Who are American politicians beholden to? The People? The Constitution?

[DinoDoc]

Yes, failings in the Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust is certainly proof that the entire socialized medicine system is inherently bad.

According to your Graphic, the UK NHS isn't the best service to prove your point, ken. AH has the better claim to be snotty than you do according to your own sources.

[kentonio]

According to your Graphic, the UK NHS isn't the best service to prove your point, ken. AH has the better claim to be snotty than you do according to your own sources.

The graphic that shows us beating you in 11/12 categories and Australia in 10/12 categories, despite paying less than both?

[DaShi]

Amusing.

[molly bloom]

I don't see that the so-called conservative governments balanced the budget and cut waste. The blokes who took over after the junta are the ones who promised jobs for life to the poor leftists who had been persecuted.

I like how you mockingly refer to 'the poor leftists who had been persecuted'.

I worked with an extremely cultured man who had survived the WWII liquidation of the ghetto in Thessaloniki, but it took the Colonel's junta to finally force him into exile- it was either that or be tortured and/or killed. And exile isn't and wasn't some kind of soft option.

Is this display of fake sympathy because the Junta were rightwing and still in N.A.T.O. ? Or because you have some notion that they used 'Torture Lite' ? Either way it's rather sad.

As for the rest, the gaps in your knowledge of modern Greek (and European!) history are showing.

[PLATO]

The graphic that shows us beating you in 11/12 categories and Australia in 10/12 categories, despite paying less than both?

Very interesting information. Thank you.

I would like to see some data that parses the U.S. into "Insured" and "Uninsured". I suspect that those who have had continual coverage and medical care would exceed the UK on life expectancy. If true (which of course I am speculating), then there could be a decrease in life expectancy and quality of life for a sizeable portion of the population coupled with a sizeable increase in both for another sizeable portion. That could certainly explain a lot of the debate.

[DinoDoc]

The graphic that shows us beating you in 11/12 categories and Australia in 10/12 categories, despite paying less than both?

Truthfully the only category I was interested in your graphic was the one which rated the systems on which best provided the populace long healthy and productive lives sadly the NHS doesn't rate that highly in that regard.

[PLATO]

I agree with you. I hate the idea of corporate welfare.

Yes, I agree that Corporate welfare is an issue in and of itself. Perhaps it is just the government trying to compensate for hamstring corporations with the highest tax rate in the world. Cut corporate taxes and do away with corporate welfare is a good idea. Give people an opportunity to support themselves and remove the handouts is equally good.

[kentonio]

Truthfully the only category I was interested in your graphic was the one which rated the systems on which best provided the populace long healthy and productive lives sadly the NHS doesn't rate that highly in that regard.

No, we drink and smoke too much compared to a healthy, exercise promoting culture like Australia. We still managed to come higher than you guys however.

[kentonio]

Very interesting information. Thank you.

I would like to see some data that parses the U.S. into "Insured" and "Uninsured". I suspect that those who have had continual coverage and medical care would exceed the UK on life expectancy. If true (which of course I am speculating), then there could be a decrease in life expectancy and quality of life for a sizeable portion of the population coupled with a sizeable increase in both for another sizeable portion. That could certainly explain a lot of the debate.

That's the thing though, very few people question the quality of US healthcare for those who can actually afford it, its just the many who can't and also the for-profit nature which pushes up the costs and leads to added stress for patients who should be able to just concentrate on getting well without the added worrying about bills. The very best healthcare in the US is far and away number one in the world.

[PLATO]

That's the thing though, very few people question the quality of US healthcare for those who can actually afford it, its just the many who can't and also the for-profit nature which pushes up the costs and leads to added stress for patients who should be able to just concentrate on getting well without the added worrying about bills. The very best healthcare in the US is far and away number one in the world.

Yeah...that does make it a perplexing problem. Cost seems to be the overriding issue. If we expand health care to include everyone then we might see a fall off in care for those already insured? Hmmm...I certainly don't have the answer to that, but it seems like we need a better one.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Yeah, Capcom Debates was kind of boring, and silly too; I just can't take E. Honda and Mega Man seriously as policymakers, especially when E. Honda's wearing a red power tie across his fat, shirtless belly. But you have to give them credit for trying something different instead of Street Fighter Part XXIII.

Winner!

[Dauphin]

Yeah...that does make it a perplexing problem. Cost seems to be the overriding issue. If we expand health care to include everyone then we might see a fall off in care for those already insured? Hmmm...I certainly don't have the answer to that, but it seems like we need a better one.

I'd have thought the U.S has higher health care costs in part due to elective procedures (maybe not the right word, but I mean procedures where you choose the best care available). If you are insured for it, then why not do it? In the NHS system you don't have such scope to incur the costs so readily as the consumer due to rationing of resources.

[Guynemer]

I don't know how much of this is a factor, or if it is a chicken and the egg scenario, but the cost of medical school is prohibitively expensive, coming after already expensive 4-year university degrees. I grew up middle class, and between scholarships and working and my parents I managed to escape undergrad debt free. Med school, however, was entirely financed by loans, loans that I will be paying off until I am almost 60 years old.

[DinoDoc]

I don't know how much of this is a factor, or if it is a chicken and the egg scenario, but the cost of medical school is prohibitively expensive, coming after already expensive 4-year university degrees. I grew up middle class, and between scholarships and working and my parents I managed to escape undergrad debt free. Med school, however, was entirely financed by loans, loans that I will be paying off until I am almost 60 years old.

It's understandable given the limited number of slots that are likely avaiable to each program but were programs like this not offered to you as an option?

[Guynemer]

Some of those programs are nice, but simply do not apply to many people. Most doctors have no interest in pursuing research; they want to focus on patient care. The "underserved population" programs only cover a small portion of most total student loans, and their definition of underserved population is... debatable. Of course, just looking at those two examples, one sees the contradictory nature of these programs--one tries to take physicians away from patient care, another seeks to draw them into it in certain locations.

We need a ****ton more doctors, but lack the medical training system lacks the infrastructure to make that happen, to say nothing of the will to do so. There are many, many doctors who make insane amounts of money and will resist any attempt to roll that back, just as most people would.