I walked to our doctor’s office this morning, to make an appointment for her to look at a mole on my neck. When I arrived, the doctor was in her office, the first room from the front door, on the left. Papa and I visited her office last fall but we saw a substitute doctor, as our doctor was on maternity leave for six months. We are in her medical records online, so she pulled me up on her computer. She asked why I came in and we started talking - about all sorts of things. I asked about her baby - a year old next week, why her family moved to Lectoure - because of the schools. She talked about how much she and her husband love Lectoure and how friendly people are. She asked about my lung condition, and then she examined my neck. She recommended a dermatologist and she made an appointment for me to drop off our folders of medical records next Friday at 8 a.m. She asked if we have insurance - and we do, for emergencies only while in France. She wrote a bill for her examination of my neck - 25Euros, standard price for General Practitioners in France.
Several things were unusual about this visit - I talked to the doctor without seeing the receptionist. She examined me as a walk-in, without an appointment. She called up my medical history as given last fall, on her computer. The cost was 25Euros, equivalent to $26.10 today. Amazing! I don’t remember seeing a doctor so cheaply ever in the US! And the mole on my neck had no indication of anything she was concerned about. All good!
“France offers universal health coverage for all citizens, regardless of age or economic situation. France offers a high level of preventative healthcare, with available services including addiction prevention, regular medical check-ups, and the promotion of physical activity and healthy eating. All citizens have direct access to specialists. France’s healthcare system has been ranked the “best in the world” by the WHO. France spends half as much per person as the US, ranked 37th in the world for health care systems, and #1 in the world for spending on health care per capita.”
It’s interesting to see how other countries do things!
