Do You Really Want Government Healthcare?

No, I do not

I heard Walter Reed Medical Center is the bomb

Never mind the people dying in the hallway, and the fungus growing from the ceiling and the busted raw sewer pipes

yeah man, I can't wait for obama care - Walter Reed plan gets rolled out nationwide

WHOOOO HOOOOO !

Yes I do want a government run health care system. I am going to post some facts on the UK health care system, just to use as an example of how good a government run system can be.

OECD figures show that UK total health expenditure as a percentage of GDP (8.4%) is actually below the OECD average and a long way below that of the USA, which has easily the most expensive system at 16%, nearly double UK spending.iii

𐁺 The UK spend per head of population is $2,992 as opposed to $7,290 in the USA.iv

𐁺 The UK NHS is largely free of the huge transaction costs associated with revenue collection and marketing that blight other systems, such as the USA.v As a result, the cost of administration in the UK is estimated at around 12% compared to more than 30% in the USA.vi

𐁺 The UK spends 3% of its budget on management costs, as opposed to 17% in the USA.vii

𐁺 The NHS has not been complacent or uncritically carried on as normal; a major review at the start of this decade evaluated different healthcare funding options and concluded that the current method of NHS funding through general taxation was both the fairest and most efficient one.

From January 2009, no one in England waits more than 18 weeks from the time they are referred to the start of their treatment.x Most importantly, the average wait for treatment is much shorter, at just 8 weeks. And median waiting times are just over 2 weeks for outpatients and 4 weeks for inpatients.xi

𐁺 For cancer patients, 99.7% of patients are seen within 2 weeks from urgent GP referral to outpatient appointment. For breast cancer, 99.8 % of patients are treated within 1 month from diagnosis to treatment. xii

𐁺 Virtually all patients are treated within four hours at Accident & Emergency units in hospitals

Claims that clinical outcomes in the NHS are lagging behind other countries, particularly the USA, are wide of the mark.

𐁺 For example, the UK outperforms the USA where mortality rates from lung cancers are concerned.xiv

𐁺 Likewise, UK mortality rates from heart disease and stroke are considerably better than the USA.xv

𐁺 And in terms of in-hospital recovery from stroke, the UK is ranked second only to Japan amongst the OECD countries

In comparison with the healthcare systems of five other comparable countries (Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand and the USA) the NHS was found to be the most impressive overall by the New York-based Commonwealth Fund in 2007 (the USA came last). Specifically the NHS was rated as the best system in terms of quality of care, co-ordination of care, and equity, but also, crucially, in terms of the efficiency of care.xvii

𐁺 The last time the World Health Organization produced a ranking of the world’s health systems, the UK was ranked considerably higher than the USA.xviii

𐁺 Life expectancy at birth is greater in the UK than in the USA and the infant mortality rate is lower in the UK than in the USA.

The NHS regulator’s latest patient survey recorded 92% of patients saying their care was “good”, “very good” or “excellent”.xxi

𐁺 According to the 2009 British Social Attitudes report, satisfaction with the NHS is at its highest level for 25 years. And those with personal experience of the NHS rate it highest of all.

Belle

EDIT: We (my husband and I ((my husband is British btw)) actually keep very close tabs on the UK. I also lived in England before. So I have personal experience with the NHS, and it is not like American politicans and Insurance executives would like Americans to think it is.

Yes, I really do, Neocon. Each and every civilized country on the face of this planet except US have National Health-care. The reason why we don't have are Republican Neoconservatives which use their usual fear-mongering tactics and misleading propaganda.

Yes I do. I presently use the VA which is providing GREAT coverage. But I know many people who have no coverage. This is a disgrace.

A choice between government care or no healthcare, government healthcare will win out.*

No, because I'm gonna have 100 crack addicts in front of me at the doctor's office while i have a broken leg.

~ I want one that works...and works well.

You can KEEP the plan you have!!!!!

Sheesh.