In the Toilet' -- British NHS Today; U.S. Healthcare Tomorrow

American Thinker ^ | 09/13/2014 | Deane Waldman

[SeekAndFind]

A September 6, 2014 headline in Great Britain’s Daily Mail announced, “Now NHS lets you jump the queue for routine surgery... if you'll pay

What is happening in Great Britain’s vaunted in NHS (National Health Service) is of vital interest to Americans. Dr. Donald Berwick, one of the prime designers of the Affordable Care Act, proudly said in 2010 that the NHS was his model for our ACA. By seeing where the NHS is today, we can foresee where U.S. healthcare is headed tomorrow.

To reduce the escalating costs of their healthcare system, the NHS has been rationing care, either by stating what care will be denied or by restricting how much money is allocated and thus limiting the supply of authorized goods and services. That is why people wait forever for care. When not enough money is expended to pay doctors, to buy MRI scanners, or to construct operating room and burn units, what happens? People die by queueing. American veterans know about this up close and personal.

According to official British government statistics, in August 2014, there were 3.2 million Britons – 5% of their total population! -- awaiting surgery. Some – 189,571, to be precise -- had already waited for more than four months!

To get paid at all, and to try to get patients the care they need (before they die while waiting, like U.S. veterans and Canadians), British hospitals have begun advertising that self-funded patients can move up the queue, or they can get care that is denied by NHS rationing. In other words, those with money, who already paid for their health care through taxes, can get the care they need by paying (again) out of pocket.

[Pontiac]

“Now NHS lets you jump the queue for routine surgery... if you'll pay

According to official British government statistics, in August 2014, there were 3.2 million Britons – 5% of their total population! -- awaiting surgery. Some – 189,571, to be precise -- had already waited for more than four months!

So the whole purpose of the NHS was so that everyone in Britain could get good health care.

So now after all of these some 40 years of socialized medicine there are returning to (slowly) a capitalistic system where you pay for better service.

They went to socialized medicine to get away from a two tier system where those with more money get better service and now a Labour government is reversing course.

Absolutely fabulous.

[Amagi]

Recalling the gratuitous plug for the NHS at the London Olympics opening ceremony.
Utter political BS from the Brit libtard twits pulling the propaganda for ObamaCare out of their butt --- and totally unappreciated by red blooded Americans who understand what ObamaCare is all about and why it is a colossal disaster at every conceivable level.
Meanwhile, libtards, who have already ruined much of the olympics, now have leveled their sights on US football, with the complicit aid of the incompetent, clueless Commish Goodell.

[sinsofsolarempirefan]

You’ve always been able to ‘jump the queue’ by paying for treatment privately in Britain. The only obstacle sometimes is that you will occasionally get a very talented specialist who is one of the best at what they do who passionately believes in the NHS and refuses to treat anyone privately, which does occasionally force some people who could well afford better to get NHS treatment. My mum came across such cases when she worked as a nurse.

[kalee]

for later

[Morpheus2009]

The foundation for European Healthcare was taking care of the veterans. Since there’s loads of negligence in the U.S. in caring for our vets, I find this statement to be pretty bad comparison.

[az_gila]

You’ve always been able to ‘jump the queue’ by paying for treatment privately in Britain.....

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Yes, and one of the ways to do it this through these folks.

My BIL got is as a work benefit many years ago.

http://www.bupa.co.uk/

Not many Americans are aware of the private health insurance schemes in the UK.

[lowbridge]

Bump

[goldstategop]

Under NHS, one is treated for free and while one can buy private health insurance, its not necessary.

The people of UK like their single payer health care system and not want to see its essential character changed.

Political debate revolves around how to make NHS more accountable, responsive and effective not whether health care should be based on ability to pay.

[az_gila]

Under NHS, one is treated for free and while one can buy private health insurance, its not necessary.

The people of UK like their single payer health care system and not want to see its essential character changed.

Political debate revolves around how to make NHS more accountable, responsive and effective not whether health care should be based on ability to pay

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I know it's optional, but it seems around 8 million UK residents have a separate, non-NHS insurance policy.

As I said, this is a little known fact in the US, were everyone assumes the health system is entirely NHS.

That number of insurance customers does not even include “one-off” uses of non-NHS providers.

My mother was put on an 8 week waiting list for a CAT scan for a possible bad heart. She paid separately and had it done in 4 days - luckily with negative results...:^)

This UK health care “system-bypass” is simply not known in the US.

Some people might like it, but many (most?) think the waiting times absolutely suck, and it seems the NHS free dentistry is disappearing..

[AnAmericanInEngland]

The NHS horror stories are mostly just that, stories. I had a colonoscopy show possible colon cancer and was in for further investigation within days. The wife had a yearly post breast cancer (diagnosed while we lived in the US and we had to wait 3 months for insurance to approve the mastectomy) show numbers that worried the NHS doc, and she was in treatment by the end of the week.

Non life threatening stuff may take months, ie, joint replacement or dental issues, bit otherwise, it ain’t that bad, and you’d be hard pressed to find many Brits that would trade it for the American model.

Is it perfect? Hell no. Is it as bad as you read about at sources with a vested interest in scaring Americans away from an NHS style system in the US? Hell no. Here in the UK, when ER waits hit 2-3 hours, it’s a scandal, in America, 2-3 hours was a short wait.