the medical mystery

I'm very upset. About a very American thing. I got sick in between health insurances. Here in Chicago. And at first, I thought it was no big deal, just a head cold, I'll get rid of it. But it went on, and on.

So bad, in fact, that I couldn't get on a plane to go to a wedding I really really wanted to go to, in New Orleans.

So bad, in fact, that I had to bite the bullet and see a doctor, without any insurance.

I went to a Minute Clinic, one of those little walk-in clinics in a CVS drugstore, where physician's aides examine you and prescribe for you.

That was fine. Not expensive at all. She was good. She prescribed antibiotics and steroid nose spray.

The prescriptions cost $300.

Swooon. Oh my god. How do normal people do this? I mean, my insurance will kick back in again at the end of the month, and I'll be safe. But really, suppose I didn't have a full time job with benefits. Jeez. It's disgusting.

When I lived in Europe, I could go to a doctor for about $20. I could fill just about any prescription for about $25. And that was before I became part of their national health system. When I qualified for that, everything was pretty much free -- doctors, hospitals, prescriptions...

So I realize that here in the U.S. of A., we have a gigantic problem. And it's not just the health care problem. It's the medicines.

Why can I get the exact same medication in Europe for 1/10th the price? Why is that, pray tell? Why do doctors cost 10 times as much to visit here? Pray tell?

It's a mystery to me. But the fact that this country has no answer to these questions, and no solution to these problems, is obscene. People should not have to live in fear of this, or be wage slaves because they're terrified of getting sick and being totally bankrupted.

Which brings me back to the question: Why is it affordable in other countries?

America says: Give me your tired, your poor... but certainly not your sick.