The Belgian Healthcare System and Less Than Butch Beers

So today was my first experience with the Belgian Healthcare System and based on this limited sample set, I think I may like socialized medicine. I made an appointment with a local GP. No direction other than I heard they spoke English really well. They actually could have taken me the same day, but being gainfully employed, I needed to delay them. When I arrived this morning, the office was pretty typical GP. Lots of medical leaflets (in Dutch), a big basket of toys to occupy the kids, and a few oddly-smelling elderly people. The usual fare.

The doc came out to get me in the waiting room. We spent the first 10 minutes just chatting about our town and what brought me from the US. The physical again was the usual drill. All in all I was in his office for about 40 minutes. We spent a some time discussing different options for my meds and he wrote my scripts. I paid him 23 euro which I now submit to the Mutual who wil repay me 17 euro of it. When I brought the prescriptions into the pharmacy, I expected to drop them off and pick them up later, but they assembled the meds right away and for another 20 euro I was on my way. Just one of my meds on my US Insurance co-pay would have been $50. Overall, a pretty positive experience.

Tonights beer is Brigand. The label of this beer looks like it was designed to capture the same kitsch as an Old Spice Ad, but is is more Village People. It pours out a very clear golden color which may make it accessible to people who don't like the turbidity of most bottle fermented beers. It is yeasty and has pronouced hops and at 9% there is a significant alcohol bite. It tastes mass produced and is not a favorite. Three Drunk Monks.