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0 pointszarzavat2y ago0 comments

As much as I like the NHS, it’s pretty shit compared to the healthcare a Facebook employee would get in the US.

Wait weeks to see a GP, long waiting times to see a specialist or for treatment, rationing of access to technology like MRIs, and a risk of dying in a hospital car park or corridor, or being killed by an overworked A&E doctor.

Don’t get me wrong, the NHS is great, I love that Boris Johnson got more or less the same care in St Thomas’ that a homeless person would have received (perhaps a bit better).

But on an individual level, the FB engineer in US certainly has better care available to them than one in the UK.

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tchaffee2y ago

The one case where your argument fails is very serious illnesses where you can't continue to work. In the US you will end up with worse care.

And let's hope the NHS problems are temporary. When I worked in London and the US ten years ago, I always preferred the NHS because the waiting times were shorter and the quality of care was much higher. I used the NHS a few weeks ago. It wasn't horrible and I got good quality of care within a reasonable time. But it's nothing close to how good it used to be so for the serious part of my care I went to the far better hospital in Brazil covered by my employer provided insurance.

I would guess the NHS will change. Voters are unhappy with the reckless defunding of what used to be a national pride.

The US does provide better care right now if you are rich or privileged enough to have a job that is in demand. But a well funded NHS is a far better system if the political will to get back to that exists.

Nextgrid2y ago

> I would guess the NHS will change. Voters are unhappy with the reckless defunding of what used to be a national pride.

I am not sure that is the case? The country seems to have a weird obsession with the NHS and seems to downplay/overlook its problems. Frankly even before its recent woes, I found it pretty shit compared to socialized healthcare in France.

The current state of the NHS should prompt riots, yet everyone seems complacent in seeing their literal lifeline being destroyed by greedy, incompetent & senile oligarchs.

kriro2y ago

There's "catastrophic injury/health" insurance in the U.S. You just don't get it by default. I did a bit of research into the topic in the past and my takeaway is that if you buy the right insurance packages you get pretty much the same coverage in the U.S. that you'd get here (Germany) except you have the option not to do it. From what I gather it's also not that much more expensive, I'd argue the quality of care in the U.S. is probably better (it's pretty high in Germany but the U.S. is probably the #1 in the world on average) and the service quality for someone with this kind of insurance package is better for sure (longer waiting times in Germany for certain procedures/issues for example). All of this is assuming you're lucky enough to have a decent job/salary (which we are as tech people).

I guess it looks more grim for the "lower end of the spectrum" in the U.S.

RhysU2y ago

> ...very serious illnesses where you can't continue to work.

In the US, if possible, carry long term disability insurance to mitigate this risk.

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