Many would say that the americans have bought it on themselves by having big lawsuits for anything.The medical profession have increased the policies due to increasingly high lawsuits and scared to do anything in case they get sued.

America invented law suits but face a backlash now with huge premiums.

I have a friend in the US who is an asthesiologist and moans and groans about paying $80,000 a year for malpractice insurance. What she fails to mention is that $80,000 is about 8% of her income and is tax deductable as a business expense.

Really?

NHS -especially emergency care - is available to alot of people for free - not just 'illegal' immigrants. It comes down to the philosphy of running a health service. It is cheaper and more effective to treat people than let their illness get out of control for either themselves personally, or for the community around them. You can bang on about 'illegals' all you want, but it would be more expensive for the UK not to treat them - pure economics at the end of the day - no lilly livered do-gooder liberalism (although in this case good economics and charity to go hand in hand).

Anyway, I've never understood why people pick on the so-called illegals. The NHS has a bunch of reciprocal agreements with the EU, Australia, NZ etc where nationals from those countries get the same service as a local would. You could be on a tourist visa and they'd give you service. I've still got my NHS documentation floating around in my safe her in BKK (I'm Australian) as well as my NI card. Got great service from the NHS for sleep apnea check ups (sleep tests) and got great service for my wifes early stages of pregancy.

It ain't a perfect system. There are queue and waiting lists (the NHS is fighting for doctors and nurses just like all health systems in the world are). Making the system private doesn't change anything or make things better. You still have a finite number of doctors and you have a constant stream of people getting sick. Simple as that.

I suggest you look at this for starters:

http://www.midstaffs.nhs.uk/forPatients/nonResident.asp

If you are illegal and then claim asylum you get free treatment on the NHS - not bad if u have AIDS or some other serious disease that you cannot afford in your home country. Whereas if I, a citizen but non-Uk resident, returned there I would receive nothing free for 3 years except the accident bit. Yes, really.

forgot to say, the thai medical staff are TERRIBLE with medication.

When people get big surgeries they only get tylenol.. me and many people had to beg for days to finaly get a LITTLE morphine

They also over price those tylenol when everybody knows tylenol is as effective as a placebo.. maybe less

Wow, that is seriously disturbing. Is that really true? Why is that? Perhaps something to go with drug law hysteria? Also true in the international hospitals? This makes no sense at all. Morphine is a wonder drug for those in pain, especially the terminally ill.

I don't know about morphine, but I usually manage to stash some tylenol with codeine and some vicodin in my suitcase when visiting the old country and bring it back to Thailand. For some reason anything resembling barbituate is very scantily prescribed here; on the other hand my pharmacist ladles Xanax and the like out like candy. And no, I will not tell you where the pharmacy is!

Many would say that the americans have bought it on themselves by having big lawsuits for anything.The medical profession have increased the policies due to increasingly high lawsuits and scared to do anything in case they get sued.

America invented law suits but face a backlash now with huge premiums.

I have a friend in the US who is an asthesiologist and moans and groans about paying $80,000 a year for malpractice insurance. What she fails to mention is that $80,000 is about 8% of her income and is tax deductable as a business expense.

Malpractice insurance and lawsuits aren't the largest part of the problem, except for some specialties like obstetrics. The problems with the costs of American healthcare are basically two: the insurance companies skin 30% of every healthcare dollar and they have been permitted to segment risk when the rational basis of insurance is pooling risk. Unfortunately, cutting out the insurers and/or preventing the insurers' efforts at excluding sick people are easier said than done.

The problems with the costs of American healthcare are basically two: the insurance companies skin 30% of every healthcare dollar and they have been permitted to segment risk when the rational basis of insurance is pooling risk.

Well spotted Captain. I would say that "managed care" has succeeded in transferring all of the actuarial risk onto the providers - brilliant!