To think a privatised health service would be an improvement?

[WhiteStars]

At the moment we all have to be grateful for the overstretched and often inefficient service we receive. I had a 9am appointment today with a nurse practitioner. At that time in the morning she was already running 25 mins late on her appointments- how?!

She also couldn't use her computer system so I had to then wait for a doctor to come and issue the standard repeat prescription (I couldn't get this over the phone as needed a blood pressure check). The doctor then issued the wrong medication and only corrected it when I noticed she had done the wrong thing on the screen.

All very minor but not a great service at all really. We all know how over stretched the service is and everyone says it's at breaking point. Why is everyone so against paying for health insurance and getting a better service or going private?

It's not uncommon to hear of people waiting weeks to get an appointment and not being able to book in advance. The government would save an inordinate amount of money that could be ploughed into schools whilst subsidising some health services but with people paying an annual health insurance fee. We already pay for prescriptions in England. I would rather have a better private service than the NHS as it is now- on it's last legs and not really fit for purpose any more. AIBU?

[Blu]

Have you checked how much people pay for private health insurance in the U.S? Do you actually know?

It isn't comparable with paying BUPA here because here many things, A&E, Intensive Care, heart transplants etc are not possible within private hospitals.

I have been on parents forums for children with limb differences and American parents are always discussing what to do when the insurance limit has been reached: should they cancel the next surgery and pay for prosthetics? Should they opt for amputation first off because the insurance won't cover ALL the surgery, physio, orthotics etc.

YABU. The NHS is struggling due to underfunding and over demand. Sort that out and tax accordingly if necessary.

[CaoNiMa]

"Why is everyone so against paying for health insurance and getting a better service or going private? "

Let me think.... Perhaps because they can't afford it?

[2014newme]

You know you could have chosen to pay and have the blood taken privately. You chose not to. So whilst you Slag off the NHS and say private would be better, you actually chose to have the test in the NHS thereby suggesting that you don't really want to pay for your treatment.

[DrCoconut]

I followed the progress of a boy with cancer in the USA. His parents reached the limit of their insurance and were worried about paying for treatment. Not a system I'm keen to implement.

[Domino20]

YABVVU in thinking that payment/privatisation will automatically result in better service!

[downwardfacingdog]

Yabu we should fund the NHS properly. Americans pay a huge chunk of their income in health insurance and like the PP said, it's not like going private here. I also have a DC with a health condition and American parents still have to wait to see specialists etc just because they are paying through insurance rather than tax doesn't make that much of a difference, but does mean if you can't get insurance, you're screwed.

[NapQueen]

Yabu.

A system whereby health care is only available to those who can afford it is detrimental to the wellbeing of society.

The vast majority couldn't afford to spring 2k for tests or 8k for an appendix removal or whatever. There is a fair proportion of the population who couldn't afford insurance.

Think how competitive it is and silly it is trying to get insured to drive a car.

Now imagine all these companies competing for customers some of whom are incredibly sick or will be at some point in their life.

There are ways I would imagine the NHS could make themselves a more efficient or cost effective service. This is absolutely not one of them.

[Efferlunt]

Jeremy Hunt's plan is starting to work clearly....

[mummymeister]

I agree that the health service as it stands is no longer fit for purpose. but the alternative of a completely private service is fine if you are either well or rich but if you are neither of these then it just dominates your whole way of life - worrying about how to pay for treatment etc.

The NHS is not struggling due to underfunding. it is struggling because the money it has isn't spent efficiently and effectively. constant edge tinkering rather than sitting down with a blank sheet of paper and redesigning it for the 21st century. no one has the balls to do this though unfortunately. Frank field had some good suggestions but got side lined.

[napmeistergeneral]

Many, many points against privatisation. Here's just one - where's the guarantee that private service would perform better? Look at the trains.

There are systemic issues with health provision and it is an area of great complexity. These aren't thing that can "easily" be solved, publicly or privately run. Different doesn't always mean better, or more efficient.

And then of course there's the health inequality it would create.... Yes, YABU. (although it is annoying when you can't get a GP app....)

[2014newme]

Yes when you take out medical insurance all existing conditions are excluded normally.
Op you really have not thought this through or done any research you are a total numpty to say that we should all pay for private medical just because your NHS appointment didn't go smoothly. find out what the cost would be to pay for it.

[ChestnutsRoastingOnAnOpenFire]

YAB naive. I've cared for young patients from the US and elsewhere who have come over on student visas to extract free NHS care (not suggesting this is right) with their blood cancer hidden but in relapse because their insurance lapsed and they couldn't get cover, or because the insurance pulled out. These are patients who are potentially curable or likely to have normal life expectancy on expensive meds.

[downwardfacingdog]

Also, just look at dentistry as an example of how systems work when they are not free at the point of delivery or are mixed private/NHS. I frequently feel unsure whether my dentist is being honest about what I can/can't have done on the NHS, whether unnecessary private treatments are being suggested etc.

[ToastieRoastie]

If health were privatised, wouldn't the government end up providing some form of benefit for those who couldn't afford private health insurance? So would still cost the tax payer. Middle earners taxed to pay for it without being able to benefit from it.

I wouldn't like to be in a position where treatment has to be stopped because insurance company won't pay for more and people can't afford it. I'd rather pay tax to make sure healthcare is available on a universal basis for all who need it.

[Strongmummy]

It's bleeding obvious isn't it!!!? Many couldn't afford it. Jesus wept

[user1478860582]

As someone terminally ill I would rather have my care decided by a doctor than an insurance company.

I've seen how quickly those buggers write off cars.....

[PausingFlatly]

I have no idea why you think private companies don't have the same issues you're complaining about.

Have you ever dealt with a mobile phone company? Electricity and gas?

They hardly cover themselves in glory.

But since you're happy to pay for private healthcare and believe it will get you better treatment, why aren't you just doing that?

[ChestnutsRoastingOnAnOpenFire]

And it will cost a bloody fortune. Google the 'low cost' option that is obamacare, hundreds of pounds a month for the lowest level cover. And that's considered cheap! People don't know how bloody good they have it here, we run the most efficient service in the world for the relatively low level of GDP we agree to contribute to healthcare. It's creaking at the seams because the current government actively wants to run it into the ground so that people think the only option is to privatise.

[YouTheCat]

How about the government start putting in some of the money we pay in taxes and NI and stop selling off services to their mates?

The NHS is only overstretched because the government is engineering it so people think a private system is the way to go. It's bollocks. Many people, including me, struggle with day to day living costs so there's no way we could afford to buy private health care. If I get a chest infection I'd much prefer to be able to visit my GP and be treated without having to worry whether I can afford to be ill. What about people with chronic conditions?

[MontePulciana]

We're private for everything. Except maternity which I wish to god there would be an option to pay for better service. Sonographer yesterday said to me they can't handle the volume of patients they have. We used to live in the US and miss the system. Our policy was with DH company. It was one of the best. Just wish we had options here. They lump everyone together with the same shoddy service.

[QuizteamBleakley]

I would rather have a better private service than the NHS as it is now

Then why don't you go and sign up for private healthcare?

[albertcampionscat]

Sigh. The OECD regularly puts the NHS top of the efficiency pile. We spend less than most comparable countries, far less than the USA does. In fact, as a general rule the more private the system is the more wasteful it is - the waste coming from stuff like unnecessary procedures and distorted priorities,

I'm not even particularly left-wing as it happens - this is just boring, pragmatic economics. Health care works really badly as a market.

[AnnPerkins]

I'm pretty sure it's what we're meant to think.

But I don't.

[MollyHuaCha]

I have some really expensive regular treatment. I doubt any insurer wd want to take on new patients like me!

[TheFairyCaravan]

YABVU.

I'm disabled and suffer with severe chronic pain. I live in the arse end of nowhere and go to hospital out of area because that's where the specialist is for my condition. It's only 30 miles from my house, my regional hospital is 27 miles in the opposite direction, so it's as short as it is long, really.

Yesterday I saw my pain specialist. He told me the treatment I need he can't refer me for because it's been contracted out to private companies and they only treat people living in that county. The other treatment that might have helped is done by 2 women who are both going on maternity leave and not being replaced. So I'm in limbo, in agony.

DS2 is a second year student nurse. The pressure they are under is immense. He tells me some terrible stories. It's not fair on the patients or staff.