What do you think is the biggest difference between health care in the US and the UK?

Question

Thanks for the info...I'm in nursing school in the US and my assignment is to ask people from other countries what they think is the biggest difference.

Answer 1

NHS unless we pay for a private medical insurance , we all still pay through our wage packet for NHS. So if we were in hospital there is no bill. But if a private medical insurance scheme is used we can go private and pay, and if an emergency it could put you priority.

Answer 2

i recently had experience of both,in march of this year i was in illinois,and from visiting the doctor to surgery, only took one week,which i thought was very good, but my husband has very good health insurance with his company. if we did not have this insurance i  was told it would not have been so good. but my diagnosis was terminal cancer, i was told i had 3 to4 months to live and there was nothing they could do,so i came home to die, contacted the nhs oncologist, just had my 7th chemo, and my cancer has shrunk, and the doc was talking about what he`s going to do over the next couple of years.  

Answer 3

well in the UK it is paid for through national insurance however we still have to pay prescription charges however im fed up of immigrants coming over and claiming on the NHS getting free health care when the British working people who paid for it are then second class citizens and have to wait it is wrong and stinks however majr operations are free on the nhs so its good though life saving drugs are being denied due to post code lottery

Answer 4

In the US you can call a doctor and see him the same day.

Answer 5

Having worked in both, both have their issues, The US doesn't really have a health care 'system' per se; except for certain people (veterans/very poor people). The health care is financially administered by insurance companies. Money is sometimes more of a concern than patient care.

The UK NHS is in complete need of an overhaul, the goal post has moved, patient care is being compromised by meeting target numbers, is poorly managed and because of this mismanagement of resources, money is wasted. In some areas in the UK, we simply don't have enough resources per population (the maternity fiasco at present springs to mind) but with that said, it is on the whole equal and everyone is entitled to health care.

The best health care service are what the Scandinavian countries have, for many reasons, they tend to operate better and be more efficient

It's easy to look at the NHS and think of abdominal (unacceptable) patient waiting times, MRSA/C Diff etc, but don't be fooled into thinking everything in the US if perfect, everything is too money orientated there. There will always be an issue wherever Doctors put money before patients. in conclusion, I'd chose the UK NHS everytime.

The biggest difference is, in the UK healthcare is available to all, in the US it isn't.

Answer 6

Social Democracy.  

Answer 7

In the US you pay insurance, and in th UK they say its free but you pay through national insurance where you pay a percentage of your wage. The NHS dosent work very well and its reputation has gone down hill over the last ten years or so.

Everyone receives the same treatment over here regardless of how much money you have, unlike the US.

In the UK you could go private - and pay for it.

The treatment can vary in different areas so people say, this is known as a post code lottery.

Answer 8

money - in the US you pay - in the UK its free at point of use - well done the NHS