Last month I traveled to Germany for three weeks to visit some German friends. I was accompanied by another friend from the U.S., a mutual friend, and all went smoothly ... until the first night, when my friend became terribly ill ...
... in a country with government-interfered-with socialized medicine!!!
Follow below, for the (non) horrors that followed ...
My friend -- I'll call him Dan -- who is in his 80's, woke up feeling ill at 2:00 AM. He began throwing up, and this continued for several hours. He became increasingly ill until, on the advice of my German friend's paramedic sister, we called an ambulance.
The paramedics arrived at about 11 AM, and Dan was taken to the nearest hospital emergency room, several miles away in a smallish town. The doctors quickly took down his U.S. insurance information and over the next few hours performed a series of tests to determine what was happening with him -- x-rays, sonograms, EKGs ...
Over time, and with water, Dan started feeling better and more stable -- he had been very dehydrated, as he had previously been unable to hold down any water -- but the doctors decided he should be admitted into the hospital proper overnight, for additional observation and tests. The doctors and staff were all very courteous, and most of the doctors we interacted with had very good English language skills, which (along with the help of our German friends) made things much easier.
The next morning Dan was feeling pretty much back to normal, but the doctors decided to follow up with several more tests so he stayed into the afternoon. Finally, after his primary doctor thoroughly reviewed the results with us, he was released and felt fine for the rest of our trip.
So far our experience with a European healthcare system should come as no surprise. One would hopefully expect the same basic treatment right here in the U.S. (if one has any sort of decent insurance, that is).
Here is the part that will be shocking to Americans: the bill.
Before getting to that subject, let me add this surprising note: Upon his hospital release, Dan tried to contact Medicare to let them know what had happened. He learned that Medicare would not cover his hospital stay in Germany, for it does not cover costs incurred at a foreign hospital. Therefore, Dan was on his own. (God forbid American seniors should spend a lifetime working hard and earning their right to Medicare, only to have the audacity to risk traveling, visiting friends and seeing the world.)
Because of this, Dan was dreading the arrival of the final bill -- the combined cost of the ambulance ride, the overnight hospital stay, the series of tests ...
Earlier this year he had stayed in an American hospital for four days, with tests and further heart monitoring, and the total cost had come to at least $25,000. (Thankfully, all covered by his Medicare and secondary insurance.)
We also knew that an aunt of mine in the U.S. had recently needed to take an ambulance to a hospital four blocks away from her home, and the cost of that ride alone had come to $1,200.
The dreaded day came. The bill arrived at the home of my German friends. The total cost for the ambulance, paramedics, overnight hospital stay, x-rays, sonograms, and EKGs was ...
600 Euros.
That is, a little less than $900.
We couldn't believe it. Dan asked if this bill was just for the hospital stay, and if the bills for the other services -- the ambulance and tests -- would arrive separately, as they had in the U.S.
He was assured that, no, that was for everything. Nine hundred dollars.
In light of this, I can only ask of our elected representatives (who don't actually appear to be listening to those who elected them):
Sane, affordable health care is obviously possible. Other places have it. So ...
Why can't we have this too?