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Forums - General Discussion - Is Obama Care the same as NHS?

Im british and dont know exactly what the USA policies are, but seen this topic (not essentially here) mentioned a lot.

Is Obama care essential the NHS in the USA? as a British citizen, who has the benefits of the NHS I have come to appreciate it as its saved my Dads life not once but twice. So am curious to know



The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.

Ernest Hemmingway

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Mine is the exact opposite, besides the part about your Dad, so I have no clue.



Far from it (quite sadly). NHS is the more radical national healthcare solution than most countries take, which is to have private healthcare publically funded, Britain has public healthcare publically funded.

The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare is something generally used by its detractors) keeps private funding for the most part (though it expands the definition of "poor" when it comes to the healthcare-for-the-poor that is Medicaid) and simply highly regulates the private system to iron out the many inequities that previously existed in American healthcare, like how companies were free to cancel policies for pretty much any reason, including if you were "too sick", or how people who already had health conditions (like diabetes) could NOT get health insurance from any company. ACA regulates what companies can and can't do, balancing that out (because those companies do that for a reason. Very sick customers lose them money) by forcing every American to be covered, putting those who lack health insurance not because they can't get it due to illness, but because they're healthy enough to not need it. The healthy customers paying in for something they're likely not going to use is supposed to balance out the sick customers that the companies will lose money on.

So no, we're still a far cry away from the healthcare of civilized countries. The nice thing is it's only a matter of time now, because every year that passes with the ACA makes it more unthinkable to go back to pre-ACA healthcare (as the voters get used to having healthcare that isn't trying to screw them), and eventually a public health insurance company will emerge and put an end to this foolishness.



Monster Hunter: pissing me off since 2010.

I don't know about Obama care, but the NHS isn't very good, at least if you compare it to health care in Canada.



    

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Nintentacle said:
Mine is the exact opposite, besides the part about your Dad, so I have no clue.


I have no idea what you meant by this



The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.

Ernest Hemmingway

Around the Network
MoHasanie said:
I don't know about Obama care, but the NHS isn't very good, at least if you compare it to health care in Canada.


You say the NHS isnt very good and though I cant argue with that (due to finance cuts), have you ever been in a room with a Doctor and the Doctor said to you the chances of your Dad living are less than 30%? I hope you havent been, yet I have and he survived, not only that but a second time I was told something similar and had to go to the hospital in the middle of the night becuase my Dad might not survive the night,... no, not expected to live the night. yet he did, both times, and that is thanks to the NHS and the people who work there.



The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.

Ernest Hemmingway

Brutalyst said:
MoHasanie said:
I don't know about Obama care, but the NHS isn't very good, at least if you compare it to health care in Canada.


You say the NHS isnt very good and though I cant argue with that (due to finance cuts), have you ever been in a room with a Doctor and the Doctor said to you the chances of your Dad living are less than 30%? I hope you havent been, yet I have and he survived, not only that but a second time I was told something similar and had to go to the hospital in the middle of the night becuase my Dad might not survive the night,... no, not expected to live the night. yet he did, both times, and that is thanks to the NHS and the people who work there.

That's really most hospital systems though. Even in America before the ACA you were going to survive the night, just that if you were restored to health, you might not make it the next two years without declaring bankruptcy for what that night and any emergency treatments cost you.

(before 1986, interestingly, it was legal in America for hospitals to deny you care upfront based on your inability to pay. That it became illegal to do so is part of the biggest strain on hospitals: patients without health insurance who are thus forced to wait until a situation becomes an emergency, using the ER services and then being unable to pay afterwards, even with the wage garnishments and other procedures of bankruptcy, the hospital still doesn't get anywhere near their due, so the hospitals have to get that money from patients with insurance, leading to ludicrous fees. Part of what public payment would fix altogether).



Monster Hunter: pissing me off since 2010.

Brutalyst said:
Nintentacle said:
Mine is the exact opposite, besides the part about your Dad, so I have no clue.


I have no idea what you meant by this

Basically, switch NHS and Obamacare and that's what I would have said if I made this thread.



Mr Khan said:
Brutalyst said:
MoHasanie said:
I don't know about Obama care, but the NHS isn't very good, at least if you compare it to health care in Canada.


You say the NHS isnt very good and though I cant argue with that (due to finance cuts), have you ever been in a room with a Doctor and the Doctor said to you the chances of your Dad living are less than 30%? I hope you havent been, yet I have and he survived, not only that but a second time I was told something similar and had to go to the hospital in the middle of the night becuase my Dad might not survive the night,... no, not expected to live the night. yet he did, both times, and that is thanks to the NHS and the people who work there.

just that if you were restored to health, you might not make it the next two years without declaring bankruptcy

That, right there, thats what I thought Obama care was hoping to achieve. My Dad on two occasions has been kept alive when probably, he shouldnt have. Yet im not in debt because of it. I pay my taxes and stuff and because of the past im pleased to have done so (in UK you dont know how much the NHS is worth until you rely on it). I was curious if this new Obama Care was the same.



The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.

Ernest Hemmingway

Brutalyst said:
MoHasanie said:
I don't know about Obama care, but the NHS isn't very good, at least if you compare it to health care in Canada.


You say the NHS isnt very good and though I cant argue with that (due to finance cuts), have you ever been in a room with a Doctor and the Doctor said to you the chances of your Dad living are less than 30%? I hope you havent been, yet I have and he survived, not only that but a second time I was told something similar and had to go to the hospital in the middle of the night becuase my Dad might not survive the night,... no, not expected to live the night. yet he did, both times, and that is thanks to the NHS and the people who work there.

Congratulations on your dad's survival. Its a miracle that he's still alive. 

The doctors are generally very good that work for the NHS, but nurses and other professionals are known to not be very good. Its a well known problem. My sister has given birth in both Canada and the UK, and she said giving birth in the UK was much worse because nurses were not as well trained, they don't give you any drugs to lower the pain etc. These are problems that the NHS needs to solve, but most of them are due to low funding. I mean, the Canadian healthcare system isn't great either but its not as low funded as the NHS (probably because the UK is twice as populated). 



    

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