Tales for Halloween - Part 1

[kubandalum]

THE SHINING example of single-payer health care: Britain’s NHS.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... ients.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/arti ... ients.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... urses.html

[Mjl]

I didn't meet a single person when living there who was against the NHS.

There's a reason no notable politicians there take a stance of getting rid of it.

[DCHawk1]

There's a reason no notable politicians there take a stance of getting rid of it.

Cuz...entitlements are third rail-ish?


Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. It's a terrible way to run a social safety net, especially as demographics change. Do you hear people on the street bitching about it? Do you see politicians lining up to change it?

None of that is proof of anything, other than that "entitlements" are things to which people feel entitled.

Go figure.

[ousdahl]

My friends are traveling the world right meow. One of them woke up with trouble breathing and felt like something was in his throat. Turns out it was a throat infection. Walk-in trip to the emergency room plus a few weeks worth of meds set him back $68 bucks.

[DCHawk1]

What if he'd needed an MRI? Or surgery?

[Geezer]

How long does it take for either of those services here?

[DCHawk1]

I dunno.

My wife needed a CT and a PET scan last summer. She had 'em both done in 3 days -- and the PET had to wait until AFTER the results from the CT.

So...

[DCHawk1]

Of course, given that you're on Medicare, I'd imagine your experiences differ.

[Geezer]

By a lot.

[DCHawk1]

Which is kinda the point.

[kubandalum]

My friends are traveling the world right meow. One of them woke up with trouble breathing and felt like something was in his throat. Turns out it was a throat infection. Walk-in trip to the emergency room plus a few weeks worth of meds set him back $68 bucks.

Seems like you’re describing something easily and quickly diagnosable and easily treatable. The stories above were about people in extended hospital stays.

MRI wait times in Britain:

https://www.healthimaging.com/topics/im ... ic-imaging

“... almost a quarter of patients wait more than six weeks for key diagnostic tests such as MRI and CT scans, the BBC reported...”



Wait times in Canada:

https://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies ... anada-2016

MRI 11.1 weeks, CT 3.7 weeks, ultrasound 4.0 weeks.

Take a look at what that article says about wait times from referral by a GP to consultation with a specialist to finally getting treatment in Canada. Yikes! Imagine waiting in pain for 20-38 weeks with an ACL tear.

[Leawood]

My niece in Europe was born 7 weeks premature and needed weeks in neonatal ICU. $248.

[Mjl]

How would a poor person here get those services? Medicaid? Doesn't that also involve waits?

[Deleted User 104]

I think it's fair to say NHS has a lot of problems. But I think it's also accurate to say, the US health system is far worse.

[Mjl]

There's a reason no notable politicians there take a stance of getting rid of it.

Cuz...entitlements are third rail-ish?


Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. It's a terrible way to run a social safety net, especially as demographics change. Do you hear people on the street bitching about it? Do you see politicians lining up to change it?

None of that is proof of anything, other than that "entitlements" are things to which people feel entitled.

Go figure.

If we were to throw political viability aside, what do you think would be an ideal substitute? Complete elimination? Privatization? Other?

I ask because I think everything is way more politically viable than political junkies think.

[seahawk]

There's a reason no notable politicians there take a stance of getting rid of it.

Cuz...entitlements are third rail-ish?


Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. It's a terrible way to run a social safety net, especially as demographics change. Do you hear people on the street bitching about it? Do you see politicians lining up to change it?

None of that is proof of anything, other than that "entitlements" are things to which people feel entitled.

Go figure.

If we were to throw political viability aside, what do you think would be an ideal substitute? Complete elimination? Privatization? Other?

I ask because I think everything is way more politically viable than political junkies think.

I notice that lots of people are starting to talk about Universal Healthcare, as there are other European systems that seem to work well and are liked by the citizenry in Germany, Belgium, Holland, France. Just because Bernie Sanders hates the U.S. and wants to punish its citizens by inflicting a system that would cause great consternation upon them, like the British National Health, doesn't mean that's the only system that Americans can look to.