Healthcare

Nationalized healthcare is a hot topic here in America.  In Norway, it’s taken for granted.  Everyone gets “free” healthcare yet everyone pays for it through a 7% tax on their wages.  There are $15 co-pays for doctor visits and prescription drugs, but the maximum anyone would ever pay is three hundred dollars a year total.  Hospital stays are exempt from any kind of co-pay but there are no televisions, and visiting hours are minimal, so it’s almost like prison.  

There’s a lot to be said on both sides of this debate over whether America should have nationalized healthcare.  It works okay in Norway because they are a much smaller country and as a whole, they lead a much healthier lifestyle, but America could never have what Norway has.  There’s just too many of us.

I know plenty of people in Norway that have “suffered at the hands of the physicians,” but in Norway, it’s not allowed to sue doctors.  I’m sure if America did away with medical lawsuits, we’d probably have medical care that everyone could afford.

On the downside, Norwegians wait months (or get denied) for surgeries because there aren’t enough doctors.  Often, Norwegians leave the country and pay privately if they can’t wait their turn.  On the upside, no one loses their home because they have an unexpected medical condition. 

One year my husband, Kory, had a routine physical here in America and a lump near his collarbone was discovered.  We were sent to a specialist who ordered three different tests.  After spending several thousand dollars and a month of stress waiting to hear the results, we found out he was just born with an extra rib - a physical anomaly.  It was much ado about nothing.

Shortly thereafter, we were in Norway and I decided to “test” the kind of medical care available there.  My husband’s cousin, Odd (pronounced Ode), is a doctor.  One day we were all in the car and as Odd was driving, I whispered to Kory, who was in the front seat next to him, to ask Odd if he knew what that lump was. 

Kory pointed to the lump and asked Odd what he thought.  Odd took his right hand off the steering wheel and reached over and felt the lump.  He put his hand back on the steering wheel and thought about it a minute, then reached over and felt it again.  He then said, “I might need to use both hands, but I think that’s an extra rib.  I’ve never seen one before, but I’ve read about them.”  It was then that my opinion of the Norwegian healthcare system went up a few notches.