Sad but true.

While I was living in Mexico, I worked as a radiology technician. One of my co-workers work for the company I worked for and for the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (Mexico's attempt to provide universal health care). We worked with the IMSS often, when their tomography went down, patients would be sent to our facilities to perform tomographies. One such night I got a called from an attendant, they needed to find my co-worker, because there was a trauma patient who needed a head cat scan.

I called my co-worker and told him he was needed, he told me it wasn't his shift and that he was not going to show up and that he would turn off his cell phone. And so he did. Next morning I found out that patient had died. With or without a cat scan he would've died anyway (I think he would've live in the US) since he could not get the care he needed for his injuries.

One day, another of my co-workers was traveling by a scooter to a job site, when he was mowed down by a drunken Mexican Army sergeant. He was taken to the IMSS and since he was the brother of a some what influential business man, he was given all the tests needed, however, for 2 day he laid in urgent care because the hospital could not assign him a room. Finally his brother decided to transport him to a private hospital. He lived, once again, I think this man would've died at the IMSS, he survived because his brother had the means to give him the proper care at a private facility.

At least one of the doctors I knew (he was sub-director of a certain specialty)was drunk Monday - Thursday every other week. He wasn't the only one drinking, everyone under him, would drink with him.

I don't know If universal health care would work in the US, but I know it did not work in Mexico...sad but true.