I mentioned a day or so ago that I had to go to the Emergency Room here in Madrid because I was having extreme pain on one side of my body.  I thought you might be interested in how things work here and how it might compare to the United States.

I put “socialized medicine” in quote marks, because it really is a silly phrase when talking about almost any European health system.  Spain, like France, has private insurance available.  And all of these countries are active capitalistic states that also emphasize a more substantial safety net than the US.  Most people choose to stay in the public system because they feel the care is better and it has the best doctors.

I work in Spain, so I pay taxes for my health care, as does my employer.  The employer pays the larger share of the burden.  However, the total cost is significantly lower than health care premiums in the States.  All Spaniards and legal residents are covered.  Those who are here illegally can also gain access to a health card by registering at city hall.  Most do so.

I go to a health clinic within walking distance to my house.  There I have a doctor and nurse that are assigned to me.  I´m not sure if I can change my doctor if I want to, but I´ve been told that yes you can.  The law was changed several years ago to allow you to change.   But I´m quite satisfied with my doctor.  She´s thorough and concentrates most on the things that will keep you out of the hospital.  I have several health problems that she stays on top of.  I have seen her on average once a month since being here so she can monitor my progress.  I can tell you that I never saw my physician once a month in the US, and these health issues are not new.

If I need a prescription refill or to see the doctor for something, I have always gotten an appointment on the day that I requested it, with my own doctor.  I have never waited more than 5 minutes to walk out of a pharmacy with all my prescriptions.  On the meds that I currently take, my co-pay in the US was about $100 a month.  Here it is about $15.

Spain is ranked amongthe top 10 best health care systems in the world (#8) according to the World Health Organization.  People here feel it is their right to have health care, and are stunned and deeply upset with what they hear about the US system.

So, over the weekend I started having really bad pain in my side.  I mean really bad pain.  I tried to ignore it and thought it would just go away.  This is called the Lynch Health Care Plan.  But after 3 days of not being able to do anything but lay in bed and groan, I finally talked to a Spanish friend and asked how emergencies are handled.  Do I have to call the Primary Doctor, do I need to go to a certain hospital, does someone need to approve the ER visit?  The answer was to go to the nearest ER and if I couldn´t go on my own, to call for an ambulance.

I took a taxi to my hospital and signed in for the Urgencias.  You show your health card, they look you up, and then you go into a triage room.  A nurse came out to speak to me to evaluate the problem and they moved me along pretty quickly into an office with a doctor.  That doctor and another checked me over, order pain killers, lab tests, and fluids.  They suspected kidney stones, which was later confirmed.  They gave me a prescription for pain meds and referred me to a specialist whom I see tomorrow.  All in all I was in and out in 5 hours, and with a specialist appointment within 48 hours.  Pretty impressive.

The negatives were that pain treatment is not as big a concern as it is in the US.  There is something very Spanish about suffering.  I would have liked something stronger, because frankly, I´m still in pain, though the edge is gone and it is bearable.

No one spoke English, not surprisingly, as very few people in Madrid speak English.  But they sure were friendly and did everything they could to help me be understood and understand.

In short, I think the system here works.  It has less bureaucracy, and the doctor seems far more in control of what they are doing than in a US system.  By that I mean, there are not a lot of rules for them to deal with, not a lot of overlayered bureaucracies to deal with.

They say I may need surgery here.  I hope not.  But I feel like I´m in excellent hands.