"Tell the USA your views on the (UK) National Health Service"

[George]

Study: Over 2,200 US Veterans Died in 2008 Due to Lack of Health Insurance



http://www.democracynow.org/2009/11/11/study_over_2_200_us_veterans

That appears to be the same study that said ____ Americans die from no health insurance, as mentioned in the linked article. The "Study" was a survey done between 1988 & 1994. The "reaserchers" assumed that anyone who said they didn't have health insurance when they filled out the survey never did buy health insurance, and...they didn't take into account if the dead had died of a terminal illness. Terminal illness would result in death regardless of health care insurance.
Swindon, England: Mark Wattson collapsed in agony & was rushed to the hospital where he was told his appendix had burst. This confused & angered him because the same National Health Service doctors had operated on him 3 weeks earlier to remove his appendix. The incision from the 2nd apendectomy got infected, resulting in a 3rd hospitalization. Reason Magazine 12/09

 

[Rob Henderson]

George, the point of the whole matter is not the QUALITY of healthcare. No one can deny that the USA has the best medical care in the world. The problem is that not everyone can afford it. And if you can't afford it, you might as well be in the country with the worst health care in the world. Because it's not going to make a lick of difference to the insurance companies if you can't write them their check.

 

[perseus]

No one can deny that the USA has the best medical care in the world.

I'm not sure if this study includes only patients who actually manage to access the healthcare system, or all potential patients, but this suggests that US healthcare performs poorly on all counts not just expenditure.

The latest commonweath fund report

Among the seven nations studied—Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States—the U.S. ranks last overall, as it did in the 2007, 2006, and 2004 editions of Mirror, Mirror. Most troubling, the U.S. fails to achieve better health outcomes than the other countries, and as shown in the earlier editions, the U.S. is last on dimensions of access, patient safety, coordination, efficiency, and equity. The Netherlands ranks first, followed closely by the U.K. and Australia. The 2010 edition includes data from the seven countries and incorporates patients' and physicians' survey results on care experiences and ratings on various dimensions of care.