head case

Chalkhead my son's lunatic friend and fellow bicycle messenger in San Francisco has managed to have a head on collision with another biker. There was some discussion as to whether this was the safest part of CH to damage, as his skull is reputedly solid bone, however he ended up in intensive care in a coma, so smart remarks were pocketed for a while.
Fortunately CH's grandma left him a sizable legacy so before doing a round the world trip for his honeymoon, he bought medical insurance, - hopefully the Scat scans etc will be covered.
He is awake now and back on the general ward with various broken bones and a headache, they are keeping him in for another week. He is refusing to see or speak to anyone but his wife, so there is some concern in case the head injury has affected his personality, but hopefully the hospital is just keeping him quiet for a while
The arguement between USA medical insurance and UK NHS seems to be getting quite explosive at times. Neither system is perfect, but I worry for my son, as he regularly gets stopped suddenly by car doors opening as he cycles by, and my daughter is concerned that her husband may be made redundant just when they hope to have a second babe, what happens when they can't afford insurance?
The NHS takes a lot out of ones salary each month, but at least when it is needed it is there.
Now I am an old girl I don't have to pay for prescriptions - or bus fares. Sometimes I think I and my mates were really lucky, we missed the war, got free education, fairly good employment prospects, largely paid off our mortgages and in the main look forward to a decent professional pension. I never imagined it would all change.