Years ago, my husband had to wait several hours in Manhattan emergency room as administrators tracked down someone in our out-of-state insurance company who would approve (and therefore agree to cover the bill for) antibiotic treatment for a horrifying infection in his face that doctors were concerned could have been flesh-eating strep.
There's no question you'll be treated in France. Everyone is. The nation pays the bills and the hospitals don't get stiffed. It's an all-encompassing cradle-to-grave system. My fear now is that I won't be able to even get insurance when and if I return to the states, much less be able to afford it.
"The French health care system has a lot of lessons for the U.S.," said Northern Arizona University Professor Paul V. Dutton, who has studied both extensively for his book "Differential Diagnoses: A Comparative History of Health Care Problems and Solutions in the U.S. and France."
"There seems to be a feeling that Britain's socialized health system is the only one we can look at because it's English, it's the mother country. But in fact, the French share many of the same values that American consumers seek, like choice of physician and freedom from insurance company authorization of medical decisions. The French system is already far more similar to the American ideal," Dutton said.
Except it works.
Mary Cline is a freelance writer and editor in Paris. She's using her married name for a change because of fears that she won't be able to obtain U.S. health insurance when she returns to the states if insurers track down this article.
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