This afternoon at the pharmacy I was in line behind two men. One looked to be middle age, the other was elderly. When the first man was told the price of his medications he just hung his head and walked away. The pharmacist called after him, “You need this medicine, want us to keep it for you?” He just muttered that he’d try to work something out and kept on walking. The second man blanched at his payment of nearly $200 for four or five medications. “What would it be if I didn’t have insurance,” he asked. “Oh, around $400,” she said. He hung his head too, but paid – with a credit card. How insane is this? And yet I hear some of my friends brag about how the U.S. has the best health care system in the world. What world do they live in? Then they tell me about all the Canadians who come to the U.S. for treatment because they can’t get it in Canada. What treatment are they seeking? Elective surgeries that are important to them but perhaps not urgent? How much money do they have to spend whatever it takes to get what they want when they want it? I can do that too, but it doesn’t make it right that others have to suffer or go without!