The Brits love their public financed health service. They see privatization as corruption and a danger to the people. I agree. I also believe the UK is an excellent example of how a public health care service actually works within a government economy based in capitalism. This is not socialism. It is a country ensuring its people are well, happy and productive.
As a matter of fact, the business climate in the UK far exceeds that of the USA and it isn't because of taxes. We know the taxes there are lower than the USA, the Republicans scream about it all the time.
The health care contract of the people is with the government and requires no portability. There are no costs to employers in providing health care to their people. The people have a consistent ability to insure their health even if they lose their jobs or become ill.
Basically, government issues health care provides a higher standard of living.
The argument by Republicans about government-issued health care is that Americans will lose their doctors. Why? They going to evaporate? Seriously. I want Americans to tell me they can actually choose their own doctor. Go ahead, tell anyone you have the very same doctor that you had ten or twenty years ago. I dare you.
I want to point out that "In-network" or "Out of network" is the insurance company choosing the doctor for the American subscriber. Go ahead argue that one.
Does any Middle Class American actually pay more for health care insurance to be sure they have the same doctor? No. They choose health care insurance to minimize the cost of health care, therefore, the idea a government-issued health care system is going to remove any American's doctor from their care is nonsense. As a matter of fact, there is a greater chance an American can have the same doctor from cradle to grave is greater under a government-issued health care plan. An employer cannot change health care insurers either. The degree of CONSISTENCY and CONTINUITY of care is far greater with a government issued health care than any private company can guarantee. The entire "fear based" Republican "talking points" is straight out of Halloween and has nothing to do with reality.
28 September 2018
By Alex Therrien
Life expectancy (click here) in the UK has stopped improving for the first time since 1982, when figures began.
Women's life expectancy from birth remains 82.9 years and for men it is 79.2, the figures from the Office for National Statistics, for 2015-17, show....
What is health care about? Why bother with it? Happy living, quality of that life and longevity. That is what health care is all about.
February 18, 2019
By Grace Donnelly
Life expectancy in the U.S. dropped for the second year in a row, (click here) according to the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.
The new average life expectancy for Americans is 78.7 years, which puts the U.S. behind other developed nations and 1.5 years lower than the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average life expectancy of 80.3. The OECD is a group of developed countries that includes Canada, Germany, Mexico, France, Japan, and the U.K....
The longevity in the UK has dropped in some regions of the country, including Scotland. BUT, the longevity of the people of the USA continues to fall. There is an entire segment of Americans, White Men in their 50s, dying far before they should. The USA has a problem providing reassurance about longevity. There simply isn't a predictable quality of life for everyone in the USA.
The health care system is broken and needs to be rebuilt on the understanding every American life is equally as precious.
The money to pay for the NHS comes directly from taxation. The 2008/9 budget roughly equates to a contribution of £1,980 per person in the UK. When the NHS was launched in 1948 it had a budget of £437 million (roughly £9 billion at today's prices). In 2016–17 it was £122.5 billion ($158.48 US)
