auditor0007
Gold Member
One of my brothers lives there and his wife is dealing with recurring cancer.
One my nieces here in America is an oncologist and has recommended specific treatments, and my sister in law has been told that those treatments are not available there.
This isn't a slam on the whole system, just pointing out that we do have to strike the right balances in our own system.
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The weird thing is this.
The Labour Party brought the NHS back from the dead. Mistakes were made etc which led to a lot of criticism.
The Tories got in and began slashing funds. They claim that the NHS costs too much. They want a US style system. Which ironically costs twice as much as the NHS.
The UK system is being destroyed so the Tories can then point out that it isn't working, so they can then justify sending things out to private firms (who charge 15% more) and then when that's fully embedded in the system they'll make insurance compulsory.
The question is this. If the NHS doubled its spending, would it be better than the US system? It's probably be less corrupt and more efficient.
The other thing they don't tell you is that you can purchase supplemental insurance if you choose. By having supplemental insurance, you get to see doctors sooner and are eligible for some treatments that may not be available for those without supplemental insurance. Beyond that, there is a whole different perspective to this. The drug companies push their drugs on us, even when they know they really don't work. Sure, a certain drug might extend a cancer patient's life by 30 days, but they will be 30 very miserable days. There is no payoff if the drug only slightly extends life and does not cure the cancer. If a drug, that is truly not very effective, costs $10,000 per use, and a patient needs it three or four times, should we be footing the bill for that if the drug really isn't going to do more than extend the patient's life by 30 days?
The problem is that this is exactly what we are doing in the US. It is the reason we pay so much for healthcare, yet we do not have a longer life expectancy than any other comparable country. The reason for this is simple. Those drugs aren't working. We pay for them; they don't. Find drugs or treatments that work, and paying would make all the sense in the world. Selling snake oil is not a cure.
Here is an interesting comparison. While the cancers are different, and we can never be certain of how people will respond to cancer treatment, I find this interesting. A guy I worked with was diagnosed with stomach cancer five years ago. Doctors told him he had a ten percent chance to beat it and would die within six months if treatment was not successful. He chose to refuse all treatment, and he's still alive. Now, he is pretty much on his last months, but he made it five years with no treatment. The mother of another friend of mine was diagnosed with lymphoma ten months ago. She did the chemo and radiation. She died two months ago.
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