As an American doctor who recently visited A&E I have a message for British people
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To receive this care all my cousin had to do was provide her name and birthdate. No co-payments, no pre-authorisations, no concerns about the radiologist or orthopaedic surgeon being out of network. The nursing triage was wonderful and actually doing nursing (I hate seeing nurses relegated to charting). The nurse practitioner clearly knew what she was talking about and had reviewed the films with the radiologist. The surgeon only did the part of my cousin’s care that needed a specialist. It was a great use of resources.
Everyone I spoke with at the hospital loved the NHS, and honestly it showed. While the hospital was a veritable maze and in need of the updating that they appeared to be doing, the equipment was fine and the people, i.e. the things that really matter, were great."
Up north, we get a lot of Canadian truck drivers. While waiting to get unloaded, we go outside and have BS sessions. I always try to bring up healthcare with those drivers to get the inside scoop. The younger and middle-aged drivers brag about the Canadian system. They love it. The older drivers? Most of them told me to keep what we have or we will be sorry.
Socialized healthcare is great for superficial needs. But the major stuff happens when we get older. That's when you need serious care and need it quick to get out of pain or return to work.
Maybe, then again I know people who went through major healthcare problems in the UK and didn't come out of it too badly, I mean, cancer and the like you don't come out of it great, but you can come out of it not badly no matter how good the doctor.
Canada has expensive healthcare too. Don't think that it's what I'm talking about. I know the British healthcare system, I know the US, I know the healthcare system of various countries I've lived in. Do you? Or are you relying just on what some truck drivers say?
Since this has been a long ongoing discussion for many years, I've done a lot of reading. The Canadian thing is something that supported what I have read about their system. I didn't knock the system entirely as I said many younger and younger middle-aged people love it. the real question is do we want that here?
You have to understand that when we have a choice of insurance coverage, a choice of hospitals and facilities, a choice in doctors, you can pretty much get what you want if you can afford it. If it ends up being a government system, there are no choices. You get what they give you.
This can be demonstrated by the VA when patients have no other insurance and no choice but to get care at the VA. Or we can look at Medicare and Medicaid where doctors and facilities are rejecting new government patients because they can't afford the loss.
Government healthcare takes a lot of responsibility and costs off of our backs, but it doesn't come without negatives as well.
Once we put government in charge of our healthcare, we lost that choice. Like Obama Care, it's a bridge that you burned because it would be impossible to go back to where we were when all the associated problems arise.