> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of Andrew Crystall > Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 2:13 PM > To: Killer Bs Discussion > Subject: RE: U.S. health care > > > If I need to see a doctor, I inform my workplace and go. I make up > the hours. That's pretty standard for non-shift workers here. As > opposed to being told to take holiday..
That's pretty standard here too...at least as far as I've seen. > > Well, I don't know about authorising drugs. But I do know this: many > more drugs in America are prescription. This is because there are > only two catagories of drugs, over the counter and prescription > (excepting a few drugs under specific state laws). The UK has a third > category, which is "behind the counter" - a trained pharmacist can > dispense the drug, and it's kept literally behind the counter, not on > the shop floor. And that's not a small category here either. Well, that seems like a reasonable thing, but I don't think it will have a major impact on costs...unless antibiotics for kids are on that list, and I'm not sure that the general dispensation of antibiotics is a good idea....creating immunity and all. The seniors I know should have their meds tracked by a physician or nurse practitioner because of the long term nature of their use, the chances for interaction, etc. > We also have, in the last decade, shifted quite heavily towards > collective doctor's practices - five or six doctors, as many nurse > practices and often a dentist in one large collectively owned > building. They can see you quickly (if you're not worried about > seeing precisely the same person, they have all your records so it > doesn't bother me) and have deacently long opening hours. We've had urgent care centers here for, I don't know, 15 or so years? The closest one is open 12 hours/day 6 days a week and 6 hours on Sunday. Their ad says "Walk ins welcome." If you walk in, you might have to wait an hour or two (from experiences with relatives with emergencies), but appointments are fairly easy to get. Dentist sre usually separate, but I've been able to see a new dentist with an appointment made two days before hand, from one of many openings. There are a number of relatively low cost dental practices with 10+ dentists not too far from here. I picked on about 10 minutes away. Given this, I'm not sure why the data on Medicare is not applicable. Dan M. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
