Congratulations Scott Brown on winning the Massachusetts senate seat and most likely fucking over universal health care.In a case of perfect timing, today I had to go to the hospital with Huyen. Huyen woke up this morning and had a big cyst-like bump under the skin on her neck. I immediately freaked out and told her we had to go get her checked out at the hospital.
I've written about Vietnamese hospitals before and told about how crowded they are. The hospital we went to today was packed but in the span of less than two hours, Huyen was able to see two doctors and have blood work and a biopsy done. I'm happy to report that the thing under Huyen's skin is benign.
Vietnam has universal health care. The hospitals might be dirty but at least anybody can come into the hospital and get treatment without having to mortgage their house.
I try to keep my blog from being too political but I just felt like today was a great example of why America needs to look itself in the mirror from time to time. There is no doubt that if you have money in America you can get the best treatment for any condition. However, for those who don't have the most money, you're screwed when you don't have good health insurance.
I'm not saying that the Health Care Bill is perfect. In fact, I think it is too compromised because way too many Democrats sold out. However, what I am saying is that today I saw dozens of poor people at the hospital in Hanoi who got treatment and only had to pay a minimal fee. In America, that doesn't happen and now won't happen for probably a much longer time.
11 comments:
You are joking right? In VN, if you don't have money, they won't treat you at all. Agree, the fee is cheap but you have to give money to everyone, include the janitor who cleans the hall in the hospital in order to have some peace of mind. And I see so many cases, they have to sell their house, their belonging, their blood ... in order to pay for the bill. At least, here, you get treatment first before you have to sell your house. There, you have to sell your house before you get treatment.
/CapriR
Huyen - glad you are not having any serious problem - will email you when it works
The American health are cost sucks 100%, I could say. It is ridiculously expensive. I have never seen that in my whole life in any countries I have been to. If you dont have health insurance, you can't survive in America.
I am so disappointed with Obama and his administration. He would have pushed hard and just ignored the Reps and passed it last year. It is far from perfect but is still better than nothing. 2 things Obama need to do now: 1) fire the white house chief of staff, 2) fire Tim Geithner.
And I don't understand why there are so many stupid people in this country who don't understand a tiny thing about the health care system of their own country. They protest for the good (health care) but support the bad (wars).
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Ben, Not only is the health care system in America eletist, operated by jerks who only think of how much money they can amass, the legal system in our country has been taken over by those like minded judges and lawyers who think nothing of bying votes or bribing juries. It's prevelant in our part of the country and I fear it's the same no matter the location. While I'm sure you and your readers may think it self serving and kind of wierd to have cathartic flashbacks to my experiences in Vietnam 40 years ago through comments I leave on your blog, IT JUST AIN'T SO! I am merely trying to share some of the insanity of war. And NO, I am not going to have my own blog someday as long as blogs like AHOY HANOI exist I will set back in my chair daily to watch and listen as Ben goes on with his lifes journey. Vicarious mind you, I admit as all the regular readers to Ben's blog should do. Admit we all wish we were doing the same dam thing Ben is doing oOR we wish we had when we were in our twenties and ready to see the world through a completely different prospective than the one we have lived in since the time we were born.
So here is another comment on your wonderful blog that for many reasons I am a fan of in the first degree, (whatever that means), and I will promise no more comments for a long time.
Another hot summer day in 1970, five U.S. Marines, all squad leaders, allcombat savey "grunts", as the Marines called themselves if they were in the infantry. The five of us represented the NCO squad leaders in our platoon, Delta Company. The sixth man in the room was a gunnery sargeant who was on his fourth tour in Vietnam. He was a hardcore Marine who wasn't afraid to even bully senior officers around much less underlings. The "Gunny" sargeant was going over some orders he had just recieved that would be sending us as a platoon into some fighting the next few days. While discussing the battleplans in detail a young man opened the "hooch" door. We all stopped what we were doing and stared at this man standing before us. He announced he was Pvt. Taylor and he had been a member od delta 1/5 at some point and time but that he had gone AWOL in country for the past few years and now he had decided to turn himself in and wanted to be dicharged because he didn't believe in what the United States was doing in Vietnam.
Before hhe could say another word, Gunny jumped up and started punching him in the face. Gunney Kept calling him traitor and held him by the collar and used his face for a punching bag. A few times Pvt. Taylor would get away from him for just a few seconds, just long enough to try and explain that he was anEnglishman, Born in England and had signed up with the U.S.Marines to be eligeble to be an American citizen after a tour of duty with the Marines. Usually half way through your tour you would be flown to Hawaii or the Island of Guam and you would take the oathof American citizenship and then be sent directly back to the battlefield hoping you would make it through the next several months to enjoy what riches were to be had in America. If you made it back. I suspect there are other programs similar to the one in the Vietnam era bieng used today to fight the wars in Afganastan and Iraq. With no draft and no real honest reason to be there, that's what our government has to resort to. Companies like Blackwater and other mercenary groups our goverment supports. Then there will always be those poor young souls like Pvt. Taylor who want so badly to be a part of The grat American Dream, that they are even willing tosign-up for war as long as they are promissed a fast track to citizenship.
Well, obviously Pvt Taylor had second thoughts about what he had gotten himself into . As Gunny continued to beat him...TO BE CONTINUED LH in KY
At least you don't have to be in America and watch the glee that people get from any failure Obama has. Absolute glee when the Olympics don't come to America. Joy that they can blame Obama for a failed terrorist attack. Happiness that people in this country won't have health care. It is sick. And it frankly makes me want to be done with this country.
Problem is, it is all corrupt in every country. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer. SInce I am a EU citizen, where do you think my wife and I should move?
LH, many of us look forward to your comments on Ben's blog so PLEASE don't stop. You have given us insight that we otherwise might never have known. Thank you.
Anonymous,
Yes, there are bribes in Vietnam to get better and faster attention at hospitals. However, In the time I've been here, Huyen's mother and grandmother have had surgery at Hanoi hospitals. Both have paid very little money for their operations. Yesterday, Huyen paid roughly $12 for her hospital visit. No bribes were handed out and she got fast and immediate attention. If you went to an Emergency room in the states without insurance you'd be paying a hell of a lot more money.
Now would I trade American treatment for Vietnamese treatment? Hell no. But I have insurance. Frankly though even with insurance in America I have been scared to go to hospitals because I was always nervous my insurance company would raise the premium on me. I consider myself a healthy, fit person yet I used to pay nearly $400 a month in California because I had should surgery when I was 20 years old. I didn't qualify for the cheapest insurance because I was "at risk" or some ridiculous term like that.
That said, you're right that if you have a disease like cancer it can cost quite a bit of money for treatment in Vietnam. But lets not forget, we're talking about Vietnam. I'm not saying America should model their health care system on the Vietnamese. I'm saying they should use it as inspiration.
LH,
Please don't stop commenting. I know about the program that you're referring to. There is a South Korean Vietnam war vet living in my hometown who told me a similar story. He said that the US Government offered him a chance to become an immediate citizen with a high army ranking if he would serve in a section of Cambodia. He declined and told me that every person in the platoon they wanted him to go to was killed.
Ben
I totally agree, Ben. I have (unfortunately) been to hospitals in other countries and it is so much easier and nicer than here in the U.S. And after spending the morning fighting with BC/BS over a $9600 chemotherapy charge they are refusing to pay for my dad (from over 4 months ago) because they considered it "experimental," I am particularly fired up about this issue. Someone from the physicians' office actually called and verified that he did not need prior authorization (before administering the chemo), and the woman on the phone had a record of that call. However, she said when we said "no prior authorization needed," that is not the same as saying that "we approve this medication." Ridiculous, and this is not even the worst we have had to deal with related to insurance gripes (despite him having "good insurance"). My favorite quote about the MA election is that they have it all "Mass backwards."
The rest of the story......
Gunny was like wild man. H e would grab Pvt Taylor and punch him anywhere he could land a blow. Pvt. Taylor tried to escape several times all the while trying to explain he just wanted to turn himself in and be discharged back to England, his home country. After bleeding from his nose and mouth with blood pouring out of his face he ran for the door. I will never forget that bloody hand print he left as a reminder to us all of the severity of the beating we had all just witnessed. Sadly to say, none of us squad leaders did anything to stop Gunny. We all new the unwritten code and what would happen to any of us if we did anything other than lie on Gunny's behalf if we were questioned by anyone concerning this incident. Gunny immediately told us all what to say when "they" came to question us. It didn't take long for Pvt. Taylor along with several Navy Doctors, Marine Captains and a slew of other NCO's MP's. It turns out Pvt. Taylor ran out the door and just kept running, bleeding like a stuck hog. A Naval corpsman saw him and took him to the Battalion aide station where he told his story to several officers and medical personel. They all came back to the scene of this horrible beating and started asking questions. Gunny swore that Pvt. Taylor was a drug crazed deserter and that Taylor had attacked gunny. All of us eighteen year old squad leaders were asked what happened and we all lied knowing what would happen to us if we didn't. I will always carry that shame of not speaking out no matter the consequences would have been. Believe me when I tell you, They could have meant life or death because Gunny had the power to send you out on a mission that would almost ensure you would come back in a body bag. What happened next was almost as unbelievable as the unmerciful beating we had all just witnessed. The Battalion Doctors, corpsmen and a host of other Marine officers turned Pvt. Taylor back over to Gunney to be held by him until the MP's could transfer him to the rear area the next day. All night long, Gunny beat on that poor young confused broken man and no one could stop it. The next day we left early for our mission never to see Pvt Taylor again. I have often wondered what happened to that young English boy who only wanted to be an American. God forgive all of us who were present but did nothing to stop this injustice.
Ben, I forgot to sign my comment again, LH in KY
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