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On health care in France vs. USA (watch video here) Living in France is a joy when it comes to quality healthcare. Similar to to the British NHS, everyone living or visiting France is taxed and that amount goes into help funding our superb system.

While visiting Cleveland last year, I had cut myself cooking on a late Saturday night. Because my hand wouldn't stop bleeding I hesitated but decided it was best to go to the Lakewood Cleveland Clinic Emergency room. I had no US health insurance and ending up handing over my credit card an shelling out $2,300 bucks. That was more painful then the shot of novocain and 2 stitches that I received! I could have flown back and forth 2 times in first class for that price! The Intern who "treated" me must have been in the bottom of his class.

Two weeks ago I had microscopic hand surgery to repair the Clinic's work? A team of 2 French specialists spent 3.5 hour on the surgery that was a brilliant success. I couldn't leave the outpatient unit until I was given a proper lunch and a bag of medications . I have never received a bill from anything relating to medical care here.

I'm not dishing the pretty hospitals in the US some are great if you can afford them, but really can't they find a realistic price strucure that the collective citizens can fund and use . I don't care what people want to call it, I care about the humanity and health of U.S.

I've learned my lesson and have already bought Travelers Insurance for my next trip back to Cleveland!
from Cool Cleveland reader Denajua Denajua denajuaAThotmail.com

On health care in Canada vs. USA (watch video here) Since we moved to Toronto in 2005 we've tallied: - pre-natal care (we chose a midwife) - hospital birth (we planned for a home birth, but Xavier was over 10 lbs so we ended up with a C-section) - post-natal care - pediatric checkups and booster shots - adult booster shots - MRI for Young's knee - Arthroscopic surgery for Young's knee - ER care - injuries and stitches - ER care - x-rays, morphine, cast, follow up treatments - regular check-ups, visits for illnesses and injuries

As OHIP card holders (Ontario Health Insurance Plan) we present our cards at each visit. We see no paperwork, no invoices, no bills. There are no deductibles and no payments. Zero dollars for all the above.

Oh, wait, we did get billed for the ambulance that arrived within 5-10 minutes after calling 911 when Young was in a bike wreck last week. The drivers allowed us to choose what hospital we wanted to go to. The bill was for $45.

[My partner] Young Park lived and worked in Cleveland for over 10 years. She paid taxes there just like we do here in Canada. Although a relatively successful leader in the arts community, she could not afford health insurance as a Clevelander. One time she had a really nasty flu and we got scared by how much she was puking so took her to an ER. After running some tests and telling her to go home and rest, we were billed over $2,000.

Only an immoral person or a moron would protest a "public option." That is a horrible term and the concept needs to be rebranded. Any civilized nation must seek to preserve and protect the lives and well-being of its citizens, residents, and even visitors. We are not talking about who gets into a country club, we are talking about who gets to live without fearing for their very life. It should not be optional, it should not even be up for discussion, it must be mandatory.

I sure hope Obama has a secret plan to ram things through if our Senate keeps selling we the people out to monied interests and fearmongerers who can't handle change.

Until then, I remain a dual citizen, but a thankful resident of Canada.

On traditional journalism vs. whatever this is i appreciate receiving your email blasts with current cleveland events. but perhaps i have not been paying attention. i just finished reading the current cool cleveland and my eyes are bleeding.

what's with the "cle" usage? that's only the airport designation. are we allowing the faa to change the name of our city. are you trying to tell me that i have been involuntary relocated to cle, oh. not cool!

i'm a traditional journalist. cleveland is a dateline city and ohio is never, ever abbreviated. i refuse to allow the federal government - aka the faa and the postal service - to change our written language.

a standard and long-observed rule in journalism is to allow persons to be called by the names that they prefer and not names that are chosen by writers or editors. i am confident that cleveland would like to be called "cleveland" and ohio is "ohio.

we don't live in cle, oh. how would you like to be called cul cle? get it?
from Cool Cleveland reader bill johnson chagrinfallsATyahoo.com

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