Barack Obama is the Good Samaritan for US Health Care

Most of us are used to some type of health insurance in the the UK despite the existence of the ubiquitous free for all NHS.

In fact most UK citizens have purchased private medical insurance at some time or another!

Yep! surprising isn't it! But because we all travel we are probably as well versed in the vagaries of the medical insurance section of our travel insurance policies as we are with our compulsory car insurance!

Since the 1970's Brits have regularly bought medical insurance for their two week jaunt to the Costa del Sol and very many have had to claim and seen the workings of a foreign privatised health care system in action.

It is only then that we see the true worth of our NHS, when we have to participate in the bureaucracy of a claim when sick. We also get to see the standards of foreign care at the coal face!
Still, the good news about those sorts of health insurance covers found on a travel policy is that they will always repatriate you to good old Blighty and the awaitng NHS.

Most Brits like to visit our cousins in the United States.
This is when we come face to face with the fact that health care is not homogenous, especially when it comes to availablilty and more importantly - price!
Those travel insurance insurance policies suddenly treble in premium and all those exclusions to cover such as pre-existing medical conditions suddenly become real concerns....the same sort of concerns that face the average American daily!

Even with Insurance - you don't wan't to get ill in America. You especially don't want to get ill for a chronic amount of time - all health insurasnce policies have strict limits of liability!
What if the money runs out?

In the Land of the Free there is no human safety net! (if you can't pay)

Charles Darwin would have loved it!

Remember the parable of the Good Samaritan?

From the right wing noises of middle american rabble rousing grannies shouting on about abortions and illegal immigrants that we see every night on CBS and ABC news ..... I don't think so! Try Luke!

Well you all go to church on Sunday dressed up in you finery, or is that just Hollywood agitprop to satisfy the lunatics of the Bible belt?

So step forward Barack Obama, determined to bring some social justice to the cities and peoples of America. The Good Samaritan who refused to walk on by on the issue of Health Care.

From the looks on the faces of those church going grannies and their militia sons who are dressed up for Afghanistan, and their kids dressed up like neo cons from The Matrix.....I just hope you're wearing extra strong Kevlar Barack, because in some parts of your divided nation that's the only healthcare you will need!

Does Your Doctor or Dentist have Medical Negligence Cover?

Incredibly, while Professional Indemnity Insurance to cover medical negligence is compulsory for many health workers in the UK including optometrists, chiropractors and chiropodists, there is no such requirement for GPs, Doctors or Dentists!

Dentists and Doctors should be legally forced to purchase this PI cover to protect the public and safeguard the interests of patients, according to the Medical Defence Union chief executive Dr Christine Tomkins. The MDU was founded in 1885 as a mutual insurance company and members led medical defence organisation, to help Doctors if they are charged with Medical Negligence claims. Dentists were allowed to join back in 1948. the organisation represents the interest of over fifty percent of the Doctors in the Uk and thirty percent of Dentists.

Under a discretionary policy there is nocontractual guarantee that a member would be indemnified in the event of a negligence claim. On average the organisation challenges 70% of claims made against its members each year.

"i think the man in the street would be be horrified if he heard that his doctor was not covered and neither were his patients", said Tomklins whose organisation defends claims made against it's medical practioner members.

The Department of Health is currently reviewing the situation regarding professional indemnity insurance fotr doctors and is expected to report it's findings early next year.

Yet another reason to consider private health insurance where doctors are are covered if you need to make a negligence claim!

Beat the UK Hospital Queues with Private Health Insurance

The NHS is an admirable beast but can it really replace the need for Private Health Insurance ?

In the wake and reconstruction of Europe at the end of the Second World War, Clement Attlee's Labour government created the National Health Service, based on the proposals of the Beveridge Report, prepared during the height of the War in 1942.

A White Paper was published by the British governement in 1943 and was followed by considerable debate and resistance, organised mostly by the professional body of Doctors and Consultants, the British Medical Association.
When the the final BMA ballot amongst GPs and hospital doctors in England took place in May 1948 the majority of Doctors voted against the systems introduction!

The shape and structure of the NHS in England and Wales was established by the National Health Service Act 1946 and was devised and driven by the then Health and Housing Minister Aneurin Bevan.

The founding principles of the NHS called for its funding out of general income taxation and incredibly not through National Insurance.
Services would henceforth be provided by the same doctors and the same hospitals, however -

services were provided free at the point of use;
services were financed from central taxation;
everyone was eligible for care (even people temporarily resident or visiting the country).

This system worked fine in the early years however with the growth of the UK population with the baby boomer generation and a marked increase in immigration since the 1970's, coupled with the fact that health treatments have improved life expectancy of the indigenous population, the NHS has become increasingly strained in the resources it is able to deliver to patients, within an acceptable timeframe.

Although the recent Labour government has addressed some of the problems of overcrowding and waiting lists, the main problem with the NHS is that everyone can use it and its resources are finite.

Choosing a private health insurance plan allows you as the patient, more flexibility when it comes to your medical care, immediate access to care facilities and more importantly you do not have to worry that you might have to wait weeks for treatment.

As with any insurance, private health insurance is paid for by premiums, usually monthlu ongoing, and of course this will be on top of the national insurance contributions that you have to pay as an income earner to the government.
However when you consider the benefits and treatments that are available with private health insurance, the small monthly charge seems worth it for protecting yourself and your family when they most need it!

Going Private
Taking out the relevant private health insurance will guarantee you that you’ll get the services that you pay for. Private health Insurance cuts your waiting time drastically and having private health care means that if you fall sick or get injured, you will get seen to and treated immediately in confortable surroundings. Paying for this service does not necessarily mean that you’ll be treated to a higher standard than that of the NHS, however when you are hospitalised time is of the essence for treatment and recovery .
Private actually means private, and the treatment you will receive will usually be in a modern equipped private hospital in your area.
Most policies allow you the option of choosing who it is that treats you. Your place of stay is your own space where you can have visitors in confortable clean surroundings without the restrictions often found in NHS hospitals..
It should be remebered that Health Insurance is no different to other insurance when it comes to paying premiums, so if you pay for the minimum cover levels you will get the minimum covers available under the policy. If you spend that little more for the services you could need your cover will be more comprehensive.

There are many different health insurance and medical insurance providers in the UK, all looking for your custom, meaning there are a number of competitive prices available often with attractive side offers or additional covers for free.

Shop around and compare prices for health insurance quotes in order to get the best price. Use the Internet to compare policy details.

Beat the NHS waiting lists with private health insurance and grab yourself some piece of mind....

Obamas Health Insurance Crisis - Dial 911 for the NHS

Obamas Health Insurance Crisis - Dial 911 for the NHS

Health Insurance blogger kicks off with an irreverant look at the Health Insurance dilemas and problems facing President Barrack Obama and the USA.

Could the UK model work in the USA

What role for the large insurance companies?

Insuranceblogger asks a lot of topical questions regarding the role of modern health insurance
Originally published at Insurance Blog

UK Health Insurance- From the Cradle to the Queue

Health and Wealth! Isn't that what eveyone drinks to?
A look at UK Health Insurance and National Wealth.

Britain was still reeling from World War Two when the National Health Service was launched in 1948, sweeping in an era of social change and expectation.
Gone were the days of ‘bring out your dead’ if you couldn’t afford to pay.
Despite many changes over the sixty one years and its recent flirtations with Private Health Insurance companies, the so called postcode lottery system and other structural difficulties, the NHS has remained true to the ethos of access for all.
No system is perfect and spatial differences in levels of access and quality of care still need to be radically addressed.

In the UK when the National Health Service was finally implemented in 1948 as part of Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee's 'cradle to the grave' welfare state.
A nationwide system of free healthcare was finally launched by Aneurin Bevan the then Minister of Health, which promised us access to health care cover and treatment for all.
The cradle to the grave speech mentality had set the standards for social healthcare and access to treatment for all.
To date, despite its recent structural changes, and despite the healthy criticism and debate that the subject of the NHS always brings, if you look at the system in performance and social cohesion you have to say that it appears to work much better as a form of national health insurance than do comparative systems in so called developed countries. This development in healthcare is always a subject of great debate in the lead up to a General Election, and no doubt will take greater stage in the months to come

Everyone working in the UK has to pay National Insurance contributions as part of their income in order for the system to work, and facilitating everyone in the UK with medical cover.
However National Insurance contributions are not a good solution for a number of reasons.
They increase the costs of labour.
By definition this makes them inflationary.
The costs of production are passed onto the populace en masse
The contributions are by no means equitable
Many sections of the population are able to virtually opt out of the contribution system
The NHS is heavily subsided by the tax contributions of the healthy and wealthy forty percent plus payers.

Whether the United States Government is able to take what could be seen as a major left shift to achieve better social cohesion and consequently improved GDP, remains to be seen.
Are the workers prepared to subsidize the shirkers and the misfortunate? There needs to exist a situation both economically, socially and mentality, of desperation and hope that existed in the UK in 1945, in order to see a fiscal response to the current situation, biting the healthcare bullet that the USA is so afraid to bite. Providing the ultimate National Safety Net!

The States is in the difficult situation of how to deal with chronic sickness, the recession, the role of PMI as an underwriter of GDP and the political influence and lobbying power of the large Health Insurance companies. Rather you than me Barrack!

Gordon Brown should note that Private Health Insurance became one of the first things people were encouraged to buy when her who’s name shall not be spoken came to power in 1979.

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