Sarah Hoyt on Better Outcomes

Sarah Hoyt, who was born in Portugal, writes of an encounter at the DMV where she met an American woman who said she wanted to leave the U.S.

“You see, here we don’t have a right to free health care.”

At which point I rotated my head like something out of The Exorcist and said in my best *I am controlling my voice because otherwise I’ll shriek so loudly people from Kansas will run in to see what is going on* tone: “You don’t want the free health care they have in other countries. I grew up with it. And Portugal is not as bad as some.”

She smugly gave me the “Better outcomes. Cheaper.”

At this point I started giving her home truths and anecdotes. I started with the “better outcomes” being because it’s so hard to GET in the system (and not be sent home to die) that most people aren’t in the system when they die — hence, not “outcome” of health care.

I love Sarah Hoyt when she gets on a rant. There's more of it, and I enjoyed it all, including the explanation of how Portugal's actual health system improved when they brought back private insurance.

The price is free.
But you must wait.
Your turn, you see,
may come too late.