okay, i probably named this thread badly. i was curious how most of the population in those countries that have free health care feel about their care.
I’ve always been afraid that if we adopted free health care in America that the government would somehow mess it up. that might be cynical of me, but part of my thinking comes from being married to a military man and dealing with a free health care system.
for the most part, the military health care system is not bad. i think that the doctors and nurses themselves are very good. but there does seem to be unnecessary red tape and rules.
an example would be several years back, i came down with a sudden infection because my wisdom teeth came in. i was in a lot of pain and was running a fever. the Dr put me on meds and sent me to an off base doctor. the military was willing to pay for my operation to have my wisdom teeth removed but wouldn’t pay for the anesthesia. i had to pay for that myself before the doctor would remove my wisdom teeth. its not like i could shop around for a different Dr. i had to go where the military sent me.
so, i am curious, how does free health care work in countries like England and Canada? are you satisfied with the care you recieve?does the government try to cut cost with your care? do both rich and poor get the same medical care?
In the UK, free healthcare is far from perfect, but it works. It works and is a whole lot better than America’s private system.
Firstly, because of free healthcare, everybody can see a doctor. That means nobody is so poor that they can’t be well. The number of working days that must be lost by people in minimum wage jobs in America because of their health problems is unimaginable here.
Secondly, because it’s a public service, people use it wisely. People don’t go to their doctor every time they have a cold, because they know there’s nothing a doctor can do. This means we avoid wasting our time and our doctors’ time. There’s also less of a culture of working through illness, and it’s more understood that if you’re a bit ill it’s better to spend the day in bed and recover than to be working at half-capacity for weeks while your body fights it.
Thirdly, although there are long waiting lists for some surgery, and although not all medications are available on the Health Service, the fact that a free option is available has a regulatory effect on the price of private healthcare. For example, a while back I needed a scan for something quite worrying, I could have waited 4 weeks to get it done free, but for peace of mind, I paid £200 to have it done privately. That’s £200 for a 1 hour appointment with a specialist, involving ultrasound equipment, without insurance! The fact that you can get any prescription medication for £6.70 means that over-the-counter drugs like allergy relief and painkillers are much cheaper too.
As I said, it’s not perfect, but it does work.
Americans have a ridiculous fear of your government. It’s a democracy, if you don’t like it, you can get rid of them! What you don’t realise is that if you don’t let the government, whom you control, take care of healthcare, massive corporations, whom you don’t control, will do it instead.
Simple question - who would you rather have looking after your child, someone you hired yourself, or someone who was hired by some rich guy you never met, who you still have to pay? That’s the choice you have between public and private healthcare in a democracy.
