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I have spoken to a number of Americans about health care. My wife's family, our friends, other bloggers, people i meet in the USA. I prefer to listen to people who are affected by the system in America rather than the ones who are not. It's easy to say theres no problem when you can afford health care cover. I was in New Orleans recently and if you want to speak to people affected go there. They can't all be wrong or delusional. They are just normal everyday Americans who want health cover.
You cannot claim to know what the majority of Americans are thinking or doing with anecdotal evidence. It's dishonest of you to present that as fact and then jump all over another poster because he doesn't have enough "proof and facts" for you! That was very dishonest and hypocritical of you.
It's a myth that when a Govt. funds the health service that they "control" it. In the UK and Europe, the Govt funds the health service but it is run by the local health authorities. The Govt. has watchdogs to make sure that the NHS is running properly and they take complaints and investigate them. They can also fine or repremand any authority that doesn't run itys health service correctly. The Individual states in America would be responsible for their own health care system. Run to suit the needs of its particular state. At the moment in America the Insurance companies have complete control of your health care and it is finance driven. In the UK it is not driven by profit and it is always striving to improve the healthcare of all citizens. It works and it works well. To say you do not want a UHC because you have to wait for tests etc. is insulting to the millions who cannot even get health care.
You make assumptions that people out there choose not to buy health cover. Maybe in your circle of friends that happens. The majority of people without health cover DO NOT choose to be without health care.
He is NOT making assumptions, he is actually citing facts.
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Census Bureau report “Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2005,†puts the initial number of uninsured people living in the country at 46.577 million.
A closer look at that report reveals the Census data include 9.487 million people who are “not a citizen.†Subtracting the 10 million non-Americans, the number of uninsured Americans falls to roughly 37 million.
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...according to the same Census report, there are 8.3 million uninsured people who makebetween $50,000 and $74,999 per year and 8.74 million who makemore than $75,000 a year. That’s roughly 17 million people who ought to be able to “afford†health insurance because they make substantially more than the median household income of $46,326.
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The Kaiser Family Foundation, a liberal non-profit frequently quoted by the media, puts the number of uninsured Americans who do not qualify for current government programs and make less than $50,000 a year between 13.9 million and 8.2 million.
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Kaiser’s 8.2 million figure for the chronically uninsured only includes those uninsured for two years or more. It is also worth noting, that, 45 percent of uninsured people will be uninsured for less than four months according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Health Care Lie: '47 Million Uninsured Americans' (http://www.businessandmedia.org/printer/2007/20070718153509.aspx - broken link)
Studies? Studies are just data to be manipulated. Who commissions the study gets the results they want. If we believed every govt study we would believe the pros and cons of every issue. The facts are listening to real Americans on here who are affected by the health care disease of America.
Still no answer to my question about the facts to back up your theory that UHC in Hong Kong is worse than the Health care in America??????????
So if you do not believe studies, then you mustn't believe there is a healthcare crisis here...afterall CERTAIN studies have shown it to be so...
Have you ever heard of self interest. The views of Dr Fielden is not the views of many eminent doctors in the UK. i trained in the NHS and it isn't perfect but it does do an amazing job. There are Doctors in the UK who would love to earn much more and they feel they could in a private sector health care system. This would be to the detrement of the UK citizen. If he thinks that the NHS is being brought to its knees then he should use his position to change things. He won't and he can't, too many Doctors here believe in the NHS and have seen the American model and definately do not want to go down that road.
Have you ever heard of self interest. The views of Dr Fielden is not the views of many eminent doctors in the UK. i trained in the NHS and it isn't perfect but it does do an amazing job. There are Doctors in the UK who would love to earn much more and they feel they could in a private sector health care system. This would be to the detrement of the UK citizen. If he thinks that the NHS is being brought to its knees then he should use his position to change things. He won't and he can't, too many Doctors here believe in the NHS and have seen the American model and definately do not want to go down that road.
He is the CHAIRMAN of the British Medical Association's consultants committee...you stated politics wasn't involved in the NHS,well the CHAIRMAN of this group seems to have a differing opinion...
What Dr Fieldman was actualy saying beneath his criticism of the govt was that the Govt. didn't have complete control. It had not directed the NHS properly and was beginning to allow private sectors to get too involved in the NHS. He also wants the Doctors to be more in control. The Doctors do not want this. They have enough to do with actual healthcare. They want the Govt to have a bigger role in the finances etc and not less. Dr Fielden seems to contradict himself.
The NHS in Scotland and waiting time goals...I can see why we should all want to emulate such a system....
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Patients waiting - outpatients
The current national waiting time standard is that patients should not wait longer than 6 months to attend a consultant led new outpatient clinic after being referred by their doctor or dentist. Information from the latest waiting list census suggests close compliance with this standard as no patient with a guarantee had been waiting more than 6 months on 30 September 2006, the same as at 30 June 2006. At 30 September 2005 there had been 12,663 patients waiting more than 6 months.
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Patients waiting - inpatients and daycases
The current national waiting time standard is that patients should not wait longer than 6 months for admission to hospital for treatment.
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Patients waiting - diagnostic tests and investigations
Information about the numbers who are waiting and the numbers waiting over 9 weeks are published for the first time on the 'Data Development' pages of this website .The national target is to achieve a maximum waiting time of 9 weeks for eight key diagnostic tests and investigations by the end of 2007
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Patients seen - accident and emergency departments
Details of performance of core A&E sites are published for the first time on the 'Data Development' pages of this website. The national target is that by the end of 2007 98% of patients should spend no longer than 4 hours in A&E departments before being admitted, discharged or transferred.
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