You think your HMO is bad?

Then imagine what it is like to be an average Cuban citizen who must use facilities like these when they are in need of medical attention.  (seriously - not for the squeamish.)

Of course this is not a prop hospital used to treat wealthy European tourists.  In those hospitals you find clean linens and maybe even a CAT-scan machine or two.  And Castro and his confreres get to travel to Europe for medical attention.

No, Hospital Clinico Quirurgico is the kind of hospital that the average Cuban non-party-member citizen must use.  Sure it's "free."  But catching HIV or hepatitis usually doesn't cost you anything either.

I'd encourage you to bookmark this link and refer to it whenever someone talks about how wonderful Cuba's universal healthcare system is.  Then you should ask yourself how many wealthy American families (either old money Democrats or Hollywood celebrities) send their loved ones to Cuba for treatment.

Then you should remember that Fidel Castro was recently listed by Forbes as having  personal assets of approximately $550 million.

For some reason I keep hearing the phrase 'some are more equal than others' in the back of my mind.

(More coverage of this and some good comments over at Captain's Quarters.)