NHS attacked by US - Twitter

[StefanWolves]

Well we pay taxes, they pay for health insurance, but I'm sure their added health insurance combined with tax is a bit more than the tax we pay... (im guessing)

My family have paid taxes all their lives to, every single person in this country is entitled to the best health service, and on the whole, that's what everyone gets, except for the minority of Hospitals spreading MRSA ect, which I agree, need to be sorted out, and some hospitals do need to be renevated and updated ASAP.

But apart from that, we can't really complain, yes we have waiting times, but that's just a downside that we have to live with, for now, at least everyone in our country benefits from free health care, hints why we have a better life expectancy than the US.

[alexxxxx]

The Democrats don't want to bring in NHS style care at all. They want to bring in government-run insurance instead, which is completely different. It's more what the French have. Private hospitals, but public insurance. They don't want a system where the government owns the hospitals pays the doctors etc.

I don't know what you mean by 'de-centralisation' undertaker because it already is fairly de-centralised, that's why you have postcode lotteries on certain drugs you can get in certain NHS trusts. And I don't know what you mean by lots of money wasted in the NHS either, if you look at the costs that British people spend on healthcare and the Americans spend, then the Americans spend alot more. And the WHO put their system lower than ours. So....?

Health isn't about money, health isn't about politics, health is about people getting better and I personally think the US system is immoral, vile and is an insult to those who simply can't afford it.

Watch the film 'SiCko' by Micheal Moore and you'll see some of the sad stories about people in their 70s and 80s having to work long hours so they can afford their drugs which their insurance companies won't pay for. Do you want to live in a system like that?

[Jordy]

nvr has got a lot to answer for .

Nvr is a Democrat so presumably he's for reform. It's the hard-line republicans coming up with all this crap.

At the end of the day, it isn' free for us. We pay tax's, part of that tax goes to the cost for health care. In America, none of their tax goes towards health care.

In America though they still pay some taxes which go into the health system. So the poor are paying for Health Care they can't even get access to. It's not excessive taxes like in the UK but I'm pretty confident that they still do pay some taxes going into Health Care.

All the people who would pay for the absolute top insurance can get private health care in the UK anyway. The upper class will get great health care in either system. The middle class will generally get good health care with the NHS but quite average in the US system due to restrictions with their insurance. And the working class get nothing out the US system but they get good health care with the NHS.

[GommeInc]

All the people who would pay for the absolute top insurance can get private health care in the UK anyway. The upper class will get great health care in either system. The middle class will generally get good health care with the NHS but quite average in the US system due to restrictions with their insurance. And the working class get nothing out the US system but they get good health care with the NHS.

It's strange, because alot of the private health care uses NHS facilities and systems, it's rare for it to be solely private other than cosmetic surgery which can be done in a living room and is therefore private, there's little risk. Brain surgery and anything major is done through the NHS - if you ask to go private they will do post-surgery, where you recover in a private hospital if at all available.

Romford Hospital (called Queens I think) is the countries main brain hospital, and is an NHS hospital. Better healthcare is done within the NHS for both middle and high class citizens. The only thing which seperates the two are private surgeries which do minor operations.

BUPA piggy back off the NHS for things such as MRI scans and alot of other expensive, powerful machinery. Private hospitals are only a name, the service doesn't really exist

The NHS is a damn good service, its only downfall is the government which spend too much time piling money on useless facilities when the most important things are closer to home.

[-:Undertaker:-]

The Democrats don't want to bring in NHS style care at all. They want to bring in government-run insurance instead, which is completely different. It's more what the French have. Private hospitals, but public insurance. They don't want a system where the government owns the hospitals pays the doctors etc.

I don't know what you mean by 'de-centralisation' undertaker because it already is fairly de-centralised, that's why you have postcode lotteries on certain drugs you can get in certain NHS trusts. And I don't know what you mean by lots of money wasted in the NHS either, if you look at the costs that British people spend on healthcare and the Americans spend, then the Americans spend alot more. And the WHO put their system lower than ours. So....?

Health isn't about money, health isn't about politics, health is about people getting better and I personally think the US system is immoral, vile and is an insult to those who simply can't afford it.

Watch the film 'SiCko' by Micheal Moore and you'll see some of the sad stories about people in their 70s and 80s having to work long hours so they can afford their drugs which their insurance companies won't pay for. Do you want to live in a system like that?

Health does tie in with money, money is everything because without money you end up with nothing in the end. Money certainly is an issue to those people who the NHS has refused life-extending drugs to, despite them working all their lives and paying tax toeards the NHS throughout their life, yet when they need the NHS the NHS has turned them down.

The issue is de-centralisation, Gerry Robinson did an investigation into the problems of the NHS and they all stemmed from one thing; central government. It slaps regulation after regulation on the NHS, the doctors agreed with him, the nurses agreed with him and the board of the hospital also agreed with him.

The NHS cannot and will not continue as it is doing.

[alexxxxx]

Health does tie in with money, money is everything because without money you end up with nothing in the end. Money certainly is an issue to those people who the NHS has refused life-extending drugs to, despite them working all their lives and paying tax toeards the NHS throughout their life, yet when they need the NHS the NHS has turned them down.

The issue is de-centralisation, Gerry Robinson did an investigation into the problems of the NHS and they all stemmed from one thing; central government. It slaps regulation after regulation on the NHS, the doctors agreed with him, the nurses agreed with him and the board of the hospital also agreed with him.

The NHS cannot and will not continue as it is doing.

Health is the most important thing in people's lives. You cannot begin to appreciate a life 'with things' if your health is dreadful. If you can't get out of bed, then even with a room full of gadgets, you can't really enjoy your life. If you think that without money you have nothing, then you must live a very sad and shallow life.

Is it fair people have to stitch themselves up if they can't afford to get it done at the hospital? Is it fair people have to lose everything that they own in order to get themselves treated for a complicated cancer, even if they HAVE health insurance? No. Is it fair a child dies because the health insurance company won't pay for the treatment because they're currently in a non-affiliated hospital? No. This happens in the US.

There is a large amount of money spent on healthcare in the UK, but not as much as in the USA. The insurance company CEOs receive ridiculous amounts of money in bonuses and bureaucracy, near those of bankers, meaning prices rise. Do we want to spend more than we need to on healthcare, which everyone should be able to access? This is what privatisation or a US-style healthcare system would bring.

It works great as it is, but there is room for improvement. Being low on the EU table of healthcare isn't great, but we surpass the USA easily.

[Browney]

Ok, well last night my little brother thought he had twisted his ankle, but my dad took him to hospital to be sure, and for peace of mind. He may have broken his ankle. This would've gone un-noticed in America because that kind of check up can cost up to $100, and most families cannot afford that for peace of mind.

[LuketheDuke]

Wasnt it a tory MP who said the NHS was evil, just he said it on American TV which has caused this whole fracus.

my view is that whilst the NHS has flaws Id much rather live in a country which isnt controlled by massive private healthcare insurance companies. If I can vote for a government I can scrutinise them over healthcare whereas in the US those insurance companies managed to destroy a universal healthcare bill all by themselves, not entirely democratic.

with a pinch of salt Sicko shows up the American Healthcare Industry for what it is; inconsistant and potentially very expensive.

Decentralised healthcare for the US would make more sense for a country with a population of 303 million though. Whilst this country grows in population it could also be an issue we should face.

[Mrs.McCall]

It's been a trending topic for quite a while now and I am glad. Yes the NHS has it's issues but I find it terrible it's been called 'evil' and 'Orwellian'.

[lick]

Watch the moive "Sicko" by Michael Moore. I was shocked at there healthcare