by B. R. GOWANI
last October, journalist/historian/author Adam Hochschild was in Denmark
he got infection in his hand and so went to a hospital for treatment
a nurse saw him and within a few minutes a doctor examined his hand
doc said antibiotic is needed; gave a medicine bottle to Hochschild
Hochschild thanked and inquired where to pay for medicine & consultation
the doctor just said:
these six words sets United States apart from many other Western nations
in the US, you have facilities, so many of them, for paying money
the government in the US doesn’t provide insurance to everyone
if you don’t have an insurance, you’ve to pay the clinic or hospital bills
for prescribed medicine/s, even with insurance, you’ve to pay a few dollars
if you’ve no insurance, you pay a lot — just one example:
in 2011, for a tube of metronidazole cream, the pharmacy wanted $110.00
a relative in South Asia posted me – a tube cost 50 cents + the mail charges
even insured ones get huge bills since insurance won’t cover full amount
unlike Denmark & others, the US has many facilities to empty your pockets
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com