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ORIGINAL: eulero83

quote:

ORIGINAL: kkaliforniaa

I talked with someone from the United Kingdom, in order to see a specialist, it could take more than a year for an available appointment! This is what happens with "free" healthcare. Although it still isn't really free, on one hand it comes out of your pocket along with everything else that goes with taxes, on the other hand, it's insurance and you know full well the cost of it. I think the way the system is right now is probably better, at least for those who don't want to wait a year to see a specialist [whether it be a cardiologist, orthopedic surgeon, etc]

Was the british person looking for a specialist or you? Because if you are not a british citizen I don't think you are entitled to see any specialist from the ntional health care system.
I'm in northern italy, we have a public health system, and never waited more than a couple week for a not urgent specialist visit. Maybe one month if it involved a non urgent surgery as I was to wait after the more urgent patients.

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ORIGINAL: freedomdwarf1

quote:

ORIGINAL: kkaliforniaa
I talked with someone from the United Kingdom, in order to see a specialist, it could take more than a year for an available appointment!

Not usually the case.

True, there are some people who have the misfortune of getting lost in the paper chase, but most people are usually seen within a few weeks. I believe the current "target" waiting time is 18 weeks and most of the country seem to be better than 90% on hitting those targets.
The Mrs, from initial diagnosis/referral to having the special brain scan at a major London hospital AND getting the results back to her GP was about 3 weeks.

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ORIGINAL: Phoenixpower

quote:

ORIGINAL: freedomdwarf1

quote:

ORIGINAL: kkaliforniaa
I talked with someone from the United Kingdom, in order to see a specialist, it could take more than a year for an available appointment!

Not usually the case.

True, there are some people who have the misfortune of getting lost in the paper chase, but most people are usually seen within a few weeks. I believe the current "target" waiting time is 18 weeks and most of the country seem to be better than 90% on hitting those targets.
The Mrs, from initial diagnosis/referral to having the special brain scan at a major London hospital AND getting the results back to her GP was about 3 weeks.

Actually a previous Uni mate from me was diagnosed with a brain tumour back in 2007....as her mum did die some years before 2007 on a brain tumour, the surgeon arranged it for her to get it removed the very next day after she had her appointment with him....now ok, she "might" have been that lucky due to her sad family history in that respect, but it is another example, that you can get important appointments damn quickly at times...

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ORIGINAL: Musicmystery

Interesting fact -- generally, billionaires can afford to live here if they so choose.

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ORIGINAL: Phoenixpower

quote:

ORIGINAL: eulero83

quote:

ORIGINAL: kkaliforniaa

I talked with someone from the United Kingdom, in order to see a specialist, it could take more than a year for an available appointment! This is what happens with "free" healthcare. Although it still isn't really free, on one hand it comes out of your pocket along with everything else that goes with taxes, on the other hand, it's insurance and you know full well the cost of it. I think the way the system is right now is probably better, at least for those who don't want to wait a year to see a specialist [whether it be a cardiologist, orthopedic surgeon, etc]

Was the british person looking for a specialist or you? Because if you are not a british citizen I don't think you are entitled to see any specialist from the ntional health care system.
I'm in northern italy, we have a public health system, and never waited more than a couple week for a not urgent specialist visit. Maybe one month if it involved a non urgent surgery as I was to wait after the more urgent patients.

Oh lovely bullshit again...

I was living in the UK until some years ago, as some of you might know, and guess what....hey, I was even "allowed" to see a "specialist"!!!

And guess what...it took 6 weeks....not a year...as that still depends on the area and the sort of appointment you need...

Last but not least...this is not "necessarily" what happens with "free" healthcare, which isn't free....

Over here we also have healthcare available, which does not put us at risk to get into bankruptcy or into losing our home....but over here we can go to any GP (not just to the one which we are alocated to due to the road we are living in, as it was in the UK) and when I need a referal I can decide myself which specialist I want an opinion from (not as it was in the UK, that the GP referred me and I had no influence on the appointment, nor on the specialist I have to put up with)...

So quite frankly, over here if my preferred docs don't have an appointment as quickly as I want it to be, I can just go to any other of their colleagues who has an appointment available earlier...therefore, quite frankly, it depends on the rules such a healthcare system has....they are not generally bad....and considering many people in the US had none or maybe still don't have any....I would always prefer the UK version to having none at all...but thats just me

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ORIGINAL: deathtothepixies

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_per_adult

Feel free to click on median wealth as opposed to mean wealth, as it says

"There's a list based on means, but because wealth is distributed very unequally, the median may represent average wealth more accurately."

America is highly iniquitous country, shown here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_distribution_of_wealth

Using the median America falls to 23rd and the UK is 6th

As usual with statistics there is more than one way of going about things, let the cherry picking commence

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ORIGINAL: crazyml

quote:

ORIGINAL: BamaD
Hope you are ready for the firestorm. You will be "politely" informed that this whole study is "bullocks"

Ah, there's a "study" to debate is there?

So far I've only seen a couple of blog entries. Could you point me to the "study", or are you so utterly fucking stupid that you think a "blog entry" is the same as a "study"?

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ORIGINAL: freedomdwarf1

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ORIGINAL: Phoenixpower

quote:

ORIGINAL: freedomdwarf1

quote:

ORIGINAL: kkaliforniaa
I talked with someone from the United Kingdom, in order to see a specialist, it could take more than a year for an available appointment!

Not usually the case.

True, there are some people who have the misfortune of getting lost in the paper chase, but most people are usually seen within a few weeks. I believe the current "target" waiting time is 18 weeks and most of the country seem to be better than 90% on hitting those targets.
The Mrs, from initial diagnosis/referral to having the special brain scan at a major London hospital AND getting the results back to her GP was about 3 weeks.

Actually a previous Uni mate from me was diagnosed with a brain tumour back in 2007....as her mum did die some years before 2007 on a brain tumour, the surgeon arranged it for her to get it removed the very next day after she had her appointment with him....now ok, she "might" have been that lucky due to her sad family history in that respect, but it is another example, that you can get important appointments damn quickly at times...

In recent years they (GP's, hospitals, specialists etc) have been taking more notice of previous family history of things even if it isn't accredited as being hereditary. If there's a family history of something, you're generally fast-tracked and often get seen very quickly.

Another thing they've done since you were here is that you don't have to see your own GP and/or specialist either - you can pretty much walk in anywhere to be seen or ask to see different specialists or attend a different hospital/clinic if you want.
Also, most surgeries are opening for much longer hours and at week-ends as well.