The U.S. Should Be More Like … Great Britain?
Just when the U.S. government launches a health care takeover against the will of the people, Great Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) is scaling back. While the U.S. shifts towards nationalizing health care, the UK’s new government coalition announced plans to decentralize the NHS and move towards more privatization.
Last month, British Prime Minister David Cameron proposed huge spending cuts to the health care system. And, just days ago, he announced even more cuts.
One of the biggest changes coming to the British health care system is a plan to transfer power from bureaucrats to doctors and patients — the opposite of the ObamaCare plan. Essentially, the NHS will scrap its top-down system of health care and give money to general practitioners, allowing them to buy services from hospitals and health service providers.
The NHS plans to give hospitals the freedom to privatize, and will remove the revenue cap on private patients. The British government believes that shifting control to the patient/doctor level, and allowing for more privatization, will increase health care quality while lowering costs. These ideas are in direct opposition to the opinion of Democrats in the U.S.
British officials are also eliminating the financial managers who determine how the NHS spends their budget. Instead, they’ll turn to doctors for decisions on how the $159 billion budget will be spent. This shift would eliminate layers of bureaucracy and reduce management costs by 45%. Officials estimate a savings of $30 billion to the health care budget by 2014. The saved $30 billion will go back into the private sector.
While the British government plans to place health care decisions in the hands of the people, the U.S. government is moving in the opposite direction. ObamaCare shifts power from the patient/doctor level with the establishment of more bureaucracy, like the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). Under ObamaCare, the IPAB has the authority to make Medicare spending decisions, and to turn those decisions into law without congressional approval.
Contrary to British findings, U.S. Democrats insist that more government involvement will reduce health care costs. But the UK’s nationalized health care spending rose at a higher rate than the increases seen in the U.S. privatized system. Britons spent three times more on health care last year than in 1997 — a significantly higher percentage than the increase seen in the United States between 1997 and 2009.
If Britain, and the US, were not dropping $50,000+ dollar bombs on MUD HUTS, and $1,000,000 PER SOLDIER over there …… they could afford to keep their people healthy. As for WHY they squander their wealth fighting “terrorists”, Britain and the US CREATED them. READ HISTORY. It is KARMA, what goes around … As you have sown ……. Do onto others ……..
Typical lib remark. The point of the matter is: what kind of health care system is more efficient – government-run or private? So, your concept of “Let’s stop all wars and we will have more money to waste on Obamacare” really makes a lot of sense.
Right on, Jarmo. Avery’s logic would be to take money away from the military and leave ourselves defenseless. Free (no such thing) health care doesn’t do us much good if we get blown up by Muslim extremists.
Soon we will all be wanting to ‘live the British dream.’
“they could afford to keep their people healthy”
Because it’s the responsibilty of government to make sure you make the right decisions regarding your health, right?
This system won’t work either. Control of money given to GPs? Good luck getting that hip replaced, cataract removed or coronary stent. The GP will insert in his pocket or dole out to friends. Cost of care here would dramatically decrease if the consumer were mandated to pay a larger co-pay. Rather simple. Obamacare does just the opposite. Everyone wants the “free” care.
Any privately-run health care system will be more efficient and cost less than any run by the Feds. Will there be abuses? Of course; just as there are in any free market business system, the excuse the liberals use to promote socialization. And they also promote “free” health care. It would only be “free” to anyone who doesn’t pay any taxes.
Socialized medicine is failing in Britain… and left/liberals want to do it here. Remember in November! Repeal, baby, repeal!
You mistake rhetoric from centre left coalitian politicians as honest belief rather than a pragmatic cover for cost cutting that is now required to bring down the UK’s massive debt level.
And when discussing a european “nation” never forget the centralist elephant in the room, the orgaanisation that has been consistently moving political control from nation state to Brussels, no ethics of reducing government there. It may suprise the average american that the UK now has less independent power to define her own policies than the Commonwealth of Virginia.
I am all for being more like Great Britain if it means I will be surrounded by people who look like Kate Beckinsale.