Health Care Reform

Watching the so-called debates on health care reform over the summer made me thankful that, for at least another year, I will be fully insured through the state run French system Assurance maladie.

The advantages of the system are without question: prices are low, everyone is covered, there are no long waits, people choose their doctors, and quality is excellent. The system is not perfect, but it seems to me that Americans could look to France as a model or starting point for a single-payer system in the USA. Opponents of single-payer systems often cite the UK and Canada, which are good systems, as reasons why we should avoid this type of solution because they have more problems with "rationing" and long waits. Are we so anti-French that we cannot admit that, for once, the French have gotten something right and their health care system actually is an example of good "socialized" medicine?

Another advantage of the French system, aside from the aforementioned cost and coverage benefits, is that a state-run system allows health officials to better prepare for pandemics like the H1N1 Flu. Upon arriving in France, posters and announcements greet citizens and tourists alike explaining symptoms and the proper course of action to take if such symptoms occur. These posters and announcements are in airports, train stations, buses, and other public places, as well as on TV and radio. If this really turns into a deadly pandemic, the French have the public health structures in place to rapidly and effectively deal with the problem, and since everyone is insured, people will not hesitate to take the proper steps to be treated. Will this be the case in the US?

This winter could teach Americans a lot about how well our health "system" works and how vulnerable ordinary people really are. Hopefully this is a lesson that can be learned without unnecessary loss of life.