I had the opportunity to have dinner with a living, breathing human who was a product of socialized medicine, otherwise known as the English Bloke.
Once a month, my car club gets together for a dinner and since it is a British car club, well, Brits attend. Usually we sing the glories of boots and bonnets, wings and sills but last night we chatted about socialized medicine.
According to him, anyone can get free medical care. He had a relative that fell off the top of his house and broke his hip. He had a replacement hip that night. Grand total? Nada. But if your hip was wearing out and needing replacing due to wear, it may take three months to get that done. Which was the two months shorter than what my Grandmother got here in the US with damn fine health insurance. Plus she had a huge bill afterward, plus a stroke during surgery (more cash) and some of the physical therapy wasn’t covered. Our cost? Close to $10k with a 60 day longer wait.
The other issue that BushCo never brings up about socialized medicine is you can still have insurance. In Britain, most employers offer supplemental private insurance ON TOP of the regular socialized medical care. Think AFLAC.
Bottom line is this – Britain’s National Health Service provides regular check-ups, emergency services and in-home care for free. Emergency things like broken bones, pediatric fevers and other issues like cancer that need immediate care gets immediate attention. Things that are not immediate medical threats like joint replacement, male pattern baldness and erectile dysfunction you will need to make an appointment, just like in the US.
Visit the NHS site or line up to watch SiCKO in the upcoming weeks. Either way, take a few minutes to leanr how much you are really being lied to about healthcare.
I like the idea of socalized healthcare. Especially if we pattern and base it off of what the Brits and other European nations use.
Problem though, is that unlike most of Europe, the United States is a capitalistic government. Socalized healthcare simply will not exist in this country. If it DOES happen to magage to get started somehow, it will be a horrible beaureacratic nightmare, laving peole to choose between “shity, cheap care” or “reasonable, expensive care”…you get what you pay for in other words.
You see, socialized healthcare will take money away from insurance companies, healthcare providers, etc. And we know that we can’t allow that to happen! This is America! You can’t do anything tha would hinder big-business ever!
Sorry…too many companies (and politicians) make too much money off of making people sick and making sure that they stay that way for as long as possible.
A damn shame too…
I just discovered this gem and I love it!
Of course, the fact that years and years ago I lived in Booneville may have something to do with it!
Keep up the excellent work!
[...] account of his experiences directly so this doesn’t get considered hearsay. But I found the description of the system used in Britain for medicine to be quite acceptable. I also agree that just because we provide decent care for [...]