Hear today...

[den]

I can hear again. About 2 weeks ago a lump of earwax deep in my right ear -- beyond cotton bud range -- pressed against the ear drum, dried and stuck hard. The doctor could not syringe it out without damaging my ear drum, so he gave me a script for various drops for infection, inflammation and to soften the wax. Every few days I went back to see if the lump would come out, but no-go.

I had to rely on my left ear for most of my hearing. Many years ago I had something explode off to my left, damaging my hearing on that side. I never realized how bad the damage was until I had to rely on my left ear for everything. It must have about 75% of the hearing my right ear usually has. So for the last two weeks I've heard the world as though I were wearing high density foam earplugs.

Today he syringed my ear and the lump came out. I could hear again! The 2 weeks of rest made everything seem louder than usual.

The five doctor visits were covered by Medicare, and the drops were all listed under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme**. Total cost = AU$30.00 I don't understand why people are afraid of socialized medicine.


**The Government was under great pressure from US drug companies to stop the PBS before the Aus/USA free trade agreement was signed

Comments

Re: But...

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

Well, as has also been mentioned above, America is still afraid of the word, "socialist." When it's spoken of in terms of Medicine, we see mental images of incompetent Canadian (and some European) doctors, and fear the worst. Governmental programs in our country tend to be the worst examples of an industry. Likewise, the word, 'socialist' itself carries with it a lot of fear. Remember, all but the very youngest Americans have been raised in a state of constant fear of our enemy, the USSR, for the last eighty years. Add to that frequent Red Scares, the worst example being that led by Senator McCarthy, and you can begin to get the picture that it just won't fly here, no matter how good it can be.

-=TK

Re: But...

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

I heard one bloke say that socialized medicine would cause more problems than it fixed, and I was really curious about that attitude.

Re: But...

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

The problems would be McCarthyism reborn, and Canadian healthcare on our side of the border. And 350 million Americans with their fingers in their ears, screaming, "nonononononono!"

-=TK