re: British National Healthcare (lol)

I knew it was all a sham when I watched a British broadcast of a football match and one of the main sponsors was private healthcare. Why would they need that when they "av fee elfcare!?"

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You can can count on one hand the countries that have as good/better than US Healthcare.

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People with unlimited money (saudi royalty) come to the United States for major operations.

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My first GF in NYC was Canadian. That was when the medical system was first socialized. Everything worked well after nationalizing a fully stocked state of the art industry, but after a few years they didn't even try to keep up and the bean counters kept slimming it down and using rationing to keep costs down. Canadians who really need serious healthcare for serious medical conditions now quip, "My dogs and cats get better care."

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A big problem with any government funded entity is politicians that want to see it fail.

I lived in Italy for 8 years and thought the healthcare in general was excellent. Emergency room/care was just like my experience in the US and they focus on preventative care and it was pretty easy to get all kinds of appointments for check ups etc.


(You could also do things like simply buy some contact lenses for 1/2 the price here if you knew your prescription without a new eye exam every single year).

The overall quality seems to go up or down based on whether the party in charge is trying to support it or cut funds and then point out the problems the underfunding causes.

Most wealthy Italians have additional private insurance so they can have more choices if they have a serious condition.

Not sure the point it makes to note that very rich people may come to the US for care when the criticism of the US system is that it's great for the very wealthy but not up to par for the middle class.

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Not sure the point it makes to note that very rich people may come to the US for care when the criticism of the US system is that it's great for the very wealthy but not up to par for the middle class.

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This is not true...walk into any ED in the USA with a life threating emergency and you will be treated regardless of your ability to pay. For chronic conditions the charity system offers top tier level care is as well as meds.

I have a friend who had family history of aggressive cancer France put him on a 6month waiting list for a Head CT to rule out glioblastoma. He flew to the US, walked into the ED and had the scan within an hour.

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You realize they have private insurance and private hospitals in the UK as well. Its the same thing as the difference between social security and an IRA. No law against paying for better healthcare.

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Not the point, apparently. As I hear, the government option jacks the private market prices.

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Not sure the point it makes to note that very rich people may come to the US for care when the criticism of the US system is that it's great for the very wealthy but not up to par for the middle class.

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The point is that even the most wealthy know that socialized medicine is a failed system and if you need the absolute best care then you look elsewhere.

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Private healthcare means private rationed healthcare at 3 times the cost.

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I’ve never had a single healthcare issue face rationing. Can you provide real examples in the US of rationing? Let me guess you’re talking about elective care that insurance won’t cover. That’s not rationing.

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That’s just blatantly false. UHC systems may allow greater access than the US but the actually quality of care in the US is far greater than every system except maybe Japan.

If we want UHC in the US, we are going to need a much fairer tax system. Right now, the US has the most lopsided tax system in the world with the top 10% basically paying for almost all services. In Europe, countries that offer a wider variety of government service have systems where the middle and lower class share a much greater portion of the tax burden. People that advocate for this expansion of systems need to start talking about the level of taxation on the middle and lower class that it will take.

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You'd better watch out with that kind of rhetoric. The US is trying to redistribute wealth.