Hot on Facebook

Guy Buys $123 Safe on eBay, Finds $26,000 Inside Seller tries to get half the cash back, fails »

Why I Love Britain's Health Care System

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 22, 2009 10:01 AM CDT

(Newser) – US conservatives are doing their best to turn Britain’s National Health Service into a cautionary tale. Author Stephen Amidon was nervous as well when he moved to Britain; how good could free care be? But the birth of his first child taught him to love the system, he writes for Salon. The moment his newborn developed jaundice, senior doctors swept in with the latest technology. “Nobody asked about insurance or co-pays.”

The ward “was the most egalitarian place I had ever seen.” The rich and poor were treated exactly the same. “This, I learned, is what the NHS is about—common decency.” Britons believe they’re part of a society that provides certain necessities to its members, health care included. “Sure, people complained about the NHS. But the British complain about everything. Living without a public health system, on the other hand, was unthinkable.”

[Images (2)]

[Quotes (2)]

A sign outside one of London's major National Health Service hospitals, St Mary's in Paddington, is seen in London, Friday, Aug.14, 2009. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

A sign seen, at the entrance to St Thomas' Hospital, part of the National Health Service, Friday, Aug. 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

There was no private wing with champagne service. Everybody was in this together. If you were a woman and you were in
labor and you were in our part of London, this is
where you came. - Stephen Amidon

The amount of money spent on their care must have been staggering. And yet, despite shouldering this yoke of decency, the nation prospered around them.
- Stephen Amidon, on the excellent care his elderly in-laws received

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

GOP Gunning for Obama Health Nominee

Blocking appointment is one way to re-open health care debate

(NEWSER) - Republicans have their knives out for Donald Berwick, President Obama's nominee to run Medicare and Medicaid. Berwick, a pediatrician and Harvard prof who runs a nonprofit aimed at cutting hospital errors, as well as costs, is a fan of Britain's single-payer health National Health Service, they note; he once declared it “one of the great health care endeavors on Earth.” He was even given honorary knighthood for helping improve the system. “He is bad news,” John Cornyn tells Politico . “If he wants to turn America into the National Health Service … he is going to find a lot of pushback.” More»

Obamacare Isn't 'Socialist Hellhole,' It's Switzerland

Krugman: White House plan not all that radical

(NEWSER) - Investor's Business Daily made a howler when it said the British physicist Stephen Hawking "wouldn't have a chance" under the UK's health care, but for Paul Krugman, the "vile and stupid" editorial missed the point. Obamacare doesn't look like the British system, in which government runs hospitals and pays doctors. Rather, it resembles the Swiss model, using regulation and subsidies for private companies to make sure everyone has coverage. More»

British Health Care Would Kill Hawking...

...say foes of reform, forgetting that Brit physicist lives in UK

(NEWSER) - Opponents of health care reform should be careful how they use the terrifying example of Britain’s socialized system. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution stumbled upon an editorial on Investors Business Daily that asserts that “people such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn’t have a chance in the UK, where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless.” Hawking, of course, is still alive and living in the UK, where he was born. More»

UK to Patients Who Smoke: Put That Out

National Health Service imposes four-week window before surgery

(NEWSER) - Smokers in Britain must kick the habit for at least four weeks before undergoing routine surgery or the National Health Service will deny them the operations, the Daily Mail reports. Doctors will use blood tests to enforce the new policy, which could affect up to 500,000 smokers awaiting procedures for non-life-threatening conditions each year. More»

UK Asks US to Ban Al-Qaeda YouTube Clips

Anwar al-Awlaki videos blamed for radicalizing young Brits

(NEWSER) - Several UK officials are calling on the US to censor Anwar al-Awlaki’s videos on YouTube, after a would-be assassin cited them as a key ingredient in her radicalization. More than 5,000 of Anwar al-Awkali’s sermons can be found on YouTube, exhorting the faithful to take up terrorism. “Jihad today is obligatory on every capable Muslim,” the American-born al-Qaeda cleric declares in one. Police think those videos radicalized Roshonara Choudhry, who was convicted yesterday of stabbing Labour politician Stephen Timms. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website