National Health Care is a big debate topic in the U.S. and I would like to get some feedback from people in other countries.
Does your country have national health care?
Do you like it?
What's good about it and what's bad about it?

We have national health care in Australia. In my limited knowledge, it means that everyone can get the care they need without massive financial strain, but elective/minor surgery takes forever to get (i know people who have been on a waiting list for 5 years to have wisdom teeth removed). If your can't wait to have it done you can still choose to have it done in private practice. I have never heard any suggestion that we might get rid of it, so it must work.

Well see, that is f'd up, to wait 5 years to get your wisdom teeth removed - for real?

But here in the U.S., if you do not have insurance, or if your claim is rejected, you will still get a bill, and if you can't pay it, you will have to file bankruptcy. If you are truly poor then there is Medicaid.

Obviously the UK system the NHS (national health service) has been the big subject in the US at the moment.

The US adverts opposing the NHS are being played on the radio over hear at the moment. I personally think there a bit harsh. Not totally untrue but harsh. excuse my ignorance but i dont know the name of the woman (soccer mom???) who was running for vice president in the states?! Anyway she has done an advert i think and i heard it on the radio yesterday. she says something about a woman being refused the medication she needed to get better. Dont know how true that is but obviously she is going to concentrate on the bad sides of the system to get her point across. And then mr Obama will concentrate on the good side of things.

I have alot of personal experience with the NHS system and i cant say anything bad about it. I have crohns disease and needed an operation to remove a section of my bowel. I spent 20 or so weeks in hospital having tests etc while they diagnosed me and then after my operation another 10 weeks bed ridden. as per usual the food was s**t but im yet to find any nice hospital food, other than that i got the pain relief when i asked and the drugs to help me also. re-habilitation was good and prompt by competent staff.

The pros for the system are that if you have a smaller income and are not as well off as some, its one less bill to worry about. The cons are that if there are people with a more serious problems than you then you probably will be put a little further down the pecking order. As far as going to the doctors for a cold or something non emergency. You just call, make an appointment, turn up and listen to the advice and do what the doc says.

Im sure there are some horror stories out there and im sure there are also advantages and disadvantages for thr US and UK system but personally (it maybe because im used to it) i like the system in the UK.

I should add that you can get private healthcare over here aswell. Afriend of mine needed circumcision and he was told he would have to wait for an NHS bed so he went to Bupa (the biggest private healthcare company) and had a one time operation with them. No signing up for a year or insurance policy, just a one off fee with everything included. He was more than happy eith the service provided. and he said the food was better. lol

Hope that gives you an insight

matt

Seems to me like a national health care system with the option for private practice is the way to go. Our biggest problem here in the States isn't the care we receive, it's the insurance companies. The policies are too expensive for any sort of 'normal' person to buy and the medical community doesn't like it when you don't have insurance--and the care is so expensive without it that many just don't get the care they need. We are seeing more of these little facilities pop up that don't accept insurance, but they're only good for little things: flu, strep throat, etc. We don't need health care reform here as much as we need insurance reform. I like the idea that Big Ginga Beard (great name, btw) outlined: NHS with private care available, no insurance needed. Something needs to change...and quickly. I have too many friends not getting medical care they need because they are too poor to afford it, but not poor enough to access Medicaid/care.