But if you go to Peoria General Hospital then it's likely there are dozens of better facilities in other countries.
In general, the cancer care an average, every day person gets in this country is better than the cancer care an average, every day person gets in most other countries. There are, of course, exceptions, but for the most part, if you have cancer, you'll get better care here than elsewhere. You have a better chance of early detection and a better prognosis once it has been detected.
If you're one of the five percent and have no insurance, you have a much tougher road, and you would probably be better off in another country where socialized medicine is practice. That is, you would be better off moving to Canada. That is not to say one of the five percent CANNOT get excellent treatment, but the five percent is something we need to fix in this country (unfortunately, Congress has decided that the political power is more important than solving the problem for the 5%, and the end result could well be that we get NOTHING.)
Oncologists I've worked with, for the most part, bust their asses to treat people who cannot otherwise afford treatment. I know of several clinics who routinely treat patients where the practice itself covers the massive cost of chemo drugs for some patients, but that is a very last resort. There are all kinds of cooperative programs these patients can participate in to get treated. I'm aware of a couple of such offices which have full time personnel to work out payment alternatives for patietns who are flat broke so they can receive treatment and they're remarkably effective at doing so. |
