was definitely a once in a lifetime experience.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Homeward Bound Alas!
The kids are finally sleeping so I am playing catch up.
Well, we passed out for another round of naps before arriving in Warsaw. Nothing significant on this flight either except some major turbulence that my kids thought was exciting - it unnerved me and it takes a lot to get me to that point. After taking a cab I came home to my clean house thanks to my wonderful housekeeper and our two dogs who were as happy to be home as we were.
While this was not a nightmarish trip with two young kids, I am certainly exhausted and happy that this is the last time that I will travel alone with such young children. I have already left the cereal box and two bowls out for tomorrow and told Thing 1 to help himself and Thing 2 to cereal for breakfast. I don't even know if my car will start after sitting there for six weeks. I suppose that will make the difference between a trip to the store tomorrow and meal delivery. I just want to hibernate knowing that very soon I will have my mornings to myself again - my vacation time at last!
Well, we passed out for another round of naps before arriving in Warsaw. Nothing significant on this flight either except some major turbulence that my kids thought was exciting - it unnerved me and it takes a lot to get me to that point. After taking a cab I came home to my clean house thanks to my wonderful housekeeper and our two dogs who were as happy to be home as we were.
While this was not a nightmarish trip with two young kids, I am certainly exhausted and happy that this is the last time that I will travel alone with such young children. I have already left the cereal box and two bowls out for tomorrow and told Thing 1 to help himself and Thing 2 to cereal for breakfast. I don't even know if my car will start after sitting there for six weeks. I suppose that will make the difference between a trip to the store tomorrow and meal delivery. I just want to hibernate knowing that very soon I will have my mornings to myself again - my vacation time at last!
Guten Tag Munich!
We finally got to Munich around 10:45am (4:45am EST). Despite the hassle of the delay, missing a connection and running on very little sleep, for some reason it did not bother me as much as it did in the past. United actually surprised me. They are notorious for delays, but they handled this one really well. I was equally impressed by their aircraft. You have to understand that I have flown Lufthansa for the past couple of years and while I love the German airline, the planes leave much to be desired, particularly when you recline your seat and your head is literally sitting on the lap of the person behind you. Not so with this United flight. There was more than enough legroom and no strange heads on my lap.
There was some sort of group of military or military school guys, young guys, traveling aboard and a group ended up sitting next to us and behind us. Thing 2, true to form, started flirting until I put an end to that and got her in her seat. She insisted on listening to It’s a Small World on her Ipod over and over.
Eventually, she passed out soon after our meal and slept until we touched down in Munich. Thing 1 watched some cartoons and also fell asleep soon after Thing 2. I came in and out of my coma throughout the flight. Overall, the kids did great.
Our 4 hour layover proved to be more fun than anticipated. We met some very nice people who were in our same situation and spent some time talking with them. I love the Munich airport and highly recommend it over Frankfurt anyday. They have two terminals connected by an extensive courtyard, the Munich Airport Center. There is a Burger King there with a play area for kids, a biergarten, a grocery store, car rentals, etc. So, after getting our boarding passes for our new flight and freshening up, we headed to Burger King for lunch. It had to be about upper 50’s – low 60’s and its summer! While we were all wearing short sleeve shirts and jeans, we loved the weather so much that we ate outside. They had a volleyball tournament in the courtyard, complete with sand and everything which provided some nice entertainment for lunch.
After lunch we went through airport security, another reason I like this airport. I have never been delayed by security here. It was all too easy! The airport also has an extensive selection of high end stores to shop or window shop and a toy store which the kids gravitated towards. I had Euro to blow so I got them each LEGO/PlayMobil toy and brought them to the gate. So here they are playing with their toys and giving me an opportunity to catch up on e-mail, blogging.
What a difference a year makes! Even Thing 2 knew the routine, getting into her seat and buckling her own seatbelt. I love being car seat free – at least on a plane. Thing 1 is self sufficient except for airplane bathrooms. I actually have to take him there and let him get out of the bathroom before flushing because he hates the loud suction noise the toilets make. Ironically, I was e-mailed a newsletter with the following link which I found very entertaining. Young entrepreneurs take note, there is a gold mine to be made here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26179104/
Well, we are almost ready to board, more later….
There was some sort of group of military or military school guys, young guys, traveling aboard and a group ended up sitting next to us and behind us. Thing 2, true to form, started flirting until I put an end to that and got her in her seat. She insisted on listening to It’s a Small World on her Ipod over and over.
Eventually, she passed out soon after our meal and slept until we touched down in Munich. Thing 1 watched some cartoons and also fell asleep soon after Thing 2. I came in and out of my coma throughout the flight. Overall, the kids did great.
Our 4 hour layover proved to be more fun than anticipated. We met some very nice people who were in our same situation and spent some time talking with them. I love the Munich airport and highly recommend it over Frankfurt anyday. They have two terminals connected by an extensive courtyard, the Munich Airport Center. There is a Burger King there with a play area for kids, a biergarten, a grocery store, car rentals, etc. So, after getting our boarding passes for our new flight and freshening up, we headed to Burger King for lunch. It had to be about upper 50’s – low 60’s and its summer! While we were all wearing short sleeve shirts and jeans, we loved the weather so much that we ate outside. They had a volleyball tournament in the courtyard, complete with sand and everything which provided some nice entertainment for lunch.
After lunch we went through airport security, another reason I like this airport. I have never been delayed by security here. It was all too easy! The airport also has an extensive selection of high end stores to shop or window shop and a toy store which the kids gravitated towards. I had Euro to blow so I got them each LEGO/PlayMobil toy and brought them to the gate. So here they are playing with their toys and giving me an opportunity to catch up on e-mail, blogging.
What a difference a year makes! Even Thing 2 knew the routine, getting into her seat and buckling her own seatbelt. I love being car seat free – at least on a plane. Thing 1 is self sufficient except for airplane bathrooms. I actually have to take him there and let him get out of the bathroom before flushing because he hates the loud suction noise the toilets make. Ironically, I was e-mailed a newsletter with the following link which I found very entertaining. Young entrepreneurs take note, there is a gold mine to be made here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26179104/
Well, we are almost ready to board, more later….
Thursday, August 14, 2008
The Delay
So, I am not quite on the other side of the pond yet! After a wonderful uneventful flight from Miami to Washington/Dulles, we are now delayed due to some mechanical issue. And the domino effect continues since we now effectively missed our connection in Munich. Therefore, my 19 hour ordeal is becoming more of a 25 + hour one. I think I may have inadvertently willed this delay into being (see previous post) exactly as I predicted.
The kids have been great. Thing 1 played with his Leapster game thingy (like a Gameboy for the younger set) and Thing 2 took a nap about 20 minutes into the flight and woke up about 15 minutes before we landed. The flight attendant and one of the passengers near us gave me a thumbs up for managing them so well and being so well prepared. He said that he has seen parents that let the kids do whatever they want. I believe it since I have seen those same parents he’s talking about.
After arriving in Dulles, we headed towards our connection. It started to board and then suddenly, they stopped and began to deplane the passengers on board. After confirming the delay, I took the kids to Wendy’s and we ate dinner and now we are here sitting waiting for their engine test to be completed so we can get going. Luckily for me, Thing 1 is busy with his zip loc bag of LEGOS and Thing 2 made friends with a crew member, colored, played with her dolls and is now watching videos on the Ipod.
In a way this is good, since the likelihood of these two passing out once we get on board is high – it’s high for me too! I packed lots of snacks and those Uncrustables Sandwiches. Ok, gotta go since we are now boarding and I am getting a 3 free tickets for being patient with United.
The kids have been great. Thing 1 played with his Leapster game thingy (like a Gameboy for the younger set) and Thing 2 took a nap about 20 minutes into the flight and woke up about 15 minutes before we landed. The flight attendant and one of the passengers near us gave me a thumbs up for managing them so well and being so well prepared. He said that he has seen parents that let the kids do whatever they want. I believe it since I have seen those same parents he’s talking about.
After arriving in Dulles, we headed towards our connection. It started to board and then suddenly, they stopped and began to deplane the passengers on board. After confirming the delay, I took the kids to Wendy’s and we ate dinner and now we are here sitting waiting for their engine test to be completed so we can get going. Luckily for me, Thing 1 is busy with his zip loc bag of LEGOS and Thing 2 made friends with a crew member, colored, played with her dolls and is now watching videos on the Ipod.
In a way this is good, since the likelihood of these two passing out once we get on board is high – it’s high for me too! I packed lots of snacks and those Uncrustables Sandwiches. Ok, gotta go since we are now boarding and I am getting a 3 free tickets for being patient with United.
Heading Eastbound....
Our time is up! 6 weeks came and went faster than you can say hurricane warning! Thank God there were not any of those. We have had a great time and even though the steamy weather in Florida is not for me, the beach and other water fun helped me cope. I am looking forward to the cooler 70 degree highs/50 degree low in Warsaw though!
Over the past 45 days, I have seen more friends and family than I used to see all year when I lived here. It has been exhausting but also much fun to catch up albeit so briefly with old friends. And there are so many of them these days with Facebook. You can think back to kindergarten and if you know a past classmates name, chances are they are on Facebook or MySpace. Is there even a need for private investigators these days? Just log on to Facebook and you know what your friends are doing and on some occasions, where they are!
While I wish I could see my friends and family more than once a year, I do miss being home. There is something about being in your own house/environment that is different from staying at mom’s house.
So, our bags are pretty much packed. The children (mostly Thing 1) and I have reviewed the tentative plan for tomorrow and we will be launching Operation Air Travel Survival tomorrow morning. Despite my pleas to the State Department travel agency, the best they could do was a two stop flight. So, we will be traveling through Dulles (DC), catching a flight to Munich and then on ward to Warsaw. If everything goes as it is now scheduled, we will be arriving in Warsaw by 12:30pm Friday after 19 hours of travel. If it is not in the cards for it to go as planned, I ask the universe to delay me in Dulles so that our flight leaves later and children will “sleep” on the way to Munich. Last year, I had the Cat waiting for me at the end of the journey, but tomorrow, it will truly be all me. I can only hope that we arrive around 12:30 so we can have a round of naps (myself included) around 2:30pm.
So, wish me luck folks and I’ll catch you up once I am on the other side of the pond!
Over the past 45 days, I have seen more friends and family than I used to see all year when I lived here. It has been exhausting but also much fun to catch up albeit so briefly with old friends. And there are so many of them these days with Facebook. You can think back to kindergarten and if you know a past classmates name, chances are they are on Facebook or MySpace. Is there even a need for private investigators these days? Just log on to Facebook and you know what your friends are doing and on some occasions, where they are!
While I wish I could see my friends and family more than once a year, I do miss being home. There is something about being in your own house/environment that is different from staying at mom’s house.
So, our bags are pretty much packed. The children (mostly Thing 1) and I have reviewed the tentative plan for tomorrow and we will be launching Operation Air Travel Survival tomorrow morning. Despite my pleas to the State Department travel agency, the best they could do was a two stop flight. So, we will be traveling through Dulles (DC), catching a flight to Munich and then on ward to Warsaw. If everything goes as it is now scheduled, we will be arriving in Warsaw by 12:30pm Friday after 19 hours of travel. If it is not in the cards for it to go as planned, I ask the universe to delay me in Dulles so that our flight leaves later and children will “sleep” on the way to Munich. Last year, I had the Cat waiting for me at the end of the journey, but tomorrow, it will truly be all me. I can only hope that we arrive around 12:30 so we can have a round of naps (myself included) around 2:30pm.
So, wish me luck folks and I’ll catch you up once I am on the other side of the pond!
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