To the editor:

I have been a family physician in Langley and an emergency room physician in Everett over the past 30 years. Three years ago, I took a job as an emergency room physician in New Zealand. I wanted to see the beauty of New Zealand, and I wasn’t disappointed.

In addition, I discovered the pleasure of working in a medical system with universal coverage. Every person has full medical coverage, and every person has an ongoing relationship with a primary care physician.

Firstly, I knew that nothing I did for a patient in the ER would add to that person’s financial burden. I also discovered that I did not have to do as much diagnostic testing in New Zealand as I do in Everett because

I knew that the patient had a primary care physician with whom he could follow up.

It was a relief not to worry about being sued, since lawsuits are exceedingly rare in New Zealand. I don’t know why this is so but I believe that it is, in part, because patients are proud of their medical-care system and supportive of it. My malpractice insurance cost me $562.

I enjoyed working with the other doctors in the ER who, like me, were on a salary. They were well-trained, thoughtful and hard-working people.

I noticed that, while waiting lines for elective surgeries were long, urgent surgeries were done expeditiously. High-tech studies such as CT scans, MRIs and cardiac catheterizations were done much less frequently in New Zealand than in Everett, but not many conditions of importance were missed.

And it is impressive to realize that the cost per person in New Zealand is one quarter of the cost in the U.S.

So, while the debate about healthcare in the U.S. is complicated, I hope that universal coverage, with its benefits to both patients and practitioners, can be attained.

Doug Allderdice, M.D.

Langley