Ill in Brazil
Dear Editor,
On Aug. 1 this year, I became ill in Brazil and a friend took me to the hospital because I'm not fluent in Portuguese. Needless to say, I was very leery on what to expect since I was in what is considered a "Third World Country."
Upon my arrival at the Copa Dor Hospital in Rio de Janeiro, I gave the receptionist my I.D., in which she entered my information into her computer.
My suspicions were lessened when I noticed that this "Third World" hospital's appearance was not unlike any other American hospital. I keep reminding my friend, who was with me, that the receptionist never asked anything about payment.
He kept reassuring me that I probably wouldn't owe anything since Brazil has national health insurance. Needless to say, I still didn't believe that Brazil would offer "Rich Americans" free medical.
After waiting probably no more than 15 to 30 minutes, my name was called to see a primary care doctor. (Only wish the Spanish and Portuguese would pronoun Lyle correctly.)
With the help of my friend's interpreting, the doctor was able to fill in his questions. I noticed that the doctor had entered his information onto an existing screen with my personal data on it -- I'm impressed. Still, nothing was mentioned about payment.
Throughout the afternoon, I was taken from station to station for blood work, X-rays, IV injections, etc. etc. Each station had my prognosis on their computer screen, thus never having to answer a question more than once. In the end, an English speaking doctor approached me with his final diagnosis. When I asked about my final bill, he gave me directions to the cashier.
Ha! Ha! I knew all of those treatments couldn't be free, much to the surprise of my Brazilian friend. When the cashier tallied everything (emergency visit, pathology services, x-rays, intravenous medications, etc.) my charge was 369.05 Brazilian Real, or $197.59 U.S. dollars. Jokingly, my friend commented that he was glad to see that "we" tourist were being charged for their offered medical services.
Even though I felt my treatment was excellent, I wanted to go home. (No one wants to be away from home during an illness.) With the help from friends, I changed my return flight and was able to muster up enough strength to fly home. As the saying goes -- there's no place like home. What next?
Upon my return, I finally was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Hospital here in Los Angeles, possibly the "best" hospital on the West Coast. Even though I'm not a doctor, I noticed the diagnosis as being the same, and that I probably received the same or better medical treatment -- I really don't know. However, I was annoyed with answering the same medical questions over and over again at Cedars-Sinai, such as "Are you allergic to any medication?," etc.
It seemed like no two doctors were sharing my information with each other. I found this to be disturbing, not knowing if this doctor had forgotten to ask a previous question that other doctors had asked.
I'm well now, and thanks to Medicare and Anthem, my medicare supplement, the bills have been paid -- I keep receiving them in the mail. I'm sure you wouldn't be surprised at the cost for five days in Cedars-Sinai.
Without Medicare, the total medical expenses would have caused extreme hardship, or possibly bankruptcy, for most people. I am aware of universal health care since I have traveled and have friends in countries both south and north of the border; plus, in Europe.
A person only has to use the Internet to see how their medical care ranks. However, this recent illness was the first time I had experienced medical treatment in a foreign country.
Today, Dec. 24, 2009, a health care reform bill was passed in the Senate. I am both heartbroken and outraged that the bill does not contain a single-payer public option. Instead, we have a merely "somewhat OK" improvement of an already broken system with 46 million people uninsured, and those who are insured are at the mercy of profit-maximizing Big Insurance. This is not change I voted for.
How do we get the change to believe in? Anytime you hear your representative say "We can't afford universal health care," vote him out. It seems like the raw politics of our time is being hell-bent on bringing down Obama's presidency or those who are weighing the interest of campaign contributors such as Big Pharma and Big Insurance, not what's good for the country. Senators like Joe Liberman -- Sen. Aetna himself -- seem to have little concern for the American people.
Lyle E. Black
Oberlin