>Someone in a wheelchair, or who is blind or mute, is much better accomodated in America than in most of Europe. (In part because the former is richer.)
I guess it just depends on who you talk to and their particular values.
I love my country, but to give a bit of a counter point : I am paralyzed due to a cervical spine injury.
Medicare will pay 80% of the cost of a new chair after payment of deductible once every 5 years. They do not cover maintenance and repair in most cases.
A decent mid-range power-chair with posture and repositioning aids costs between 15k-25k. The air cushion for this chair to prevent pressure sores costs 400-800usd.
So, essentially, that means that a permanently disabled person making the high SSDI income of 18k a year is going to be asked to pay 4.5k USD out of pocket every 5 years just in order to take advantage of the offers from Medicare -- and this isn't including repair, wear and replacement of items, or the short 1-2 year life span of most air cushions. By the time the chair hits the next replacement window it will have gone through 2-3 500-800usd cushions and numerous other repairs.
To contrast : My friends with similar injuries who are insured under the British NHS receive a voucher for a new chair every 3-5 years. They receive vouchers for repair at local shops. Cushion replacement is deemed necessary during the repair process and they are replaced w/ vouchers as needed, not on a schedule.
It's all grass-is-always-greener thinking. The NHS has huge problems, too. But as a wheelchair user I can't wholly agree with the take that we're better accommodated over in the U.S. in any absolute sense.
I guess it just depends on who you talk to and their particular values.
I love my country, but to give a bit of a counter point : I am paralyzed due to a cervical spine injury.
Medicare will pay 80% of the cost of a new chair after payment of deductible once every 5 years. They do not cover maintenance and repair in most cases.
A decent mid-range power-chair with posture and repositioning aids costs between 15k-25k. The air cushion for this chair to prevent pressure sores costs 400-800usd.
So, essentially, that means that a permanently disabled person making the high SSDI income of 18k a year is going to be asked to pay 4.5k USD out of pocket every 5 years just in order to take advantage of the offers from Medicare -- and this isn't including repair, wear and replacement of items, or the short 1-2 year life span of most air cushions. By the time the chair hits the next replacement window it will have gone through 2-3 500-800usd cushions and numerous other repairs.
To contrast : My friends with similar injuries who are insured under the British NHS receive a voucher for a new chair every 3-5 years. They receive vouchers for repair at local shops. Cushion replacement is deemed necessary during the repair process and they are replaced w/ vouchers as needed, not on a schedule.
It's all grass-is-always-greener thinking. The NHS has huge problems, too. But as a wheelchair user I can't wholly agree with the take that we're better accommodated over in the U.S. in any absolute sense.