So a week ago I wrote about how health care is a top issue in the Senate race in West Virginia, one of the poorest, most unhealthy states. The next day I began a vacation in Italy & experienced a health emergency. The contrast w our system was stark. 1/ nytimes.com/2018/09/08/us/…
In WV the Medicaid expansion has lowered the uninsured rate almost more than any state, but the GOP candidate calls the ACA a calamity bc of spiking premiums & wants total repeal. 2/
The Dem accuses his opponent of trying to eliminate protections against insurers discriminating against patients w pre-existing conditions. The debate is angry and polarized, as it has been for decades in the US. Meanwhile, Italy believes health care is simply a right. 3/
Traveling w my young adult son, he experienced severe pain in his lower back. We visited an ER in a private hospital. He had no US or European insurance coverage.
After 3 hours in the ER, blood work, urine test, an ultrasound and doctor’s examination, he was treated and discharged. Total cost: 70 Euros. There was minimal paperwork on intake. The doc said to pay on the way out. But it was a Sat and no one was at the checkout window. 4/
A sign said to pay online. The attitude of docs and admin toward payment seemed to be largely a shrug. Health care in Italy is nationally funded, with some buying private insurance as a supplement.
The easy acces to care with no anxiety about how to afford it was in stark contrast to the sturm and drang around the issue in the US.
Italy is a high tax country and health care is hardly perfect, with waits the see specialists. But it also has longer life expectancy than US and spends less of its GDP on health care than we do. END
