If national health care is the answer, then why are Brits pulling their own teeth?

Same types of problems in Canada, months long wait for common, simple proceedures.

And yes, we DO provide health care to everyone, you simply walk into the emrgency room and you will be treated. In our case the cost is usually picked up by the hospitals and passed on to the rest of us in higher cost.

This nonsense that we deny people heath care is rubbish.

It sounds comparable--many in the US don't have dental care. Go into any dental clinic or ER and you'll see people with terrible tooth conditions that went untreated. Read the attached article about how the percentage of Americans with dental care is decreasing. Dental care is beyond the reach of the working (non-insured) poor, and those who qualify for free care wait months. The British form of health care rationing is more obvious, that's all.

The US has great doctors and healthcare if you're basically healthy and economically stable. But the cost of employee health insurance to businesses (especially small businesses, a huge and growing part of our economy) is cripling (no pun intended!). Surprisingly, Medicare administration is more efficient that any private insurer, but the problem is that no healthcare providers want to deal with their crummy policies and reimbursement rates.

All hospital have problems with what are called "nosocomial infections," nasty, antibiotic-resistant bugs that can kill you. Unless you're very sick and have no choice, stay out of hospitals--US & UK!

Our country is overdue for some form of national care because the current patchwork is hugely inefficient. It's killing business growth. If we can put people on the moon and mobilize armies continents away, we can provide basic healthcare for Americans in a way that makes sense for businesses, families, and providers. So far, the programs and plans we come up tend to be terrible because:

1) plans like COBRA (when you lose your employee insurance and can buy into your former employer's plan) have a huge flaw: if you're unemployed, HELLO, can you afford a $1,000+ premium per month?

2) HSAs are a joke for paycheck-to-paycheck families for the same reason.

3) State funded plans reimburse doctors so poorly (often below cost) that they won't enroll as providers in the plans, so all that "business" gets shunted to non-profit hospital clinics.

4) small businesses can't band together across state lines to have the collective bargaining power with insurance companies.

If there is a lack of funding and a staffing shortage, it won't continue much longer. The funding will be increased, and as always, a percentage of that " free" health care is passed on the general public. Just like Canada and the county hospitals in the US.

ok, so the current dentistry scheme (which was introduced a year or so ago) isn't working 100%, and some infections are causing troublesome, but the majority of hospitals aren't having serious problems with the superbugs, which are so called because they are resistant to many strains of antibiotics, and aren't due entirely to poor sanitation.

we provide health care to everyone, not just those who can afford to pay for it. if people don't have insurance, they can still receive care for general and terminal illnesses. sound unfamiliar?