And to see how unwieldy, inefficient, and problematic non-competitive medicine IS — just look out your back door. In an efficient economy 95-98% of the population can and does pay for necessities like medicine and education out of pocket and as-you-go … we are nowhere close to that

And yes, this – and much more – seems like precisely the sort of thing we can look forward to once the federal government has been “elected” to control our access to health care.

To your questions.

I have no knowledge of any other French national being in that particular circumstance, so I can’t speak to how often it happens. He spoke to me about the restrictions as matter of fact, so I must assume it’s pretty standard.

As to justification, I also assume, although I did not ask, that the government is trying to control fraudulent claims. From many previous visits to his home, I have gotten an insight into the French attitude of getting the most from the government. On several occasions he had work done in his home by someone who was on unemployment but working “in the black” to use my friends term. Fraud in unemployment is rampant and I guess it’s the same with medical disabilities.

To my knowledge, he was on this “house arrest” for several months. At least until the Social Security (same term we use) was satisfied he wasn’t faking his condition. The whole situation was not something I felt was polite of me to keep bringing up, so I didn’t. He didn’t tell me about his restriction until I arrived and wanted him to come with me to visit the Normandy beaches.

I have a French friend who is, “was” since he can’t practice anymore, a well respected dentist in Boulogne sur mer France. He had a vascular blockage in his left leg that required surgery. The surgery was botched, and required an additional surgery to repair the damage. He was unable to work for several months and was on some sort of full disability.

I visited him during this time and was shocked to learn he was restricted to his home for 20 hours a day by the government. He could go out for two hours in the morning (10:00 to 12:00) and in the afternoon (2:00 to 4:00). A prisoner the rest of the time. I asked him how did “they” check on him, and evidently it’s first a phone call and If you don’t answer “they” can come directly to your home. The consequences if you’re not home? “I would loose ALL my benefits!” That meant his supplemental income as well as his health care.

I had planned to visit the WWll beaches at Normandy and the only way for him to join me, since it was an overnight trip, was to get a permission document from his doctor. We then had to take the permission to the Social Security office to get permission from that agency. As a recreational trip was not justifiable to the government, he fabricated some reason for going other than joining a friend from the States on a holiday. As I sat waiting in his car, literally hiding from any official that might raise questions about a foreigner visiting him, he visited each of the necessary offices. It was probably our intended destination, and thoughts WWll, that brought the Gestapo to mind. What a circle of events that I was just a few hours away from the place that represented the beginning of the freeing of France, and here, in 2005, this Frenchman literally lost his freedom in order to maintain his healthcare benefits. 

Such draconian measures clearly show how far wrong social systems can go. As goy so accurately points out, “Hillary, et al., know that once the People put the state in control of their health care, everything else will fall into line – at least from the standpoint of a government which seeks ever more control over the People it purports to serve.”

Oh, by the way, don’t forget the actual name of the Nazi party. “National Socialist German Worker’s Party”.
 

I lived under government ran health care when I was in the military. If at all possible, I don’t want to go there again. The Democrats keep saying that over 40 million Americans lack health insurance (an inflated number). So, if that’s the case, why no write legislation that addresses those who are uninsured instead of trying to drag everyone into a government ran program? They’ve done a lousy job with Medicare and Medicaid but somehow think they’re capable of handling the health care of over 300 million people? Absurd. Tell you what – make Medicare and Medicaid examples of shining efficiency and quality care. Make them so good that people will look forward to being insured by the government. Once you’ve done that, we can discuss letting you manage health care for everyone.