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Thursday, June 25, 2009

Friends Go to Venezuela for Healthcare

Posted by Will Moredock on Thu, Jun 25, 2009 at 2:40 PM

A couple of old friends showed up in town a couple of weeks ago. They have retired and lived on their 32-foot sailboat for some years now, plying the waters of the Caribbean and East Coast. It's a good life. They have their solar panels and all the basic conveniences of life. About all the really have to do is stay out of the way of hurricanes. That and get basic healthcare.

Over lunch recently, Larry told me about a recent experience they had with the Venezuelan national healthcare. It makes me wish Venezuela was running our healthcare system, instead of 1400 different insurance companies. I asked him to send me something to post on my blog and he was happy to oblige. Take a moment to read this short narrative and ask yourself why we couldn't have something at least as good in the U.S.

Larry writes:

In our previous careers, Debra and I had the benefit of first class health insurance and complete medical coverage. Now that we have been living aboard our sailboat with only high deductible catastrophic coverage, cost is a big issue. Since both of us were healthy, we had postponed medical and dental checkups until we reached a country where health care was considered affordable as well as high quality.

After spending a few weeks getting to know Venezuela, we discovered that this oil-producing country of 26 million people has two separate health care systems. One is the traditional fee-for-service arrangement and the other is a network of free medical care based on a Cuban model. We made use of both systems.

Both of us underwent routine procedures such as mammogram, colonoscopies, blood tests and physical exams in various offices and clinics. Not only were we very satisfied with the quality of service but also impressed with the consideration and unhurried attitude shown by our physicians and technicians. They spent as much time with us as we wanted, patiently explaining details despite a frequent language barrier due to our creaky Spanish. The cost of our treatments, as best we can calculate, ranged from one quarter to one tenth of U.S. prices. Our biggest surprise came from using the free, government-sponsored health care network, known as Barrio Adentro, which accepted no payment of any kind.

As we follow the debate over health care reform in the United States, it is sad to see the richest country on the globe struggle to provide even minimal, often unaffordable, health care for many of its citizens. We could learn from other nations, even economically poorer ones like Venezuela, how to balance cost quality and access. You shouldn't have to leave the country to see a doctor.

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No one would dare to think that the government put on a show for the rich, white Americans. Venezuela is obviously a shining example of the socialist utopia we could all have. If only we would submit.

Posted by hellhound4hire on July 3, 2009 at 7:16 PM | Report this comment

What are the white rich americans doing crowding more the already crowded health system?
They didn't mention how long they had to wait to have all those procedures done, It probably does't matter because they are on vacation. The local people who have to work need to take days from work to be seen. And how they got seen in the barrio if they are not citizens or residents?
I am a Venezuelan citizen now living in USA for 40 years. Out of my love for the country I grew up in ( it was very different than it is today) I bought an apartment in the north east coast of Venezuela and go there twice a year. Last time I had a bad cold and fearing the swine flu I went to a private emergency clinic. I waited 2 hours before walking out. It was caos, people getting in out of turn, not efficient at all. I comented to a Doctor that maybe I should have gone to the Social Security Clinic, he said it would have been worse.
I comented my experience to a friend in Caracas who just had some type of Scan. I told her that she was lucky she has two brothers who are Medical Doctors who had been in practice for more than 40 years who can navegate the System. She said that she had to wait 2 weeks for the Scan, that Doctors are leaving the country because the conditions for practice are disastrous. The so called Cuban Doctors, are not all Doctors many are Doctor Practitioners. They are OK for routine procedures but if you need a Specialist you have to go Private and spend your good money. In many cases Private Medicine is as expensive as in the USA and the earning power is less than 1/4. So I don't know who if anybody paid the person to paint such a idealistic picture of the medicine in Venezuela.

Posted by Vienna on July 5, 2009 at 2:14 PM | Report this comment

Wow! It's great to see you finally get onboard, Hellhound! It didn't hurt much, did it? Want a lollipop?

Posted by HeyJudi on July 12, 2009 at 9:43 AM | Report this comment

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