America.....Views from the Road.

Crankyfeet

It's good that you bring up some negative story about the British NHS. I have British friends who, before the current groupthink in America of late that a national healthcare system like Canada's, Britain's or even Cuba's is great, complained that the public "free" healthcare often meant that you went on a long waiting list for anything more than minor treatrment, and most people who could afford it, went private in any case. The NHS end product was often not that great as well (hearsay again).

Since this has become a big political issue, and since Michael Moore's (of whom I don't have a personal opinion either way) movie, you'd think that government healthcare meant free great healthcare for everybody for no expense.

IMHO, instead of an NHS, the current system needs to be tweaked to take out the self-reinforcing weaknesses, rather than throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Of course the whole healthcare industry is against what "needs" to be done IMO because they benefit from the status quo.

Same problem exists in America with the legal system and tort reform as well as Specialists (guys who provide liquidity) on the floor of the NYSE. The powers-that-be have a vested interest in a flawed, innefficient (and lucrative to them) system.

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Originally posted by Frigo's Luggage...

"[Calling him] 'dickcheese' is the insult of a master. Some people work in oil, some people work in clay. He [thoughtforfood] works in profanity. Open your mind and enjoy its beauty."

Carrera

That's precisely why I get on my soapbox over immigration. The NHS is in trouble because they're treating both illegal and legal immigrants but in huge numbers. So, those who may have paid taxes all their life wind up stuck at the back of a queue in some cases. There are too many people using the NHS and basically our population is set to go up to close to 70 million. The sad reality is you can't accommodate the whole globe. There needs to be some international charity organisation set up to treat refugees funded by all European countries, as opposed to the current chaos.
I agree health care in the U.S. is said to be quite good, although it's costly.

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"Everybody has a philosophy. However, what philosophy you have is a matter of choice, and most people don't make a conscious choice with regard to what philosophy they accept."

EoinC

Are you sure that's why the NHS is "in trouble", Carrera? Does that mean, if the NHS didn't treat illegal immigrants, it wouldn't be in trouble? Are you sure that you don't get on your soapbox because it makes you look taller?

limerickman

NHS is 60 years in existence, this year.

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.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets" - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

EoinC

G'day, Lim.
I'm sure there are many who would hold that the NHS has done a mighty fine job over those 60 years of ensuring that health care is available to all. Judge a society by how it treats those at the bottom of the heap.