This article you commented on is already 3 or 4 years old I think. I must admit I’m not really up-to-date with the French health care system, mostly because I left France in 2001. I think the rules changed a lot since then, I definitely heard French complaining about it. I don’t have the experience of moving from one département to another either, you probably know more about it than I do!

Ok, I’m a Canadian living in France for a couple of years and I’m still trying to figure out the bloody French health system!
First the “sécurité sociale” is NOT free! First, when you see a doctor, general practicioner, eye doctor etc…you pay him / her directly for the consultation. Then if every thing works correctly you get re-emburssed 70% of the fee and the other 30% of the fee is payed by your mutual plan. If you visit a doctor other then your “médecin traitant” then you only get re-emburssed 30% of the fee! Now no one will actually tell you this piece of information. The doctor’s in France are not legally allowed to tell you this cause they it could be considered “manipulating “ the patient. The “sécurité sociale” also will not tell you cause the don’t give a “sh***” about you. Believe me I’ve been there many times and the keep telling me it’s 70% but in reality it wasn’t the truth!

Next, if you move to a new department in France (i.e. a new province) then you need to change everything and it’s a bloody headache! If you visit the doctor withing the firist four months of moving don’t expect the system to work! When you move to a new department you need to give them a copy of : your old work contcact, your new work contract, your 4 previous pay stubs, proof of your new address (“attestation de loyer”), your mutual plan, your banking information, your ID, your… blah, blah, blah. They they need to psychically transfer by mail your file from your old department to the new one and you need to wait 1–3 months plus the 1–2 month for your mutual health plan (extended health care coverage) to realize what happened. Count in total 5 months for the system to re-align itself.

When I first came to France I used a Canadian mutual plan which seemed to work 5 times better then the french mutual health care plans. My Canadian mutal plan better understood the French Health care system then the two French mutual health care plans I have used. Go fugure! Go CANUCKS!

Over all scoring Health Care Ratings out of 10 points:
User Friendliness : Canada 10 – France 2
Availability of doctors : Canada 5 – France 9
Fees : Canada 10 – France 4
Customer Service Support : Canada 10 – France 5
Mutual Plans (Extended health care coverage) : Canada 9 – France 4
Flexibility : Canada 9 – France 3

Consider yourself spoiled in Canada!

P.S. Michael Moore is as despicable and pathetic as they make ‘em — simple as that.

I am lucky to have a job that gives me health insurance, but so many out there don’t have this in the U.S. which is terribly sad. It’s all about profit here.

I totally understand you comment though. Looks like China where anybody can get free healthcare… free shots… free prescriptions… but everything is placebo, only surgeries are real !

T.D. Newton : Totally understand. Same goes for a lot of young people I guess. As longas you don’t need the doctor too much and that you have a realtively good job (no shame in that, it’s good for you !), then everything works out.

What I’m concern about is the number of people left behind. If it’s, let’s say, 1% of the population, well that’s sad but it’s usually the rule. No system is perfect for everyone. But if let’s say 30% of the population has trouble getting health care, then there’s a problem.

I understand switching system wouldn’t work. But there must be something in-between which fits the USA better than the current system… right ?

Thanks for visiting my blog BTW. You seem to have strong views and a lot of ideas. I like that… even if we don’t always agree !

Dan : it’s the first time I feel this way seeing a M.M movie. I saw Bowling for Columbine back when I lived in France and looking back, I realized it might just have fueled Europe’s stereotypes on Americans. My opinion is probably different today.

I wouldn’t trust either of them.

On topic: American healthcare seems to be really poor but only for people who need it and can’t afford it. If I could use the money I pay for insurance at my job to pay for someone else’s doctor visits, I would, because I see the doctor maybe once every 3–4 years. I have a fairly good health plan (includes dental and vision) but I also have a really good job and I make a nice wage (not to brag, it’s been really hard to get this far).

If I were in constant need of medical care or prescription drugs I might complain a bit more about it but, so far, HMO has not become a “four letter word” for me.

Another thing I think people don’t take into account is the amount of time, money, and effort it would take to “switch” health care systems from our current one to one like Canada or France. An example I like to use with this type of situation basically explains why America will NEVER convert to the metric system. Every single road sign (measured in miles) would need to be replaced (or at least altered) and that’s far too expensive and time consuming to undertake when the current system “works” (e.g. works well enough that someone is making money off of it). Change is too expensive when it’s on that broad of a scale and the transition period would probably be a lot worse than just leaving it as is — or at least that’s an argument that current health care lobbyists would probably use. Hell, it’s the same argument that any government official could use to keep things the way they are regardless of multitudinous complaints to the contrary (only two parties being taken seriously for the presidential election, our dependency on gasoline, you get the point).

So, basically, I have not been wronged by America’s health care system so I’m not inclined to complain about it. Others who can, do.

http://litcor.blogspot.com/2007/04/elevtheria.html