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Originally Posted by Boompa
whenever I see a link I like to check the link out. About 80% of the stories are allegations of some kind of government misconduct. Glad to see the party of NO has a home in Britain too.
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I was listening to NPR this morning and Grassley saying Kennedy wouldn't be treated for Brain Cancer because he is 77 years old was refuted by a British Doctor...
Surgeon Defends Britain's National Health Service : NPR
INSKEEP: Well, let me get to a specific example that's been cited this month here in the United States. Senator Charles Grassley, a Republican who is deeply involved in health care negotiations, raised concerns about moving the United States anywhere near what Britain has because of an example of a fellow senator of his. Let's listen:
Senator CHARLES GRASSLEY (Republican, Iowa): I've been told that the brain tumor that Senator Kennedy has, because he's 77 years old, would not be treated the way it's treated in the United States. In other words, they say, well, he doesn't have long to live, even if he'd live another four or five years. They'd say, well, we've got to spend the money on people that have more, can contribute more to the economy.
INSKEEP: Okay. Does the British system make that kind of distinction? Here's an older fellow, you've got this treatment that you could give him but it wouldn't add massively to his life expectancy, so we'll deny that. Do you do that?
Lord DARZI: Well, I'm sorry to say that's the most ludicrous thing I've heard. I've heard that written down but I've never heard it in real speech. And the answer to that is absolutely no.
INSKEEP: So, Grassley's comment is based on nothing, so far as you can say?
Lord DARZI: Absolutely - not just false, these are lies which have been used to set fear against reform.
INSKEEP: Ted Kennedy goes to Britain, he's a British citizen, he's going to get full treatment and that treatment is going to be fully paid for. Is that what you're saying?
Lord DARZI: Absolutely, irrespective of the tumor type as well.
INSKEEP: Let me play another clip, if I might. This comes from an ad that's been running nationwide in the United States, an ad campaign produced by a conservative political action group called The Club for Growth. And they show on the screen, an image of an old man who is mourning in a hospital bed. (Soundbite of ad)
Unidentified Man: Twenty-two thousand, seven hundred fifty dollars: in England, government health officials decided that's how much six months of life is worth. Under their socialized system, if a medical treatment costs more, you're out of luck. That's wrong for America.
INSKEEP: That's an ad from the Club for Growth. And just to be clear: is there a meter by the bed, in effect, in Britain, and if health care gets too expensive for an individual, you cut him off?
Lord DARZI: Absolutely not. Again, it's the most ludicrous thing I've heard. And I'm just giving an example: the life expectancy in the U.K. is actually longer than it is in the U.S.
Amazing the BS that's thrown out there by the friends of the insurance companies.
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