So, Conservatives here in the UK are badmouthing the NHS so that Republicans in the USA can use their comments as ammunition in the social healthcare debate.
I can't even begin to explain how stupid that is.
If it wasn't for the NHS, low paid workers would not be able to get the care they need to get back to work when they get sick. Soldiers who return home injured wouldn't get the care they need close to their families. Children born to poor parents wouldn't get their vaccinations, and I wouldn't be able to walk.
The National Health Service has saved my knee, making it possible for me to walk. They have helped my back become healthy without surgery, making it possible for me to continue walking. They have saved my father and my mother when they have needed care.
The National Health Service is a National Treasure. As with any system, there are horror stories and limitations, but for each horror story, there are millions of successes. I know people who haven't been able to get some of the latest medications because they aren't provided by the NHS, and I know more people who would be dead right now if it wasn't for the NHS.
As to the cost, and people paying for others, well, that what happens when you live in society. Paying for people to get better, and return to work, earn money, and spend money is an investment in the economy. Nationalising healthcare reduces the overheads charged by insurance companies and drug companies, and makes healthcare cheaper. It makes research for a cure worthwhile, rather than simply treating an illness and keeping sick people coming back for more drug, and charging them through the nose. National health is the only thing that can break the chokehold the drug companies have on health.
If there is good nationalised healthcare, then most companies who pay health insurance to lower level staff could save that money, and if they're really nice companies, they might even be able to hire more people, or pay their staff more. It can help capitalism and the economy too! From all of my senior level jobs, only one has had health insurance as a perk, and even for that, I'd go to the NHS first, and if a procedure was needed, then it could be referred to a private hospital if I wanted it.
Long live the NHS!
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