[yerwhat01010]

> as if other countries with universal healthcare have people dying while waiting in line for care

This absolutely does happen in the UK, although I'd pick our health over the US's any day of the week.

[avianlyric]

It's also worth mentioning that private health care and insurance both exist in the UK.

Individuals still get the choice to go to any private doctor they want, they'll just have to pay for it themselves. Just like the US, except the NHS provides an excellent safety net for everyone without private insurance or the means to pay for private care.

[arethuza]

In most cases its the same doctors working in private hospitals and for the NHS.

[CountDrewku]

The US has safety nets as well, they're just not as generous as the UK's.

[Silhouette]

Agreed on both points. The UK system is far from perfect but for balance we should also say that it is not normal or expected for something as bad as that to happen here. Even in recent times, with the extra pressures of COVID, critical care has mostly kept up and the emergency overflow facilities that were built very quickly in case of overwhelming demand mostly went unused.

Obviously there will always be limits and the available resources will run out if one of them is reached. In the aftermath of a major incident or an unusually busy period it can happen. I expect a lot of us from the UK might agree that the limits need to be raised further by investing more into the NHS. But I would still choose this type of system over a US-style one every time. I've never heard of anyone here dying because they couldn't afford tens of thousands for routine medication to treat a common condition.