Bernie Sanders praises the UK for the NHS, acknowledges Nye Bevan, encourages the UK not to copy the USA’s healthcare system.

36 comments

  1. >Look, I don’t have to tell you, the UK has more than it’s fair share of problems. Every country in the world does. Last I heard there’s no utopia out there at least I have not seen it, every country has problems. And I want people to hear this in the UK that this country right here, has an enormous amount to be proud of. In 1948, way back, with Nye Bevan and the Labour party, this country said that healthcare is a human right available to all. Stop and think what an enormous step forward for humanity that was. Right? It’s not just the rich that can get great care, if you’re poor you can walk into the Doctor’s office, it doesn’t matter how much money you have. That was a great great achievement. And you see that more of less different styles of healthcare policy all over the world, and you’re right about America, our system, and I understand now the NHS has it’s problems people are talking about it – PLEASE do not emulate the United States – our system is an unmitigated disaster. We spend twice as much, more than twice as much as you do. And we got 85 million people who are uninsured, under insured. You don’t even know what a deductible is, the people in the UK don’t even know what… you can have insurance, and you gotta pay thousands of dollars out of your own pocket before the insurance kicks in. You are living longer lives than we are. We don’t have enough Doctors, we don’t have enough Nurses, we don’t have enough Psychologists, we don’t have enough Dentists. Alright? Figure out your own problems and solve them, don’t look to America as an example.

  2. I’m sure some of the totally non pro tory profiles are on their way.

    Anyone disagreeing with Bernie on this should go use our NHS services right away

  9. Speaking as an American, you do not ever want to deal with the monster that is the health insurance industry. It’s quite literally the main reason why our own healthcare system is so bloated and expensive, and once it starts it’s very difficult to get rid of. It’s also a pain to work through between the deductibles, premiums, in and out of network services. Health insurance is why Americans suffer death or health complications because the system is so hard to navigate. I’m not exaggerating, and neither is Bernie. You don’t want the experience of having to have three separate phone calls between three different providers for lifesaving medical care because your insurer decided to change policy or remove them from the system, and now all the payments are on you. It’s not worth it. You need to fight these potential changes tooth and nail.

  10. This is like saying you are pro air. Saying anything other than good things about the NHS is 6 months away from being a crime in this country.

  11. What he’s saying hits the nail on the head but the people that need to hear what’s being said, like our accursed government, absolutely will not care. For them, there’s money to be had and the Tories will never miss out on a lucrative opportunity to earn a few extra pounds, or hundreds, or millions etc etc .

    If the country is forcefully dragged into a US style healthcare system, they won’t feel the bite, at all. They’ve got more money to spend on private healthcare that I’d wager most people won’t earn in a single year. The people who a US healthcare system will negatively affect are the poorest in the UK. People who are currently being shafted by price increases on all fronts, having to decide between bills and eating regular meals.

    I do not think anybody other than the Tories and their rich benefactors wants a UK analogue of US healthcare.

  16. I, too, encourage anyone who will listen NOT to adopt a US style healthcare system. Those politicians influencing such a change should be jailed for crimes against humanity.

  17. There’s no way the UK will adopt the US style health system.

    The Tories have had 13 years if they wanted to switch to an insurance based system. At most they have another 2 years to finish the job.

    It’s hugely electorally unpopular. Even amongst the parliamentary party there’s not a huge appetite for such a change.

    Political donors aren’t a major factor. They’re not going to invest that much in political influence when the odds are low, and there’s years until there’s any financial return. Shareholders want returns in a couple of years, not decades!

    There might be some move towards private service providers, and yes, there are problems there, but the NHS has always used private suppliers at some point. This really isn’t remotely similar to the US healthcare system.

  19. I’m happy to pay a little more tax if it means that my fellow Englishman doesn’t lose their home because they couldn’t afford to pay a medical bill. It just irks me that we’re the only country in the UK to charge for prescriptions. However, on the flipside of that, I suppose it discourages wasting of medication eg antibiotics because it would seem like a waste of money to not take them.

  21. I’m so jealous of Americans for having Bernie. If Corbyn was even half as good as Sanders at communication things could be so different.

  22. I don’t really understand Rory Stewart. He seems like a blair style labour politician that is somehow a conservative.

  23. I’m a bona fide lefty, but I really enjoy the “The Rest is Politics” podcast. Many would call me a ‘Corbynista’, although I don’t think of myself like that. But Alastair and Rory are clearly extremely knowledgeable, deep thinkers. They understand the breadth of the problems we face, even if I don’t agree with some of their ideas for solutions. I haven’t listened to the Sanders podcast yet but I look forward to it.

  25. I moved to the States in 2020. I hate the system here. It’s overly complicated and unnecessary. The amounts charged to insurance companies are obscene.

    You do get a better service but I’d go back to NHS in a heartbeat.

  27. It’s worth bearing in mind that Bernie Sanders is a US politician who isn’t running for election in the UK…
    These comments appear to be directed at Brits, making him more popular in the UK (while costing him relatively little), but they’re actually aimed at his voter base in the USA, to remind them of how bad their own healthcare system is.

  28. I was charged $4,000 for an ambulance ride literally across the street – one hospital building to another. Not even 30 seconds of driving. This was after I took a taxi from my flat, to reach the hospital, because I knew I could not afford to call an ambulance.

    The US runs an absolutely cruel, barbaric healthcare system, regardless of how advanced services are. There is no point in touting advancement if the majority can’t even touch it without devastating consequences. Anyone trying to tell you otherwise is either a fool, or a shill.

  29. The United Kingdom needs two start funding it’s NHS properly and turn around the years of underfunding that are slowly bringing this service to its knees and allowing the private sector to run many of the services for profit. If the people of this country push for this there is a chance it could be turned around the next 5 years, maybe the next government will be able to champion this course with the will of the people forcing this through.
    But with the way people have voted the last two general elections I do not hold out much hope for this divided country.

  30. After a quick google – my 4 tablets I take every day over the course of a month in America would cost me roughly £349. Not counting insurance etc.

    Over here, it’s all free.

    PRAISE BE THE NHS!

  31. The NHS is also struggling considerably in comparison to some of the more mixed insurance systems of the EU which provide more care.

    One of the things we get tied up in is referring to cost but it’s more complex than that. If we want faster treatment and things like private rooms then it will cost more money.

  32. Unfortunately Bernie like many others speaks in a future tense. When the reality is the jobs already Done.

    Simon Stevens outgoing CEO of NHSEngland. Who was formally the CEO of Global Development at north Americas largest health insurer UnitedHealth. Using his five year and ten year plan. Has more or less copied and pasted the business model of his former employer upon the structure of the NHS.

    All of the reorganising and restructuring of trusts CCG’s etc. Has been a long term plan to dismantle the NHS. These have been staged processes to directly undermine the protections formerly in place. Within the structure of the NHS.

    The new CEO of NHS England Amanda Pritchard recently announced a down sizing of NHS England. A down sizing of NHS England by at least 30%-40%. In the year 23/24.

    It passed almost unnoticed. Much like the bill that was supported by the BMA and transformed GP care in to US style primary care networks. which is why you no longer have a named GP in england.

    The narrative of this destruction being something in the future, and the psychological manipulation of both the public view, and the culture/mindset within the NHS stratified culture. Is something that should have the press hanging their heads in shame. they have completely failed to inform the public as is the case with the political class as well. Jon Ashworth and his pip squeak replacement are worse than the likes of hancock and hunt. because they are supposed to be the flipping opposition. not the sandbags that allow this shit to fly, whilst the public are mostly ignorant of the true picture.

  33. Often British people see the only alternative to the NHS is the US style healthcare system.

    Australia’s system is something to consider. It has a higher standard than the UK in many ways. Cancer survival is higher than the UK.

    It’s a system that works. Of course it’s not perfect, but it’s definitely better than the NHS and US healthcare.

  34. The insurance based system they have in America scares me too. I have a life long condition that’ll probably require some form of medication for the rest of my life,the stuff isn’t cheap either. The thought of being stuck with a shitty employer out of necessity because they offer medical insurance, doesn’t even bear thinking about.

  35. It’s a false dichotomy that we have to choose between the US system, where a broken fingernail puts you into six figures of debt, or the UK system where you wait six months to see a doctor when you’re bleeding to death. There’s also the Canadian system where you can be euthanised instead.

  36. The same NHS which suppresses the wages of it’s employees and abuses it? The same NHS with a toxic working culture?

    The same NHS that fails to send an ambulance in time to save people’s lives? Where you have to wait years to be seen by a doctor?

    The same organization that rapidly hemorrhages it’s doctors to other countries?

    ​

    Yeah the NHS really is the envy of the world isn’t it? I can see the rest of the developed world dying to copy our model of healthcare that’s clearly working great for us.

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