During the three years when I lived in France, I gained considerable familiarity with French medical care from a patient/consumer's perspective. The French national health care system is better, more efficient and cost-effective for patients than the health care chaos we now have in America.
Because I am manic depressive, an illness that the French Government considers to be "particularly severe", the French National Health Insurance covered 100% of my related expenses, with no co-pays of any sort, just by showing my national health card, as is true for all diseases which are disabling, severe and chronic. http://www.dailykos.com/... Unlike the United States, where often only the least expensive needs are covered, the French system also covers the most expensive illnesses with no co-pays. The solution is not for us all to move to France when we get sick; the solution is to institute a system here that is at least as good as the one they have.
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