Evil Socialist NHS Healthcare.

"Grab your tools and make for the Cornfield's there is a quota to meet! Don't you know that your Socialist Government Wants YOU!? Who pays for that water you are drinking? Who put that shirt on your back? And who is going to help you if you get sick?... ...That's right, the National Socialist Government of Great Britain! Now get back to work before I whip you!"

This, I think, is a fair image of what some of our American cousins must have in mind, as the debate over US health-care gets more and more heated.

Now, what the hell does this have to do with me? I am not American, so therefore it is none of my business right? Well, apart from the fact that I don't like to see anyone dying and going bankrupt as a result of the lack of proper health care, my main reason for rushing into this discussion are the vitriolic, relentless and often downright vicious attacks on a certain British organisation. (UK NHS is 'Evil and Orwellian') The National Health Service.

I, myself, am a Scot, and as many people know, there can be a great deal of division in the UK between Scots, English, Welsh and Irish on a variety of political, social and even religious matters. Despite these national divisions, I believe I can say with great certainty that there is one thing we all agree on without reservation: the value and sanctity of the NHS.

The NHS is one of those things that makes many people proud to be British. Indeed the NHS is held up as a symbol of all that is great with Great Britain.

Why? Well put simply, while we do have a class divide in the UK (we have 'posh bastards' and 'poor bastards' alike, many nations do), there is a moment when that line can and does blur. It happens in the Accident and Emergency room of an NHS hospital; it happens the moment you dial 999 for emergency treatment.

If you are poor or if you are rich, an ambulance will arrive and speed you off to the nearest NHS hospital with equal alacrity. Once you get there, you will be treated with equal efficiency and once you are fixed up, you will be sent home with equal compassion and after care.

• At no time during this process are you ever required to have some kind of 'pre-approval' from a 3rd party (Insurance Company)
• At no time during this process are you ever asked to waste valuable time filling out forms to prove you have adequate insurance cover.
• At no time are you ever to fear that your insurance company might not meet the medical bills because they have discovered that you got beaten up by your husband.
  
• At no time will you have to worry that 'someone, somewhere' has actively began an investigation into finding a reason to deny your care, because they will get a bonus if they find one.

• You will never be billed and you will never be left behind.

Emergency treatment is the top priority of the NHS as it surely should be in any civilised country, but for an ill patient to worry about money, coverage, co-payments, deductibles, approvals and claims to a 3rd party private company is surely not just an annoying inconvenience, but downright unethical and immoral. Even after all that stress, what if your HMO wont pay? See '1 in 5 healthcare claims rejected in California'.

The stats on Denials (Image to the right) lead me to firmly believe that there is no place for private 3rd party profiteering when it comes to my healthcare. This includes a government run company such as Medicare trying to compete on such a corrupt playing field.

A recent attack on the British NHS and, by extension, all socialised systems came from the Investors Business Daily, who denounced the UK NHS by saying:

"People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the U.K. where the National Health Service would say the quality of life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless."

The IBD did of course issue a 'correction' after they were told that Professor Stephen Hawking is in fact British and received treatment by the NHS. However in this correction they go on to say:

"We also say that not everyone suffering from a debilitating disease is Stephen Hawking, and we hope our critics would acknowledge that. Hawking is a renowned theoretical physicist, university professor and best-selling author. It is doubtful any National Health Service bureaucrat would cut him off." Hawking personally replied that, "I wouldn't be here today if it were not for the NHS," he said. "I have received a large amount of high-quality treatment without which I would not have survived."

The comment section below IBD's 'correction' shows that many people are not entirely happy with IBD's interpretation of the subject. One commentator writes:

"The columnist's blunder is even worse than the critics have noted. My brother died in January after about 15 years of living with ALS. His death occurred after his health insurance (top of the line) was exhausted. My efforts to get the insurance carrier to extend coverage three more months to permit him to be around for the birth of his first grandchild, after which he was to be removed from his ventilator, were denied. This is the American system."

(Posted By: Dave R(5) on 8/17/2009 | 10:58 PM ET
Read the comments here before they remove it.)


Certainly no health system is 'perfect'. But as a citizen of this small planet, I believe that the NHS is one of the most moral and ethical systems; under it, turning patients into money making machines, would be unthinkable. The fact that the NHS does not have to compete for profit with others helps to make it the 'service-first' organisation that it is.

The NHS could of course be better, faster and more efficient. However the view that a private company is never wasteful and inefficient is insupportable. The only difference between the two, is that the private sector will simply hide their mistakes and wastefulness inside your bill and invoice, whereas a public option can't.

The UK NHS may be a rather 'socialist' system but make no mistake, the UK economy is built on money. The UK remains the worlds 5th largest economy and the UK economic system is capitalist through and through; it depends on capitalist market forces to drive growth. The key difference between this Briton's point of view and that of many Americans seems to be that, in my opinion making profit is fine, until it interferes with essential services for the public good.

To quote a fellow Youtuber:

'I got hit by a car 4 months ago. From the second I was put into the helicopter to the moment I left the hospital weeks later, I must have consumed millions of pounds. if you think about all the little costs all lumped into one. Drugs, care, food etc. Do you know what it cost me? nothing at all... If you guys are worried about how much its gunna cost, I recommend you stop spending so much on new ways to nuke shit and start spending it on the people in your country who really need it.'
Dave Hyams : 21 years old.

Further reading:

Positive

• Why I love the NHS
• Crazies attack the NHS
• Why Yanks must stop bashing the NHS: Read on...
• NHS Support Federation
  

Bizarre / Crazy / Negative

• The Problem with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other peoples money: read on...
  
• This guy thinks that Socialised Medicine is the equivalent of pointing a gun at your fellow citizens head 'to pay for it': Read on... (but you might need to duck, I think he's serious!)
• Getting Beaten By Your Husband Is A Pre-Existing Condition: read on...
• Raped : A Pre-existing condition: read on...
• Investors Business Daily on the defensive after a stupid comment about Professor Stephen Hawking and the NHS, apparently he is worthy of saving by the NHS, but only because he is famous: Read on...