Ill-informed speculation
Nothing much to report today either except for stupid commentary given voice in the Telegraph from the likes of Patrick Mercer, Andrew Green & Andrew Pierce. Reminds me why I didn’t read it very much before the MTAS debacle. And some fact-checking before going to print wouldn’t have hurt.
For all the speculation & rumour mongering about the weeks events, just one person has been charged so far. So what has this flap been doing to other overseas doctors? The other papers are full of the same but reading them just makes my blood pressure rise, so am not bothering to link to them.
And more ill-informed speculation from a free-market advocate in the Times claiming that the NHS is more expensive than US health insurance.
Next year’s NHS budget will be about £104 billion. That’s roughly £1,733 per man, woman and child. Multiplied by four for a typical two-child family, then divided by 12, that equates to median monthly family healthcare expenditure of £577, or $1,155 in American money. I can buy some very respectable US health insurance for $1,155 a month.
But does he use the standard dollar to sterling conversion ratio that things cost double here in the UK compared to the US? Or the fact that the figure he quotes is the average cost of healthcare for each person in the UK, including the severely ill & not just the young fit & healthy? The cost of private healthcare in the UK would be a fairer comparison & has already been done. Not to mention the deductibles, the lack of public health cover & the increased administrative headaches. The fact that the Us spends close to 25% of GDP on healthcare while the UK makes do with just 8% (maybe 12% if you add the private sector) does not seem to make an impression. The stupidity & selfishness of those presenting this argument is breathtaking!