England vs America

In "A Tale of Two sickbeds," by F. Brinley Bruton, MSNBC reporter, tells a woman's story on two seperate accounts of hospital treatments in two different countries while doealing with the same illness. In this article she sheds some light on the debate that is currently our healthcare system and the improvements it needs. While one is dealing with Universal or National Health Care System the other is looked at in the Present day American system. Her first time getting a urinary tract infection she was in the United States and felt as though she was treated very well. The nurses always checking in on her, making sure she was ok. Recieving a private room and feeling like an individual with needs being met with love and care. Years later while staying in London she had the same condition fall on her. There she had a completely different experience. She felt she was not taken as good of care as she was in the states, she observed that all of the nurses and doctors looked stressed and seemed to be constantly running around. When the doctor came you had to be sure to tell him/her everything because it might be your last chance in days. She said that she had to make sure to take care of herself (bath, use the toilet, and so on...) becuase she realized no one would help her. She was not in a private room, like in the states, but in a room with other people. One of the stories she tells is having one lady who sat beside her that had sat in her soiled bed pan for hours before Burton had to take herself and her IV to find a nurse to help this poor woman...but...atleast it was free! In the United States she was told that the insurance company would pay for it, a few weeks later she got a shock when a hospital bill came for about $4000. How does that work?

This article is a great resource for our issue dealing with health care reform. On one hand she tells of great service by our medical system but it the costs were ridiculous and on the other a horrible experience but atleast she didn't have to pay for a penny of it.

So after reading this, is affordable healthcare really worth it if our bedside manner deminishes?

The great thing is that there is no worry of going bankrupt because of medical care. Something we really shouldn't be worrying about, our health is the most important thing we have, and if that goes, so does everything else. And because of this National health system the doctors are more inclined to use preventative health care measures instead of just doing the least possible. The doctors over there don't have to worry if the patient will be covered under their insurance, they can do all the tests necessary to find the problem and fix it.

More people would want to go to the doctor to get things checked on and maintain their health if only it was affordable.