"I suppose they'll also do the lab work?" I asked.
"Do you know some of those lab techs are making as much as $30,000 a year! Made sense to lay them off, too."
"So how will the ER know a victim's blood chemistry, or if there's internal injuries?"
"Technology," said Comstock. "They scan the blood here, and send digital X-Rays to Mexico. Mexican lab technicians--you know, the ones that don't know about unions and will work for only a few bucks a day--will analyze everything, then text the results back to the U.S."
"This sounds like it's not only a way to maximize profits, but also a way to avoid dealing with the President's health care reform program."
"Obamacare!" spit out Comstock. "Nothing but socialized medicine."
"Most countries have forms of socialized medicine," I countered, "and they not only have good health care but affordable prices to their citizens."
Comstock put his hands to his ears and began chanting, "We're Number 1, We're Number 1."
"Number 37," I corrected him. "The World Health Organization ranked the U.S. just below Costa Rico."
"They're all Commies," replied Comstock. "Besides, that study is a decade old."
"Last year, the independent Commonwealth Fund compared the nations of the United Kingdom against the U.S., and the U.S. ranked seventh of the seven."
"Yeah, like Americans will go to Canada? It's covered by snow and run by a queen who can't even speak English."
"You and Megabucks are crazy!"
"Possibly," said Comstock, "but outsourcing is the American way. By the way, do you put ketchup or mustard on a burrito?"
[Dr. Walter Brasch isn't licensed to practice medicine, but he goes to some excellent physicians who are--and they're just as frustrated with the costs, insurance companies and myriad forms as anyone else. His current book is the critically-acclaimed mystery novel, Before the First Snow]
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