<TABLE id=msgUN border=0 cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD id=msgUNsubj vAlign=top> Coffeeshop Chit Chat - American FT thinks sg healthcare cheap!</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>LauZoeTay <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>9:22 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 10) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>18175.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>http://www.expatsingapore.com/forum/index.php/topic,54530.0.html
Yesterday I had minor surgery at Singapore General Hospital. I was amazed at the overall quality of the experience. And as I'm watching the whole healthcare debate that is going on in the US, again, I'm reminded of how broken my country's political system is.
OK, it was a minor procedure - a vasectomy. I expected the cost to not exceed S$1000 based on searching around the web and on this board. But, in order to meet this cost number, I also expected the procedure to be done in the doctor's office with local anesthetic. Though the procedure was done under a local anesthetic, when I showed up at the clinic, I was taken into an operating theater, where in addition to the doctor, there were multiple healthcare professionals (nurses, anesthesia technicians, etc.) who attended to me over the course of my 3-hour stay. As I am laying on the table while the doctor was working on me, I'm thinking, "this is going to cost a fortune." When I was handed the bill of S$567 as I was checking out, I had the same reaction as when I first bought food at a food court, "you've got to be kidding, is that all?"
I guess I have my own views on why things are so broken in the US; but I am very interested in hearing others. Whenever I tune into Fox news, I see and hear one half of the dysfunctional debate about healthcare reform. Partly the view is that the US doesn't want systems like those in Europe and Singapore. It is safe to say that I couldn't disagree more with the typically xenophobic view of the world that the far-right in the America take about issues such as progressing healthcare reform. The problem is that so many Americans are politically illiterate and tend to accept positions that are ultimately against their self interests.
ps. Google "frontline sick around the world" and you can watch a Frontline documentary that examines the healthcare systems from 5 countries around the world, including Switzerland, which they claim started as a broken system like the US, that they managed to reform.
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Yesterday I had minor surgery at Singapore General Hospital. I was amazed at the overall quality of the experience. And as I'm watching the whole healthcare debate that is going on in the US, again, I'm reminded of how broken my country's political system is.
OK, it was a minor procedure - a vasectomy. I expected the cost to not exceed S$1000 based on searching around the web and on this board. But, in order to meet this cost number, I also expected the procedure to be done in the doctor's office with local anesthetic. Though the procedure was done under a local anesthetic, when I showed up at the clinic, I was taken into an operating theater, where in addition to the doctor, there were multiple healthcare professionals (nurses, anesthesia technicians, etc.) who attended to me over the course of my 3-hour stay. As I am laying on the table while the doctor was working on me, I'm thinking, "this is going to cost a fortune." When I was handed the bill of S$567 as I was checking out, I had the same reaction as when I first bought food at a food court, "you've got to be kidding, is that all?"
I guess I have my own views on why things are so broken in the US; but I am very interested in hearing others. Whenever I tune into Fox news, I see and hear one half of the dysfunctional debate about healthcare reform. Partly the view is that the US doesn't want systems like those in Europe and Singapore. It is safe to say that I couldn't disagree more with the typically xenophobic view of the world that the far-right in the America take about issues such as progressing healthcare reform. The problem is that so many Americans are politically illiterate and tend to accept positions that are ultimately against their self interests.
ps. Google "frontline sick around the world" and you can watch a Frontline documentary that examines the healthcare systems from 5 countries around the world, including Switzerland, which they claim started as a broken system like the US, that they managed to reform.
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