Despite much discussion of health care during the presidential debates, nobody compared their proposed system to any of the European universal healthcare systems, first introduced in the United Kingdom in 1946.
Sadly, the United States comes in dead last in overall performance, despite costing almost twice as much per capita as any European system. Nor did anyone detail Medicare and Medicaid, which were first introduced in 1965 by Lyndon Johnson.
Coverage in America differs by insurer, state, employer, doctor and hospital — adding enormous administrative cost. Universal coverage does not mean “one size fits all,” but removes most of this duplication while adding freedom of movement between employers — or even self-employment.
In the U.K. there are options that provide faster access to specialists, hospitals and private rooms for an additional fee. And for the same monthly charge in expensive locations like central London as in the rest of the country.
The proposed American system has been dubbed “Medicare for all.” Medicare is not free, nor is it as good as the European systems, but it’s the best we have and could quickly and easily be tweaked to be as good as European systems.
Frank Fish, Park City
