Dammit, that freaked me the f*** out!

I did wonder about that. I mean, exactly how many years has the Professor lived in Britain and therefore been cared for by the NHS? He's not Sean "I'm Scottish, honestly!" Connery; didn't leave the country donkey's years ago for tax reasons.

DW

EDIT for inadvertent Mockney spelling

http://www.timesonline.co...ws/uk/article6795466.ece several women from the UK were mislead into speaking out against the NHS in american advert, when in fact they support the health service (but would like the see improvements after they were mistreated by the NHS, they don't want to see it gotten rid of compleately) .
noone told them their their comments would be used in that way.

Lies & damn lies, by the sound of it, then. I was particularly amused by some American's comment (in a BBC news report) about having to wait "six months for a dental appointment - I mean, have you ever seen British teeth?". You want to spend money getting your teeth straightened and whitened in the US, that's pretty much expected. You do it in the UK, like Richard Hammond did on Top Gear, and you will get mocked for it for years and years and years...

My personal view is that I'd rather pay taxes for a basic standard of care, no matter what (with naturally the right to all sorts of legal comeback when those standards are not met); than have an absolutely fantastic standard of care available for those who can afford it, with next to nothing available for everyone else. Mind you, my experience of the NHS is limited to a trip to A&E for mild concussion, the occasional doctor's and dentist's appointment and a whole pile of blood donation sessions. Tea & biscuits for the win

DW

while you may need to wait a while for non-emergancy care, my two experiances with the NHS in more urgent times went pretty well (passed out on a bus, my appendix trying to explode) although the first time i ended up direct in an emergency ward, the second time i had to wait several hours to see a local doctor, then being taken to A&E and having to wait more. but the operation was carried out that very night, so i have no complaints about that!

6 months to see a dentist? my dentist would phone up and INSIST i went for a check up every 6 months, and book me in for an appointment within the next two weeks. is that what they're basing the waiting times on?

love how some of these commenters keep forgetting that the UK have private healthcare too. we went private for one of my family members, our insurance covered it easily.

As someone with those notorious "British teeth", I wish to explain that my wonkey teeth are nothing to do with bad care on either the NHS' or my part (like pretty much everyone i brush my teeth daily thank you), but rather due to me sucking my thumb til i was 16 and inadvertantly pushing my front teeth outwards in doing so. Braces are too expensive for me to get private and my teeth aren't bad enough for braces on the NHS.

Thank you and goodnight
*bows out the door stage right*

*pokes head back out again*
and LEAVE THE NHS ALOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!!! ;_;

There is no point to even trying to use rational arguments against the NHS-bashing crazies because they are lunatics who scream about socialism at politicians and try to prove that Obama is a dam forriner because the idea of a black president is repulsive to them.

This is what is left of the republican party. There are like an extreme minority like Ultra who are capable of rationality but the rest of them scare the hell out of me and they have just gotten crazier and crazier since the election. Their philosophies were stupid to begin with, but 8 years of making excuses for a war criminal religious fanatic have led to many of their smarter members jumping ship, and losing to the black guy brought the psychos into prominence.

Language Log has a good reason why American newspapers said such stupid things about Hawking: it's his damned speech synthesiser of course.

What really boggles my mind is that they have the audacity to badmouth the NHS, when over there basic healthcare is only the right of those who have money to pay for it.

no worries trudi, my teeth have gotten a bit wonky thanks to my wisdom teeth growing through and not having enough room. anyone sensable would realise it's not your fault~

i hear in america people are sometimes made to take non-essential tests and are charged for all sorts of extra things.. it that true? i know people have to pay a lot more to cover the costs made by those who manage to get healthcare for free.

There is no point to even trying to use rational arguments against the NHS-bashing crazies because they are lunatics who scream about socialism at politicians and try to prove that Obama is a dam forriner because the idea of a black president is repulsive to them.

This is what is left of the republican party. There are like an extreme minority like Ultra who are capable of rationality but the rest of them scare the hell out of me and they have just gotten crazier and crazier since the election. Their philosophies were stupid to begin with, but 8 years of making excuses for a war criminal religious fanatic have led to many of their smarter members jumping ship, and losing to the black guy brought the psychos into prominence.

*applause*

I couldn't have put it into better words.

no worries trudi, my teeth have gotten a bit wonky thanks to my wisdom teeth growing through and not having enough room. anyone sensable would realise it's not your fault~

To be honest, I don't know many folk in Britain with "perfect" smiles. I've always assumed it's because the NHS braces are there for seriously detrimental teeth issues - i.e. so crooked that you can't eat with them properly or can't brush them properly, leading to tooth decay. Anyone who cares that much about how straight their teeth are is welcome to go pay a private dentist for treatment - but may well be mocked by others who choose to spend their cash on something else (hence my Richard Hammond comment).

In my case, I have a seriously wonky incisor that's been like that for nigh on 20 years. But I can still brush it properly, it doesn't get in my way, so I chose a long time ago never to spend a fortune on fixing it. I suspect there is a different attitude in the States, whereby wonky teeth affect how other people think of you & treat you, and thereby can seriously impact your self-esteem?

DW

What really boggles my mind is that they have the audacity to badmouth the NHS, when over there basic healthcare is only the right of those who have money to pay for it.

Most likely stemming from an understanding that health care, like many other things, is labor. It requires work, and it's not free. You have to pay for the labor of someone else; you have no 'right' to the labor of someone else without their say. You shouldn't even expect to have the 'right' to the labor of someone else, no questions asked. Likewise, the cost of that labor should not be arbitrarily decided by outside parties without any consideration as to what was involved or what other people are willing to pay. So, in that sense, a lot of Americans would say that 'health care is not a right'. A more accurate term would be 'responsibility'.

That said, using Stephen Hawking as an example to speak of the weaknesses of universal health care is a bit of two-edged sword; I can most certainly see someone with his 'deficiencies' (so to speak) getting the shaft, but not Hawking himself. The guy's famous.

Now, that said, I think the CEO of Whole Foods has a pretty good idea for health care reform. Certainly beats the current one under consideration in D.C. by leaps and miles, in my eyes.

This is what is left of the republican party. There are like an extreme minority like Ultra who are capable of rationality but the rest of them scare the hell out of me and they have just gotten crazier and crazier since the election.

d'aww, I feel so honored. :3

Yeah, they don't work for free. Their wages (which are pretty good as I understand I might add) are paid by the tax payer. Much the same as you pay for yours via insurance, but it's nationwide and everyone has access to it. It's treated like another emergancy service I suppose, except not always an emergancy. It's only basic and those who want to and can afford it can get better care with Bupa etc.

But I understand you guys don't like tax so yeah 😀

Echoing Vec and Jin, I'd like to know exactly how many of these braying critics even have passports, let alone experience of anything other than the US system. I'm still impressed that someone with as little coherence as Sarah frickin' Palin is even being listened to any more, even by the usual crowd of reactionaries who need to look up "socialism" and "liberal" in their dictionaries.

Can I ask how much publicity the fact that Obama's stepmother is defending the NHS' treatment of her whilst she was in the UK is getting over there across the Pond? I've been away from home for most of the last week, and not keeping my usual tabs on the US networks.

I'm still impressed that someone with as little coherence as Sarah frickin' Palin is even being listened to any more, even by the usual crowd of reactionaries who need to look up "socialism" and "liberal" in their dictionaries.

Blame the media. If she were as irrelevant as people make her out to be, then why do they keep blaring her Facebook posts across the news channels? Make of it what you will.

Man, this convinces me that one thing the US should NOT emulate is dental care. No wonder we get the "big book of british smiles," if brits have to pay for dental work. That is generally considered part of a good employer health package in the US.

Most likely stemming from an understanding that health care, like many other things, is labor. It requires work, and it's not free. You have to pay for the labor of someone else; you have no 'right' to the labor of someone else without their say. You shouldn't even expect to have the 'right' to the labor of someone else, no questions asked. Likewise, the cost of that labor should not be arbitrarily decided by outside parties without any consideration as to what was involved or what other people are willing to pay. So, in that sense, a lot of Americans would say that 'health care is not a right'. A more accurate term would be 'responsibility'.

Police? Firefighters? Schools? You can get those privately, or through public services.

And the negotiations for prices are more towards pharmaceuticals than doctor labor. Bulk buyers negotiate prices, what's controversial about that?

Besides the basic moral reasons for the government to introduce public health care, a big reason is that, like the industries I mentioned, the theory of serving the customer through competition does not work with health insurance because there is a huge barrier to entry for potential competition. The whole notion is mitigation of individual cost by spreading the cost the many people, which requires an entrant to start with huge reserves of money. It is also by far to the economic advantage of the company to screw individual customers over, inventing silly excuses not to pay.