The U.S. Citizens Association-British Govmt Official Daniel Hannan on Socialized Medicine.flv

[bakersteven3]

Erm, the title is a lie. This foriegner couldn't be further away from government. He has NOTHING to do with UK government, he is a nobody, he is a third ranked politician. He lies, we don't have a monopoly, we have private healthcare here, if you want it. If you talk to governments officials they blush and say he has nothing to do with them. He doesn't live in the UK, so he knows NOTHING about the NHS, you are being swindled.

[mwillis1000]

What an idiot! The NHS is brilliant, its one of the best healthcare systems in the world and is far better than the American one.

[bakersteven3]

Firslty, Hannan is NOT a Government official. He is an embarrassment to the UK conservatives, henc ewhy he was sent to EUROPE ! He is NOT British, he was born in PERU, where his parents mad eprofits from using child labour ina facist state, so he's hardly a moral human being and the fact he lies about the NHS as well. he live sin spain and europe, he hasn't a clue about the NHS. Please, USA TAKE HIM. The lies about using BUPA ALSO.

[jazANDbase]

From a Brit who uses the NHS I can say without question that this guy is talking out of his arse. I've been in an out of hospital more times than I can count and have never experienced anything less than a fast, quality service which got my back on my feet without going bankrupt. Just looking through the comments on this video everyone from the UK is pointing out how untrue and biased this guy is, if you are from American please, please realise that this guy does not represent the majority of us

[WelshBathBoy]

This is all Lies, please people of America do not think what this man is saying is true, for a start Daniel Hannan is NOT a government official, he IS a member of the European Parliament, NOT the British Parliament, and is a very insignificant member at that, he is a rouge of his political party. Now I am not saying you should adopt our system, that is your freedom, however our system does work and please do your own research, I beg you, defend your freedom, do not listen to the biased media.

[Leobons]

@WelshBathBoy Classic example of doesn't liking the message, then trying to kill the messenger.. you didn't even make any comment about t healthcare at all

[RebelVoDKa]

Hannan isn't a British government official, he's a libertarian lurking in the European fringes of the Conservative Party and an embarrassment to most of his colleagues.

If the NHS is a disaster, and has been for 65 years, why are nearly all British people so supportive of it?

If it's a disaster, high profile names in and out of politics would be queueing up to bash it; Fox News could have taken its pick. Instead, they had to make do with a near unknown. Why do you think that is?

[rufust1975]

I do love the way that he's described as a "British Government Official"

He's nothing of the sort, of course, he's a Member of the European Parliament representing the Conservative party (at the moment, although his repeated appearances in the US media probably haven't helped his odds of being reselected to stand in the next election).

In my opinion, he'd be lucky to be elected dog catcher if he actually had a chance to enact any of his policies.

[JamesBlakeWilliams]

Daniel Hannan, hit the nail on the head, he's dead right!

[davijeph]

@JamesBlakeWilliams No you got it wrong Daniel Hannan needs a nail in the head,he's dead right?

[JamesBlakeWilliams]

He is right, just about every he says is right!

[davijeph]

@JamesBlakeWilliams Please look up " my british home:healthcare" and "my struggle with the american healthcare system" both from american ladies.

[djs8993]

Dan Hannan is not a 'British Government Official'

[skirrid1]

As much as i admire and agree with dan hannan for his opinions on socialist economics and especially on europe i have to disagree with him on the quality of the nhs. Like 80% of the uk pop. i am satisfied with it, and in interviews with the us media he is guilty of letting a few untruths continue.

[davijeph]

The man talks absolute rubbish. NHS is largest 3rd employer in the world? Total up the Health care workers in the UK including those in the private sector plus none medical staff allied with those companies ,then do the same with the USA insurance, medical,none medical staff and workers add those up into one single figure in terms of size the USA workers would dwarf the UK even if you averaged it against per head population and the USA still would not give universal cover.God bless the NHS.

[MrDragon1968]

I had BUPA (Private UK medical care) for several years. I stopped paying for it in the end because I didn't need it. Hannan's not telling you the truth about private health care in the UK (amongst quite a few other things!). It's certainly not only for 'rich' people (and also being forced out of the market). I was earning a pretty normal wage by UK standards when I had it.

[alharr1]

good find. good post. Every American needs to watch this.

[maustincpt]

Thanks...it is apparent that everything he is saying would happen if the health care bill passes. We are already seeing some fall out such as The Mayo Clinic in AZ deciding to not take any more Medicare patients b/c the govt can't pay enough for them to be able to warrant seeing those patients. We will see Drs leaving practices and unable to stay in business thus causing shortages of services and rationing. This is not "fear-mongering"..this is fact.

[davijeph]

@alharr1 He is taking rubbish.

[alharr1]

I disagree sir. It would increase the national debt tenfold

[vinnykster]

I enjoy hearing Daniel Hannan speak. This guy knows his stuff! :-)

[TBustah]

Geez, I never knew that the UK had it for so long. I thought that it was a fairly recent thing. You'd think that after 65 years of failure, we'd learn from their mistakes.

Just another reason why studying history is important, and that our schools aren't teaching it enough. Why was I not taught this? It can't be because my teachers put their own spin on the lessons, most of my history teachers were pretty right wing.

[davijeph]

@TBustah The NHS started just after WW11 and works very indeed, your work insurance based health system started earlier during WW11 and seems to be a pigs ear. Hannan ,ultra right wing,born to great wealth,born and lived in Peru,never used the NHS and total tosser.

[tincoffin]

@davijeph No... The NHS is about 18th in the world in terms of satisfaction and the US about 32nd . If the NHS is better than the US system it is still not saying a great deal is it . But my real gripe with the NHS is not the service but that it politicises medcine so no sensible discussion about it is possible.

[davijeph]

@tincoffin In answer to your statement that the NHS politicises medicine so no sensible discussion about it is possible ,so what is the medical system in America doing to America right now if not politicising medicine.Mined you to be fair their's not much in the way of sensible debate going on there from what I see.

[tincoffin]

@davijeph Very good point . I have always believed that is why they are doing it. They've looked over here and seen that a leftist government can forever after hold a rightist government to ransom by screaming about " the cuts" in health spending . It is so effective that even when there are no cuts ( as under Thatcher) it is still a potential vote winner. And Cameron has even declared there will be no cuts if he comes to power . Why ? because it is the right policy ? No..it is because he cant

[davijeph]

@tincoffin Well we could discuss that?

[tincoffin]

@davijeph Yes For starters healthcare can never be privatised . You cannot sell healthcare like you sell cars & realising this and for other reasons I didnt think that healthcare could be other than largely public funded. So I looked up how much of US healthcare was state funded . It was nearly 50% . Available to everyone . The argument is largely about the most efficient way of managing it not about the politics

[davijeph]

Can we agree to give a population a quality health service serving everybody even the professional unemployed the funding must come out of general taxation and not out of some variation of a insurance scheme, taxation being a more cost way of collecting cash. Unfortunatly one of the weaknesses of being in a democracy is politicians have to pander to the mob.I'm not just pro NHS I'm also pro EU (before you have a go at me on that one no I do not think I'll live to see a U S of Europe.

[tincoffin]

@davijeph Well as I said I dont see how healthcare can be other than funded largely out of general taxation and so must be available to all like the roads. The US has an insurance scheme after half has been funded by the state .I would guess that is the lowest percentage by far of any developed nation. It works very badly .

[davijeph]

@tincoffin Ok,We agree so far, now for the sticky bit.Can we also agree that the sum raised will depend on two things,first how wealthy is the State?Second what portion of that states wealth will be used in care?Do you agree the 2nd question will be answered via the party system at election time?How does the government best used our tax money to ensure the customers get the best healthcare the pot will allow?Do we use a single Government run system or some kind of private enterprise run system?

[tincoffin]

@davijeph Answer to first question Yes agree .Answer to second : No not really because of my answer to your question 3 which is definite no dont agree . It is just not possible for private enterprise to run healthcare. Even in the US it is a hybrid system about 50/50 state & private.

[tincoffin]

@tincoffin I didnt say that I think that is only possible in US because of the enormous size & wealth of the US economy . In the case of the UK I would have thought that 80% public to 20% private would be the absolute minimum.

[Ondal2]

Libertyman78: I totaly understand what you mean, and I think libertarianism is totally right for USA. You have that culture, Europe has never had that style, remember that it was not long ago our countries were ruled by kings. I love Ron Paul and agree on almost all of his policies. I would vote for Ron Paul without a doubt if I was a US citizen. I'm also well aware of the problems you have with your corrupt government. I listen to Alex Jones and follow Ron Paul everyday!

[Ondal2]

That's just not true. And for the record, Sweden is not a "socialist country". Ever heard of Social-liberalism and social-conservatism? That's what we have, it means a free market economy combined with a welfare state. Public healthcare, school systems etc. But we also have private hospitals and private schools. That means everyone can CHOOSE. Nobody has to live without being guaranteed treatment or education, but you can ALSO use money to get it from a company. Scandinavia is not like Sovjet...

[Ondal2]

And also, I don't know if t his is proof of your bad education in US. Don't teachers tell you about ideologies? Or is it all propaganda over there? Just because one institution is socialized doesn't mean everything in the entire country is. ALL European nations has public healthcare - and we are doign pretty good. You americans have socialized police, post office, fire department - is that a problem?

I'm actually against public healthcare in the US - because you dont have the money...

[szybkilok]

@Ondal2

Once you will start with a socialism anywhere, it will grow like a monster. I think Sweden is the worst country in Europe to live.

[Ondal2]

Now you're just ignorand. Have you seen the international lists over the best countries to live in around the world? Its all European countries, and Sweden is top 7. US is 13. When it comes to most educated people Swedes is top 5 in all areas, americans is like top 10, you are less educated than Cubans.

Your education system sucks, your national debt is so high you will soon not even be able to repay the rent!

[Libertyman78]

You must understand that there is a growing Libertarian spirit here in the US, mostly due to people waking up to our government's woeful incompetence. So to those of us who value liberty above all else, he reminds us of our founding fathers. There simply seems to be less tolerance in Europe for that sort of attitude. Well, you do tend to be better in certain areas of civil liberties.

Are there any opinion polls giving his approval numbers? I'm curious how he's viewed overall there.

[richardblogger]

5) Walmart employs more people than the NHS, so it isn't the third largest employer

6) The quote that there are more managers than doctors is nonsense. My local hospital has 250 doctors, 700 nurses, 260 nursing assistants and 40 managers. Unlike Daniel "make it up on the spot" Hannan I actually downloaded the figures from my local hospital's website.

[richardblogger]

Haha what a silly video.

1) Hannan is not a government official (god forbid)

2) The NHS is not a monopoly, we have a thriving private system. There are as many private hospitals as NHS hospitals! If you cannot get the treatment on the NHS you go private. Simple.

3) Private healthcare is cheaper in the UK than healthcare in the US.

4) No one waits more that 18 weeks for treatment by law. Hannan is lying about waiting lists.

[Littlewing1977]

@richardblogger so you might have to wait 18 weeks for treatment on a cancer that needs to be removed as soon as possible?

[richardblogger]

@Littlewing1977 You silly little ignorant fool. The guarantee on ANY cancer treatment in England is TWO weeks, not 18 weeks. Try again.

Incidentally, can you explain why the official statistics from the US Dept of Health and Human Services say that the average charges for a hip replacement in the US for *hospital* services (excl doctor charges) is $51,000 when in England the fixed price a hospital gets *including* doctor costs is $14,000? What do poor US citizens do when they need a new hip?

[Ondal2]

You have to wait for a long time if you need an operation. But everyone gets the best possible treatment if every case. He makes it sound like there are people deciding wether you are going to get treatment or not, that is a pure lie, EVERYONE gets the best possible medicines and treatment.

That is not the case in the US, there you give the patients the cheapest treatment to save money, and you are doomed if you get a disease that requires treatment for years.

[Ondal2]

No developed country IN THE WORLD except US doesn't have a socialized healthcare system. He likes the argument about sucessive treatment rates and how people around the world wants to go to the US for treantment, well that is only referring to rich people. A civilized nation doesn't let its inhabitants go without treatment. He is overdoing the problems, about 80% of the people in Sweden is for socialized medicine.

[krayzeeryan]

"British government offcial" this man will never make it into government while he remains in the Conservative party, and neither will the Conservative party while they continue with their pro eu policies.

[sneyton]

This guy makes my skin crawl. He always forgets to mention that those who can afford private health care are able to do so here in the UK. Hardly anyone does though because the NHS is so good and is extremely popular. I couldn't afford private health care, i've never had drugs i'm dependent on rationed. How many people here support Hannan's position?? A whole 1%!

[gossieuk]

Daniel Hannan is so back-bench he is in danger of falling off. Radical right wing paranoia and the associated hyperbole is not welcome in British politics, you lot can have him.

He is not 'the voice of reality'. He is 'the voice of whatever extreme conservatives want to hear', a pariah even in his own party.

[dennis317]

Where was his teleprompter???

[dlcu38]

He is not a 'british government official'. He's an MEP.

[willukus]

love daniel hannan

[maustincpt]

I do as well....he is the voice of reality.