DN Column April 7, 2010: Spain provides example for U.S. health care

Here’s the thing about living in another country: You don’t realize quite how much you love the United States until you leave it. Then again, you also come to realize just how much you hate it while you’re away.

It was big news over here in Spain when the health care bill was signed. People weren’t exactly excited, though. Instead, they seemed to be thinking the same thing I have been ever since I was old enough to understand how to take care of my fellow citizens: Why hasn’t this been around forever? Why is the United States just getting around to instilling this vital right to its people?

When they ask me about the health care bill, all I can say is, “We might be a little behind the rest of the world, but we’re moving in the right direction.” And all Spaniards can do is nod in agreement, because the system is going to take its time restructuring, and the citizens are going to take their time warming up to the idea of universal health care.

In all honesty, what Congress passed isn’t what I had hoped it would be. But here’s the thing about Congress: They move slowly. And they’re meant to move slowly. There is a reason it takes so long to get anything done, and it has less to do with the fact that Congress is full of a bunch of idiots than the system is smarter than those idiots, and it has to sort out all of the good ideas from the bad.

And when the bad ideas get through — for example, not giving health care to all of our citizens — the system has to go back and fix that, too. But in Spain I’ve seen universal health care in action, and I’m happy to report that we’re in for something great.

Having seen the doctor in Spain twice now, I can tell you universal health care is only going to make us stronger. The doctor actually had to come to my hotel room in January while I was staying in Madrid, and not only did he speak fluent English, but he also made a quick and painless visit that treated my illness right away.

Just this Monday, I ended up in the emergency room (a product of traveling on airplanes between countries much too often in the past two weeks) and had no problem whatsoever. I’ve been to the emergency room in the United States before, and thus have something with which to compare my visit. I saw very little difference between the two countries.

It took me about the same amount of time to see the doctor in both countries. The main difference between the two nations is that in the United States, my bill had always been more than $100 after insurance took care of a significant portion of it. In Spain, my bill was 35 euro, the equivalent of about $47, and I was never even asked to produce an insurance card.

Getting prescriptions has also been easy. I simply take my written prescription from the doctor to any pharmacy (and there are literally two on every block) and ask to have it filled. I pay so little per prescription, also! Today, for example, I had to get two prescriptions and paid 24 euro for both, the equivalent of just more than $32. That is not a co-pay: That is the actual cost of the prescription. I’ve never once been asked to produce an insurance card, and I’m not even a citizen!

So, I know exactly what the Republicans in the room are thinking — Yeah, but their taxes are so high! First of all, the income tax rate is progressive, so those who don’t make as much don’t pay as much. Ingenious! Who would have ever thought of a thing like that? I mean, people who don’t have as much money paying less than people who have a lot of money? It’s like someone reinvented the wheel!

Once you get past the initial shock of realizing that people who, for whatever reason, don’t make as much money don’t pay as much into the system, then you can look at how much you actually have to pay. For someone who makes more than 53,000 euro, (about $71,400) the total tax rate is 43 percent. High? Yes.

But what exactly are you getting out of these taxes? This is what no one in the United States ever stops to think about. Do you think there are potholes in the roads here? I haven’t found them.

Are people going bankrupt because they get unlucky, happen to get cancer and can’t afford the bills? Unheard of. People in Spain, and the rest of Europe for that matter, take care of one another. A person’s 43 percent of income tax goes to making sure you live a healthy, comfortable, productive life and your friends and neighbors do as well.

Of course, if you make less than 17,000 euro a year, (the equivalent of about $23,000) you pay only a 24 percent tax. And here’s another difference between the U.S. and Spain. Why do you make less than 17,000 euro a year? In the U.S., the automatic assumption is that you are lazy, fat and no good.

Not so in Spain. The assumption is you started out from less than others and you weren’t lucky enough to be able to make it to the top right away, or you have had a difficult life because of family issues, illness, whatever. The assumption isn’t that you screwed up, but you simply need a little help.

And honestly, who doesn’t need a little help every once in a while? Hopefully this new health care bill will make the United States a bit more like the best parts of Spain, with the right to pursue a life of happiness for all of us.

Sarah Melecki is a senior Political Science major. Reach her at sarahmelecki@dailynebraskan.com.