I can only speak of my own experience of the National Health Service, paid for through our taxes but free at the point of need/service. Ten years ago I suddenly began to experience some very odd symptoms with my hands turning blue. I went to the doctor after a few days of this and was told to get on a bus and go to the local hospital. This hospital had a walk in department where non urgent cases could sit for a couple of hours and be seen by a doctor and a nurse. I did that. The doctor who saw me was a refugee from Iran. He did some tests and immediately diagnosed a type of cancer which, strangely enough, is quite common in Iran. He sent me for treatment in another part of the hospital, phoning the department in advance of my arrival to let them know what I needed. Within hours I was receiving the initial stages of treatment. I am still under the care of the same hospital, taking daily chemotherapy tablets and the occasional extra bit of attention. All my tablets and treatments are free. I am in no doubt that that refugee from Iran saved me from an early death by heart attack or stroke.
We have a choice though. Just because we have Universal health care doesn't mean we can't go private if we can afford it. And no-one goes bankrupt because of their health bills. I hear just as many horror stories about delays in health care from the U.S. And about how you pay hundreds per month for insurance but when you get ill the insurance doesn't cover it, or argues about the treatment. And with the ACA subsidies expiring in a few weeks, many poorer people are going to see their monthly payments double or worse.
@redstar from your posts, I don't think anyone would deny you have a great deal of experience working with people in need of medical care. Does the US have a system which allows such a person to obtain treatment and care free of charge or is it solely reliant on Health Insurance which can prove too expensive for many ? Does each individual state have a different system ? Are there instances where someone in need of treatment is turned away because they cannot pay ? The NHS here certainly has it's problems and flaws but, in essence, it is a free service for both citizens and those seeking to become citizens.
China is moving ahead steadily with green power and electric cars, India tries to ignore it. The UK and most of Europe are ahead of the game in many ways, but now don't like the cost. The US is the only one that has junked the whole effort.
Over the decades I've been treated by Polish, Ukranian, Syrian, German, Australian, Indian, Welsh, Scottish, Zimbabwean plus other medical staff.
I cannot imagine any scenario where our elected government would be able to come into post and basically declare themselves infallible (like the Pope!) and immune from prosecution. They would be out on their ear pretty quickly. Our deputy prime minister had to resign over a ?£40,000 tax discrepancy. A certain President must have been laughing his head off given the amount he has been personally raking in. It’s not just global climate change that is being affected by the USA. Putin is basically being enabled to continue the war in Ukraine, by someone whose erratic behaviour is threatening to destabilise the rest of the world, as well as causing his own population to suffer. We might have waits for NHS treatment, but at least we can get it. Unlike American friends of ours who are terrified to retire, when their employment health benefits come to an abrupt end. No one in the UK ever went bankrupt paying for health care, or had to resort to ordering their prescription medicines from other countries for reasons of affordability, despite the quality assurance risks.
In the UK the members of the King's Government are elected to Parliament by the electorate and held to account by others also elected to Parliament. In the US the President is elected to the role and then not easily held to account until the next round of Presidential elections, he appoints who he likes as "ministers" admittedly with approval of the individuals by the Senate. So in many ways the US President stands in a similar position to an English King pre Magna Carta.
