Pages

Monday, July 19, 2010

The Healthcare Debate

I haven't blogged in a long time.  It isn't because of lack of material, just lack of time.  Three children moved back in with my husband and I.  In our excitement, we converted our office into a boys room and gave the guest room to our girl.  It's been so much fun to have them back!

On to the topic at hand.  I have had the privilege of spending two weeks in England whilst my husband works at a distribution center.  During our first 10 days, we stayed in a renovated stable house on a working farm in a tiny village named Willoughby.  It is situated in Warwickshire in the Midlands of England.  It is the most peaceful, relaxing place.  We had all the modern amenities, including wireless internet and the "telly." 

One evening while I was flipping channels (we only had five), I stopped on a channel broadcasting a debate of some sort.  So, I stopped to listen.  What I heard made me laugh.  The leading UK think tank consisting of 12 people was debating over denationalizing healthcare.  One of the participants, Andrew Lansley, said that England's cancer survivor rates are the lowest in Europe.  In fact, according to The Telegraph ,


  • "England was the fifth worst in a league of 22 countries. Scotland came bottom."

  • "Cancer experts blamed late diagnosis and long waiting lists."

  • "In total, 52.7pc of women survived for five years after being diagnosed between 2000 and 2002. Only Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, the Czech Republic and Poland did worse. Just 44.8pc of men survived, putting England in the bottom seven countries."
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1560849/UK-cancer-survival-rate-lowest-in-Europe.html)

I thought it was quite ironic that the UK was debating denationalizing healthcare whilst the USA was debating nationalizing healthcare.

Since my husband and I were in such a small village and there was only one pub/restaurant in the whole village (it didn't even have a supermarket!), we were able to make friends with several of the "regulars."  We asked them if they liked the current healthcare.  What we found was interesting.  They didn't like the dental because if you had a toothache, you had to wait up to two weeks to get in.  They didn't like the gold crowns, they perferred the white ones that we have, but those aren't available to them. 

The healthcare answer varied.  Those that knew a different option, like one who served in the British army, didn't like the current healthcare.  However, those that didn't know any different, and had no immediate healthcare need, were fine with the way it was.  By the way, according to one of the locals who served in the British army, the British army's healthcare system is not the same as the common people.

This made me even more resigned to be vocal about our responsibility to take a stand.  We must stand against Obama's healthcare plan.  The only way to do that, is to vote out the incumbants in Washington, and vote in those that oppose Obama's plan, and to be vocal about it.  We must spread the truth.  We must take a stand!