As someone from the UK, the NHS is a godsend. I would not be alive without it. Nor would my parents, my sister, most of my friends. We have the option to go private if you want faster care or are paranoid or whatever and can afford it.
Frankly, I (and many other Brits) find it stupid, baffling, and often outright terrifying that the US does -not- have it. The idea that some Americans do not want an ambulance called for them if they get into medical trouble because they would be in massive debt just for the ride to the hospital, let alone the treatment? Madness.
Frankly, this American seconds all of what you said Loc. I am not afraid to switch systems. I vote for it anytime I get a chance. And yet here where I am currently living, this town is strongly against it all, and they are the ones who need universal health care the most! Smacks of ignorance.
I am suffering from a blown out disk in my back causing extreme pain, swelling, tenderness, nerve issues, muscle weakness etc.... It is healing VERY slowly (it reoccurs if I pick up something heavy). And here is a thought for some of the more money minded people out there...
Would you rather pay for my to live long term on services that others provided while I just linger and can't work?
Or would you rather fix me up, send me out to work, and let me pay it off via taxes?
I would think second option is the one. Yet people amaze me.
So far.. I am lucky to have some savings to live off of between jobs, people to live with, and also that somehow my back is starting to heal up naturally. But it is all LUCK.
But I could have been patched up sooner and possibly better with a surgery, and then sent out to get ANY job.
Our country seems to be content with letting its citizens fall and be trodden on like dirt. Unless you have oodles of money...
Too bad , bad things and ill health come to ALL people as a fact of life.
The fact our country ignores this simple truth, and has no safety net, is enraging.