Author: WoodwindOz
Date: 2011-06-19 04:13
Many people complain about health care here in Australia, but like many other places in the world, ability to pay does not determine whether or not you get treated, and the quality of that treatment. It can determine WHEN you get treated, but by US standards, our optional (and not restricted to certain groups) private health care is relatively cheap and affordable to the majority. It offers you more choice and less waiting, but not whether or not you get treated.
I was made more aware of the situation in the US when we were there in October last year. I wound up with a stomach upset, due to many factors, I suspect, which led to me becoming dehydrated. I took myself down to the university hospital , where I had blood tests and two saline drips. I laid there for about 5 hours, little or nothing happening, before they discharged me without actual treatment (as lovely as the staff were, no treatment was offered). Here in Australia, I would have been offered anti-nausea medication and re-hydration products before being sent away. I then arrived home to a $1700 bill (luckily covered by travel insurance).
In some ways, I am glad health insurance is compulsory for us as foreign students, even if it will cost us many thousands over a couple of years, it is better in the long term than a $1700 blood test!
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