When I got to Brazil, I discovered that all of the medications that I needed but could not afford in the United States are available for free at all Brazilian government health clinics, even for visitors from the United States. In fact, there is a hospital a block from my house that provides all medical care for free. So I have more access to health care in Brazil than I did in the United States.
A couple of weeks ago, my Brazilian wife informed me that the government was recommending that everyone in our state receive shots for malaria. The first time we went to the clinic, the supplies had been exhausted. The following week, I, my wife and two children went to the government clinic and we all got our shots for free, with no lines or additional waiting. The government of Brazil cares for my medical health more than my own government does.
I have also discovered that the same anti-depressant drugs that cost $200.00 USD per month in the United States may cost $40.00 USD per month at regular Brazilian pharmacies and only twenty dollars per month at Brazil’s government run pharmacies. But, at certain Brazilian government pharmacies, many basic medications are available at no charge whatsoever, with no pre-registration, to anyone who has a prescription, while supplies last.
No one at any public Brazilian hospital, clinic or pharmacy has ever asked this North American to first “apply” for free medical care, and they have never requested proof that I am “eligible” to receive needed health care. They only want proof of the patient’s identity and they will accept anything that has the patients name on it, without or without a picture, including e.g. the receipt from a delivery of bottled water.
Of course, this is all paid for with tax dollars, but it is ironic that the Brazilian public can afford such a system while the American public cannot.
I hope someday that the United States will have a public health system that is as accessible to the public as Brazil’s health care system is now. In the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries, I’m absolutely going to vote for a presidential candidate who has a long-standing and proven dedication to seeing that we in the United States have care that is at least as accessible and affordable as the care now available to people in so-called “Third World” countries like my new home, in Brazil.
