Stop me if you’re heard this somewhere, possibly from your local politician: “We have the best health care ever invented! Of all time! Can’t be touched!”

I think most people know that A WHOLE LOT of other countries on the planet have much better health care than Americans do – plus, overseas it’s CHEAP. But that’s not what politicians and insurance companies want you to hear.

A woman named Mary Robinette Kowal shared her health care experience in Iceland, and her tweets went viral. I think that this will be very eye-opening for a lot of you. It sure was for me.

Let’s take a look at Kowal’s Twitter thread.

When I lived in Iceland, I found a lump. I had no idea how to navigate finding a doctor, so I went to our show's production manager.

Me: I found a lump. Can you help me find a doctor?
PM: Just go to the cancer center.
Me: Okay. How do a get a referral?
PM: What's a referral?

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) June 3, 2019

After I explain what a referral is, he looks baffled.

PM: Just go to the cancer center.
Me: But…referral?

He shrugs and hands me the phone number to the cancer center. I call and explain.

CC: A lump, ah yes. You should come in.
Me: Don't I need a referral?
CC: A what?

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) June 3, 2019

Having accepted that I don't need a referral, I say, "How do I make an appointment?"
CC: An appointment? Yes, we can do that if your schedule is very busy, otherwise just come in.
Me: I don't need an appointment?
CC: You found a lump! You know your body, yes? Come in.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) June 3, 2019

So I go. The nurse checking me in apologizes because, since I'm not Icelandic, I'll have to pay for the visit.

It's 3 krónur.

That's 3 dollars at that point.

I pay and sit down to wait.

CC: Kowal?
Me: Already?
CC: You found a lump.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) June 3, 2019

3 dollars…

She escorts me into an examining room and palpates the area.

CC: Yes, that does feel like a lump. Let's do a mammogram.

I prepare to hear about making an appointment for that.

CC: I'm sorry, but it's across the hall. Do you mind following me?

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) June 3, 2019

I've been in the building for about twenty minutes at this point when I'm strapped into the mammogram — WHICH HAD WARMERS — and she does her thing.

CC: There is something there, you are right. I want to see it with an ultrasound.

And then she leads me next door.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) June 3, 2019

She does the ultrasound and when we're finished, she tells me to get dressed and to meet her in the waiting room.

I head out to the changing room, put my top back on, and walk out to the waiting room. I sit down to wait.

CC: Kowal?
Me: Already?
CC: It is only cyst.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) June 3, 2019

Forty-five minutes after walking into the Icelandic Cancer Center and 3 krónur poorer, I had the answer.

In the US, a similar lump took two weeks and three different office visits.

I think about this every time I have to fight with medical insurance in the US.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) June 3, 2019

PS for clarity, I used my surname, but I'm pretty sure it was my first name the entire time, because Iceland.

PPS Why don't all mammograms have warmers?

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) June 3, 2019

Kowal offered a little clarification about an earlier tweet.

PPPS I said 3 kronur, but it was actually 300 kronur. I got so used to throwing an imaginary decimal place in there to do conversions in my head that I botched it in the thread.

The bit about being it basically three bucks though, that was the point.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) June 4, 2019

We get your point, Ms. Kowal. Something to think about…

What do you think? Share in the comments, we’d love to hear from you!

The post This American’s Experience with Iceland’s Healthcare System Really Strikes a Nerve appeared first on UberFacts.