Is Socialized Health Care the Way to Go? A Look at Britain?s Health Care System
Against the backdrop of expensive health care costs, the Americans would not be better off if they are for socialized medicine?
Not so, according to a recent study by the Cato Institute of Britain’s National Health Service (NHS). There is no perfect scenario when it comes to health care. On one side of the spectrum is the desire to unlimited medical care, their own lives as much as possible and the other end of the spectrum is rationed to extend to haveTo control> care spending.
The NHS is a central government version of the single-payer system in England and it pays directly for health care and finances of the system through general tax revenues. Most doctors and nurses are government employees.
What can we learn from Britain’s health care?
1. Long waits
* Currently, no less than three quarters of a million Britons are waiting to be treated in hospitals in Britain.Cancer patients wait so long, up to eight months for treatment. During this waiting time 20% of patients with colorectal cancer, which is originally a “treatable” in the first diagnosis of “incurable.” Even more alarming is the fact that no less than 40% of all cancer patients are never seen only with an oncology specialist.
* In 2008, Britain’s aim was to show for a waiting period of not more than eighteen weeks, the study found that only 30-50% of patients actually receive treatment within theeighteen weeks time frame. And what is worse, that only 20% of orthopedic and trauma surgery patients received care by a specialist in the eighteen weekly goal box.-health care
2. Rationed Health – Nursing
* Not surprisingly, the tax is a direct consequence of the British system is that certain types of care for more expensive procedures such as open heart surgery and kidney dialysis now, “rationing.” Even more alarming is that patients “too sick” or “too old” for aProceedings as “low cost” will be refused treatment altogether. A government “solution” proposed that allows the NHS to reject the treatment with “unhealthy lifestyle”, such as smoking and overweight.
3. Paying for private health care
* Another solution is the “competition” in the form of private health insurance. Currently about 10% of Britons have to take out private health insurance and this number is growing as more and moreBritons are looking for access to a wider choice of health care providers to gain and to avoid waiting lists.
* Studies on the British public’s survey showed that 63% of the need is felt for a reform of health care is “urgent” and another 24% believe that there are at least “desirable.” Even more telling is that 60% of Britons believe that it is easier for the patient, would spend their own money for health care “to improve the quality.”
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