What Paris taught me about American health care

Earlier this month my family traveled to Paris together. It was the first time I had been there in thirteen years. So last time I was a newlywed, and this time I saw the city through the eyes of a Mom of a ten-year old. I am sharing this not as a travelogue, but because the experience of spending time in a country that has universal health care really struck me at this moment as we, here in the United States, are debating the future of our current flawed health care system.

Today as the Senate is taking action on their bill, I want to tell you what I learned on my recent trip, but first I want to mention that today I heard a fantastic interview on The Story With Dick Gordon [listen through their website or by iTunes podcast] about a French woman who lived in America for many years, and became an American citizen. She was married to a doctor and and worked as an administrator in his medical practice, but even so they could not afford health insurance for themselves or their employees. So when she became seriously ill, she ended up returning to France for hospitalization and stabilization. Then she came back to America, and was able to get insurance and continued her treatment here. She sees the good in the American system but also the gaping holes in coverage that can leave people untreated, which she says just would not happen in France.


On our recent trip to Paris, I was immediately struck by how family-friendly the city seemed. Our first full day there we happened upon a massive Family Sport Fun Fair, designed to promote healthy living. It was a huge festival taking place in the field next to the Eiffel Tower. The FREE festival featured dozens of activities, from a little Circus School, to boxing lessons from the police, to Aikido demonstrations, a rock climbing wall, badminton courts, wheelchair sports for all to try, and a cool obstacle course. There was even a scuba-diving tank trucked in, which you had to see to believe.



We passed on the scuba diving lessons but did just about everything else we could fit in. I was really proud of Mojo Girl as she scaled the rock-climbing wall and careened down on the huge zip line attached to the top. Here she was in a brand-new city, and she doesn't speak French, so it took all the courage she had to try out these adventurous activities. (At the rock climbing wall we waited in line for an hour and saw about 50 kids do it ahead of us, so we helped translate the instructions for her as we all observed.)

Being in Paris and doing family activities for a whole week I really felt that there is a French esprit de corps that we are lacking here, at least in American suburbia. I don't know if I am capturing the exact term the French would use, and if anyone can direct me to a more accurate term I am all ears. But I felt like the Parisians are really used to being together, in public. Instead of being in a car, for the whole week we walked, or took the Metro subway or bus. The city is crowded and we were surrounded by lots of other people the whole time. But with the exception of one jam-packed subway ride with suitcases, it wasn't uncomfortable. People didn't feel like "strangers," they felt like people. They were generally not overtly friendly but they were not intimidating either, and any time we needed assistance we were able to find it.

So when it came to Parisian kids, I got the sense that they are used to crowds. Take a look at the playground on a Wednesday afternoon when there was no school:


That is public spirit!

We spent a lot of time on the playground (roughly one park visit for every musuem or church visit) and it really and truly struck me to the the core of my heart as I looked at the diverse, playful crowd: every one of these kids has health care. And it felt different. It didn't feel like us versus them, my group versus your group, rich versus poor. It was just KIDS at the park and they all had health care.

American kids deserve no less and we need to keep pushing our leaders as they take tentative steps in the direction of providing options that will make health care for all a possibility.

How to get there is still a matter of great debate and one piece of good news is that there is more than one way to do it! I recommend the Fresh Air interview with author T. R. Reid talking about different health care strategies around the globe, also detailed in his book The Healing of America, and the Frontline special Sick Around the World.

We HAVE to figure out a better way to provide health care in the United States and ensure that everybody has basic coverage. I am afraid that our great American Individualism has become our great flaw: we assume that what we have do it here is the BEST when it's not necessarily so. When it comes to health care and related social/family issues like maternity leave, we can no longer afford to stick out like a sore thumb as the big, rich industrialized nation that has failed to provide the basic protection that we need.

Do you have experience with health care around the world that allows you to see the American system in a different light? Please tell us about it in the comment section.

Triangle MomsRising calls on Senator Kay Hagan and Rep. Brad Miller

This week, our Triangle MomsRising group made office visits to Senator Kay Hagan's staff and Representative Brad Miller in Raleigh. It was my first Senate office visit and I was blown away by the powerful health care stories that our members shared.

It definitely made an impression on Senator Hagan's staff that many of us brought our kids along to the meeting. Just getting in the door through security was quite a task, but worth it, to make the point that our kids are their constituents, too. They welcomed our kids, which I really appreciated.


Our large MomsRising group made an impression on Senator Kay Hagan's staff.

The members of our group, ranging from babies and kids, to moms of all ages, and a concerned male ally, told striking stories that underscored why we need health care for all families. We shared our own experiences: a premature baby whose life was saved by expensive medical care; a baby born with a condition that required a breadwinner to quit her job, lose her insurance, and sell her home to pay medical bills; Moms as small business owners wanting the independent contractors who work with us to be able to buy insurance; the mother of a 27-year-old college graduate who sees her son working two jobs yet not provided health insurance; concerns about public health, with many serious illnesses going untreated; spouses with pre-existing conditions that mean that we are at risk for losing our health insurance, which would be disastrous.

As we went around the room, telling our individual stories, tears welled up in my eyes, with sadness and anger that we are not meeting the goal of providing basic health care for all. I truly believe that one of the best things about becoming a parent is that you develop empathy--you realize how any family could be vulnerable to losing health care and encounter disastrous consequences under our current system, and even if it doesn't happen to me, as a mother I find it completely unacceptable that it could happen to another family.

Senator Hagan's staff listened attentively and talked to us for quite a while, saying that our leaders really need to hear from us about our strong and unwavering support for health care reform. They asked us to talk about facts with people in our daily lives, and to counter myths that are taking a lot of the politicians' time away from the core debate. They asked us to think carefully about the political process and what compromises we might find acceptable in order to get any kind of reform passed now--the ongoing strategic question of whether to accept half a loaf now and get the rest later, or to go for the whole enchilada with no compromises.


Nine MomsRising activists continued on to meet with Congressman Brad Miller

Five moms and four kids continued the day's activism by calling on Congressman Brad Miller. Beth Messersmith, one of the intrepid Triangle MomsRising leaders, said that "Congressman Miller was pleased to meet with us and our children and glad to hear our stories. He seemed truly happy that we had brought the kids. He answered all of our questions with detailed information, and assured us that he was committed to making this happen. He truly seems to understand that this is a personal and moral issue for America's families."

So thank you goes out to our Triagle MomsRising leaders who pulled together these important visits that inspired me to do more outreach to all my representatives in Washington D. C. I hope that we will call on Senator Richard Burr, who is "strongly opposed" to President Obama's plan. This visit made me realize that it's important to let all our elected leaders know how we feel, and demand accountability for their stances, whether or not their views agree with ours. I don't want any Congressperson to be able to say, "All the calls I have received are opposing health care reform."

I was heartened to learn in a recent Fresh Air interview with T. R. Reid, author of the new book The Healing of America, that in Taiwan, when the country recently decided to overhaul their health care system, the issue became so important to the citizenry that both the conservative and liberal parties wanted to take credit for making it happen. Thinking about that during our visits to Raleigh inspired me to keep spreading our message forward, to not give up until we have health care for all families in the United States.

Cross-posted to the MomsRising.org blog.