The Healthcare Racket (insurance part 1)

 “Do you have all the vaccinations you need for your trip?” S asked a few weeks before I left.

I gave her a blank stare.  Vaccinations?  I hadn’t even thought about needing to get shots.  “How important do you think it is for me to get them?  How many do you think I’d need?”

“I’m really not sure what shots you will need.  It depends on where you go, if you go to the jungle you will definitely need a yellow fever shot.  You should really check into it.  Some countries may not allow you in without the proper vaccinations.”

I sighed, that was enough to make me go to the doctor. I’m not terribly fond of doctors’ offices, but surely there were clinics I could go in get everything taken care of.  I did some research and made a few calls trying to find out what shots I needed and where to get them. 

It turns out you need a license to give yellow fever immunizations and there were only a few licensed places in Manhattan.   I dialed the number to a place on the Upper East Side, International Health Care Service: Immunizations.  

“What immunizations do you recommend for a trip to South America?” I asked the woman on the other end of the phone.  She rattled off a long list and thankfully yellow fever was the only shot I did not already have.  “How much would it be to get just a yellow fever shot?” I asked tentatively.

“One hundred and seventy dollars,” came her neutral reply.

I nearly choked.  Thirty, forty, even fifty dollars wouldn’t have been out of the question, but one hundred seventy?  That was half the plane ticket!  I thanked her and quickly hung up the phone.  No way was I going to pay that much, even if I could afford it I wouldn’t pay them.  If I died of yellow fever it would just be my protest against the US healthcare system’s extortion, I fumed.

I thought about the immunization on the flight to Lima.  How could they charge that?  Surely the drugs couldn’t cost that much.  I would feel better if I had gotten that immunization though….

When I got to Lima I asked C how much one was.

“Well,” he told me, “that depends where you go.  You can get one at a nice clinic for about $20, but that’s kind of expensive, or you can get…”

“Twenty dollars,” I cut him off.  “Can we go?  Now?”  A few hours later I had my yellow fever shot. 

In Peru the "expensive" yellow fever shot is $20; in Argentina immunizations are free.  The United States is wonderful in many ways: there is freedom of speech, religion; education is mandatory for all children, wonderful national parks, and countless other positives.  The US is also the only industrialized nation without universal health care.  Though there is excellent health care for those who can afford it, forty-six million Americans aren’t insured and can’t.  I am one of those 46 million....