"I have waited two years for surgery here in the UK, cannot waite any longer going to the states for surgery. NHS is not for older individuals, your on your way out, only for new or middle age range of the country."

"stupid americans"

"Karen Interesting you did not say what the problem was. Hurt your toe have you? Here is a little information you can check out as true. 60% of all bankruptcy in the USA are as a result of health care bills."

"John, that is a little cruel, don't you think? Maybe the surgery is a personal, or embarrassing, or she doesn't want to explain herself to every mouth-breathing retard on the internet."

"The one large downside to "new media" is the fact that people think that "overwhelming support" in favor of something necessarily lends that something credibility, or makes it a reasonable proposition. If I made a proposition that every man should receive oral sex from a state-appointed sex worker once per day, I'd obviously receive a large amount of popular support. You'd also hear quite a shrill outcry from numerous feminist groups, and you'd probably see ads depicting me as a misogynist as well as attacking me personally in numerous ways. Except because these women aren't christian conservatives, you wouldn't hear MSNBC lashing into them. So as you can see, we've again come full circle to peoples' inability to overcome their own confirmation biases. Its no surprise that the thousands of people located in the long-tail of the UKs wealth distribution are in favor of the NHS, as they couldn't afford the same care otherwise. It's no surprise that politicians who've climbed to their positions upon the backs of these same citizens are "tweeting" in support of the NHS. The facts remain: -It depends on a decidedly unequal distribution of taxation -It limits healthcare at the upper margin of elective procedures, where innovation actually occurs -It disincentivizes individuals, families, and communities from explicitly considering the long-term repercussions of their health-related behavior -It provides just cause for government regulation of highly personal behavior People die. People get sick. It's a fact of nature. Technologies exist to stave off such natural phenomena, but they cost money, and eventually someone has to pay up. Hence, my proposition: If you truly believe in an afterlife, and truly believe it's as wonderful as you say it is, you knowingly forfeit your right to utilize the scientific/medical technologies developed for the sole purpose of prolonging your time on this material world, and provided at the expense of the taxpayer. So we've effectively reduced the burden of socialized medicine by half, and by the statistically sound proposition: Given: A. Those who are wealthy are more likely to be educated B. Those who are educated are less likely to be religious C. Those who are wealthy and educated are more likely to be healthy We can infer that: The serviceable population remaining will maintain a lower average medical burden on the tax-payer, as they are healthier, and contribute a relatively higher percentage of their personal wealth to the collective pool from which universal healthcare is disbursed. Therefore: We have drastically reduced healthcare costs, while still providing high-quality socialized medicine (so long as you belong to my pet demographic of atheists) Don't like my proposition? Well isn't that a great reason to keep healthcare in the hands of individuals?"

"Or perhaps she is lying, Thomas. Perhaps she is lying. Or perhaps the fault lies with short donor list, or any number of other explanations that aren't the fault of the NHS. Unless Karen decides to explain herself to the 'mouth-breathing retards of the internet' we will never know. "

"We had a lady, Shona Holmes, in Canada be used by the Republican party in the USA as "advertising" agaisnt the Canadian style of health care as well. She sold her home to go to the USA for a 'life saving' brain operation she couldn't wait for in Canada. Only problem was, the surgery was for a benign cyst, not the brain tumor the commercial represented it to be, and she simply didn't want to wait her turn. Sure its frustrating, but she was not going to die."

"Everyone in the USA hates the system. Patients, doctors, nurses. The only parties that like it are the fat cat insurance companies which like parasites bleed the system of money without putting anything of value back in."

"The NHS can be slow at times but has never let me down in a trauma case. I will never vote Conservative on the basis of their castration of the NHS last time around. "

"Mike, Shona Holmes' benign brain tumor was causing headaches, sleeplessness, dizziness, low libido and rapidly deteriorating vision. It wasn't life threatening, but she may have become blind had she waited for treatment in Canada rather than pay an exhorbitant amount for private treatment in the US."

"The only argument anyone has against free healthcare is that poor people don't deserve to see a doctor. The rich figure that they have their asses covered, so screw anyone else who isn't lucky enough to be in the same position as them. Next we'll privatize the fire department."

"My grandfather died, in Shropshire, of a relatively simple case of tuberculosis that grew out of control. All while waiting for a hospital bed to become available."

"Make fun of Americans all you want, I'll even join in and help. The fact of the matter is that you all are the idiots still listening to GORDON BROWN....what a joke"

"i cant belive that those stupid yanks would rather pay shed loads for insurance that doesnt payout when you need it then have a health service that looks after everyone regardless of wealth health care should be free for everyone aswell as education . its the american insurance companys that are kicking up this fuss as they will lose money greedy bams"

"Britons can experience in reading the comment by Friedrich N some of what we are facing here in the U.S.: a cult-like subculture of obsessive fanatics, spinning self-deceptive fantasies about the strong-willed, self-sufficient hero who can survive without the government, and who incidentally hates minorities and the poor. All this is stoked by an out-of-control publicity machine, funded by wealthy right-wing individuals and corporations, actively encouraging mass hysteria (or "mass psychosis") and the search for witches to burn. The recent lunatic preoccupation with alleged "death panels" resulted from a provision in the proposed new health care law for voluntary end-of-life counseling. Comparison is unavoidable with the 1692 Salem witch trials, in which both men and women were accused of laying curses on townsfolk. Hysteria spread throughout the Massachusetts colony, and within 4 months, 20 people were put to death. Thanks to all overseas who help sensible people in the U.S. speak out against this "conservative" madness."

"Not all americans are brainless lackwits, I'm not. I've been reading these articles as of late, and honestly I've put my head in the sand as far as "amurican" media is concerned over the coverage of these town hall meetings, and the whole healthcare debacle in general. America's generally xenophobic nature - and as far as I'm concerned, rampantly cloistered ambivalence - turns my stomach & moreover the willful ignorance of most people here both astounds & sickens me. But in order to understand why this idiocy manifests itself the way it does, you have to first understand what I just mentioned is *why* moronic comments like those of sarah palin are so well-received and so easily spewed from ignorant, talking-head maws. Most americans have this affliction whereby they simply do not care about anything remotely political or civic until it's something that's personally affecting them. Then they will bellow with the loudest, most resounding voices you've ever heard. Now, normally passion is a very fine quality to possess, but only when it's focused in the right way. These people launch into a state of blind anger, and frequently have little to no knowledge of what they are decrying, so they will take whatever irrational argument that they can find first to assault whatever they are against, to be right. The facts don't matter, if they hear the word 'socialism' they will begin to boo, while most don't even know what socialism *is*. Watchwords like that are the equivalent of shaking a rattle in front of a small child's face, here, it is used as a tool to elicit a reaction. So NHS is the perfect scapegoat/victim. It's a brilliant argument and whoever thought it up here should be commended for how sly and tactless they were. Drag something into an already heated argument to stoke the coals, & then exploit "them foreigners" and their weird ways to show just how un-amurican it'd be to change the status quo. I don't pretend to understand the american right, I have a rational mind, and as such I don't get how so many can belong to a religion that supposedly promotes altruism and pacifism, but simultaneously be the most war-mongering nation in the world AND adopt a "f**k you" attitude toward other nations. Sure, we might officially give aid to other nations quite often, but it's hardly if ever altruistic."

"Stupid 'Republican' Americans."

"I have lived and worked as a financial adviser in the USA for over 5 years now. The American "systems" in such areas are a joke propelled by the uber rich COUPLED with the cents on the dollar dividend excuse to satisfy share holders. These people have absolutely no morals. FACT. Nothing more to say. The best way I can describe it to you is mob mentality in essence. Its ok to do so long as someone else is doing it too. The leaders in these fields should be removed as their time is done. My wife and I both have what could be considered good insurance plans through work that have proved worthless when needed (given what we pay). It is very difficult to even find a Doctor under your plan. Doctors outsource all of their work to others in the same practice, staff not covered by said plan. Our Doctor was more concerned about selling us the latest and greatest medication before curing us. He was inept. If you're ill, you cant get insurance in the same way a frequent crasher can't get coverage on a car. I no longer work in finance due to my struggle with coming to terms with the conduct expected from you. The medical insurance field is worse, I have worked with many of them. Any argument you hear against a national health plan comes from someone directly involved or paid by the insurance companies. These people have no conscience. They do not care about their fellow country men and women. Yes you Glen Beck, your disgusting. Dangerous times will come before the change IMO."

"Oh please get over yourselves. We're supposed to believe, that green/missing teeth and all, your health"care" system works? My husband is British. All you have to do is talk to the ordinary folks, not the kind who have their agenda, to realize that the NHS doesn't work and is not worth a 40% tax rate. As most of my British friends say, "We just avoid going to the doctor." "

"I repeat my friend's opinion "stupid americans""

"my husband was denied paracetamol by a sister whilst in hospital because in his confused state he said no when he should have said yes.Whilst going into the medical emergency unit with chest pains and waiting 3 hours he suffered a heart attack In the same hospital he was not given the correct medication having had a stent did that lead on to him having further strokes? Which lead to a wait of 15 hours before he was allowed to drink or eat because our wonderful NHS have no on call throat assessment team Denied rehab. by a Consultant because he was 68 and she would only take patients up to 65 so left for weeks to suffer with sight loss.Fianally to die because no one detected a water infection or a low Haemoglobin this is our caring NHS of today."

"Get rid of the NHS. Get rid of this communist NHS system. Why? UK IS EXTRAORDINARILY expensive. Why? Because NHS IS "NOT NOT NOT" free ! UK people are PAYING FOR IT left, right and center! IN CONTRAST when people pay for PRIVATE HEALTH CARE: they CHOOSE when,where, how,who the doctor! So "SAVE YOUR TAX" and THEN use that to pay for PRIVATE HEALTH CARE [you'll have CHOICE]. "

"For every British person who could get a hospital bed, there must be a thousand Americans who aren't ENTITLED to one, for committing the sin of not being rich. It's an outrageous argument that basically says that "as long as I'm not affected, I don't care if anyone else is." If Sarah Palin is going to call the drug funding bodies "death panels", what does she call the people who's job it is to restrict any and all access to health provision to American taxpayers? I don't understand why the American right wing are using this peculiar mythical argument about British teeth to try to back up their argument. If the average Brit has teeth like mouldy gravestones, then doesn't the average American have a backside the size of a house? That's not logical in itself, but it's taking an argument that was never logical to begin with and taking it to it's natural conclusion."

" Maxine on Obama's Health Care Plan. "BAIL EM OUT! ???? Hell, back in 1990, the Government seized the Mustang Ranch brothel in Nevada for tax evasion and, as required by law, tried to run it. They failed and it closed. Now we are trusting the economy of our country, our banking system, our auto industry and possibly our health plans to the same nit-wits who couldn't make money running a whore house and selling whiskey!" If that isn't stupid, I don't know what is."

"I think Americans will have to take into account that they can not trust the views of one relatively unknown British MEP and have to listen to the bigger picture. The NHS in my opinion is one of the greatest creations in history. The fact that many nations have copied our model is a testament to how highly our national health system is admired by others. I know that the majority of nurses in the NHS work tirelessely to provide the best service possible for every single patient they come into contact with. My mum is a nurse on the NHS and I can only praise the work she does and I have alot of respect for her and the thousands of other staff that work in the NHS. Yes like any health care system it has its flaws. Waiting times in some areas are higher than others but that isn't a reflection of the NHS in the UK as a whole I am led to believe that many NHS trusts have also cut waiting times in the last few years. O.K you do get cases of mis-treatment of patients while in NHS care. Not every member of the NHS staff is going to be the most friendly of people but you must remember that the NHS staff are put under enormous pressure at times to meet certain criteria to keep hospital standards high and also to make sure that not one patient gets prefferential treatment also staff don't always get treated nicely by the people who enter hospitals either also people do take the NHS for granted. The biggest problem I find is that people do take the NHS for granted as i reffered to before but again thats common with anything that is offered free to the people. Stories of people going into casualty with sore thumbs are not smiled upon by NHS staff but they treat the patient they don't complain or moan in front of them. NHS spending currently is at its highest level ever since it was created so there is no lack of funding from the British taxpayer and the government, even during this recession the government im sure will do their best to put as much finance as possible. The issue if there is a lack of spending is how the money gets distributed to the local NHS trusts as NHS trusts are responsible for the up keep of it's local hospitals they dictate where money is spent within their hospitals. The NHS has saved im sure millions of people's lives every day/every week and will continue to do so. In my time of using the NHS I've never had one complaint to make about the NHS and millions of british people feel the same. All our party leaders value the NHS and the contribution it has made to the healthcare provided in Britain. In fact David Cameron of the Conservatives who is from the same political party as this daniel hannan came out the very next day after this news story broke and defended the NHS and dismissed the comments made by his MEP. Now for a party that is not traditionally known as the party of the NHS that is a huge endorsement for it. So what about private health care........to me I think it is the most expensive form of health care in the world especially America I think statistics show that America spends more on private healthcare to keep it going than we do on the NHS and we pay through it by taxes. The conservatives and right wing americans don't want to pay more taxes I can understand that but with a nationalized health care you are getting value for your tax payers money. I think it is beyond me how 40 million americans are un-insured for healthcare. Is it that your all healthy and don't need it or that your very happy to pay for your treatment especially when it may cost hundreds of dollars just to fix a broken leg. Why not get yourselves insured and have a health insurance company pay it for you??? O.K I've never experienced private healthcare but to us in Britain having 40 million people un-insured is silly. The Americans I've seen on T.V here in the U.K who have criticised the NHS I bet have never even experienced the NHS first hand instead they get their information from one person or perhaps americans believe people who make up stories about the NHS to try to scare monger people so that they go on and oppose Obama's health care plans and stop them from being introduced....who knows. I am very sure many visiting Americans have had pleasant experiences with the NHS i bet Americans that have visited the U.K have even said its better than private health care im sure its happend. Now what America could do is perhaps offer a national health system but also retain private so that people have a choice over which they want to use in essence achieving a balance. In Britain we also have private health and if anyone wants to use private health instead then they can if they have the money. There is an arguement that people who go private get better treatment but its no different to what you get on the NHS at the end of the day people have the same health problems you can't treat it in two completely different ways on two different systems and have one thats better than the other. To summarise lol I realise that not everyone who reads this is not going to be of the same opinion of me i understand that and that don't bother but what I wanted to get across was my opinion of the NHS and to make americans inparticular realise that it is dangerous to believe the views of a minority on something as important as the NHS and especially when it comes to Obama's health care plans people need to have a clear head when deciding on his plans as these will be groundbreaking if passed and mark a new chapter on american healthcare. People can only talk about the NHS as well if they have experienced it. Unless you have had an encounter with the NHS you will never understand properly how much of a benefit it is to the british people and how proud the majority are of our system. I know that we would rather have free healthcare over private healthcare any day. Everyones entitled to their opinion whether I agree with it or not but I would read into it a bit before you make your judgement on a nationalized health system. LONG LIVE THE NHS!"

"I have to say that the comments insulting the nhs make me sick. From a personal point of view the nhs is responible for saving little brothers life at birth and treating him till he has become well again over a period of 15 years. It has also helped my younger sister battle her lactose allergy and also cared for my nana in her old age and is still going strong at the grand all age of 83. Remeber the nhs is based on the need of those who are the sickest, not the richest. It is a sound system with an expert set of staff. A perfect example of a brillant national service that the world should follow."

"At the age of 14 it was discovered that I had a rather large ovarian cyst, the doctors where friendly and helpful and offered support for both the physical and mental sides of the condition. The cyst was found in the run up to Christmas and had been removed by the end of January I am now 16 and still go for regular check up and scans to make sure there is no recurrence. I cannot thank the NHS enough for their help and support, if it were not for their speedy reaction it would have been nearly impossible for me to ever have children."

"Most Americans are too selfish and down right stupid for their own good. Adopting a National health service IS NOT communist, there is no such thing as a 'Death list' and sure the British NHS can be a little slow sometimes but at least everyone gets their fair share. The ignorance of conservative Americas angers me greatly. Isn't America suppost to be the land of the free where everyone is equal? I don't think so."