Why can't the US just copy England's healthcare system?

Question

I know it might take years, but there's a perfect example of a first world country taking care of sick people the way they're supposed to taken care of. Just copy it exactly how it is, it works, STOP TURNING AWAY PEOPLE WITH CANCER, that's no way for the world's most powerful country to act.

Answer 1

I'm a nurse in the US and I work on a cancer ward. I've never seen anyone turned away from cancer treatment. Some patients actually refuse it. The only time a doctor would refuse to do chemotherapy is if the person is too ill (low blood counts, low platelets, etc) or if the person is about 90 years old and the quality of life would not be worth the chemotherapy. People without insurance still receive treatment for cancer, but they will come away with loads of debt that an insured person wouldn't have. Access to the care isn't necessarily a problem, it's affordability.

The real problem with the American system is access to primary health care. Some doctors won't accept you if you're uninsured or a medicaid patient. So the poor will only get treatment when they have serious health problems, and even then they're stuck with all the hospital debt.

The health system in this country is in a poor state, but copying England's system wouldn't make it perfect. They have problems as well. In fact this BBC article discuss the problems UK citizens have in receiving the newest cancer drugs available. The UK is actually behind other countries in Europe when it comes to cancer survival and treatment.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4314798.stm

Whomever said that the US has more people dying of cancer than the UK is not considering the whole picture. The UK has a population of ~60million and the US has a population of ~300million. Naturally the US will have more overall deaths with a higher population. If you look at the numbers, the US actually has a fewer percentage of cancer deaths than the UK. Those in the UK have longer waiting time for treatment than Americans. American doctors are also known for providing more aggressive cancer therapies than European doctors in general.

http://www.who.int/ncd_surveillance/infobase/web/InfoBasePolicyMaker/Reports/cancer.aspx

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2002-10-15-europe-cancer_x.htm

Answer 2

I think the present government is bad
let s think fairly
first,do we have the right to have nuclear weapons and others not ?you may say we are a democratic country but you must know that Ahamadi Nejad elected and choosed by the iranian people(NB we are not sure if the president Bush desereved to be a president or not ,do you remeber the votes of the last state)
second: we are a democratic country but we hit Japan with 2 nuclear bombs at the end of the war without the need to do this (Japan was going to surrender)and we donot know if any japanese generation in the future may take revenege or not.
third:we allow some other countries to have nuclear weapond and help them like INDIA and ISRAEL WHICH is dangerous on the world peace and flaming wars from time to time (it is a reason of the hatred of many nations to usa)
forth:we have a very bad foreign policy against many countries like Cuba,Venezuela,middle east,north korea.,do you think if we have a fair normal diplomatic relation with these countries including iran ,does anyone of the world would attack us ?look at Canada ,it has a good realtions with all nations ,there is no terrorrism against it
fifth:we always attack others which makes them going to the steps of revenge.so if we stop shaking Iran regime ,do you think iranians and they know well that we are the strong power ,may attack us??

sixth: dealing with the iraq was is the worst .prisons of Abou ghareb ,killing citizens ,and many things which make others plans for revenge.

at the time of the second world war ,all countries of world and nations was looking up to USA ,now with the wrong decisions ,supporting some dictators,bad forign relations with many countries .the situation is difficult and there must be a change in the US policy

Answer 3

booman,

Your assumptions are false. Americans spend a higher percentage of a higher GDP on healthcare than any other country in the world. In return, our healthcare system ranks 37th in the world according to the WHO... behind countries like Great Britan, France, Canada and even Costa Rica!

I think that private industry has taught us a lot when it comes to healthcare maintenence. I'd like to try a Universal system that utilizies copays and deductibles to curb over-utilization. This way, you could contain cost and avoid the "free healthcare" mentality and at the same time, people who hard their whole lives to get a few assessts can avoid bankruptcy with one runaway illness.

Citizens probably will end up with more money in their pockets. Employers pay for the bulk of the insurance premiums. If you pay $200/month, they probably pay $800/month or so. This is a part of your compensation. Now you can negotiate a better wage for yourself to offset higher taxes... but you still won't have to pay your $200/month premium. That would be gravy for you.

The real beauty of UHC... No pre-authorizations, no pre-existing conditions and no denials. As it is, we are all one illness away from bankruptcy. Think about it.

Answer 4

We have 50,000,000 people in America without health care insurance. That is unacceptable to me as a taxpaying, voting citizen. If we have the greatest health care system in the world how do we explain our high rates for mortality in babies and children? We are just ahead of Burundi. What we have is so much greed people with real medical problems can't get the care they need. We have to do better. War in Iraq and Afghanistan shouldn't take precedence over American citizens!

Answer 5

It's not, and we should be ashamed. (note, those in politics, their mothers w/ cancer are cared for.) Look at any of these countries: England, France, Canada, Australia: doctors will do their best, because they actually make MORE if they cure you. Why are we fine with how the post office runs, but don't trust what doctors we'd get here? If a doctor is going to make more by helping you, any doctor wants that chance... Really.

.

Answer 6

The last thing I want to see happen is the US copying Great Britain's government-run health care system. You don't know history. The service is terrible. Because it is paid for with tax money, no really knows what the system is costing them.

Because of a doctor shortage, GB imported 20,000 health care professionals. Look what they got...doctors trying to blow up people in three separate locations.

Answer 7

The medical Indrustry makes billions of dollars a year the way things are now.If they did give us all medical that probly would affect the numbers.Try looking at it this way when you mess with a animals habatat it can screw everything up.It would be nice to have free medical but corperations/Government trys to get as much money as possible.

Answer 8

Ha ha are you kidding? US copying UK? No way. We have far better medicare, doctors, researches and pharmaceutical companies than UK has ever had. The only problem is since it has high class medicare facilities, it costs more. We will need some time to adjust it's cost in accordance with people's financial ability.

Answer 9

Just how much in taxes do you want to pay? Why do people think there is such a thing as free healthcare? You're watching too many Michael Moore movies.

Answer 10

because when I turn 50, I want to still be able to be seen by the doctor.