And the health care system isn't broken?

Apologists for the American health-care system long argued that we have the best quality of care in the world. That notion has largely been debunked, so the apologists cite the bureaucratic nightmare national health care would create. Hmmm. Let me tell you about bureaucratic nightmares ...

Last week, we received a refund for an overpayment we made to a hospital. An overpayment we made in 2006.

This week, we received a letter from a collection agency for services rendered in January 2008. Services the hospital has acknowledged, on several occasions, that we don't even owe. After hours of frustrating calls, both the hospital and the collection agency have agreed to send us letters acknowledging their error. Anyone want to bet we don't get one or both of those letters? Anyone want to bet we've heard the last from these folks?

In summary. When a hospital owes a patient a debt it doesn't dispute, it takes two years to pay it (without interest). When a patient is wrongly billed, that bill makes it to a collection agency in four months (plus 15 percent interest).

And government health-care would be a bureaucratic nightmare?