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Going to make another post here, because I want to explain that American's aren't entirely irrational with our health care.
I spent time in the UK and the US, and I have to say that FOR ME, my personal, EXTREMELY privileged situation - The US healthcare system is better than the UK NHS. I say this knowing that if I lose my job, or I get a major illness, that could quickly change.
I pay a reasonable percentage of my paycheck for health insurance. I live in a mid sized town, in reasonable driving distance to several major cities, and the company I work is the single largest employer in the area, which means every doctor in this area is "in network" and I don't have to do any extra paperwork for medical billing.
If I need an MRI for a sports injury, I can get it within a day or two. If I need a CT scan because something unusual comes up on a test, I can get it the same day. If I need surgery for just about any injury, it'll be done within the week. If I need to talk to an expert, I can drive about 2 hours and get an appointment probably within a month (or less if it is an emergency.)
I will pay $0 additional out of pocket for any of the above.... AGAIN, ASSUMING MY SITUATION DOES NOT CHANGE.
My employer, who spends quite a bit on this insurance, very much enjoys this setup. They are the reason that I have this insurance, and I will lose it if I quit.
To be clear, I know there are serious problems with the NHS especially considering waiting times and mental health. I can imagine for a well off, lucky American the quality of care will be much higher than here in the UK.
Also, to be completely clear, I still hope that we end up with system that is much closer to the NHS. While the current system benefits me individually, I would much prefer a system that benefits EVERYONE, and I think it's a disgrace that the US continues to have the system it does.
The only people it benefits are Insurance bigwigs and large employers that use the system to trap workers.
We have waiting times too, the more elective it is the longer it is.
For my yearly checkup, the first time I went, their first availability was 3 months later. It's the same time every year now because I book next years appointment at each visit.
I thought I needed a CPAP, I had to wait a week to get the home sleep study equipment and then two more weeks to meet with the doctor. I had a copay of $50 with that doctor but had to buy the CPAP for about $800
I scheduled a vasectomy and it took 3 months for the consult and another 6 for the procedure and it cost $750 out of pocket.
I pay $350/no for my insurance plan which has now has no copays and no coinsurance until I reach my yearly deductible of $3500 (which means I pay 100% of all medical costs before my insurance does anything) and my employer covers about $300/mo. So $7800/yr in total to basically just have protection in case a major accident happens.
Your problems with NHS wait times are entirely due to your conservatives trying to run it into the ground so they can have the US style predatory care.
Oh yeah, absolutely. Fuck the Tories.