Italy has never failed me when I've needed health care. I broke my foot, got immediate care, an operation and post operative care without spending anything out of my own pocket. My husband had multiple health issues, many weeks of the year in hospital or in rehab, and there was no cost to us. It's a scandal that the United States, which is unspeakably richer than Italy, cannot offer universal health care, cannot relieve the anxiety that every citizen there is subject to.