Obamacare From a Euro-Perspective

If you really want to understand the effects of socialized medicine, all you need to do is listen to the people who have already experienced its failures in other countries.

Several years ago on vacation my husband and I met a wonderful couple, Trevor and Brenda, who lived in London. We had dinner together each night and enjoyed heated discussion about everything from politics to our favorite wine.  A topic of much discussion was the poor value of healthcare in Great Britain and it was actually my first real exposure to learning about socialized medicine.

After our vacation we maintained our friendship and were sad to learn that Trevor got sick and was diagnosed with cancer.  Many of our long email discussions with Brenda were about Trevor’s treatment in which he originally attempted to use the British National Health Service.  Right away, he was put on a waiting list and told that he would “possibly be able to have surgery in 4-6 months.”

As anyone knows, 4-6 months can be devastating to a cancer patient; so Trevor and Brenda opted for surgery at a private hospital.  After the surgery, he reattempted to use the British NHS for chemo treatments but was again told that the wait would take months and even then there was no guarantee of a date.

“Just wait, we will call you,” he was told.  So once again he paid for private treatment.

Bottom line:  Trevor and Brenda were fortunate to be wealthy.  Every single dime of his treatment—and ultimately his death–came out of their life savings.

Can you afford to do that?  Do you have the resources to pay for private treatment?  What happened to Trevor in England could happen to any of us here in America.

Another of my Canadian friends recently told me, ”Fight Obamacare with everything you have.  I have experienced nationally provided health care in two countries and it doesn’t work!”

I think Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann summed it up best: “If we want to kill Obamacare and we want to end socialized medicine, it must be done in the next election…This will be one of the largest spending initiatives we will ever see in our country. And also, it will take away choice from the American people.”