I'm British and lived in the U.S my entire adult life. I was born and raised with the NHS, loved it back in the 50's, 60's 70's, but it sounds really over stretched now. Over the years keeping in touch with family in England and I have been sometimes appalled at the treatment they have received there, mostly the wait times for procedures and appointments. Other times I have been gobsmacked at the wonderful level of care from their GP. So mixed feelings.
The same here in the U.S. As long as you have good insurance the healthcare is fantastic. The best. No waiting about that's for sure. No gatekeepers for getting appointments. Although they will ask if all your insurance infos the same when you make an appointment to make sure you are still covered.
In the last almost 50 years I have had all kinds of health insurance from none, to medicaid for the very poor (my husband was a student and I was unemployed sickie) teamster (union) insurance, regular employee insurance, federal worker insurance, state worker insurance, self-employed, to finally medicare for us oldies.
I've have managed to get myself into a lot of pickles and had about 10 major surgeries, so it hasn't been plain sailing.
The secret is having insurance. The very poor can get treatment. Hospitals can't turn people away. There are free or sliding-scale clinics
We have kept ourselves insured and so we've been okay. We even have medical helicopter/plane insurance and that paid off when my husband was in a very bad accident. We live about 80 miles from a trauma center and so the cost of the airlift would have been well over $100,000.
I find it disturbing UK women see a nurse for a pap smear. Here a pap smear comes with a full pelvic exam from a gynecologist. I've never heard of a nurse doing that! Also you don't have to go to a crowded hospital for blood work and waiting for hours. Your doctors practice does that. There are many labs, MRI's etc.
I've been reading here on mums net how babies and toddlers have been refused appointments with doctors. That is frightening. It sounds as if the ambulance service in the UK is used almost as a taxi service. We only use ambulances if we are in serious peril, such as heart attack or car crash etc. That's the difference between us - even though we have good coverage I wouldn't bother the local ambulance crew. What if there was a serious accident they were needed at?
What I have come to learn after so many years in the U.S is that there are millions of Americans who do not want to be 'looked after'. They don't expect it and don't want it. In the UK most people want to be looked after and expect government to do it. While my parents were still alive and I'd go home to visit, or reading mums-net, I clearly see the difference in the two cultures. For many years I didn't understand it, but I do now. For many of us it's about freedom, individuality and personal responsibly.
Given the choice of the US healthcare system or the NHS, I would stick with U.S healthcare system. I love it.
BTW, in the US there's different kinds of bankruptcy. Chapter 7, 11, 13 etc. So I don't think it's the same as in the UK where I believe if you go bankrupt you lose everything. Maybe someone else can explain it better, we just had an earthquake here as I was writing this.
PS. Look up what a nurse makes in the US.