Broccoli

[kentonio]

In many European countries bribing doctors in order to get appointments is a fact of life due to rationing.

Wow that's a whole new level of stupid. When I needed a GP appointment despite not having registered in my new area, I rang the local doctors, went to register the same day, and had a doctor make me an immediate appointment for that same evening. Incredibly I didn't need to bring a brown paper bag full of money to make this happen.

[notyoueither]

It cost you a hell of a lot more than that in taxes.

It costs far less as a share of GDP and individual income (for those insured) than the system in the US.

[kentonio]

It cost you a hell of a lot more than that in taxes.

A hell of a lot more than 0? Yes, most amounts are more than 0. In terms of our tax rate however, no it didn't cost very much at all. Would you like to estimate how much the kind of treatment I described would cost you?

[regexcellent]

If the government's not paying for it who the hell cares how much we spend on health care? If I want to spend 30% of my money on health care I damn well can if I want to. On the other hand, I have no taste for paying for health care for others.

[notyoueither]

If the government's not paying for it who the hell cares how much we spend on health care? If I want to spend 30% of my money on health care I damn well can if I want to. On the other hand, I have no taste for paying for health care for others.

You all are paying for the abortion of a system you have.

[kentonio]

If the government's not paying for it who the hell cares how much we spend on health care? If I want to spend 30% of my money on health care I damn well can if I want to. On the other hand, I have no taste for paying for health care for others.

You just summed up exactly why your system is completely stupid. In order to avoid paying for anyone elses healthcare you end up having to pay huge amounts more for your own, and on top of that your country suffers the huge downsides of having millions of unneccessarily sick people who cannot work and contribute taxes back into the country.

[PLATO]

Incidentally in the last month I was rushed by ambulance to hospital with a serious injury, treated including a night in hospital, had X-rays and followup tests, saw a GP twice, and will see several other doctors in the coming month.

It cost me exactly £0.00

An American friend is currently suffering dangerous medical symptoms. They are planning to go an see a doctor next time they get paid.

Yeah, we should certainly all follow Americas lead on healthcare.

When I had a Heart Attack in 2005, I walked into my GPs office who took an ekg right there...He then walked me over to A Cardiologists Office who immediately admitted me to a The Hospital and I was in the Cath Lab for a stint placement in under 20 minutes. While my Cardiologist was doing an angioplasty on me, a specialist Cardiologist in stint placements came in and placed my stint.

My TOTAL out of pocket expense was $5.00. The PRIVATE COMPANY I worked for supplied this insurance to me and my entire family for $151.50 per month.

Maybe your "American Friend" should find a decent company to work for...oh wait! All the decent companies aren't able to do this for people anymore because of government regulations that are killing them!

Maybe we can get a system like yours and I can have two GPs instead of two Cardiologist next time I have a Heart attack!

[Jon Miller]

You all are paying for the abortion of a system you have.

The spending per person (including people not getting health care, or getting crappy health care) is over 6 times as much as other nations.

Can't say it more simply than NYE.

JM

[Hauldren Collider]

That's a meaningless number, JM. It's also hundreds or thousands of times more than what they spend in the Congo. Because the healthcare is unavailable.

[kentonio]

When I had a Heart Attack in 2005, I walked into my GPs office who took an ekg right there...He then walked me over to A Cardiologists Ofice who immediately admitted me to a The Hospital and I was in the Cath Lab for a stint placement in under 20 minutes. While my Cardiologist was doing an angioplasty on me, a specialist Cardiologist in stint placements came in and placed my stint.

My TOTAL out of pocket expense was $5.00. The PRIVATE CMPANY I worked for supplied this insurance to me and my entire family for $151.50 per month.

Maybe your "American Friend" should find a decent company to work for...oh wait! All the decent companies aren't able to do this for people anymore because of government regulations that are killing them!

Mayb we can get a system like yours and I can have two GPs instead of two Cardiologist next time I have a Heart attack!

You pay more.

Seriously though, the whole point is that you had a decent job. So do I, but it wouldn't matter if I was unemployed, a senior citizen, a child or a middle aged person with serious pre-existing conditions, the whole thing would still have cost nothing. By offering decent affordable coverage only to those fortunate enough to gain it, you create a completely unequal society.

[Jon Miller]

When I had a Heart Attack in 2005, I walked into my GPs office who took an ekg right there...He then walked me over to A Cardiologists Office who immediately admitted me to a The Hospital and I was in the Cath Lab for a stint placement in under 20 minutes. While my Cardiologist was doing an angioplasty on me, a specialist Cardiologist in stint placements came in and placed my stint.

My TOTAL out of pocket expense was $5.00. The PRIVATE COMPANY I worked for supplied this insurance to me and my entire family for $151.50 per month.

Maybe your "American Friend" should find a decent company to work for...oh wait! All the decent companies aren't able to do this for people anymore because of government regulations that are killing them!

Companies can't do this anymore because it costed them $1500 per month, which is a lot of money. It has nothing to do with government regulations.

That $1500 per month could have been yours to spend how you wished... and the europeans don't pay much more in taxes than the US you get health care on top of what the state provides (which is more than the US in every way but military).

If we had a working health care system the US would be even more highly paid than the rest of the world...

JM

[giblets]

That's a meaningless number, JM. It's also hundreds or thousands of times more than what they spend in the Congo. Because the healthcare is unavailable.

Healthcare is available in places like Canada.

[Jon Miller]

That's a meaningless number, JM. It's also hundreds or thousands of times more than what they spend in the Congo. Because the healthcare is unavailable.

You are being an idiot.

JM

[SlowwHand]

All because of the dreaded broccoli.

[kentonio]

That's a meaningless number, JM. It's also hundreds or thousands of times more than what they spend in the Congo. Because the healthcare is unavailable.

I think you'll find that France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Canada, UK etc have quite a lot of available quality healthcare.