In the UK we have many private health options. People talk about Bupa because that is the biggest but it is not the only one. There are several you can go with and different policies to pick up.
The NHS even outsources operations and patients to private hospitals though it isn't that common.

Also the NHS in each of the 4 countries are independant of each other only accountable to it's countries government.

Why not just have a system where, instead of taxing people and spending that on a healthcare system, you let the people keep the money but have it stored in a forced savings account which can only be spent on healthcare, coupled with an optional emergency state-provided insurance plan that only covers the most expensive and life-threatening cases. The Government stepping in with subsidy programmes for the poorest, and specialised programs for emergencies (natural disasters, terrorist attacks, viral pandemics, etc.)

Let the savings be transferable between family, and inheritable, coupled with highest interest rates on the savings account, and you'll also have reasonable incentives to encourage your people to live a much more healthy lifestyle.

Rather than having some full-on national system, or full-on private, a nice little mix of the two could be the best solution.

It's the system that they use in Singapore. Only 3% of its GDP is spent on healthcare (2/3s of that using the savings plan and other private fundings, the other third comes from Government subsidies), and yet they have one of the best healthcare systems in the world - with the lowest infant mortality rate in the world, and those born will enjoy a nice, 80 year long life, the 15th highest in the world.

@Samuel - Good ideas.

We've been begging for more flexible and better HSAs (Health Savings Accounts) for years. The problem has been that there are special tax advantages to insurance as opposed to health savings accounts.

@mrstickball - Actually, the NHS is broken up into "Trusts", different Trusts provide different sets of healthcare plans (which are derived from their different opinions on what provides the best results for the money). Trusts are based on location. Sometimes you might be refused a specific treatment or what have you because your trust doesn't carry it - so healthcare is a post-code lottery.

Also, NHS Scotland/Wales/NI is devolved from Westminster, and they have different levels of funding which results in different levels of healthcare. NHS England is still controlled by Westminster, however.

EDIT: This was in response to your response to Flashheart, not in response to your response to my post.

I think universal health care in general is good, but the one that the United States proposes has too many flaws in it.

There are a few people who make great cases regarding the insolvencies of such a move, but let me say quite honestly that a lot of it comes from big-government fear-mongering.

Though i think that it would be more efficient ultimately to break down the bill into its component pieces. Pass the more urgent stuff first (like the individual mandate, the price controls, and stopping the horrendous tendency of insurance companies to fight as hard as they can to deny care). A lot of the stuff is common-sense fixes that would be a lot harder to oppose with a straight face, whereas here the good stuff is buried in with a lot of more mercurial stuff

And it would be foolish of Republicans to try and ram through a bill that all bills must be readable, it would merely hurt them in the future when they want unreadable stuff passed. Just like the Amendment that put in Presidential Term Limits, considering that without that amendment, it would have been Eisenhower being inaugurated in 1960. The Republicans put in the amendment as revenge against FDR, and the first person it hurt was Eisenhower.

You think it would be a bad idea... to make it so congressment have to read bills.

Also, if you actually knew anything about the FDR presidency you'd know why the term limit was a GOOD idea.

When it comes to presidents who break the laws of the land and lied directly to the face of the people... nobody did it more then FDR.

The only reason he's thought of as a good president is because he inherented the country at the right time.

Some things bad for both parites are good for the American people.  Most things actually since we could use 3 or 4 parties.

I think this explains it pretty well

Brilliant. Pass the bill so we can learn the contents of the bill.

I figured out what the bill really says:

"All white people shall become slaves to the blacks. It's payback bitch!"

I'm heading to Canada!!!