I've got a terrible cold...
...and I'm miserable. This question, though, reminds me of a time when I was a LOT more sick.

I had some sadistic virus that was going around, so I got excused from work early, on the condition that I would go to see the doctor right away and that I would walk there, because my supervisors judged that I was too delirious to drive safely. The trek to the doctor's was surreal and painful -- at one point I came to a small parking lot scattered with spray-painted mannequin parts -- and my experience in the doctor's waiting room was one of my worst. There were terribly sick people everywhere, all sick with the same thing I had, and I was convinced that I would die if I did not get seen soon. At last, they called my name. The doctor would see me! But first they would have to have my co-pay. I don't know what your insurance situation is like in England, but in the U.S. you have to buy insurance and then pay even more money when you actually go to use it. They wanted fifty dollars. I had 45. I told the cashier of my predicament and how I was really, really sick, could she please help me out? No, she said. If you don't have the money, go home. I didn't think I could make it home and I sat down and started to cry. I can't remember another time as an adult when I so desperately wanted my mommy.

An old man approached the cashier's desk and gave her the money so I could see the doctor. I tried to explain that I had money, but that it was in the form of an uncashed check, and I tried to give him the $45 that I had in my wallet. He wouldn't take it, saying I needed it to pay for my medicine. Not only did he pay my entire fee instead of the $5 that I owed, he also refused to tell me his name or where he lived. For some reason, the cashier looked mad as she let me in. I think she really just wanted to spoil my day.

I'll always remember it, because at that moment I hated everybody. The gesture was so incredible that it actually restored my faith in humanity for a whole three days! That's a record, by the way. That is the nicest and most selfless thing that anyone has ever done for me. And the drugs that they prescribed where the best prescription meds it has ever been my pleasure to ingest.
(BrainSurgerysFun, Sat 4 Oct 2008, 1:35, 8 replies)

health insurance
Here in England, we like to complain about our health service. Then again, over here we like to complain. Our free, government-funded health service may swallow money like a black hole and have waiting lists longer than ... a long thing, but from what I hear the health service in much of the US is far worse.
(idle insomniac enjoys listening to Sigur Rós at stupid hours, Sat 4 Oct 2008, 2:01, closed)

Waiting lists...
... are a maximum of 18 weeks these days. Once more than a couple of patients breach the 18 weeks, the trust involved lands in a world of shit.

Of course, there are ways and means of stopping a patient from breaching the waiting time without actually treating them...
(ScousersPet, Tue 7 Oct 2008, 15:59, closed)

just to clarify -
- was the parking lot really scattered with spray-painted mannequin parts, which you just couldn't process that well at the time; or was it all a virally-induced hallucination?
(The Incredible Sulk Finally remembered his password on, Sat 4 Oct 2008, 7:33, closed)

Yep
There were really mannequin parts. Yes. I actually went back to clarify. For you, b3ta. For you.
(BrainSurgerysFun, Sat 4 Oct 2008, 19:05, closed)

Seriously though...
Why are people so scared of 'socialized medicine' in America? I'm not being smug or superior or anything, I'm genuinely curious.

Having said that, it does seem to be under constant attack in Britain as well.

(And that's a lovely story, BTW.)
(MrTwitchy, Sat 4 Oct 2008, 10:37, closed)

You can't build a nation without desperation
That's what an American friend told me years ago. I asked him why Americans were always obsessed with money, and he said "It's simple. Being poor and ill in the West means discomfort, except here. Here it means death or bankruptcy."
(all my scars face forward possesses 2.5% of a hyperalloy combat chassis, Sat 4 Oct 2008, 12:55, closed)

I'm not!
But, yeah, a lot of people are. I think, really, it all boils down to the term "socialized," which brings back McCarthyism scares and whatnot. Also, politicians get a lot of money from insurance companies, who in turn get a lot of money from drug companies, who in turn get a lot of money from us, the public, who can't afford to go to a decent doctor, so we spend the little money we do have on medicine in hopes that it will make us feel better. I once went to a doctor complaining of severe stomach pains. He sent me home with a prescrption for strong pain meds. Only when I came out of my drug haze did I realize my stomach still hurt. I actually had a bladder infection, which no amount of pain meds can actually fix. The doctor, though, was drinking out of a mug and writing with a pen with drug company logos plastered all over. The system is broken.
(BrainSurgerysFun, Sat 4 Oct 2008, 19:10, closed)

There is no insurance In england
you just have to make an appointment at the doctors, and show up no money or paperwork changes hands. You have to pay £7.10 for a prescription though.

I have a throat infection, and I was able to get a same day appointment when I felt Ill and I got some throat syrup that cleared it right up . Ill be claiming the £7.10 I payed for it back too when I get my HC2* sorted out.

* exempts you from paying for dental treatment and prescription fees.
( willenium Fist bump for verification, Sun 5 Oct 2008, 0:42, closed)