[DanaC]

Our health service ain't perfect. But ya know what? We really don't have many people declared bankrupt because they had an accident and ended up with bills of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

We also don't have people with chronic conditions unable to access any medical care until it turns into an emergency and they end up in the ER.

We don't have death panels.

We do have a degree of rationing involved. That basically means that new drugs have to prove themselves as effective and cost effective.

You also have rationing. The difference is that yours is based on what your insurance is willing to cover.

And don't believe the newspapers. They have agendas.


[eta] Also, you don't even need to read a newspaper or watch the news to know how truly fucked up the current US healthcare system is. Just look in the Cellar. We have members here who have been sick and unable to get the right care. We have a member whose son was involved in a terrible car accident and left with serious health problems: his father had to give up work to look after him, which left him without health insurance. We have another member who only last month was unable to get the anti-depressant meds she needed because she had lost her job. Meds that should be withdrawn from slowly which she had to go cold turkey from. Why? because she no longer had health insurance and wasn't eligible for medicare (medicaid?) and couldn;t afford the $400 per month needed for those tablets.

Over here, she'd have to pay £7.75 for a prescription and they'd most likely give her three months supply for that. Or she could buy 3 months or a 1 year cover for all prescription charges.

I have two chronic health conditions requiring regular medication. It costs me nothing to see my doctor and my prescriptions are covered by a three month pre-pay certificate (£27.50). Regardless of what I need. I could need hundreds of pounds worth of medication and it will only ever cost me a prescription charge.

My Dad died in his 70s. The last 10 years of his life he was in and out of hospital. Sometimes staying in for a week or more at a time. They did everything they could for him. It didn't cost him a single penny: free prescriptions over the age of 65 and nobody is charged for staying in hospital - unless they choose to go private.

Your health system is probably better at some stuff than ours. But it is only available for those who can afford it. For the millions of Americans who have no health insurance, or whose insurance only covers basic care the system does not work.