I HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE

Hello People,

on Saturday morning, November 7, 2009, I have learned from the Internet that the future has arrived. That is, I have learned that our House of Representatives (what a misnomer) has passed the Obama Care Bill. Assuming the worst outcome, the Senate will pass their Obama Care Bill and thus propel us into future proper. I have seen the future and I didn't like what I have seen (am I mistaken or is this a title of a book?).

What I mean is that I have come to America from Czechoslovakia where the socialist regime provided free health care for all. Having read the important parts of the Obama Care Bill, I assume the health care in America will not be unlike that of a socialist country. I personally cannot complain much about the free health care in Czechoslovakia in 1950's and 1960's because I was mostly healthy boy and later young man and visited doctors very infrequently. Here is how it worked for those who needed health care:

Doctors were employed by the state as everyone else. Their salaries were set by the state and amounted to approximately 2x the average salary. Specialists were paid approximately 3x the average salary. Doctors were assigned the localities where they had to serve. Doctors fresh out of school got the worst places where nobody wanted to go. People had to go to the doctor assigned to their district or at place of employment if it had its own medical facilities. If people wanted to go and see a doctor that was recommended to them by friends and acquaintances who was not within their district or place of employment they first had to be accepted by that doctor as a private and illegal patient (black market was working without a hitch) and then pay a fee requested by that doctor, again illegally. Illegality aside, such was a common practice.

Since there were no appointments to see doctors when people got sick they had to wait for at least an hour, sometimes longer, in the waiting room with 10 to 20 other patients. Many people, especially those snobish people who thought they were important, brought bribes which they gave the nurse upon arrival. Some waited to give the bribe to the doctor personally. The bribes were many and varied. People in the country brought geese, ducks, rabbits, eggs, meat, and sometimes even small domestic or farm animals. People in cities brought Cognac, Scotch or some other good imported liquor, expensive wine or simply cash. The quality and frequency of the health to some extent depended on the quality and quantity of the bribe.

When hospitalization was needed it was an expensive proposition. Everyone who had anything to do with patient's hospital stay expected a bribe. Doctors and nurses got the bulk of the bribes. If bribe was not given service suffered. Food in hospitals was typically worse than in the Army and many relatives brought food for the patients every day. There were several good hospitals fully equipped with the latest medical technology and devices. These were few and far in between. The run of the mill hospital lacked the latest equipment and had to do with what they had. Considering this state of affairs, they worked miracles. To my knowledge care was never refused but in some cases came slowly and in low doses. There were medical review commissions who had far reaching decision making authority. These commissions decided whether the treatment recommended by the doctor will be followed, adjusted or changed. Every hospitalized patient went through such decision making. These commissions also approved the drugs recommended for the course of treatment.

Drugs were available free to patients. There were no bribes at the pharmacy for thye domestic drugs. Yes, there were two types of drugs, imported (mostly from Switzerland) and domestic. Needless to say, all patients wanted the imported drugs. In the minds of people imported meant good, domestic meant marginal or bad. The imported drugs were very scarce and thus were the only drugs subject to bribes. Big bribes.

Overall, the system worked as nobody was allowed to die without some health care. The quality of health differed from place to place and depended mostly on the doctors' skill which varied widely and in some cases on the amount of the bribe. Drugs were free. Terminal patients always received pain killers at the very least. From what I observed and heard from people at least 75% of the patients used the bribe system. Only the very young adults like me were ignorant of the benefits of the bribes and did not give them. The cost of the free health care to the patients was not cheap but then free things are usually costly.

Look forward to this type of health care when the government gets hold of it!

George