Health Insurance

[Kelena]

We stayed at a motel on Vancouver Island, in Nanaimo. Very clean, pristine renovated motel with a view of the bay. The innkeeper was very friendly and knowledgeable. He had a wife and a daughter about 7. At the time, we were considering relocating to British Columbia. I noticed that a lot of people spoke French (I have a B.A. in French and attended the Sorbonne, in Paris). He said yeah, my daughter goes to an immersion school. "Private?" I asked. He said no, it's public school. Then I asked about health care. He was a vigorous guy in his 40's, but he told me he had had a HIP replacement (genetic predisposition). He said it was really easy and cost him -- I remember this clearly-- $40. He had it done in Vancouver (about two hours away by ferry). There was a little wait but no one had to hold a telethon. His neighbors did not have to march in front of the hospital begging for services. No one had to hold a pancake breakfast. He and his wife just drove on to the Ferry, crossed the sound, drove down to Vancouver, checked in, they did the operation. He stayed in the hospital until he healed, and then he came home the same way he got there.

Do they give something up? You betcha. But all of our taxes go to support a $15 billion a month war in Iraq.

What amazed me is that the island (Vancouver Island) had no trouble attracting doctors, he told me.

Health care in America is....oh, what's the word I am looking for......starts with an "f"....has a "u" in it....I can't remember, but the French, who have Universal Health Care, would say that health care in America is "foutu".