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solo_soprano22 -> RE: Socialized Medical Care (6/20/2008 9:27:34 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: tacitus
You know, all I ever see in this forum about any form of nationalized health care (and there are many forms) is a knee jerk reaction as to how terrible it would be. Nobody ever seems to bother to study the real facts, like virtually all western industrialized nations apart from the US has some form of it, and while they are not without some problems (no system is perfect) the vast majority of people in those countries wouldn't have it any other way. That should tell you something.
Anyway, I am reposting what I said in another thread about my family's experiences with the British National Health Service. And remember, all this costs 1/3 per capita what it costs us for health care here in the US.
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Well I lived in the UK for 30 years and I can tell you that cancer patient and heart patients never had to wait 4 years for an operation unless it was something like waiting for a heart transplant where the situation is no better in the USA. There have been long waiting lists in times past, but they were for non-critical issues like hip replacement surgery. Not pleasant for the sufferer by any means, but they weren't dying.
And as a matter of fact, my mother had a bladder cancer operation just a couple of weeks after detection, and my father had a stent put in just a few weeks after they detected he had heart disease. They are both alive today because of speedy, efficient and quality care from the British National Health Service. My mother also had a fall a couple of years ago and torn ligaments in her shoulder. There *was* a waiting list for the surgery to repair the damage (only about 16 weeks mind, not 4 years) so they decided to pay for the surgery themselves. As school teachers all their lives they are not wealthy people by any means, but because they had not been saddled with hefty medical bills for their more serious illnesses they were able to afford private surgery nonetheless (yes, shock horror, affordable private medicine and insurance is still available in the UK!!) and they opted to go private. My father also has diabetes which is being closely monitored by the local NHS doctor and has thus ensured that he hasn't needed expensive health care from any complications that could arise at his age (he's nearly 80). My mother has to take expensive antibiotics to stave off bladder infections (no cancer though) which would probably be a major drain of their resources if they had to pay for them.
So the caricature of the British NHS you see described in these forums is grossly inaccurate. Sure there are problems, some of them serious, but by and large it functions very well for most people and the vast majority of Brits wouldn't have it any other way -- not even Margaret Thatcher dared to do away with it, and the right-wing Conservative Party is claiming that it will do an even better job running the NHS if they win the next election. Nobody in the UK wants to do away with the NHS any more. It works and gives everyone access to healthcare regardless of income. And those who can afford private healthcare have plenty of options open to them too. (Unlike Rudy Giuliani's ridiculous claims last year).
And let's not forget, Americans are playing double to three times per capita for their healthcare compared to the Brits, so private medicine is no bargain. Guess who has to pay for all those uninsured who finally come in with advanced cancer or other serious illness because they didn't have the money to seek early diagnosis and treatment -- that's right, we do, for all 40 million uninsured and more! And as I have personally discovered, private medicine is no guarantee of speedy service -- I have had to wait up to 10 weeks just to see a specialist at times.
And for those of you who don't have a good health insurance plan through work, how many times have you fretted or worried about going to the doctor because of the possible expense, or the possibility of your rates going sky high, or losing the insurance altogether? I know one person who spent years with a bad stomach worrying about the costs of treatment before I persuaded him to go get it checked out. He was lucky -- it was treatable, but if it had been cancer it would have been too late. Having lived with the NHS, with company health insurance, and now with a personal insurance plan, the difference is night and day with the amount of stress and worry paying for private healthcare adds to your life. And I am lucky that I don't have a family to support. In the UK nobody goes bankrupt because of medical bills. In the US, up to 500,000 people suffer that fate every year because of medical expenses, meaning that every year well over a million people (including spouses and children) suffer through one of the most traumatic live events that can happen to a family. No wonder the divorce rate is so high these days (financial issues ranks high in the causes of divorce).
I understand that the idea of government administered health care is ideologically repugnant to many people around here, but that does not mean that some form of nationalized healthcare (and there are many to chose from) doesn't work better than our broken-down private system in the USA. Comparing the raw stats of American life-expectancy, infant mortality, and other health indicators with other countries in western industrialized nations. The US is 38th in life expectancy and around 30th in infant mortality. Every nation with some form of nationalized health care is ahead of the US (including Cuba!). Something is badly wrong with this picture.
I agree. :)
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