"Chest X-ray" by Aidan Jones
My mother had open heart surgery recently.
It was a big deal. She’s almost 70 years old, and had one valve replaced, one valve repaired, and a hole in her heart closed up.
She was in a world-class private hospital in Brisbane for a week in a private room with the heart surgeon of her choice.
She’s only in an average health fund which costs her and Dad a total of about $350 per month.
And she recently got the bill.
Including drugs, pharmaceuticals, theatre and anesthetists fees, the total cost to her and dad was….Nothing. Not a cent.
The hospital costs were covered by the public health care system (Medicare) and the other stuff was covered the private insurer (MBF).
Mum raves about the quality of care she received. She can’t praise highly enough the dedication and attention she got from the nurses and doctors.
Neither can I. This is amazing. And it makes me realize we’re lucky to live in a country that has such fantastic health care. You measure it by the quality of care that average (not wealthy) people receive.
Some of the redneck yee-ha’s in the USA would call this socialism and throw tantrums about it. But when I look around here, I see dozens of health care insurers thriving. Hospitals – private and public are doing what they’re supposed to do most of the time, and average people are getting good care for a decent price.
All I can say is thank goodness we live in Australia. The health care system isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it works well.
And Mum…. she’s recovering well!
No comments:
Post a Comment