I’m a glass-half-full guy, so I’m always looking for the silver lining to any dark cloud. For example, the unfortunate people of the United Kingdom are saddled with a government-run healthcare system that is deficient in some important categories yet still costs a lot of money. But the good news is that this system at least serves as an example of what not to do.
And even left-wing newspapers in the United Kingdom feel compelled to acknowledge the shortcoming of the system. Here are some newly-released grim details from the Guardian.
New NHS performance data reveal that the number of people in England who are being forced to wait more than 18 weeks has risen by 26% in the last year, while the number who had to wait longer than six months has shot up by 43%. …Despite rising demand for healthcare caused by the increasingly elderly population and growing numbers of people with long-term conditions, the NHS treated 16,201 fewer people as inpatients in March 2011 compared to March 2010, the latest Referral To Treatment data disclose. …
[…] many folks on the left also recognize that the NHS has problems. But they claim that long waiting lines and needless deaths are the result of too little […]
[…] many folks on the left also recognize that the NHS has problems. But they claim that long waiting lines and needless deaths are the result of too little […]
[…] about their own nation, as I’ve pointed out in a series of often-horrifying blog posts here, here, here, here, here, here, and […]
[…] Healthcare. The Joys of Government-Run Healthcare: More Spending, Longer Waiting Lines, Fewer Patients Treated […]
[…] via Dan Mitchell […]
[…] via Dan Mitchell […]
Health care expenditure in the USA is about 17% of GDP and in the UK, it’s about 8.4% of GDP or per capita $7,290 vs $2,986 (2009 figures).
So, compared to the USA, the UK provides health care on the cheap. There are deficiencies in the UK National Health Service for sure, but most people are satisfied. And if they don’t like the NHS, they can opt out in favor of private doctors and hospitals: 17% of Brits have done that.
Obamacare is not really socialized medicine. It’s a forced private insurance scheme with severe penalties for not “playing.” It will still be fee for service with all of the attendant paper work. There are supposed to be mechanisms to control costs, but I doubt whether they will actually succeed in that regard.