Free Health Coverage for All
In England, as in the United States, people may fear getting sick-but it's only the illness that worries them, not how to pay for the treatment. Like all other western European countries, Britain has a taxpayer-funded health system. The National Health Service is hardly perfect; patients can't see a specialist on their own, and trying to find a dentist can give them a headache to go with their toothache. But, by and large, the NHS delivers what it's supposed to: free healthcare coverage for all.
The system gets some impressive results. Britain's infant mortality is lower, and its life expectancy higher, than in the United States. And, according to numerous studies, the $185 billion service also offers better value. Britain spends $2,546 per person each year on healthcare; the United States spends $6,102. Yet 16 percent of American adults under age 65-47 million people-remain uninsured.
There are trade-offs, to be sure. Patients in London can expect to wait about 10 months for a cataract surgery and nearly a year for a hip replacement-delays that cause some Britons to also purchase private coverage. But medical experts say the NHS excels at both primary and trauma care. Appointments with GPs can be made quickly, and emergency doctors undergo the same rigorous training as in the States. In an emergency, says Sandra Dawson of the University of Cambridge, an expert on the NHS, "you'd be crazy" to opt for private treatment over the NHS. That's one reason that even the wealthy register with the service. And because the service uses its vast size to force discounts from pharmaceutical makers, drugs are cheaper for the service and ultimately free to patients.
A recent New York Times/CBS poll found that 60 percent of Americans are willing to pay more in taxes for universal coverage. Whether they want the government to provide that coverage is another story.
This story appears in the March 26, 2007 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.