NHS care in Britain is better than private health provision in the United States for quick and effective treatment, according to an American think tank. The Commonwealth Fund report, based on a poll of more than 10,000 doctors, suggested the NHS compared favourably with services in other countries, including the United States. The Commonwealth Fund surveyed family doctors in 11 countries – including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Holland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and America. Britain was the only country where the majority of doctors felt the quality of health care is improving and, in contrast to the United States, the NHS rated highly for fast, inexpensive and readily-available care for all. It found 48 per cent of doctors in the United States reported problems in getting treatment for their patients compared to only six per cent in Britain, while only 29 per cent of doctors in the US offered an out of hours service compared to 89 per cent in Britain. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6505773/NHS-better-than-American-health-care.html
It's amazing to me the lies that the right wing has successfully fed it's followers about US health care in relation to other health care systems around the world... They've got people out there who are essentially protesting affordable health care. Think about that. Not protesting a war. Protesting affordable health care that will stop insurance companies from being able to drop people due to "preexisting conditions." It's really a lesson in how people can be manipulated into battling against their own self interests. It's sad.
Yes. Its true, the spin and lies never stop. Thank god we can rely on the "non partisan" Commonwealth Fund to deliver us accurate information. From their mission statement, "The Commonwealth Fund is a private foundation that aims to promote a high performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable, including low-income people, the uninsured, minority Americans, young children, and elderly adults." Check out this report by the World Health Organization: http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html US ranks 38th!!!! After Costa Rica!!! I've heard the horror stories from places like Costa Rica and Morroco, both of whom are higher on the list. Babies being killed by inexperienced doctors, horrible diagnosis leading to fatalities and amputations, lack of modern equipment and hospitals that look more like dungeons, people waiting hours for emergency service. If the US is worse than these places, you KNOW we are bad! That is why people are literally fleeing this country to places like Morroco and Costa Rica when their life is on the line. Totally agree. Why would anyone protest more spending, when they could be protesting a war?! We just need to get these people to realize these programs ARE in their own interests. If we could just get over the hurdle of getting the country onto a single payer system, I think it would be obvious to people that funding the program with however much cash it needed to consume would be the only way to keep yourself alive if you get sick. I also think we need more of these "Tea Baggers" on Welfare and public support so they will realize how poorly funded these programs are. Then their eyes would be opened and they would vote for the people would give these programs the funding they need and deserve! Change won't be easy. We'll need to round up every last person who benefits from these programs currently and get them into the voting booths. Its going to take a lot of community organizing and money to get a real grass roots movement going. I'm hoping that now that we have control of congress and the Whitehouse, Obama will use his powers to get EVERYONE who benefits from government funding of any sort to help push this agenda along! With any luck, Americans will realize there is almost nothing our government cant do [for us].