A student of mine and I today were talking about the Healthy system in Brazil (which doesn't work at all. No money, no health!). She asked me about the USA and the UK system, and I googled it on the internet. However, I was not able to understand that. We even talked on 'Obama Care'(another topic I don't know about). Could you please explain that to me? Is the system private, public? How does it work exactly? How about that in the UK? Thanks a million, everyone!
Oh the NHS is a minefield...but a lot easier to understand than the USA medical system....I'll try to explain ours in the UK Basically the NHS (the national health service) is free at source for everyone , regardless of wealth. The richest to the poorest are entitled to the same medical care from a doctor!!! However we also have a private system due in part to the NHS being severely overloaded so many people have private medical insurance which generally means they get to see a consultant , and treatment and or surgery very quickly ..whereas on the NHS it's very common to have to wait to see a hospital consultant for 4 months or more from first being referred by your primary doctor ( we call them GP's..general practitioners) only to get 15 minutes with them, and to be referred to yet a different specialist which can take months again, and so the circle goes on. In most parts of the UK now... we have to wait for up to a month just to get a visit to our primary care doctor (GP)..unless it's an emergency. However the term ''free'' is a misnomer because every working person pays National Insurance directly from their salary as well as Income tax. The NI payments are used to pay for the NHS as well as a few other things... ( I'll post a link).... How much one pays in NI depends on how much you earn...the more you earn the more you pay...but you don't get any better or faster treatment if for example you were to pay £500 per week compare to someone on a minimum wage paying £2pw... The unemployed, children, and anyone who has never worked ..and paid any NI...are still entitled to the same ''free health care' under the NHS... sadly due to the huge influx of immigrants in the last few short years our NHS infrastructure is crumbling to it's knees for lack of funding!! Incidentally, dental treatment is not free... http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/10078062/why-do-we-pay-national-insurance
Thanks, a million, Holly!!!!! You've explained that veeeery well. If you allow me, I'll copy and paste it, then my student and I will be able to read that in class. That was very kind of you.
Once upon a time in the USA, individuals had the option to purchase health insurance for them or their families and it was relatively cheap. My family were dirt poor tobacco farmers and still could afford insurance. Hospital stays were around $20 a night even without insurance and many Doctors preferred not to fool with insurance and charged very small fees for office visits. I can remember $5 including shots, etc. Due to the cheap costs of insurance, many companies included it in their benefit packages and the insurance covered everything. In the 1960s, the Federal Government thought it would be grand to help the elderly and came up with Medicare, which was financed via deductions from all workers pay. A similar principal to Social Security. All stayed relatively well, but it did require a lot of paperwork, which required additional staff, etc. for hospitals and doctor offices, which increased costs. In the 1980s, states started addressing the insurance needs of poor and began a rapid expansion of Medicaid. We now had lift off for rapidly increasing costs of healthcare and thereby insurance. The increase in costs became such a burden that companies started to rethink their benefit packages and began actively shifting costs to their employees, whether through the employee paying a portion of the insurance or paying out of pocket for certain portions of hospital/doctor bills. By now the cost of insurance was becoming out of reach, people and companies started removing themselves from insurance. Every year, more and more people dropped insurance, etc. Several attempts were made at the federal level to reverse this trend, but nothing of substance took place. By 2008, it became part of the political platform of Obama (although it was a Clinton idea). [From this point on, sarcasm overtakes and editorializing commences] Naturally the democrats took up the mantle as the affected constituency was perceived to be democrats. Despite the thousands of staffers at their disposal, they looked to the insurance industry (BTW... big business) to assist them in developing ACA or Obamacare. (It could be likened to having a group of pedophiles develop legislation protecting children). In any case, it passed and was so poorly crafted it was destined to fail on its own. The penalties were so lax to the point of being unenforceable, states with already severe budget problems were enticed to opt into the Medicaid expansion on the premise that by the time the costs of the expansion were shifting to the states, their budget problems would have been magically resolved. Almost immediately and largely unseen by almost everyone but the Insurance Ind. [heavy sarc], the cost of health insurance rose. The republican party having seen how stupid and irrational the democrats had become, decided they would not be outdone in the arena of stupidity. It is now today. I don’t know if I answered any questions, but I got this off my chest. BTW @Clare Smith ... I'm sorry for ranting, but I suspect I will not be the only one.
Thanks a lot, @Harry Havens ! Well, my initial idea was just understanding the process. I'm sure there are different points of view, but your explanation is quite clear. I had no idea about the history of that along the years, and I think that with @Holly Saunders ' elucidation as well as yours, I am able to understand it better.
You're welcome @Clare Smith , if it's any help at all please feel free to share it ... When you say in Brazil 'No money no health'...are you being literal?... I mean seriously if someone gets run over for example and has their legs crushed..is no-one going to help them?...really?... surely that can't be...what about people with cancer and other long term illnesses?
@Clare Smith Here are a couple of articles with comparisons of NHS and the American system, from a Brit point of view... https://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/jan/12/us-healthcare-system-leaves-brits-baffled-enraged https://www.theguardian.com/comment...nhs-in-poor-health-try-being-ill-in-us-system I'm not familiar with the NHS, but their statements about the U.S. Healthcare is very familiar. My wife and I are on Medicare and pay out nearly $600 @ month for insurance, which does not include copays for doctor's visits, drugs and other out of pocket expenses. I retired from a fairly benevolent company that reimburses $346 @ month. Not everyone retired from this type of company. Also, any cost of living adjustments for Social Security will likely go towards the increases of those monthly insurance payments. Example: if my wife and I were to each receive a $15 cost of living increase, it would likely result in the monthly insurance increasing to $630. Sweet deal, huh!
Wish I could tell you that is not true @Holly Saunders , but, unfortunately, Health and Education are the most neglected areas in this country. The ex-governor of Rio de Janeiro is in jail now, and was charged with being involved in more than 230 charges, rife with bribery and corruption (more than 66,000,000 DOLLARS). That money might have been invested in Education and Health. There are hospitals in Rio closed because they have no equipment, and when people with cancer or other diseases go to them, sometimes they have to wait for DAYS, waiting in line to see a doctor - and the worst - many of them die waiting. The police force, the teachers from public schools, the professors from the State University, and even the Symphonic Orchestra of that state, haven't earned their salaries for months... This is happening in Rio now. However, the situation is similar in many other states, including mine, whose teachers from public schools have earned their salaries in installments. EVERYBODY pays a percentage of their salary for the government for Health Care, but things definitely don't work here, and it's something very sad... 30% of the population could afford to pay for private insurance (companies would pay for part of it for their employees), and due to the financial and political crisis, one third of that had to quit it just last year (this year we don't know yet, but there are more). I used to pay for it for more than 20 years as well. Thank God I'm a very healthy person and never used it, except when I had my year checkup. Nowadays I don't have it anymore, and if I need to see a doctor or perform any medical tests, I pay for them. I have decided to invest on prevention. I've been seeing an ayurvedic doctor, I've practiced meditation, Pilates, and I've also changed my diet, and I've felt much better. I try to keep positive thoughts, I've read good books, listened to new age music, have studied other languages, have worked very hard and for many hours, have enjoyed the companionship of my son, my dogs and a couple of friends, have tried to travel abroad every other year to recharge my batteries in the North Hemisphere, have prayed and thanked for being healthy, for having decent conditions and much more. Thanks a lot!
Another article about why our healthcare is so expensive... http://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-is-health-care-so-expensive-in-the-first-place/