Socialised Medicine the myths and the facts

Hey madwife. i agree with you completely . i am not sure why people are so against it. i have heard a lot of nurses say, if we get socialized medicine nurses will not be paid as well as they do. so if its not broken ,don't fix it which is totally stupid.

Yes, I do have a question that I have been wondering about for a long time regarding coverage in countries with socialized medicine. My son is a hemophiliac and his medications (Recombinate, Factor VIII) are unaffordable (unless you are a millionaire) without private medical insurance here. Because he does have insurance, it is provided for a very small copay. This coverage is from his dad's employer and will last as long as he is a college student and under 25, but that is not much longer. He is hoping to get a good job after graduation but it is uncertain. His protocol is prophylaxis--he gives himself an IV infusion every other day to prevent spontaneous bleeding. He needs this protocol because when he was on the "treat only when bleeding occurs" protocol that many hemophiliacs are on, he had frequent crippling joint bleeding in the knee and elbow, a subdural hematoma, an ab bleed as big as your fist, and a shoulder joint bleed as big as a football pad which could have cost him his arm. No private insurance company would cover my son except under an employer's group policy. If in the future my son does not have coverage, it is my understanding that the local county cannot afford prophylaxis though it may provide emergency treatment if bleeding occurs. However a bleed normally requires multiple treatments 12 hours apart.Would this medication be provided under the UK system? As prophylaxis? Also, do they cover most kinds of chemotherapy? Thanks.

I have several questions...1) What are the salaries for health providers?2) What are the waiting times for procedures needed, on average?3) What are the working conditions...i.e. nurse/patient ratio, hours worked on average, acuity of patients cared for in a patient mix?4) Is there a cap for some health problems...i.e. alcoholism, drug addiction, psyche diagnoses?5) How much are taxes in the UK and how much goes to health care?6) Are you in the UK working? and if not why? (don't mean to be personal) just want to know.Thanks for your perspective...

This is a very interesting thread topic. Coming from Canada, we have socialized health care as well, but I do not believe that it is a comprehensive here as it is in the UK. But kudos to the author of this thread for the brilliant idea.

I'm Canadian. The best thing about our health care system is that in your daily life, you never have to think about affording care or not. You see your doctor or receive hospital care and you never get a bill. Our health care covers us no matter what province we are in when we need the care.Catastrophic injury or illness? Same thing--you receive the care and no bills.As nurses, we are paid well. And we don't have to worry about our patients' insurance covering this or that--we just look after them.No system is perfect--there some community services that should be covered, especially for the elderly who need help with ADL's but I think that will come eventually. We could use better coverage for dental and drugs than we currently have, but people can get private insurance plans for that at relatively low cost. Where health care is FOR PROFIT, that's when it becomes exclusionary and expensive. That's when it becomes an expense like any other in daily life. I would be so afraid to live in the USA where my coverage was a matter of ongoing concern.

My GERD is acting up really bad due to the economy and work related stress. I got the ER doc to write me a script for nexium because it works really well for me.When I went to get it filled the cost would be 178$ for 30 pills. I don't have any insurance right now and can't afford that. So it is OTC pepcid for now.This is just rediculous.I'm in between travel jobs right now and per diem shifts have dried up. I never thought I would have this problem as a nurse.I do believe everyone should have access to free healthcare. I think we would see a big improvement if people were receiving preventive care instead of patch up the leaks care.

I'm from the UK, so I appreciate the fact that you don't have to worry about getting medical care. My biggest worry about retirement is paying for a supplementary policy for my husband and myself, as well as as prescription plan. Of course, Medicare costs as much as my insurance right now for both of us. We won't have any dental or vision coverage. My brother and his wife came here to live, and left after two years because they couldn't deal with medical bills.I wouldn't mind paying more in taxes if we didn't have to pay for our health care. At least we wouldn't be support big business. Insurance companies are not non-profit!My youngest son has never had health insurance since he grew up. He has always worked, but most restaurants don't provide benefits. We need socialized medicine, and the sooner the better!

Quote from ambermichellewould this medication be provided under the uk system? as prophylaxis? also, do they cover most kinds of chemotherapy? thanks.

Quote from sharrieYes your sons treatment would be covered in the UK, the NHS tends to be proactive when it comes to preventative and prophylaxis treatments.Chemotherapy is covered, but we are guided by something called the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, this is an organisation made up of clinicians who review current literature and evaluate new treatments before recommending them. You may find some of the very expensive cancer drugs (the life prolonging drugs) are not covered because they are not always effective and because NHS resources are limited cost effectiveness is considered. This does not mean that you are not treated if you need chemo, what it means is there are a few expensive and rarely used drugs that will not be recommended for use because of cost effectiveness

€1= $1.40 (aprox it depends on the exchange rate) I work in Arizona I worked in the Uk for 16 years I came to live and work in America because I have family here and I wanted to live close to them, but laugh they live in Ohio so we are still living a long way from them. My dh and dd love Arizona so we are here to stay.I miss my job in the Uk I find many restrictions here in the US but I work with a great bunch of people so I am lucky. I do get concerned re the the financial side of medical care here in the US and the worries families have re affording care, something I had never experienced before especially as pts have enough worry with coping with their illnesses without worrying about money.

madwife and others have spoken about the uk system. from an aussie perspective:the australian red cross blood service manages blood products. employees are paid according to their award; donors are vounteers who are not paid (unless you count a snack and juice). all blood products are free. Quote from shakai have several questions...

I worked in small, specialized hospitals, middle size to university hospitals in Germany, 8 years plus 5 years in ICU.I can say that I always could give my patients the treatment I would wish to obtain! Altough we had a luck of staff sometimes and very hard to work, on medical ward, neurology, kardiology and ICU. I gave patients antibiotics , pain killer, special bandages, IV's... as appropriate for this illness, doesn't matter if the person is homeless or CEO of a company. Specially in ICU every patient received everything, except there was no chance and an agreement with the family and all disziplines to stop the treatment and let the client go, in an ethical and moral way and without pain. If I suggested a therapy, as competent nurse, in 95 % the doctor agreed with me and prescribed it. Prevention is very well promoted. If you live healthy, for example you have a normal weight, you participate in a fitness club... you get points and a lower insurence rate. Magazines, brochures, TV and lessons keep you up to date how to get healtier( here the focus is more how to get beautiful, they don't care if you are healthy or not).There are sufficient programs for mental ill or homeless people. The society general has more knowledge what healhty livestyle and nutrition is, in my opinion. However I know there are negative sides as well. People abuse the system, get a bunch of treatments unnecessary... go to the doctor for every little issue. Others immigrate just for this reasons, not because they love the country, they just want to use taxpayer money and never want to pay in the system. Some new, innovative techniques or procedures might be available in United States first, because here is more money through the privatized medizine.Now it starts too, that the healthcare system gets more and more privatized in my homecountry. I didn't work as nurse here, my visa is in process.Don't understand me wrong, I don't wanna judge! I'm bias. I just want to tell you about my experience.Jeanny