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How to say this simply? I lived in the US until I was 37 & had private health insurance most of my life. For the past 5 yrs I’ve lived in the UK & use the NHS. The NHS is a HUGE part of why I might never move back to the US.
It is a REVELATION to leave behind navigating private health insurance & all its Byzantine restrictions on what care you can get & when & the nightmare of getting a prescription paid for. With the NHS it’s free-at-point-of-use. It is not *free*, as we pay for it thru taxes.
In England prescriptions cost £8. In Scotland they’re free. I think they’re free in Wales & N. Ireland too. Yet I giggle with joy at paying the £8 after a lifetime of either paying way more than that or having it denied *even when I had insurance*.
I can’t put into words how wonderful it is knowing you’ll get medical care when you need it and not have the stress of wondering “Will my insurance pay for this CT scan?” or “Have I met my deductible yet?” or “Can I afford my $1200/month COBRA payment if I’m btwn jobs?”
Most critically the UK spends dramatically LESS per patient then the US. IT COSTS LESS. And #MedicareForAll costs less than the nightmare patchwork system we have now. Anyway, I’m one guy telling you what I know about 2 healthcare systems.
The US can absolutely afford #MedicareForAll. It won’t happen magically but it will indeed happen if we demand it. In the ballot box and in the streets. You deserve it. Your family deserves it. And even if you’re looking at it just from a financial standpoint, we can afford it.
So demand it. It is INSANE to me that in 2019 any Dem presidential candidates would tell citizens that the US can’t have what every other industrialized nation in the world has: true universal healthcare.
