[Gocamino] abbreviated Camino and medical help...

[jethess777 at aol.com]

 Rosina, 

Your experience was very similar to mine the first time I needed
services over in Spain.? I worried about the cleanliness of the clinic
I was sent to since it was such an old building on the exterior.? Once
inside, I found it remarkably modern and so clean one could practically
eat off the floor.? I had insurance supplements and I too worried about
what all of this would cost, fearing that the insurance would mark down
a big bill and I would end up stuck with the rest.? But surprise,
surprise, dirt cheap!? In my other post, I reported that it was so low
(very similar to yours) that each time, I didn't bother to fill out the
paperwork to get reimbursed.? I do use the insurance just in case we
are stuck needing treatment for something serious and strongly
recommend that everyone look into it.? Believe it or not, I did work
for an employers at one time that gave us an insurance that covered us
anywhere in the world at that time.? It was a PPO that they covered, a
self-insured plan-- mighty good of them, but these days with benefits
being offered less and less, I wonder if such a benefit is still
offered anywhere!

Your brother's comments regarding lawyers and lawsuits-- he's right,
they do contribute heavily to the cost of care over here.? I do medical
malpractice reviews for attorneys.? All I can say is that I really
wonder how it ever came about that we can get such stuff in the
courts!? And the legal people have created such wastes of paper and
time, all to protect the docs and other health care people from the
other side.? We have forms to fill out and check that we have read the
prior form which also required our signature.? In Europe, there is none
of that.? I just had to present some form of identity (in my case a
passport).? I signed a simple form authorizing treatment.? That was
it.? In one case, I was needing to be medicated and my history,
including whether or not I had any allergies, was asked while I was on
the exam table.? 

Now I know that there are careless docs everywhere, here and over
there.? So some lawsuits certainly have merit.? I wouldn't have cases
to review if none had merit, but also there are many flaws presented in
Michael Moore's movie, Sicko.? Your brother probably laughed hard at
several spots in that movie!? I have European extended family who think
Moore is telling the total truth since he presents each film as a
"documentary."? We go round and round over Moore's movies!? Truth is
that there are goods and bads in each system and the practitioners in
each system are by and large good caring people.? And most health
problems will be taken care of properly in either system.? 

Besides lawyers, another problem with our system is the administration
side to things-- folks making multi-million dollars so cut corners and
actually tell the docs what they can and can't do.? When money is
saved, it lines that administrator's pocket!? And a third thing is
personal responsibility-- their health care consumers do not overburden
their sytem nearly as much with life-style disorders, i.e. all the type
2 diabetes from overeating and lack of exercise. That's changing over
there, I'm told, so we'll see how much it changes their system. 

Well, I've gotten off the track here a bit, but always good to hear about your experiences, Rosina!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

-Joanie









 





 



-----Original Message-----

From: Rosina <blaroli at aol.com>

To: tim at errecaldia.com

Cc: GoCamino at oakapple.net; saintjames at yahoogroups.com

Sent: Sat, 3 Jan 2009 12:18 pm

Subject: Re: [Gocamino] abbreviated Camino and medical help...












Hello you all,

Being accident-prone and generally careless health-wise, I've too often have had 

the opportunity to avail myself of medical care in Spain, and other European 

countries?and have found?it both admirable and?mind-boggling inexpensive.

Prior to going to the?closing of the Holy Door in 2004 I had been suffering from 

a very nasty bronchitis-like ailment that had been going on for?weeks. After 

seeing three doctors and having umpteen tests, at a cost of thousands of dollars 

to my insurance company, I was told that I was suffering from a peculiar 

bronchial infection that would take "a few weeks or months to clear up". I went 

to Santiago anyway and was so sick there, racked with coughing and downed with 

fever, that the people at the hotel insisted that I go to the "Urgencies" 

(emergency room) at a?city nearby clinic. This I was unwilling to do because of 

my horrid experiences waiting at the emergency room of my local, Saint 

Vincent's,?hospital in New York. At the Santiago clinic I had barely taken a 

seat when I was offered orange juice and coffee (espresso); in about 15 minutes 

I was seen and examined by two doctors, blood and x-rays were taken and I was 

given some?pills and liquid medicine; then I was taken to !

 a room (with a TV) to lie down and wait for the results of the 

medication.?Three or so hours later I was told that I had an infection but that 

if I took the medications prescribed I would be all right in a couple of 

days.?Checking out I kept wondering how much I would have to pay, and concerned 

about the bill because I did not have international health insurance.? Believe 

it or not, the entire bill was 32 Euros.?I then went to the pharmacy to fill the 

prescription for five different things, thinking that they would cost me a mint 

because, one way or another, I would have to pay for the extraordinary 

treatment. All the five medicines cost about 25 Euros.

I took them as prescribed (they were mostly liquid and tasted god-awful) and, 

sure enough, in three days I was right as rain.

When I got back to New York I screamed and hollered at my brother who is a 

physician. He calmly begged me to remember that U.S.?doctors and drug producers 

have to make a living, and he asked me whether I had ever heard of "planned 

obsolescence".

It would seem that since doctors in Spain, and medical personnel, are paid by 

the government the less long-lasting and/or complicated illnesses that they must 

deal with, the better for them.

To be fair, my brother also keeps insisting that lawyers and lawsuits are 

largely responsible?for the high cost of medical care in the U.S.

?Oh, well!

At any rate, because of?my own personal experience and that of my occasional 

companions,?I must extol?the excellence of medical care in Spain, Austria, 

Germany and Italy.

And, yes, if the doctors or nurses do not speak English they send straight away 

for a translator.

Hugs!

Rosina??