The Truth About Socialized Medicine

My first stint in graduate school was at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.  Having seen the Canadian health system at work, I can say, unequivocally, and without reservation, that universal health care works.

During my time in Vancouver, a good friend and lab mate of my wife came down with a nasty kidney infection.  She checked into the University Hospital, had a shared room with one other person, for a couple of the six or seven days of her stay, and, when she was better, she signed on the dotted line and was released.  She was good as new, and payed exactly nothing out of pocket -- zero dollars -- for her entire hospital stay.

As any starving graduate student in the U.S. would know, a hospital stay of a week or more would mean having to decide between paying for a semester's worth of classes, or paying for the treatment of whatever sickness with which they were afflicted.  There would be no way to accomplish both.

Many years later after returning to the U.S., I got to see what high-deductible, low-cost insurance provides for low-wage and small business employees in the U.S.  And while my sister in law received decent treatment for her cancer after she was diagnosed, it came far too late in the game.  If she'd had Canadian-style insurance that had allowed her to afford simple regular checkups that might have caught the tumor early, she might still be alive today.

Providing a basic level of health care to the citizens of this country should not be so difficult.  Those shouting the loudest among the Republicans in opposition to the health care reform legislation being considered have obviously never lost a loved one because of unaffordable health care.  They must never have had to make the choice between paying for heat or paying off their debt to the hospital.

Our Canadian friend went back to work the following week after her treatment and was immediately as productive as she was prior to her hospital stay.  My brother in law is still paying for his dead wife's hospital bills a year after her death and is considering filing for bankruptcy.

Even if the current health care reform bill is nowhere near what it takes to provide true health care to the citizens of this country, especially to those who cannot afford it in its current state, any progress is good progress.  The Republicans and Democrats who vote against the bill will be eating a gorging dish of crow five years from now when see their own loved ones no longer choosing between treatment or food, or between basic health care and a roof over their heads.  And they will forget that they opposed the bill when simple preventative care, that is currently out of reach of so many Americans, will have saved the life of someone close to their heart.

Here's hoping the vote this Sunday is the first of many steps in the right direction toward what should be seen as a basic human right, and not as a privilege only for those who can afford it.