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Of course, there plenty of lawyers in America that live on maltreatment practice. That's wasn't the point. The example I gave was my very negative experience with NHS, in response to the very rosy picture Brits are trying to paint here.
Yet, as I have posted the Study on a previous comment, we Americans were more satisfied with our healthcare than Canadians. And this was when our healthcare was still messed up.
I already proved this in a previous post, in this thread. Go search it yourself amongst 47 pages.
Then your point is confusing. What difference would it make that someone in your family was misdiagnosed by the NHS when you are aware of the fact that it also happens here? What does that have to do with the American Health Care system?
When doctors botch things up under a National Health Care Plan, at least the patient can go and have the problem fixed if possible while if it happens here, the patient has to pay all over again to fix the errors made by the medical providers. The victim has to pay for the perpetrator's mistakes. That is why we have malpractice attorneys and they do so well because juries sympathize with these cases and award the patients the cost of their newly accrued medical fees along with punitive damages.
When the damage done by the doctors or hospitals is so bad the patient will require lifelong care, those malpractice attorneys have to go after millions to insure medical care for the rest of the patient's life because that's what the medical bills will wind up being. How else is the injured person suppose to pay for medical expenses after the insurance runs out? Under a National Health Care Plan, the cost will be absorbed through the collective taxes which means no tort cases, lower government regulated medical costs and the patient's family doesn't go bankrupt trying to pay medical bills.
No one ever said the NHS was perfect. Those here who had it simply stated they were happy with it. It doesn't surprise me that more Americans said they were happy with their health care system than Canadians. These were more than likely Americans who were able to have healthcare in America. I wonder what those who were unable because they didn't have insurance and couldn't afford out of pocket expenses to pay without it would have said. Were they polled?
Do the European middle class and poor complain about paying for the entitlement of having medical care when they need it? Everyone complains about taxes but I doubt they complain about paying that which covers the portion of taxed for health care.
So if we are really ranked last could someone please explain to me why the hell world leaders from all over come to this country for health care. I remember when I lived in Phoenix a Royal Family would come and get healthcare in Scottsdale, made no sense to me. Then we have Canadian leaders coming to this country for better treatment and healthcare, WTF? I realize we don't have everyone covered but if you are leader from another country with socialized health care why are you coming here?
I've come to the conclusion that arguing with Henry is a waste of time.
I too am very happy living in a country with the NHS and that I'll never have to deal with the US system again.
I guess we will just have to agree to disagree with Henry. You and I live, and deal with the NHS. I know it isn't perfect, and mistakes are made. This is hardly unlikely with such a huge organisation. As Henry says, the NHS will have to change and adapt in the coming years. Like many other countries we have the boomers born after the war now growing old.
But, it is there to help the citizens of this country in time of illness, and the population at large are glad it's there. Some take it for granted, and don't appreciate how fortunate we are. I had two operations on my back about 15 years ago, so I had the chance to observe the NHS in action at close hand. I saw the compassion of the doctor's and nurses, and can't praise them highly enough.
My last dealings with it were a couple of years ago. My aunt was dying with cancer, and I visited her, and saw how well she was being cared for. She wanted to die at home, and this was arranged for her. I was dumbstruck when a hospital bed was sent to her home, and 24 hour care for her was arranged. I was amazed at this, and have never seen this before. Obviously, this was only for a few days until she died. That the NHS would go to so much trouble and expense for an old lady, and her wishes moved me emotionally. I can't say how much this made me, as a taxpayer, proud of my country.
It's nice to see our taxes being used for such an honorable institution. I have no doubt American health care is top notch, probably the best in the world. All that needs to be sorted out, is access for all. I guess the real argument is how this can be done, and for a price Americans are willing to pay.
I guess we will just have to agree to disagree with Henry. You and I live, and deal with the NHS. I know it isn't perfect, and mistakes are made. This is hardly unlikely with such a huge organisation. As Henry says, the NHS will have to change and adapt in the coming years. Like many other countries we have the boomers born after the war now growing old.
But, it is there to help the citizens of this country in time of illness, and the population at large are glad it's there. Some take it for granted, and don't appreciate how fortunate we are. I had two operations on my back about 15 years ago, so I had the chance to observe the NHS in action at close hand. I saw the compassion of the doctor's and nurses, and can't praise them highly enough.
My last dealings with it were a couple of years ago. My aunt was dying with cancer, and I visited her, and saw how well she was being cared for. She wanted to die at home, and this was arranged for her. I was dumbstruck when a hospital bed was sent to her home, and 24 hour care for her was arranged. I was amazed at this, and have never seen this before. Obviously, this was only for a few days until she died. That the NHS would go to so much trouble and expense for an old lady, and her wishes moved me emotionally. I can't say how much this made me, as a taxpayer, proud of my country.
It's nice to see our taxes being used for such an honorable institution. I have no doubt American health care is top notch, probably the best in the world. All that needs to be sorted out, is access for all. I guess the real argument is how this can be done, and for a price Americans are willing to pay.
Agree with everything.
I'm very healthy but do get preventive care here when it's offered and anytime I ask, and I've seen in-laws and friends with serious illnesses get excellent care. If I was still in the US I'd be paying for all the extra Medicare plans (well, in 3 years when I'd be 65). I have heard so many complaints from friends on Medicare.
I've had two friends with kids who had leukemia and saw their care at an excellent children's hospital. An uncle in-law with dementia in a Glasgow hospital and the caring staff. A very ill mother-in-law, etc etc etc.
I'm very healthy but do get preventive care here when it's offered and anytime I ask, and I've seen in-laws and friends with serious illnesses get excellent care. If I was still in the US I'd be paying for all the extra Medicare plans (well, in 3 years when I'd be 65). I have heard so many complaints from friends on Medicare.
I've had two friends with kids who had leukemia and saw their care at an excellent children's hospital. An uncle in-law with dementia in a Glasgow hospital and the caring staff. A very ill mother-in-law, etc etc etc.
I would think most folk's in Britain can tell a hundred good stories of their dealings with the NHS for every bad one. My mother was dying in my home town hospital in 1998. She was getting good care, but was unhappy to be in hospital. She knew she had to be there, and accepted she needed the treatment to keep her pain free.
I spoke with a doctor, and asked if a hospice place could be found for her. Somewhere with more pleasant surroundings. He promised he would find her a place for her last days. As good as his word, my mother was transferred to a hospice near her home, where she got wonderful patient nursing till she died.
I was born in a NHS hospital, and like many others, I well may die in one. It is one of the few things taxpayers can appreciate their taxes being spent on. There are many necessary things taxes are used for, some we don't see with our own eyes. The doctors surgeries we visit when unwell, and the hospitals full of doctors, nurses, and expensive equipment we can see, and be thankful for.
I have seen bad and good care in the USA and the UK.
The one thing you don't have in the UK is the "Omg how can I pay for this" aspect of American health care.
If you are sick in the USA without insurance, it's not a good place to be. (maybe it's different with the new obamacare, not been there in a year)
The NHS is not without fault and they often do the cheapest method of care even if more die as a result. No one goes into debt though if they are sick, although many die from missed cancer botched surgery etc.
and for me for no one to be rejected care do to lack of insurance/money!
Should be a basic right, not a luxury good. A car costs less than most basic surgery does!
LOL.....that's the sort of response one would expect from a ten year old.
People who can afford to get here from around the globe come to America for serious surgery.
"It is rare that a simple matter of patient choice causes an international flap.
But that's what happened when 60-year-old Danny Williams of St. John's, Newfoundland, decided to go to the U.S. for heart surgery.
That's because Williams isn't just any old Newfoundlander -- he's the premier of Canada's easternmost province, the head of its government.
The disclosure Tuesday that Williams was in an undisclosed location in the U.S., having an undisclosed procedure that he couldn't get in Newfoundland, brought catcalls from both sides of the border.
The New York Post, for instance, in an article headlined "Oh (no), Canada" used the news to take a whack at healthcare reform in the U.S. And the American Thinker blog -- among many others -- argued that Williams' choice is evidence of the inferiority of Canada's "technologically second-rate and rationed system."
In Canada, cardiac specialists defended the premier's decision as a matter of choice and at the same time noted that -- with few exceptions -- most cardiac procedures are both available and done well in Canada.
On the other hand, Newfoundland -- with a population of about 500,000, less than Wyoming -- is less well equipped. Doctors in the province do coronary artery bypass grafts (CABG) and other common procedures, but often send patients elsewhere in the country for transplants or rare operations."
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