American Healthcare for Euros Part Eye Vee

Look, London, Paris, Rome, Madrid, Warsaw, Budapest, Bratislava, Sarajevo, Bucharest, Tirana, Pristine....you're absolutely right. American healthcare can be a giant headache. Just getting the bills sorted out takes months. Hospitals will bill the insurance company and you. Pro-tip: never pay a hospital bill without first calling the insurance company.

Heh, a collection agency once came after us for an unpaid bill related to the birth of our first born. Big mistake. What were they going to do, repo the child? They dealt with Mrs. Stroock, who lets just say, is in the industry. Final score: Mrs. Stroock-7 Bill Collector-0.*

Big mistake.

Anyway we can't speak to the nature or quality of care in Europe. All we can do is describe our own.

Three times we have gone to the emergency room with chest pains. The first time they hooked us up to a bunch of fancy machines, did all sorts of tests, put us up for the night and then sent us home with a follow up appointment. That's right, we walked in and they had a room for us right then. The follow up test, a stent and a balloon, now there was an interesting sensation, reveled a 95% blockage which was cleared right away. We overnighted again and had an appointment with the cardiologist the next day. At this point we were prescribed three of the very latest drugs for high blood pressure and cholesterol. The blood thinners were sooo cool, one cut and it was like you were in a slasher pic.

To sum, we received medical care when we needed it, right away, and only had to shell out for a few deductibles and co-pays.

How does this compare to Eurocare?

*We should attribute that.