A Sunday Outing Becomes a Health-care Teachable Moment

Sunday was an interesting day for healthcare concerns. Both my private ones as well as the issue of universal health care. First, universal health-care.

I met two young Brits in the afternoon on the way to the Sunday flea market at the famed Mauerpark (park of the wall? You haven't heard of it? Where have you been?). Anyway, Mauerpark is a vast area that attracts all kinds of people. From the brass band in leather chinos, a little S&M to be sure, with the laker girl (ok, add a couple pound to each girl) cheerleaders. To the beat boxing boy from croatia (who, by the way, spoke perfect english). To the Janice Joplin look alike (with almost as good a voice, even through a megaphone) accompanied by an 8-piece brass band, to the japanese (I really hope they were Japanese, otherwise, they were just really offensive) clowns who attracted the largest crowd in the joint. The entire area is 14 hectares (35.5 acres). Much fun was had by all.

So, the two Brits and I journeyed our way through this area, ate some food, drank some beer........... Ok, me? Not so much. It was an interesting interaction. I find it often awkward when three people spend time together where two of them know each other so much better than, in this case, either of them know the other one. But we had zero difficulty together. Several reasons for that. First, they were quite cool and didn't mind sharing their (they were not a couple. Her boyfriend was at home recovering, apparently, from the prior night's baccanalian exploits) space with me. I then made sure to focus equally on them in conversation, even though I thought the guy was quite cute. So there were no awkward pauses and no one felt left out. I was surprised how smoothly it all went.

As we were leaving, the woman, Beth, mentioned that her bf is studying to be a doctor. She then noted that she works in the statistical department for the National Health Service (commonly known as the NHS). Well, that got us started on an entire conversation about health care. Namely, about the health care debate (or screaming deathmatch more like it) in the U.S. Both her and the lad (hmmmm, not sure that works but thought I'd give it a go, LOL) asserted that the U.K. had felt some pressure to defend its NHS given its maligning at the hands of rabid right-wing nutjobs in America (do they not seem like rabid, blind, relatively stupid dogs when you watch the town-halls all around the country?). Interestingly enough, it's exactly her job to facilitate the "rationing" of health-care that represents the lightning rod of the discussion about universal health-care reform here. Never mind that insurance companies force rationing all the time. Never mind that "bureaucrats" at HMOs every day stand between a good ole boy and his doctor. But I digress. Anywho, she does look at all kinds of statistical trends and report out re what areas in the country appear to have what kinds of needs resource-wise.

I tried to press her on the issue of the co-habitability of both a private insurance system and an NHS model. At least on the train, we were not able to really tease this issue out. Some of the private aspects of their system lack any real analogue in our system (or so it seemed from our very cursory discussion on the train home). I look forward to continuing my discussion with her to find out more about the NHS system in the U.K.