As a man with five children and eleven grandchildren, I have every reason to be grateful to the NHS. However, that is my personal experience, I believe I have been very fortunate.
The problem is, can we continue to afford it? We have concerns that with every medical advance it will require more and more funds-snip-
Indeed, but it is well spent.
I have now lived (and paid) threee completely different health care systems (Germany, UK, Spain), and I think it is about the most important budget part that could be spent, way before payng mil, you are investing in your human ressources. (aka the future) or paying back efforts of human rssources (the elder that have got you where yo are).
Here in Spain, currently, the mix looks like this:
You are contracted or autonomous? You can go to the hospital any moment and get *great* care (though it might take some time: My ex wife suffered from a broken shoulder last year, she had to wait two weeks sedated and under pain control before she got operated. For being free - if you paid your social security - this is acceptable I find. I myself had a heart attack a few years ago, same hospital, got an "Urgent" sticker stuck to my forehead and had to wait only 4 hours. Also acceptable - if you survive... Treatment? TOP in both cases.).
If you are dependant, your peers card will be charged, if you have nothing: You still get treated (and on the same level), but it will take more time, as state pays and the mixed ones come first if they are not life threatening.
You have exclusions (and this is where the "mix" comes in): E.g.: Teeth out: State paid. Teeth in, you pay.
So, we all have some private insurances aside the social security to ensure you get basic care also in "teeth in" cases (and here, inurance companies *do* comply, unlike than what I have seen in the UK).
I have read recently that the *public* health care budget in percent of the overall national turnover in the US (with its few ppl that enjoy it) is higher than here (and here *everybody* gets treated, no matter for what or how long), for me this only reads: Someone is scamming people big time.... Of cause, we pay 10% average of our salary to be treated when cancer hits us with 70...
On first glance I would suspect the usual suspects scamming over there, pharmaceuticals and pharmacies (I pay 7.-- Euros for my Omeprazol here in Spain - month load - , but I used to pay 89.-- in Germany for exactly the same pills... They were simply pulling our legs over there or had their politicians paid better...)
FWIW,
Rattler
EDIT: Just saw the fgures pop up in a post before mine, this is what I was refering to...
As far as BritInAfrica´s post is concerned, not to treat a pain patient - if not on the same day, but within 3 - would a) be against the Hippocratic oath every doctor swears and b) a felony in Spain and Germany (for "denying possible help", my translation), for 18 month denial you face a good 2 years sentence for not treating your son here and there.
R.
