More single-payer “goodness”, this time from the U.K.
Patients are being denied basic operations, including treatments for varicose veins, wisdom teeth and bad backs, as hospitals try frantically to balance the books by the end of the financial year, The Times can reveal.
NHS trusts throughout the country are making sweeping cuts to services and delaying appointments in an attempt to address their debts before the end of March. Family doctors have been told to send fewer patients to hospital, A&E departments have been instructed to turn people away, and a wide range of routine procedures has been suspended.
…A letter from [North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust] chief executive, Janet Soo-Chung, says that all non-urgent admissions must be approved by an assessment team or they will not be paid for. A&E departments in Harrogate, Scarborough, South Tees and York have been told that they will not be paid for treating patients with minor ailments who could go elsewhere.
No patients will be given a hospital appointment in less than eight weeks, and none admitted for elective surgery unless they have waited a minimum of 12 to 16 weeks. Those treated quicker will not be paid for.
The United States will be no different if we implement a single-payer system. Given the timeline progression of other single-payer systems, I’m probably at the perfect age (33) for our system to break down around the time I retire. Wonderful. I’ll pass, thanks.
Source: Socialized Medicine
Ideally, a single-payer system should provide insurance services only.
The UK is not the best example of a country with a single-payer system because the government there owns and controls the hospitals and clinics as well as the bourse.
British doctors and nurses are directly employed by the government and that’s not the right way to go.
Oops. I meant “purse” not “bourse”. Sorry.
So we’re in agreement, to an extent. The problem I see with even that approach is that services will still be rationed to save costs. People will still get treatment, but on their own dime. That’s no different than now, except we’ll be taking from some to give to others. That’s always the least acceptable approach. Given that we haven’t tried complete free markets yet, we’re pushing the panic button too soon.
I’m not in the mood for another single-payer debate right now. Maybe some other time.