While the American people are being bombarded with pro "Medicare for All" propaganda from exuberant democrats and buying into it (until they realize the price tag will double their taxes), the potential disaster of such an expensive system is being glossed over. We need only look across the Pond to see what problems can arise. Here are some actual data to show that Single Payer isn't always rosier and in fact can be worse than what the US currently has. Further, the US has a very different demographic and US heath insurers and patients foot the bill for most of the R&D of Big Pharma....something those in the UK fail to recognize and appreciate.
U.K.'s Healthcare Horror Stories Ought To Curb Dems' Enthusiasm For Single-Payer
The United Kingdom's National Health Service, which celebrated its 70th anniversary on July 5, is imploding.
Vacancies for doctor and nurse positions have reached all-time highs. Patients are facing interminable waits for care as a result. This August, a record number of Britons languished more than 12 hours in emergency rooms. In July, the share of cancer patients who waited more than two months to receive treatment soared.
The NHS has struggled to fully staff its hospitals and clinics since its inception in 1948. But today, the shortages are growing worse. 9% of physician posts are vacant. That's a shortfall of nearly 11,500 doctors.
The NHS is also short 42,000 nurses. In the second quarter alone, nurse vacancies increased by 17%. Meanwhile, in the United States, nearly all states will have a surplus of nurses by 2030.
The shortage of providers has resulted in longer wait times for patients. In May, 4.3 million people in the United Kingdom were on waiting lists for surgery, a 10-year high. Adjusting for population, that would be like having everyone in the state of Florida on waiting lists. Roughly 3,500 British patients have been on hospital waiting lists for more than a year.
More than one in five British cancer patients waits longer than two months to begin treatment after receiving a referral from a general practitioner. In Scotland, fewer than 80% of patients receive needed diagnostic tests -- endoscopies, MRIs, CT, scans and the like -- within three months.
These delays are deadly. An analysis that covered just half of England's hospitals found that almost 30,000 patients died in the past year while waiting for treatment -- an increase of 57% compared to 2013.
In some cases, the NHS has refused to provide treatment at all. In June, NHS England said that it would discontinue coverage of 17 procedures, including tonsillectomies and knee arthroscopies for osteoarthritis patients.
Even when patients receive treatment, the quality of care is poor. Patients in British hospitals are four times more likely to die than in U.S. hospitals, according to an analysis of outcomes from 2,000 similar surgeries conducted by researchers from University College London and Columbia University in New York. Among the more severely ill patients, the disparity was worse; the sickest Brits were seven times more likely to die.
Of course, there are those that may have different outcomes and experiences on both sides. However, we're not talking about individual cases but rather averages which the only data that matters when looking at the issue. Personally, I requested an MRI from my doc 2 1/2 years ago and 5 days later was in the latest open MRI machine having my scan. Virtually no wait time, just fitting it into my schedule. I'll take that vs. a 3+ month wait. BTW, dealing with Medicare is no picnic. It's a bureaucratic nightmare in many cases while also being fraught with mismanagement, waste and fraud.
Are there flaws and problems in the US system? Yes, and no one denies this. But a radical shift to a Medicare for All plan would not solve them.
