My godson in Paris (more like a younger cousin really) is becoming a doctor there, and I've watched my French grandmother deal with many health care issues as she's currently 103 years old...
Plainly speaking, the French system is far better than ours. Doctors make good money but not $300,000 a year, and to be honest I don't see why they *should* make anything like that. In the US insurance eats so much of a doctor's salary away, while in France there isn't that problem. The US insurance thing is a tremendous waste as I see it. For doctors to make fewer mistakes they should have more time with patients -- duh... These days auto mechanics seem to take more care with diagnostics than medical doctors who are always rushed!
In France the state will pay for you to go to medical school. In the States people are priced out (even from undergrad), so talent is wasted. We need far more doctors to bring prices down. To achieve this we should pay for their educations. In the US you see some rushed overworked doctor who spends two quick minutes with you and charges thousands of dollars. It's absolutely absurd.
Doctors in France have always seemed quite happy from what I can tell, though of course this is anecdotal. I've sensed they feel they are living a good life with a sense of purpose and respect. They will be upper middle class, but probably not driving Porsches. But who really needs a Porsche? Anyway if they'd like they are free to build a larger business of course.
Here's a quote from a blog:
"Iââ¬â¢ve had a unique opportunity to see both systems up close and personal: I had breast cancer in California nine years ago and a recurrence in Paris this year. I received excellent care in both places, though looking back now my California oncologistââ¬â¢s office was a bit of a meat market ââ¬â always packed with patients, from the seemingly not-so-sick to some a step from the grave ââ¬â a time-consuming disadvantage of living in a much larger country with a lower doctor-to-patient ratio.
My French doctors and nurses have been sensitive, skillful, caring ââ¬â and not so harried.
But the biggest difference has been moneyââ¬Â¦"
Here's an article on how the French system works. It's worth a look. Their system still has some problems but it truly is better and at half the price of ours.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ed...s/2007/08/11/frances_model_healthcare_system/
And it's a really nice feeling to know that all of the people around you will have access to good health care, as opposed to here where even many middle class people can only go to see care at the last minute once a preventable issue has become serious.