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I have a friend in Sweden and he can get into the doctor's office right away and he only has to pay $15 co-pay per visit.

Another difference was that in Poland the nurse diagnosed the state of bones by touch, in USA they did X-ray. The rest was exactly the same. The main problem in Poland was not long waiting time but the lack of equipment caused by the relative poverty of the country.

I have a comparison based on personal experience. When I broke my foot, while living in Communist Poland, I went to the emergency and I waited few minutes to get help. When I broke the same foot (I know, it is lame) in America, having private insurance, I had to wait couple hours.

Another difference was that in Poland the nurse diagnosed the state of bones by touch, in USA they did X-ray. The rest was exactly the same. The main problem in Poland was not long waiting time but the lack of equipment caused by the relative poverty of the country

I know, I remember when I was 11 years old on vacation back in 1977, I developed a fever, dunno why, while on the way to Texas, We went to an emergency room, Mom had me on her insurance, and it took a couple of hours for someone to see me. The hospital didn't do much, so my mother and grandmother got the fever down by taking me back to the motel room, tossing me into the shower and wrapping me in wet towels. I think we spent an extra day there until I was fit to travel, once it broke, it was kind of nice sitting back, drinking fluids, reading comic books and watching "Charlie's Angels." B-)

Another emergency room experience is when I cut my left hand open on the pinky side in 2003 while exiting my vehicle by slipping on the ice as I hit my garage. I cut an artery open, went to the emergency room, waited about 30 minutes, not too bad, really, got stitches, a tetanus (sp, so I don't get lockjaw) shot and sent home. It got infected, a week later, I was back there and they admitted me. I got a private room too, it was a busy night and that was the only place they can put me. I had to have surgery the next morning. In fact when the nurse came in the following morning to ask my breakfast choice, I had to remind them I can't eat, I was going into surgery. B-) I wasn't allowed water or food after 12 midnite, OK, I did cheat,I had water at 12:30 but a half an hour ain't gonna kill me. B-) Well, I had surgery and could have went home in 3 day, but the County in bureaucratic fashion kept me an extra 2 days, I had two doctors, the surgeon and the infectious disease one that reports back to the county. I just laid around, watching the coverage of the Columbia disaster, it happened the day before I went in, Civil War documentaries on the History Channel and Art Bell at nights when I couldn't sleep. I had a strep infection, could have lost all or part of my hand. My aunt had a similar problem, she got a staph infection in her foot from a cortisone shot and almost lost her foot, she was in hospital for 2 weeks.

To top it off, I was helping someone start a business by taking care of his IT needs as well as working for him by placing mobile notaries/attorneys to close loans. Well, we did get health insurance but since I was getting out of my car, car insurance covers it since car insurance covers ANY accident that involves the car no matter how mundane, at least my plan does. I really, really think God was watching out for me on that one, later on, we found out we didn;t have any health insurance at all since my boss didn't pay the premiums before things went under. Still I did have a social worker with the State offering help if I needed it and I kept her number handy in case if I did need it but everything was covered so I didn't need assistance at all. The business soon closed up a few months later, my boss let my grade school buddy go, he was so embarrassed to tell him mom at home, he hid out over my place for a week while I was on medical leave, basically, we played Playstation all day. B-)