Remember when Michael Moore depicted the United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS) as a superior health care system in his 2007 documentary "Sicko"?
That romanticizing on the silver screen might have seemed like a good idea for the American society, but according to Lord Ara Darzi, it's not ideal for the United States. Darzi, a former British Health Minister, appeared on CNBC's Aug. 31 "Street Signs" to defend the NHS from attacks made in a TV spot, which had been rejected by ABC and NBC for airing because they were "too partisan."
"Street Signs' host Erin Burnett presented the hypothetical question to Darzi that if the U.S. would ever go to a single-payer system, would stifle innovation and would that mean rationing of care. According to Darzi - those decisions are made on a local level.
"These decisions made independent, is about new drugs and new technologies," Darzi said. "Our payer is a single-payer system, which actually is divided to 150 different local payers - they decide with the local population, what the local population needs are."
However, Darzi told Burnett that a single-payer system in the United States wouldn't necessarily be the ideal model and that the American health care system is not that terrible.
"I'm in no way suggesting that our health care system, or a single-payer, is the ideal model for you," Darzi continued. "You have an excellent health care system - units and providers. However, there are some certain challenges within the system itself."
But Darzi did trot out the notion that as a global leader, the United States should offer coverage for every citizen.
"The issue that you're raising is how do you provide a comprehensive cover to everyone," "I think - there is no question in my mind we all look up to the U.S. - that every citizen in the U.S. should be mandated to have some form of a cover, health cover."
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Britian doesn't do liberty
August 31, 2009 - 18:18 ET by 10ksnookerBritian doesn't do liberty too well.
The question is why do Britain's allow socialism?
For the same reasons Dems are so desperate
August 31, 2009 - 22:10 ET by lsudolemiteto institute it in our own country. A massive government program requires a massive bureaucracy, which means thousands and thousands of extra government jobs. Jobs that will be impossible to eliminate. Once you have that many people who rely on the gov't for their jobs, they will never vote for any candidate that proposes elimination of the system. It's an enormous new voting bloc that guarantees the gov't program will forever remain in place. It's the same reason no politician runs on a platform that would eliminate Medicare or Social Security. Older people depend on these programs, and older people vote...in very large numbers. Hence, these programs will never go away.
In the case of the UK, Britain has the world's 22nd largest population, and their National Health Services is the world's 3rd largest employer. No way an electoral majority votes to chop off the hand that feeds it.
Not ideal for USA? That's
August 31, 2009 - 18:46 ET by Clear thinkerNot ideal for USA? That's because we have such a huge illegal population that will be getting on Obama's healthcare rolls. Illegals Get Obamacare!
http://iamnotaracist.wordpress.com/
Oh Happy Days
August 31, 2009 - 19:50 ET by KansasgirlI could give a rats (ahem) what this tool thinks.
Bothers me
August 31, 2009 - 21:13 ET by RESTLESS 1"...that every citizen in the U.S. should be mandated to have some form of a cover, health cover."
You know, the term "mandate" keeps coming from the left in this debate, and quite frankly, it bothers me. It is one thing to mandate that coverage be avilable to all citizens that want it, not that that is my position, but it is entirely another to mandate that all citizens have health insurance.
It makes me wonder what they are really after. (Not really, I know the control of the populace they truly crave).
"If the man, with the power, can't keep it under control...some heads are gonna roll." -Judas Priest
Just remember the IHS saying
August 31, 2009 - 22:43 ET by toneyukiJust remember the IHS saying "dont get sick after June"
when they start controlling our lives maybe they can implement this saying as a mandate!!
Amazing
September 1, 2009 - 05:58 ET by richb313What I got from reading this article is that Britan and probably the rest of the world is waiting to see if the United States can come up with a way to cover the entire population without resorting to single payer or any other of the schemes that have been tried. You see the rest of the world does not want the U.S. to kill the innovation engine that is responsible for the majority of new treatments, drugs, surgical procedures and life saving technologies. In other words they are looking to the U.S. for some leadership and innovation.
All we see from the White House and Washington is the dusting off of old failed ideas. They give it a new coat of paint and then call it something different which is usually the exact opposite of what ever the thing was supposed to do. We are sqaundering a chance to be real inventive. We could be trying various programs in various states to see how the differing systems might work. We could be but we are not.