appalling reports in US media of UK healthcare

[david uk]

There have been reports in the uk this week of very ill-informed attacks on the UK Health system by certain parties in the US media.

there have been plenty of blatant untruths, such as the following:.


It was stated that eminent scientist Stephen Hawking, who is paraplegic, would not have survived had he been born in the UK. Ha ha! Mr Hawking was born and has always lived in the UK and coincidentally was in the US to pick up an award- he took the opportunity to say that he owed his survival and quality of life to the National Health Service.

Then it was stated that 40% of cancer patients in the UK would not be able to see a specialist. A lie, as anyone even suspected of cancer is guaranteed a specialist appointment within 14 days. Without paying (obviously).

My own case- 5 years of mental health issues, often severe, picked up and treated not only by my own doctor but my local mental health team. An investigation into a colonic problem which entailed several consultations and an operation. No payment and I am now fine.

Finally, I am on long term medication. As I am not working. all my medication is free. everything, every pill, ear drop etc

There has been plenty of debate about the merits of various health systems here as I assume there has been in the US, but one thing I would say is:

do not rely on ignorant opinions from right-wing uk politicians to make up your minds.

Just think that so many us citizens do not have recourse to medical help when they need it. I am very grateful for it. I am still here.

[DaveM]

Unfortunately, the most visible "anti-healthcare reform" people who are getting airtime at the moment seem to have little to no interest in anything to do with healthcare legislation. For reasons best known to them, the issue has been hijacked by conservative talk show hosts and other people who cater to malcontents and used as a call to arms on the grounds that "the government is taking over everything".

Note that when you listen to one of these people on the radio, you are listening to a frequency and broadcasting protocol that was determined by the government, which also licenses the station. The electricity which drives the radio is at a voltage and frequency mandated by.....the government. And the radio itself was most likely tested by the FCC and the Consumer Products Safety Commission. The government "is taking over everything"? The regulations regarding broadcasting and electrical current were in place decades before World War II.

To be sure, many of the organizations presently claiming "grassroots" origins are being well-funded by pharmaceutical and insurance companies. Those companies obviously stand to lose a great deal under a publicly-funded healthcare system. Their money is, however, being used at least in part to promote a far more sinister agenda.

Listen to Sarah Palin's baseless rants about "death panels" or the pro-life people claiming that the healthcare plan will include mandatory abortions or the more general right-wingers who just label the whole thing "socialism" and drop hints about UN troops marching the streets. Then listen to the "solutions" they advocate.

Undoubtedly many advocate the usual means of expressing one's opinion--petitions, polls, and letters to legislators. But the noisier ones making the airwaves at present (the "Tea Party" folks seem to be particularly guilty) don't talk about solutions. They talk about taking up arms and forcing their agenda of "liberty" on the rest of us, who apparently have had the wool pulled over our eyes somehow. They talk about marching on Washington. They show up at "town hall" meetings with guns. They most definitely don't say much of anything about the healthcare issue or anything connected to it. And of course they never say anything overtly racist, but they certainly don't seem to like the idea that our President has dark skin.

I'll grant you, the hardcore folks who are getting airtime at the moment are a small majority of Americans. But let's do some hypothetical math. Let's say that one percent of the populace swallows the "tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots" line that has been flying around of late. That's more than 3.5 million people--a large voting bloc and certainly enough people to make things difficult for the rest even if the only thing they do is shout down a few speakers or otherwise engage in disruption of the political process.

Let's go one step farther. What if 1% of that 1% truly decides to "take up arms" or pack their pickup trucks with explosives and drive into government buildings? That would be 35,000 Tim McVeighs on the loose with their bulging eyes and utter conviction that the government is an evil entity determined to pollute their precious bodily fluids.

The next few months could be interesting indeed.

[Dee]

Just think that so many us citizens do not have recourse to medical help when they need it. I am very grateful for it. I am still here.

I'm also grateful I was born in a country where the health of its citizens is a major priority, David. In fact, with my own health challenges I'd be dead by now if it didn't exist!

"Canada's national health insurance program, often referred to as "Medicare", is designed to ensure that all residents have reasonable access to medically necessary hospital and physician services, on a prepaid basis. Instead of having a single national plan, we have a national program that is composed of 13 interlocking provincial and territorial health insurance plans, all of which share certain common features and basic standards of coverage. Framed by the Canada Health Act, the principles governing our health care system are symbols of the underlying Canadian values of equity and solidarity."

Canada's Health Care System (Medicare) (http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hcs-sss/medi-assur/index-eng.php)

[DaveM]

Funny thing is, we've had Medicare and its associated programs here in the United States since the mid-1960s. To my knowledge, the only thing that is presently being proposed is that Medicare coverage be available to all Americans, not just the retired and disabled (or members of Congress) as at present.

Virtually every American over 65 currently has (or at least, is eligible for) government-funded healthcare coverage. Strangely, this has not caused the sky to fall. Medicare has become a hotbed for fraud and bill-padding. All that is required to set that in order is further oversight, not scrapping of the entire program.