Why would some people want American style healthcare?

[FishCanFly]

I mean, to abolish the NHS for extortionate private insurance?

I don’t want a full US system but I wish it was possible to have more of a hybrid. I hate having to beg for an appointment with the GP, and I feel like the NHS discourages people from taking responsibility for their own health. The waiting times to see a consultant on the NHS are ridiculous. I was diagnosed with PCOS when overseas- stopped period, immediate appointment with a gynaecologist who was able to investigate on the spot. He could see the lumps around my ovaries. Job done. Clomid and metformin prescribed and I became pregnant month later. That would have taken at least a year in the nhs system, possibly several years.

I hate that a lot of the nhs is based on blocking people from seeing the right person, it’s all about triage and gatekeepers because the system assumes we are mostly time wasters.

Tulip I think all these problems could be better solved by funding the NHS properly, the government has already spunked billions on Brexit and bribing the DUP so the money clearly exists.

The NHS needs to do more to encourage people to look after themselves, no drugs and stop eating before you get to 20 stone

@jean I’m not sure more money for the NHS is the solution. It’s too big. I think it could be improved by doing less overall, and also by creating a system that encourages people to pay privately and in doing so relieving pressure from the nhs. For example, tax incentives for those with private cover.

Tulips Yeah I’m not against tax incentives for those with private healthcare, I also think people do need to take more personal responsibility over their own healthcare in terms of diet and exercise. There is also scope to look at waste within the NHS and how it can be effectively controlled.

But I would hate to see it abolished as the most vulnerable will suffer through lack of healthcare coverage. I’d also hate to be denied treatment by an insurance computer algorithm.

I've had terrible treatment from the NHS due mainly to chaotic communication between departments am sitting here in pain knowing its pointless trying to get it sorted, two of my friends had undiagnosed cancer, one has since died despite us begging for her to get treatment and am seriously thinking a different system is actually becoming essential. Sadly there are too many people expecting too much from a system not designed or capable of coping.

@JenniR29

I agree- we absolutely need the NHS and I would still prefer what we have to a fully US system.

The NHS isn't a free service, we all pay through our NI contributions.

Has anyone actually looked at what an American health care system is like? On paper it looks great, you get to choose your doctor, hospital etc. Can be seen quicker. But each time you see anyone there is a cost.
If you have a life long condition then they will either not insure you, so you can't get treatment, or they will rack the costs up massively.
The insurer [ not the medical professional] will decide on your treatment, and use the lowest cost possible. The insurer can decide at any point that they will no longer pay for your treatment as it is costing too much so this will put your health at risk.

People worry about losing or changing their jobs as this is what is paying for their healthcare. They also have to pay deductibles for each treatment. So, even though they have insurance, they still have to pay a percentage to the treatment.

What about people on low incomes who just can't afford the insurance? What happens to them, or elderly people?

I will keep the NHS any day rather than go down these lines.

Agreed Toom I said it earlier but I think people are seriously delusional about the quality of service that would be offered to you as even a middle income earner.

It is also arguable that it’s fairer to have a means tested payment system

Like income tax for example?

It’s much much fairer to charge people who actually use the services.

So would you expand that to all types of service? So as I have no children I shouldn’t pay through my taxes for any child-related services, or if my house doesn’t burn down I shouldn’t have to pay towards the fire service?

I don’t think people are delusional and it’s very rude to claim that they are.

They look at mist European health systems where they they will get better care, appointments when they need, and where no one seems to be dying as the claims go for the American.

The NHS doesn’t work the way it was designed now.

You really think this current government would implement a fair European style system Chardonnay??

As shown by Rees-Moggs latest comments they can’t even bothered to mask their contempt for anyone they consider poor.

You really think this current government would implement a fair European style system Chardonnay?

And here we have the problem again, the partisan of the NHS.

I trust Corbyn and his Marxist comrades even less, they will throw money, they will bloat it even further and when they run out of money, and they will soon, they it will all crash.

It needs a a redesign but as you illustrated it won’t happen because of politicising it.

Partisan use.

Chardonnay, it's currently the Tories that are claiming they'll throw money at the NHS. 40 new hospitals apparently. Not that there's anyone to staff them, or the money to build them, but that doesn't make a good headline. Are you going to call them Marxists, or are they talking bullshit as usual?

Chardonnay well sadly it has become like everything else, a partisan issue. I don’t see a bipartisan effort happening to overhaul it in the way you suggest which is what it would require.

I doubt we’ll ever agree on this. I’m for a free at the point of access system and always will be.

I can’t see how I can call Tory policy Marxist, populist maybe

So, when the stories don’t invest they are deliberately running it to the grown, bit when they are investing then can’t win either?

I dint know how and if I will vote this time, but I really want to see the NHS out of the partisan bun fights. . It needs a cross party approach, and that’s the only way to save it.

It can’t be done by the Conservative or by Labour on their own, along their party lines.

An insurance system only works if the government tightly regulate it to prevent it becoming a huge profit maker for executives with no investment back to the system.

Tulips we have the hybrid system you want now! Nobody is stopping you from paying for a private consultants appt. They’re also a lot cheaper than in the US as are the private prescriptions.

An American colleague doesn’t like that you don’t get any choice of doctor, treatment or when you have it. Which is true, we don’t really get a choice unless you pay. Free = worse.

I have chosen different doctors, you only need to ask. I prefer to be seen at a local hospital that isn't my closest because it has better disabled access.

I had an operation 60 miles from home through choice.

I do think governments shouldn't be able to mess with the funding they do or bring in ridiculous policies like, 'patient events'.

That’s true Arf the NHS isn’t compulsory, if you dislike it you don’t have to use it.

I don’t see a bipartisan effort happening to overhaul it in the way you suggest which is what it would require

If you disregard what the leaders of the parties portray, what actually actually happens behind the scenes is exactly this. There are (were, because they have all now been disbanded), several cross party committees attempting to bring the NHS and Social Care into the 21st century. They have looked at, and visited, other countries in the EU and places like Canada and Australia (not looking to the US at all), and considering which system is feasible in this country, and which system could we move to most efficiently.

The main problem is that the general public are nervous of change and therefore it is, and always has been, the political hot potato. Many pp's on here would welcome an NHS reform, but would that be a vote winner with the general electorate? You have to have trust when major change is suggested, and trust is in very short supply at the moment.

Arthur I suppose Brexit has thrown a spanner in the works of any cross party co-operation. I miss the boring centralist views of John Major and (for the most part) Tony Blair/Gordon Brown. 😂