Posted on 10/05/2025 8:59:28 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
LONDON — Despite being headlined by a genuine star and staged at one of London’s premier theaters, a play about the foundation of a sprawling and troubled public service seemed unlikely to provoke night after night of standing ovations.
But that’s what happened with “Nye,” an unlikely hit about the creator, and origin story, of Britain’s taxpayer-funded National Health Service.
The play, written by Tim Price and directed by Rufus Norris, came at an inflection point for the NHS, as it’s known. Almost 80 years after it was founded, the medical service once touted as the envy of the world is “broken” and suffering the “biggest crisis in its history,” the government says. The crisis at this national bedrock is part of a bigger malaise at the heart of British culture: rising prices, stagnant wages and crumbling public services.
Through all this, the core NHS ideal endures. Everyone in the U.K. has a story of a relative, or themselves, receiving the type of world-class care that puts a terrifying financial strain on millions of Americans.
But just as common are the tales of maddening, hourslong waits in overstretched emergency rooms, or weeklong delays just to see a community general practitioner. Many critics blame the sprawling crisis on years of underfunding by the now-ousted Conservative government of 2010-24, whose response to the 2008 financial crisis was to make drastic cuts to public services.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
I’ll say it again. Unconstitutional gov’t healthcare DOESN’T WORK!!!
The lie that gov’t healthcare is helpful keeps getting repeated, so I’ll repeat the truth. Hopefully it helps...
There are so many reasons unconstitutional gov’t healthcare should be abolished.
Here is a sampling of reasons:
1) Gov’t takeover of healthcare is unconstitutional and, thus, illegal. Nowhere does the Constitution delegate power to the feds to meddle in healthcare.
2) See 1)
3) Gov’t healthcare puts your individual healthcare in the hands of distant, indifferent, and non-medial D.C. bureaucrats and politicians who of course as middlemen must be paid and, thus, increasing the cost of healthcare. The HHS bureaucracy has a budget of $1 trillion.
4) The highest quality, most affordable, and most available healthcare in the world is what we had in the voluntary cooperation DIRECTLY between doctor and patient before the gov’t muscled in in the 50’s and 60’s with its “helping hand” hand out and a hammer behind his back! As Ronald Reagan said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help’”.
5) Gov’t hammer? What hammer? Forced vaccines, forced abortions, forced treatment all by distant politicians and bureaucrats who are not medical experts and do not know you personally.
6) Gov’t agenda vs. your own personal agenda. Who cares more about your health? You? Or some distant politician and bureaucrat who doesn’t know you from Adam and frankly couldn’t care less about you personally?
7) No one cares more about your health than you. Why in the world would you take your personal healthcare and your personal choices in the self interest of your health and wellbeing out of the hands of the DIRECT relationship between you and the doctor of your choosing who knows and cares about you, and instead put your healthcare in the hands gov’t politicians and bureaucrats who don’t know you, have the power to force you to do what they want, and who have their own agenda which includes “culling” the “overpopulation” - so gov’t has a bias toward your death.
8) That is a short list. There’s more but why would anyone need more reasons? NUKE UNCONSTITUTIONAL GOV’T HEALTHCARE!!!
Rich Canadians come to the U.S. for major surgery. Could the reason be nationalized health care in Canuck-land?
I’m guessing the Labour Party’s “solution” will be:
Tax native Brits more.
Reduce services for native Brits.
Oh, and bring in more illegal immigrants.
That’s odd.
A high budget theater production celebrating a massive and disastrous Government program. Beyond anything the Soviet Union did and the leftist a-holes at NBC thinks it’s great.
The important thing is that it’s FREE!!!
In the USA, I do not know the current percentage.
Ten years ago, 30% of new USA doctors were foreign born.
Same percentage for USA dentists.
Under current USA law, foreign doctors and dentists who are sponsored by a USA employer, or who agree to practice in an under served USA location, receive a Green Card within 12 months.
Too Many Illegals getting waaaaay too much free stuff and refusing to WORK
To be fair, NHS is not unconstitutional. The British Constitution does in fact permit such a thing.(To my knowledge anyways)
But in any case, NHS is running into the same old problem socialism always faces.
They are running out of other people’s money to rely on.
The NHS does not suffer under the weight of the US legal system where every action by a hospital or doctor is subject to suit. Imagine how much better and cheaper health care could be in this country if we did not have to pay the legal overhead for every service performed.
If something is “free” demand becomes infinite.
Economics 1.
“Through all this, the core NHS ideal endures…”
….When you finally know you’re childishly, impenetrably stupid…
I can’t imagine a big part of the problem has anything to do with the large number of illegal migrants, that are all doctors and engineers, showing up in dinghies. ...or inbreeding between them ;p
I grew up in the UK. My family is quite typical, they’ll assume the NHS is the greatest health service in the world because that’s what they’ve been told and is all they know.
E.g. “I broke my arm and it was fixed for free!!!”. Yep, didn’t cost anything, to anyone, everyone works for free and all the materials, buildings, electricity, equipment...all free!!
Ask them how much of their taxes go toward the NHS. They have no idea. Ask them how their cancer survival rate compares to the USA, no idea. Ask them how long it takes to see a specialist in the USA, no idea. Ask them what procedures don’t exist in the UK, no idea. Ask them if they’re aware that the USA is subsidizing the world in pharmaceuticals, everyone else gets ‘generics prices’, we pay the full amount.
That’s not to say we don’t have our problems.
IMHO - there is no ‘perfect’ health care system because....we all die - but the more we know means the more we can do, it only gets more expensive because of it. If you have an ailment where “nothing can be done”, well, it generally doesn’t cost anything. It’s when “something CAN be done” where things cost, and it’s an ever-growing list we all share the burden of paying into.
NHS does not suffer under the weight of the US legal system “
This is an important point. England also has loser pays. Contingency lawsuits are a catastrophic aspect of our system. Billions of dollars is spent on defensive medicine and malpractice insurance because of it. The trial lawyers are always among the rats biggest contributors so ww will never eliminate it.
All of the socialized health systems around the world have rhe same basic problem. They do not have the employer-based private health insurance programs that we have in America. So they are chronically underfunded.
NHS is NOT “at the center of British culture”.
NHS costs too much tax payer money and is highly inefficient.
They are bleeding tax payers dry.
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