It amazes me when I read about US healthcare.A question for you USAers.

I think this is such a great topic. (re: US/UK healthcare differences)...


I also feel that the U.S. is far more conservative when it comes to healthcare...


The idea that "if I've payed 100k in insurance, and someone has payed 10k, we are not destined for equal treatment" is a popular stance, I've noticed it here on ATS, and that's my source.


But I also think it's not so much a lack of empathy or care for fellow Americans...
It, imo, comes from the "keep Government out" mentality.




For example, if our (UK) Government collapsed tonight...
So would our NHS...

In the States, the insurance companies would still be there and healthcare would still be affordable...
Nurses, Consultants, Doctors & Surgeons, Paramedics, Ambulance Petrol etc would all still be paid...


Would that happen in the UK?

We'd probably end up with UN relief hospitals that would end up being bombed.

Still love the NHS, but in a SHTF scenario, we could be screwed.

a reply to: buster2010

We paid 90% in income tax at a time when the rest of the world was in shambles from WWII. There was no developed world for people to flee to or they would have gone. Also, the regulations on business was much less allowing people to make the choice to reinvest their money into business assets and realize good return on it which many did. These days, they are regulated to death leaving no room for good return on their investments.

You jack up the tax rates to 90%, and people will leave the country even more than they do now.

I'd leave the country.

a reply to: CharlieSpeirs

Not necessarily.

There would be chaos, but individual providers would quickly set up a fee for service system. You would have to learn to pay for your heath care again.

And I think you paint an overly rosy outlook for a US in which the government collapse. That would also cause quite a bit of chaos. The insurance companies may or may not be there. It's quite likely we would also be looking at fee for service with any local doc we could find too until order could re-establish.

It would basically be raw free markets.

First let's end a myth...

Nobody was denied Healthcare in the US before Obamacare.

You showed up at a County Hospital needing care. You got it.

This was an illegal hostile take over of our Healthcare System.

Now....The real cost is starting to kick in.

Obama hijacked America's Healthcare System and the bill is coming due.

a reply to: CharlieSpeirs

Thats a good thread topic for people working in the industry...If SHTF what do you do with your patients?.

a reply to: CharlieSpeirs

Sounds an easy to abuse system, with UK insurance companies and even the NHS.
I have not worked yesterday or today, had a dental abscess in an upper molar which started on the weekend, cheek like a hamster with a mouth full of nuts.
I rang my NHS dentist 8:30am Monday, was in the chair at 12 midday, had two x-rays, 7 days of 3X 1000mg Amoxycilin daily antibiotics to kill the infection, and an appointment in two weeks to remove the sadly damaged tooth.
I'm self employed and earn above the threshold so I do have to contribute for my dental costs but the whole lot will end up costing me £48, and I don't have to pay it until two weeks from now when I go back for the extraction.

If I was out of work it would not cost me a penny. I like living in a society which provides that.

a reply to: whyamIhere

So at the end of the day who is getting rich from it?.

a reply to: CharlieSpeirs
What is more likely. UK government failing or individual insurance companies failing?

I would prefer to have it the way it was before. Many people need insurance to get medical care, but the cost of insurance will only remain affordable when there is true competition between insurance companies - and that means people need to be able to opt out if it becomes too expensive. Insurance mandates only ever increase the cost of insurance as it gives the insurance companies a free pass to charge whatever they want.

I do not want a single-payer system such as what the UK or wherever else has.

a reply to: grainofsand

So do I buddy, I think it's the greatest system in the world despite the abuse that can occur.

I've been out of work for a couple of years with mental health and if it wasn't for the NHS I'd probably be dead now.
& If I had to pay for what I've received, I'd probably be dead by now.

Some days I feel like a scrounger though, I always felt proud seeing my payslip and the taxes paid...
As proud as I did for actually doing a hard days work.


If it weren't for my countrymen & women, I wouldn't be having this discussion about how revered our NHS is.

a reply to: grainofsand

Except that's not so different from how the US system generally works.

I can call my dentist and have the same done.

So can the Medicaid recipient.

originally posted by: boymonkey74
a reply to: CharlieSpeirs

It costs us 115 billion and is one of the biggest employers in the world 1.3 million people, I can see that If you did it in the USA it would cost much more.
Let me put it another way would you pay 3 cents more in tax in the dollar to have an NHS style system with no insurance companies?.

YES.

I only can go to a doctor if I have to, as in I wake up there.

I actually have to pay money to NOT have insurance.

Yummy



I would LOVE to get checked out.. I think I got checked out in 2005 last time. Can't remember last dentist.

originally posted by: ScepticScot
a reply to: CharlieSpeirs
What is more likely. UK government failing or individual insurance companies failing?

Good question...

But really either answer will be laced with conjecture.
It could be argued that we are becoming a corporatocracy as opposed to a democracy...
50/50 I guess.

& on the flipside, what would be most likely to collapse in the States?

45,000 deaths a year linked to no heralthcare in the US....

But just as long as you got your healthcare and you're not having to contribute to other peoples healthcare......right?

It's a selfish streak many Americans seem to have, look after number one!

originally posted by: CharlieSpeirs
Some days I feel like a scrounger though

Don't.
If I had to pay an extra £10 a week in taxes to ensure that we as a country still fix people free at the point of need I would, mental/physical health, long term care, dentistry, all of it, it's a sign of a mature society.
I think most working folk would agree the same for British citizens.
Ten quid, that's 3 pints of Thatcher's Gold at my local, that to me is worth it for the health of my fellow citizens.

a reply to: grainofsand

Snap I don't know why one of the major parties didn't say this in the election an extra penny in the pound for the NHS.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: grainofsand

Except that's not so different from how the US system generally works.

I can call my dentist and have the same done.

So can the Medicaid recipient.

Oh, I should have clarified, dentistry is the only one we have to contribute if we earn above the thresholds.
All other healthcare is free, funded by general taxation.

originally posted by: boymonkey74
a reply to: grainofsand

Snap I don't know why one of the major parties didn't say this in the election an extra penny in the pound for the NHS.

If the extra tax was earmarked exclusively for the NHS I reckon the overwhelming majority of us would pay it.
I know I would.

originally posted by: boymonkey74
a reply to: whyamIhere

So at the end of the day who is getting rich from it?.

Example...

With Obamacare everybody that get Meds get drug screened.

The rule came out of nowhere. I've seen them charge $1600.00 for a drug test.

My Doctors office smells like hot urine. They collect hundreds of samples monthly.

After illegally searching my body fluid searching for a reason...

Example #2.....To send me to their other scam...Rehab.

If there's anything true about this....

Annual U.S. Healthcare Spending Hits $3.8 Trillion

how much would an increase to Medicare payroll taxes be to pay for all citizens to be MediCare'd?

(assuming the insurance companies would become the administrators)