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The UK has a dual model - NHS for everybody, and if you have spare money, you can additionally pay for additional services through insurance providers such as B

The UK has a dual model - NHS for everybody, and if you have spare money, you can additionally pay for additional services through insurance providers such as BUPA or paying directly. BUPA et al have reduced costs due to not having to cover a range of conditions, not having to indirectly fund A&E departments, being able to deny people coverage for preexisting conditions, etc etc. It's very unlikely that the US would ever deny people the ability to pay for healthcare if they chose to.

twoodfin 9y ago
Then we should stop using the term "single-payer", which describes a system like Canada's, where private payments to providers are illegal. In any event, you'd still be asking millions of Americans to switch health care plans when they're satisfied with what they already have.
- vertex-four 9y ago
  We do have single-payer healthcare for all NHS services. You cannot pay for NHS services, and NHS services will cover almost everything you'll ever need so long as the treatment is actually proven to work - it's a newspaper-worthy situation when the NHS denies treatment, and usually that only comes into play with e.g. very new cancer treatments. Every citizen of the UK can use NHS services as a right, whether they pay taxes or not. If you have an emergency, you will be taken to an NHS A&E department. BUPA et al primarily provide slightly nicer rooms for inpatients, might be more flexible on times you can see a doctor, might provide more personalised information on general health stuff (e.g. "how do I lose weight/get fit?"), and might allow you to see a doctor slightly sooner for stuff that's not going to kill you. I do not believe that Americans as a whole are satisfied with what they have. I believe that you are, since you have significant income and can get coverage for anything you like. I talk to people on a daily basis who have to worry about what treatments they are able to afford for their diagnosed disorders. For many of them, surgery is required for which they have to save up for a number of years and then visit another country, while paying extortionate (in relation to their income) prices for life-saving medication all the while.
  - makomk 9y ago
    "You cannot pay for NHS services" is almost a tautology, since whether a service is NHS or not is defined by who pays. You certainly used to be able to pay for services carried out in NHS facilities using NHS equipment, generally outside the hours the NHS was willing to pay to run them. You can pay to see people privately who also work for the NHS too.

twoodfin 9y ago

Then we should stop using the term "single-payer", which describes a system like Canada's, where private payments to providers are illegal. In any event, you'd still be asking millions of Americans to switch health care plans when they're satisfied with what they already have.

vertex-four 9y ago
We do have single-payer healthcare for all NHS services. You cannot pay for NHS services, and NHS services will cover almost everything you'll ever need so long as the treatment is actually proven to work - it's a newspaper-worthy situation when the NHS denies treatment, and usually that only comes into play with e.g. very new cancer treatments. Every citizen of the UK can use NHS services as a right, whether they pay taxes or not. If you have an emergency, you will be taken to an NHS A&E department. BUPA et al primarily provide slightly nicer rooms for inpatients, might be more flexible on times you can see a doctor, might provide more personalised information on general health stuff (e.g. "how do I lose weight/get fit?"), and might allow you to see a doctor slightly sooner for stuff that's not going to kill you. I do not believe that Americans as a whole are satisfied with what they have. I believe that you are, since you have significant income and can get coverage for anything you like. I talk to people on a daily basis who have to worry about what treatments they are able to afford for their diagnosed disorders. For many of them, surgery is required for which they have to save up for a number of years and then visit another country, while paying extortionate (in relation to their income) prices for life-saving medication all the while.
- makomk 9y ago
  "You cannot pay for NHS services" is almost a tautology, since whether a service is NHS or not is defined by who pays. You certainly used to be able to pay for services carried out in NHS facilities using NHS equipment, generally outside the hours the NHS was willing to pay to run them. You can pay to see people privately who also work for the NHS too.