On 6/30/07, Paul Phillips <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Indeed, I was a participant in the "Saskatchewan civil war" when the (or
I should say, some) doctors went on strike against the introduction of
comprehensive, compulsory medical insurance in, I think it was, 1961.
My family's doctors supported the insurance scheme and opposed the
strike. Some of the doctors and their supporters even threatened
violence in opposing public insurance but cooler heads prevailed,
maybe US medical insurance reformers should emphasize the simplifying
nature of a single-payer or Medicare-type system: independent doctors
are sick & tired of all of the paperwork they have to do. how to
attract those who work for the big medical bureaucracies, I don't
know...
As to Cuba, the couple of times we have needed minor medical
attention in Cuba when visiting there, we received it free of charge
though we had to pay quite minimal amounts for medication.
when I was visiting Cuba (in 1979?, under the spiritual guidance of
Michael Perelman), my glasses frame broke. I wandered about the small
town we were in (without any kind of minder, in case you were
wondering) looking for a fix. Eventually a CP-type person helped.
(Interestingly, she was one of the only people who seemed serious all
the time.) The glasses were fixed, at minimal cost. But they broke
easily when I got to NYC, since the job hadn't been done right.
only one data point, so I can't generalize.
--
Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your
own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
