Residents of the UK should learn to appreciate some of the systems in place to keep its residents alive and healthy. I know I could be more patriotic. I will always defend the country's NHS service however. Could you imagine having to choose one limb out of two to keep because you can only afford surgery on one of them?. Some Americans who lack the necessary health insurance might have to make a choice such as this. I like knowing that I can pay for the health help I need with a single pound note, instead of relying on bad credit credit cards.
Arguably however, the service is not as cost free as it may initially appear. It is true that national insurance charges (lifted straight from our wages) help to cover the costs of this national provision. This subtraction is tiny compared to the true costs of health care however. If this was not the case than doctors in the United States would not be able to charge thousands of dollars to credit cards to address a problem with an internal or external organ? Many more of us would be living with a disability if this was the case here in the United Kingdom.
Should you get ill when you have run out of money, this is most irritating however. £7.40 is the charge for all prescriptions and only those who are unemployed or registered disabled are exempt from these charges. Sometimes, I find this cost difficult to cover.
I do wonder if us Brits would be a healthier lot should it be down to us personally to cover our health care costs. Would the obesity epidemic end?? Would people finally be convinced to give up tobacco and would cancer rates fall as a result? People might care a little bit more about the state of their health if they know it is them who will have to foot the bill for recovery!
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