Despite my best efforts to eat as well as possible and use massive amounts of Purell, this is the first vacation where I’ve been sick. I’m not one for going to the doctor unless absolutely necessary, but finally realized I had to do something or miss out on the rest of my vacation. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with a medical center outside of the States, but I have to say that my experience with socialized medicine was AWESOME!
The only drawback was that it was a walk-in clinic rather than by appointment, and when I entered, there were 8 people ahead of me. I had no idea how long the wait would be, but I wasn’t going to leave. Then a man came in with his twin daughters who were coughing and sneezing (I think everyone in there had some stage of what I had), so the receptionist let them cut to the front of the line.
By the time I left the clinic, I had been there a total of 1 hour and 40 minutes. That means the doctor saw 10 patients in 100 minutes – one every ten minutes. I’ve heard people criticize public medicine because it’s inefficient, but I consider that an incredibly impressive patient turn-over rate, especially considering that the doctor was working entirely by himself. He was very quick to diagnose me, gave me a prescription for 4 things and I was out of there. No lab visits or insurance processing units. But the best part is that it only cost me $31.00 for the office visit – and that was full price!
The next great thing is that the pharmacy is right next door, and my order was filled in 10 minutes, even though all of the people who had been at the clinic in line before me were also there. Again, I’ve never been to a pharmacy in the U.S. where they can fill an order for 4 drugs in 10 minutes when the pharmacy is packed. In addition to nasal spray, industrial strength cough syrup and some miracle drug I’ve never heard of that opens up your lungs, the doctor prescribed a 7-day course of the antibiotic Cipro — which only cost $14.07!!!! My total pharmacy bill was $26.85.
So I was in and out of the clinic and pharmacy in 1 hour 50 minutes, and my total cost was $57.85. If this had happened in the States, the cost of just the Cipro would have been more than that. It probably would have run me a few hundred dollars, and I’m sure they would have wanted to take a throat culture, so add some lab fees on top of that.
Then, to top it all off, the doctor asked me if I wanted an extra asthma inhaler. Why not? I couldn’t believe it when the cost of the inhaler was only $9, when the exact same medication in the United States costs me between $45 – 50!
So did any of this work? You bet! I woke up the next morning feeling like a million bucks and I’m back to enjoying vacation.
So here’s what I had for lunch today: a sandwich with 2 kinds of cheese (yes, I know I said I was giving up bread and cheese, but I’m on vacation and doing the best I can), tomato, arugula and mustard, with a huge salad.
Now I’m heading back to the beach for more water therapy!
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