A Sense of Community: A Better Healthcare System

When I was a child, if my brother or I were sick, we went to our pediatrician. She knew us and we knew her. She would take care of us and prescribe whatever medication was needed and we would be on our way back to good health. As the decades rolled on, the insurance companies unfortunately have ...When I was a child, if my brother or I were sick, we went to our pediatrician. She knew us and we knew her. She would take care of us and prescribe whatever medication was needed and we would be on our way back to good health. As the decades rolled on, the insurance companies unfortunately have gained an enormous amount of power in the U.S. I have heard more and more stories of doctor’s retiring long before the age of 65 simply because they do not want to contend with the ubiquitous insurance companies. Insurance companies now tell the doctor what to prescribe and not the other way around. How did Americans allow this to happen?

In addition, insurance costs have skyrocketed to the point of madness. I have read on the National Coalition on Healthcare’s website (http://www.nchc.org/facts/coverage.shtml) that as of 2007 over 46 millio
Americans do not have health insurance coverage. They can’t afford it. I am certain that number has risen tremendously with the economic downfall that his hit over the last couple of years.

I myself had been paying $420 a month for health coverage and that didn’t cover everything. I once broke my foot and my orthopedic surgeon wanted me to have orthotics for my shoes. Unfortunately, my health insurance would only cover the orthotics if I were a diabetic. A diabetic!?!? What does being diabetic have to do with my broken foot? At that point, I wondered why I paying such a high monthly premium considering how healthy I am and I am not even fully covered. Does that make any sense? No, of course it doesn't! With the economic downturn, my business was seriously affected and I join the ranks of the non-insured. If I get sick, then that’s just too bad. I have to suffer. No more visits to the doctor.

Now I am living in France. I spent the first three weeks here sick. I never went to the doctor because of the aforementioned lack of insurance and now I am in a foreign country so God only knows how much a medical visit would cost.

My three weeks of sickness finally ended and I was on the road to recovery. I felt fantastic until a month later, when once again I was hit hard with illness. This time I was delirious with fever the first day, which developed ove
ight into the most horrendous cough I have ever had. I felt as though my body was possessed with an alien trying to get out through my coughing. I spent many sleepless nights trying to alleviate the cough to no avail.

As an energy healer myself I have been able to heal many maladies in my life, but this time I needed help. After nine days of very little sleep and the most painful cough of my life, I knew I had to make a visit to the doctor’s office. I knew very well that I had bronchitis and it wasn’t going to go away on its own. I had to give in and spend the money no matter what the cost.

I was taken to a friend’s physician. As I was waiting for the doctor, I read every poster and sign in the waiting room. The very last poster I came to announced that an adult patient pays only 22 € (about $25) for an appointment. I asked my friend if that was true for everyone even if you weren't a French citizen. I was nicely surprised that it was true. 22 € to see a doctor; it was a miracle! If you are French you are actually reimbursed for the 22 € from the state, so it ends up actually being free, but I certainly wasn’t complaining about the cost for me.

I have been able to diagnose myself since I was a child and this time was no exception. The doctor examined me and indeed I did have bronchitis. Well, that explained the cough. He wrote out my prescription and I headed to the pharmacy.

The pharmacist put six boxes of various medications into a bag. I was certain it would be several hundred euros. Once again, I was nicely surprised. If I were French it would have been less than 10 €. As a non-French citizen it was only 30 €. That’s 30 € without any health insurance! I was so excited for my great fortune!

I wondered how the healthcare system was being paid for. It turns out that an average French citizen pays 8.75% of their paycheck to the healthcare system. For those in management who make more money they will pay a slightly higher percentage. In addition, the employer pitches in another 12.8% per employee. That is a very low percentage considering every person in France is covered.

I know that in our cultural evolution we have learned to want to take every penny as our own, but I have come to reevaluate that thought process. 8.75% is a very small amount to pay per pay check towards universal healthcare. Simply by paying this small amount with each pay check, every single person in France no matter what your economic background has their health benefits covered. No more worrying about whether or not it is feasible to go to the doctor. You are covered.

I wonder why we have lost our sense of community over the years. Helping your neighbor only helps you in return. If a sick person is sick and can’t visit a doctor, they walk around sick passing illness to others. It doesn’t benefit them or anyone else.

Not to mention the economic impact. How much money is spent each month to health insurance companies; to a system that doesn’t really work? If we implemented a state run program where we too put in 8.75% and banned health insurance companies all together, it would be cheaper for companies as well as the individual. Not to mention the fact that doctors could actually go back to practicing medicine as opposed to dodging the bureaucracy of appeasing the health insurance companies.

I wonder if this is why I manifested illness again. So that I would find out about the French healthcare system and write about it. Our system is a complete disaster and needs an overhaul. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing if the rest of the world paid attention to how the French managed their healthcare system and copied it. Imagine if everyone on the planet was actually covered for all their medical treatments. It would be a good thing indeed.

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Thank you for reading and Namaste! (The Light in me recognizes the Light in you!)