On Monday, December 28, the guest of the American Center was Mike Snyder, an Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer at the US Embassy. Mr. Snyder, who is in charge of the American Centers and Corners in Russia, gave a talk on the health care system in the US. One of the problems of this system is that a lot of people don't have medical insurance in the US and that it is very expensive. Mr. Snyder explained to the audience how the American health care system works and where people usually get their insurance. After that he addressed a question to the audience: How does the Russian system work?
Mr. Snyder pointed out the possible solutions, including President
Obama's plan, which is that the health care system should be subsidized by the government. The audience found out that this plan was criticized strongly as it doesn't allow people to have the right of choice: whether to have medical insurance or not. At the end, the
lecturer summed up that the health care system is now in a state of
major upheaval and will be changed fundamentally. Twenty seven people
attended the event.