AmerLisa

Very true. And of course queues are longer in some trusts than others. As is the quality of care. But, before I'm questioned and thrown in the flames - I don't think its better here - primarily because of the medical insurance problems. However, I do know you can get good quality care here.

But, back to the original post - this isn't the UK and the US has never had a universal health organisation such as the NHS. In my opinion you can't compare one to the other.

Partystar

I think most people on these boards have experienced both & they can comment on which they prefer & I think that is what this whole thread is about, which involves comparing one system to the other.

jen_andreson

It's the queues in some areas and not others that I found to be a challenge, as I seemed to live in a slow zone. I'm not talking about daily queues or ER queues, as those will happen anywhere. It's the 8 months for a tonsil OP or 18 months for ovarian cyst op that I struggled to accept.

And, there is another area that scares me, and before people comment that it happens in the US...I realise that. But, it also happens in the land of universal care, which is more frightening to me

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...0&in_a_source=

AmerLisa

You really can't compare one to the other, in my opinion.

Tolos

Why not? Seems OK to me.

Partystar

Well, everyone's entitled to their opinion!

Kate2112

Why not compare them? As long as you are aware of the differences in funding - its not impossible or unreasonable to do. People from the UK pay high taxes and SS directly from their salary and are in effect paying for their medical treatment. Different but comparable to US Healthcare.
Where it fundamentally differs is that there is no middle party in the UK ie Insurance companies...that refuse to treat, sanction expensive regimens, cancel insurance because of high claims, refuse to pay claims for medical expenses because of spurious reasoning.

Rompers example of his daughter being refused treatment would never in a million years happen in the UK. Never.

Insurance companies wield too much power and influence over US Healthcare. That is not just my opinion but the opinion of many US physicians (according to my Gynae who attended a weeks symposium on this subject) While I have said in my experience US Healthcare has been good for me, thats based on

Not having to pay for it.
Never having had a problem
Having enough personal money to cope with medical bills if my insurance company "dropped" me.

If I had no insurance, no money to pay for an expensive medical emergency, I know for sure that I would prefer the UK system. People struggling to pay $500,000 bills for treatment not covered by their insurance..this is frickin ludicrous! 43+ million people uninsured in a country of tremendous wealth. That's also ridiculous IMO. While it is natural to want to defend your country's health services, it is unrealistic to say there can be no reasonable comparison.

I voted for the US system because of my own personal experience of both. As others have said I wouldn't want to be poor and uninsured in the US.

Ray

True if you are young ...but more and more older people are now being
refused expensive treatment as uneconomical

dan_alford

and there was the recent case of the lady who couldn't get one of the latest cancer treatments on the NHS.

snowbunny

....and if she'd gotten it here, she would have exhausted her lifetime benefit. The drugs like Herceptin are $500,000 per YEAR.

Kate2112

My mother is 71. She finished treatment for Cancer last week her second intensive treatment for Cancer in 6 years. It was NHS treatment. She has been superbly treated by her consultant, GP, Oncology, Chemotherapy Doctors and Nurses. Perhaps that is colouring my opinion at the moment but I am very grateful that the NHS was there for her.

jen_andreson

For my own education...is it the poor and unisured who are worse off or is it the 'middle's who don't have health insurance and can't afford it? Or is it not one or the other.

For example, I know that medicaid covers the very poor, as I know someone who gets it. She quit work due to a serious illness and has been in a nursing home for many years--fully paid by medicaid. Her disability insurance gives her a small amount of money. Yes, a sad existence but she is 100% covered.

According to CMS, the Medicaid program provided health care services to more than 46.0 million people in 2001. In 2002, Medicaid enrollees numbered 39.9 million Americans, the largest group being children (18.4 million or 46 percent), and 40.4 million in 2003. It is estimated that 42.9 million Americans will be enrolled in 2004 with 19.7 million being children.

Medicaid pays for nearly 60 percent of all nursing home residents and about 37 percent of all births in the United States.



It covers a lot of people, but that's not to say it works or doesn't.

Ray

Depends a lot on age, condition, smoker, and cost of treatment ..etc ..
My uncle.. 76 .. told no more treatment available .....

jen_andreson

Sorry about your uncle. We had a similar situation (paid for an op my husband needed...and he was 36). I posted a link a few posts up about the struggle for the elderly...3 in 4 aren't getting the care they need. It's terrible, esp from a universal system.

Kate, so happy to read a positive story. Best wished to your mum-glad she is in good care.

Kate2112

I'm sorry to hear that Ray. Its not a perfect system by a long way.