Seems on our arrival, our granddaughter Mia was two days into a case of what they call here "chicken pox" and Judy and I were about to have a first personal encounter with Socialized medicine. Unless the Republicans can somehow pass another resolution to derail it, and get Obama to sign the bill, we have this Obamacare socialized medicine coming in our own country, (and have had it for over-65 year olds for half a century or so). And I had read and heard about all the difficulties it would cause. So, I wanted to see what it was like when one had to try to deal with the grim reality of illness in a socialized system.
Our son Steve, has lived with our daughter in law Eva here in the Czech for more than seven years. They pays taxes and special "medical insurance" (since they are self employed....regular workers get the benefit as part of their jobs, or pay a little for the insurance). So, they had grown accustomed to the ins and outs of the system, and were prepared for whatever they would have to go through to see their little girl get some kind of medical care......
We started by checking with the local pediatrician they usually use. Alas, he was "unavailable." (It was Saturday.) So, we had to head for the clinic at the local hospital. It was barren except for some cute pictures, toys for the kids to play with, a nice little toy house, and so forth. We worked our way to the head of the line more easily than I had anticipated (There was nobody else in the waiting room that morning.) And immediately (after knocking on the door) got the medical staff to acknowledge that we were there.
Then the paperwork began. Eva had to present a card, about the size of a driver's license, to the medical staff. If she did not have that she would have had to prove her identity some other way (drivers license or something). This apparently was not enough. Eva also had to pass a little money to the staff. I had heard that in a closed system like this, the better off get better treatment by passing a little extra money along. Sure enough. Eva called it a co-pay, but I wondered how far it could go if one were really desperate for care.
We were in and out in less than ten minutes. The doctor saw Mia, spent a few minutes explaining the course of the disease, gave Eva some instructions on what needed to be done, prescribed some medicine to ease the discomfort. Then, out the door. No blood test, no CAT scans, no referral to a specialist....no nothing else (except a reminder to come back in ten days if the symptoms had not cleared). Oh, they did have us go off to a specialized store where medicines and such are provided (again the paperwork of that little card, and another "co-pay!!!).
On the plus side, they apparently did not call in any referrals to the death panels that are part of the upcoming Obamacare system.
This is what passes for medical care in a socialized system.
I'll keep you posted on what else happens, medically, in a system with
socialized medicine. Hopefully, the child will survive.
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