tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6612563867390490775.post5535993421908659986..comments2024-03-01T06:30:22.313+00:00Comments on Jourdemayne: Wealth, Virtue and American MythologyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6612563867390490775.post-27205453797139184342009-09-09T19:40:51.877+01:002009-09-09T19:40:51.877+01:00Previous posts seem to be blaming 19th Century Bri...Previous posts seem to be blaming 19th Century Britain for poor healthhcare, when in fact we have 19th Century Britain to thank for the origins of awareness and beginnings of reforms where slavery, poverty and healthcare began to be seriously addressed for the first time. <br />The only surprising thing with a new country starting from scratch like the USA and getting an awful lot of things right is that it's taken till now and President Obama's proposals to get the healthcare thing right. That said, I don't know the history of US health insurance, but maybe it worked for a while until medical care became so much more sophisticated and thus prohibitively expensive. <br />Let't try and be positive. If Obama can pull this one off, he will go down as one of the great presidents, and in a tiny group of world leaders for having done something that affects people's lives significantly for the better on a huge scale.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6612563867390490775.post-57275960834878826992009-09-02T18:00:36.476+01:002009-09-02T18:00:36.476+01:00I'M GETTING SICK AND TIRED OF YOU COMMIES TRYI...I'M GETTING SICK AND TIRED OF YOU COMMIES TRYING TO FORCE YOUR NAZI HEALTH PLANS ON US!!!<br /><br />GO BACK TO EATING YOUR BRIE AND ARUGULA AND LEAVE US REAL* AMERICANS ALONE!!!!<br /><br />* BROOKLYN AND THE REST OF THOSE BASTARD BOROUGHS DON'T COUNT!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6612563867390490775.post-56071515324353136852009-08-27T11:32:23.427+01:002009-08-27T11:32:23.427+01:00Hi Dennis,
Glad to hear Lutheran is so well respe...Hi Dennis,<br /><br />Glad to hear Lutheran is so well respected. Can't complain - it treated my illness and I'm here today; I think any issues I had were as a result of the US approach to medicine, rather than than any deficiencies of the institution itself.<br /><br />Ah, Sunset Park: needles in the gutter, discount sneaker shops, trans-sexual prostitutes, toasted bagels, feral dogs. They've closed it now, but I thought there was one of the best views of Manhattan & the Staue of Liberty you could get from a partially collapsed dock that went about a hundred feet into the Hudson. Happy Days!<br /><br />Jourdemayne xJourdemaynehttp://jourdemayne.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6612563867390490775.post-40903854775441447582009-08-27T01:25:59.305+01:002009-08-27T01:25:59.305+01:00Well speaking as someone who lived through that ho...Well speaking as someone who lived through that horrid affair with you ... it must have taught them a lesson. Lutheran Medical has become one of the best hospitals in the city, despite its proximity to the werehouse hell of the Sunset Park Industrial Park (note not Center to avoid the unfortunate acronym) in Bush Terminal (yes really). Said proximity may well account for your roommate and her squabbling kin.<br /><br />TK's comment about America being very 19th Century Britain is dead on balls accurate as we used to say in Brooklyn ... in many regards. it's become a culture of personal entitlement and little else. There are pockets of people who care and care deeply but the unfortunate fact is that the "what I have & what I've worked for means more than literally anything else" attitude prevails.<br /><br />I just hope we comport ourselves as well as you lot have since your empire fell now that ours is well past teetering. <br /><br />DennisAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6612563867390490775.post-66411942829477830532009-08-26T13:57:24.252+01:002009-08-26T13:57:24.252+01:00My 4 year old son had an emergency appendectomy in...My 4 year old son had an emergency appendectomy in Texas, resulting in a weeks stay in hospital.<br /><br /> Thankfully, we took out insurance for £30 for the trip, and it saved us from the $23,000 dollar bill it totted up to.<br /><br />Now, the care was excellent with a private room in a childrens hospital which probably accounts for the bill. I don't know how much of that went to the surgeons and how much went on the amazing grounds, the games room or the fact there was an armed guard to protect us from the poor people outside who may have been silly enough to get sick whilst not winning the lottery. <br /><br />But boy-am I glad that we took out that insurance.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6612563867390490775.post-37768059415978327192009-08-26T12:44:35.220+01:002009-08-26T12:44:35.220+01:00You'd think that on a purely pragmatic basis, ...You'd think that on a purely pragmatic basis, people would see that universal healthcare is a good idea. Take dental insurance. Is it really a good idea to have many thousands (millions?)of people wandering around with a mouth full of pain and a gun in their pocket because they can't afford it?<br /><br />The American attitude is very 19th century British but they seem to have missed out the category of the 'deserving poor' - people who work hard but still struggle. And, given the cost of healthcare in the US, that would be the majority of the population. <br /><br />As an anecdote, I had insurance when I went to India, needed a doctor, got a load of tests and medication and was charged £7. I didn't bother claiming it back.TKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02054609141955914429noreply@blogger.com