Anyone wish they were back in the UK

[GCPony 14]

Yeah! Let's be proud of living in an economic powerhouse that shafts its vulnerable citizens!

Woooooohoooooooo! I got mine so suck it, losers!

Oh, was I reading that wrong?

My 46 year old brother has never worked a tax paying job in his life. He has never paid into any insurance nor healthcare plan, he lives with my mother and he's had operations on both his knees, on the State's dime.

I get so sick of this "Americans die on the streets for want of healthcare" lie I could just scream. It just ain't so, and repeating a falsehood over and over won't make it true.

My wife, on the other hand , got some of the worst treatment I've ever heard of by an NHS dentist. She ended up losing teeth to an infection, after her dentist simply cut her gums to let them bleed out, followed with "rinse with salty water" instead of antibiotics.

NHS isn't "free". Various sources place it around £1500 ($2300) per person, per year. NHS is slow. The official guideline provided by the government suggested treatment should not exceed 18 weeks from time of diagnosis. That's four and half months! Here's the official NHS website and their stated goals NHS goals

And is it working? It is not

NHS's priority is to minimize the cost of healthcare to the government. NHS has a lot of nice people working in it, but it will never attract the best nor brightest, 'cos as altruistic as it sounds to work for "the greater good", the best and brightest go where they will be most successful.

Edited January 25, 2012 by GCPony

[Robert&Karen 264]

My wife has a mole she wants removed. She tried in the UK and again in the US. Results?

UK said: "We cannot remove that, there are nerves and arteries involved and you risk your life."

US said: "Sure we can remove it, want me to do it now?"

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

Maybe Americans don't die in the streets because of our healthcare system.

They just die in their beds.

http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefootball/story/rasul-rocky-clark-family-tale-tragic-inspiring-011312

August 15, 2010

This is to acknowledge receipt of your claim.

Please be advised that the maximum medical benefit under this policy has been processed and no further benefits are available.

Sincerely,

CLAIMS OFFICE

[Boiler 45,402]

You think you would get more than $5,000,000 out of the NHS?

But it is illustrative of the problem on both sides of the Atlantic. More demand that can ever be sensibly met and no willingness to address the allocation of always limited resources.

[jingo 38]

NHS = better than nothing.

Back in London when I'd be lying in bed with a bad tummy ache or whatever, I felt so safe knowing that there was a hospital round the corner and that if I was any kind of sick that I could go see a GP whenever.

Here = the slightest pain keeps me up all night, worrying, terrified, knowing that my self-bought health plan (can't buy a long-term plan if you're not a resident in CA so I have an expensive awful temporary plan) does not allow me to see a doctor casually, and that if I went to hospital for some emergency I'd have to spend months or years paying it off.

[Boiler 45,402]

I would agree with that summation.

Which when you think of the percentage of national wealth it absorbs is a bit sad.

[GCPony 14]

Sure. Here's the reality, though, brought to you courtesy of NHS. "Fake drugs given to NHS patients still untraced".

Thousands upon thousands of people under NHS were issued fake drugs. Seventy two THOUSAND packs of counterfeit drugs entered the UK supply chain, 25 THOUSAND remain untraced. Does that make you feel better, knowing you were lied to? Would you sleep better in England knowing that you've been lied to?

It's among the top stories reported by BBC News today NHS issues fake drugs to the poor

The NHS exists to insure the government pays the lowest possible funds to applicants. No more, no less.

[Boiler 45,402]

I read that article, I do not understand any of your comments.

How is the US Government, Pharmacies, Private Medical Insurance different even if it was true.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

Sure. Here's the reality, though, brought to you courtesy of NHS. "Fake drugs given to NHS patients still untraced".

Thousands upon thousands of people under NHS were issued fake drugs. Seventy two THOUSAND packs of counterfeit drugs entered the UK supply chain, 25 THOUSAND remain untraced. Does that make you feel better, knowing you were lied to? Would you sleep better in England knowing that you've been lied to?

It's among the top stories reported by BBC News today NHS issues fake drugs to the poor

The NHS exists to insure the government pays the lowest possible funds to applicants. No more, no less.

Happens in the US all the time. The Food and Drug Administration has an area of it's website dedicated to counterfeit medication warnings.

http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/BuyingUsingMedicineSafely/CounterfeitMedicine/default.htm

[gwenneh 7]

My wife has a mole she wants removed. She tried in the UK and again in the US. Results?

UK said: "We cannot remove that, there are nerves and arteries involved and you risk your life."

US said: "Sure we can remove it, want me to do it now?"

Bad medical care happens on both sides. Neither system is perfect, but at least in the UK, the system is there.

[Robert&Karen 264]

Bad medical care happens on both sides. Neither system is perfect, but at least in the UK, the system is there.

The system is there in the US too. No one ever complains about availability of US medical care, they complain about the cost of it.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

oops

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16832307

Around one million packets of birth control tablets are being recalled in the US, as they might not prevent pregnancy.

The pharmaceutical company Pfizer said a "packaging error" meant the doses were not correct.

[Boiler 45,402]

A Republican plot?

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

A Republican plot?

Perhaps!

[DiZZyLoX 114]

I get the feeling that many of you are not getting the feeling that you can get healthcare because you are either a) ineligible because of your status in the U.S. for healthcare or b) you and/or your partner are not realizing there ARE options out there for you that will not cost you $$$$$$$.

I'm not republican. I'm not conservative.

But I am bugged that you are all feeling so helpless when I know for a fact you can get care right now if you wanted to...I don't understand who or what is holding you back.

I don't think either system is better than the other. I truly don't. I see major pit falls on both ends. I really don't even think the two can be compared. All I'm saying is if you are sick and you need to be seen, PLEASE be seen. Don't sit there in pain because you don't think you're allowed access to care. You are certainly allowed access. It certainly will be kick-#### care. Don't be in pain, please!!