Here in Australia, if we went to hospital with a badly cut finger, we'd be
put into a queue with the people needing the most urgent care beign seen
first. They try to discourage people with colds and hte like going into
"emergency" that way. And, depending on the day and time of year, you may
well end up waiting 8 hours with a room full of drunks, although I've only
ever waited 2 hours.

But for just a cut finger, you'd most likely just go see a GP, and they'd
most likely put you ahead of all the other patients because you have
something "urgent", and they'll stitch you up there and then. I fhte doctor
is "bulk billing" all you have to do is show your medicare card and sign the
claim form, and its free. I fhtye aren't bulk billing, they charge you
(usually around $40, but it can be higher depending on the area you live and
how much the doctor thinks they can get away with) and you can claim back
$36 from the medicare system.

Standard governement subsidised prescriptions cost $28 for those who aren't
on a pension, and $6 for those who are. Drugs that aren't on the subsidy
list, though, cost whatever they cost, and depeindin gon your helath
insurance cover, you can claim 80% of the cost above the $28 up to a certain
limit back from your health insurance. Before the meningicoccal vaccine was
put on the susbsidised list, it cost $135 for each vaccine for Cary, and he
needed three of them to have full immunity (we could claim $80 back for up
to three vaccinations). We paid for the first two, as he as going to daycare
and we couldn't risk it, but by the time he was due for hte third, the
governement subsidy had been approved, and it was only $28.

(there as a big hoo-haa about our government subsidy on pharmeceutical drugs
when the free trade agreement came in with the USA, because the USA
pharmeceiticals don't like the fact that the Aussie governement sets the
price for the drugs, rather than "free market forces". That one issue nearly
prevented the Free trade Agreeement being passed by the Australian
government)

Yowie