Donald I, emperor of the world.

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briantrumpet

Veteran
The beauty of the US healthcare system is rich people get good healthcare, medical insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies make huge profits which help maintain the income of shareholders, and it's only poor people who die simply because they can't afford decent healthcare, and as we all know, poor people are a drain on the economy that keeps rich people rich.

What's not to like?

FWIW, at rough reckoning, my present condition treatment & upcoming procedure would cost north of $100k in the US. Think of those shareholder profits!!
 

Stevo 666

Ăśber Member
The beauty of the US healthcare system is rich people get good healthcare, medical insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies make huge profits which help maintain the income of shareholders, and it's only poor people who die simply because they can't afford decent healthcare, and as we all know, poor people are a drain on the economy that keeps rich people rich.

What's not to like?

FWIW, at rough reckoning, my present condition treatment & upcoming procedure would cost north of $100k in the US. Think of those shareholder profits!!

There is something to be said for not having to subsidise (for example) smokers and fat bastards who eat junk/do no exercise then expect someone else to pick up the tab. One big problem with the NHS is the 'free bar' syndrome and there are other models out there which are somewhere between the US version and ours - and arguably better.
 
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Beebo

Guru
No, I take pressure off the NHS by not using them, even though I fund them. How selfish of me 🙂

I have private cover too.
But I don’t buy the argument that it takes pressure off the NHS.
The consultants are almost always NHS staff so could be working elsewhere. You just jumped the queue.
And a bit like the “fast pass” at Disney land, if too many people buy it, it isn’t much quicker and the non buyers suffer most.
 

Stevo 666

Ăśber Member
This is not about you nor what you choose, it's about what's happening across the pond.

I was addressing what you said about paying extra for medial insurance, which is effectively what I am doing.
 

Stevo 666

Ăśber Member
I have private cover too.
But I don’t buy the argument that it takes pressure off the NHS.
The consultants are almost always NHS staff so could be working elsewhere. You just jumped the queue.
And a bit like the “fast pass” at Disney land, if too many people buy it, it isn’t much quicker and the non buyers suffer most.

It's a free country and people/companies are free to offer private medical services if they want. Your view seems to rely on the assumption that every medical practitioner should be working for the state medical services provider.
 

briantrumpet

Veteran
I have private cover too.
But I don’t buy the argument that it takes pressure off the NHS.
The consultants are almost always NHS staff so could be working elsewhere. You just jumped the queue.
And a bit like the “fast pass” at Disney land, if too many people buy it, it isn’t much quicker and the non buyers suffer most.

And BUPA wouldn't exist as a vaguely affordable queue-jumping option if it weren't for the NHS which not only trains and employs most of the BUPA surgeons, but also takes most of the trickiest (and therefore least-profitable) cases that hospitals without IC won't take.

I don't blame anyone for using BUPA at all, but it piggybacks on the NHS for its model to work.
 

briantrumpet

Veteran
This is not about you nor what you choose, it's about what's happening across the pond.

If this turns into a general NHS/healthcare models side-discussion, you'll not be entirely surprised if I start a separate thread and send in the

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Psamathe

Ăśber Member
The consultants are almost always NHS staff so could be working elsewhere. You just jumped the queue.
My impression is that it's not consultant time that's the limiting factor but how much consultant time the NHS buys.

I've seen a couple of consultants privately on a self-paying basis (not insurance) and most consultation appointments were evening, consultant maybe doing 2 evenings a week in a private hospital.

I expect those types of arrangements do help the NHS.

Also interesting is I had a tests for a condition done privately self-pay which the NHS decided to repeat. Private tests were far more extensive and detailed than NHS using equipment NHS hospital didn't even have.
 
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