ABSTRACT
I left the Federal Republic of Germany more than 20 years ago. My last doctor's visit there was for a blood test required by U.S. law before my marriage to an American. I was still a student, thus privately insured under my father's insurance policy. Arriving for my appointment, I was ushered into a friendly, empty waiting room, passing a crowded waiting room for those patients insured under national health care. The doctor saw me after a few minutes, and when I left, the other patients were still waiting in the adjacent room. This incident came immediately and vividly to my mind when my parents decided, after my father's retirement, to cancel their private insurance and take advantage of the national health care for which he now was eligible due to his reduced income. I was concerned about the hours they now might have to wait before being treated. However, they were lucky to enjoy a comparatively healthy, active, and happy life as they grew into their eighties. On my yearly visits I saw one or the other leave for the doctor: they would receive a number from the general practitioner's office and would wait, indeed for hours, until they were called. Being retired, time was not an issue any more, and as long as the diagnosis was positive, the annoyance of waiting was easily forgotten; there was not a waiting problem for the occasional visit to a specialist.
