Letter to America

Daniel Hannon is a Conservative Member of the European Parliament.

Despite Fox News' attempts to suggest otherwise, he is not representative of the views of the people of the UK, nor of politicians.

The National Health Service is considered by the significant majority the UK to be a National institution that we are proud of. If any major political party went into an election with proposals to make changes or financial cuts to the NHS they would be committing political suicide and almost certainly lose the election.

• Category

  Education

[Kinjamaimai]

I baffles me that people can't imagine that, a thick supportweb and a free market economy can/will coexist.

/Regards, Sweden.

[whatnameisavailablee]

Love my healthcare system here...

-Canada

[maras3000]

You're right that U.S. should not base their views on false data. However, I'm not sure that the health statistics are everything there is to say on the subject. Especially, when talking about health care for the poorest. The rich can always afford to get a second opinion from a private practitioner. The real question here is whether NHS is cheaper for the poor than a free market solution? Why not try to make NHS compete on a free market and allow people to opt-out and choose other alternatives?

[EarlRegent]

It is true that practicing medicine in the UK is not very attractive; I have loads of Doctors in my family,

[sqrt7744]

Let me guess, they were mostly young and healthy. I'm Canadian. My uncle died 5 months into a 6 month waiting period for carotid endarteriectomy (~90% stenosis). In any functioning system, that operation would have had a very high priority and he would have been operated within days or weeks, not months. Stories like this are very common. Our system is not as great as young healthy fanboys would have you believe.

[baserocklove]

Simple. We're one of the most religious countries on earth and that also makes us populated largely by idiots.

We believe a guy rose from the dead 2000 years ago because somebody told us it's true, that mindset allows us to believe that free healthcare for everybody will have the gov't pulling the plug on grandmas because somebody told us it's true.

[baserocklove]

I have friends in canada, scotland and england. I met many people from canada and england in college. Every single one of them loves their healthcare system and is absolutely horrified at how terrible ours is.

[Kinjamaimai]

A thick supportweb and a free market economy can coexist.

/Regards, Sweden.

[skimaskradio]

I wish we had universal healthcare.:(

[TheRepublicOfUngeria]

I can agree with this: public housing necessary, private housing the preferred alternative Of course private health care is probably better when it has to compete with low cost public health care, by actually providing an extraordinary service worth the extra cost.

[TheRepublicOfUngeria]

I am happy to live where I live in America, but I am disappointed at the tenacity with which we hold on to the cancerous health care "system" we currently use. We are entrenched in broken markets and cannot dig ourselves out and into single payer soon enough,

[TwistedComplex]

"what reforms, if any, are a matter for the people of a america to decide"

AAAHAHAHHA, you're fuckin adorable