what happened when your country got an nhs?

I'm writing this under the assumption that the American public's rejection of government-controlled healthcare is playing a part in this post. Well, comparing America's reaction to the reaction of other countries wouldn't be a fair scale to begin with. I don't know the exact details of how the British Empire evolved/devolved to the UK, but I'm taking a stab in the dark here by stating that your respective government has always played a larger role in citizens' lives than America's government was designed to play in ours. Our country was created to be the antithesis of a system where a regime held power over the people. Ours was to be a country by the people, for the people. I admit, many of the healthcare bashers are bashing based on hyperbole and really need to dial it back some. But there are millions upon millions of Americans who firmly believe government dictating to citizens is very bad news. And then there's the question of our country going COMPLETELY bankrupt. I'm not sure if folks outside of the US--or even IN the US for that matter!--are aware, but government's healthcare projections past have been dramatically off, costing up to 17-times more than what was speculated (read: told to people as a bold-face lie to stifle doom-and-gloom reaction). If that even comes close to happening now, we're don'fer! Unfortunately, our government is inept. It's inept because the political setup of America runs contrary to the human condition's best-loved bad trait: Greed. In other countries that have always been under stricter government controls, the transition into another new entitlement program is no big deal. Respective politicians are even a tad more reliable, I suspect, as it's more a common job and common role in a place where government is larger, and not a rush to be rich and famous as with American culture. American politicians seem to be unable to handle the simplest of things due to the overwhelming amount of special interests, victimology, big business and plain corrupt officials who wish to pad their pockets or become authoritative figures instead of American representatives. Our politicians are attempting to be the Roman elite dictators in a country that forbade that long ago, and so nearly every single thing they do is behind our backs, under the table, and in an attempt to keep the blinders on us while playing their political games at our expense. Enough folks in America buy into it and choose sides, but enough of us do not and realize full well that, if government's behind something, it needs to be thoroughly debated, voted on fairly and then put and left under the microscope for the duration. If not, things go incredibly wrong and we all pay the price. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is the rest of the world, and we're expected to blend in with the fray because it's the "normal" and "civilized" thing to do. Well, if we adopted that attitude long ago, there would be no America and the world would be a much worse place for it. Okay. That's my comment on the healthcare response in my country. And as always, I'm right.

I imagine that in many Europen nations, it was not considered such a big deal as governmentws their seem to be more typicly oriented towards huge social programs and engineering. I do know that in Canada it was hugely controvertial. In the U.S. however.....it may go down in history as the tipping point for our second civil war. Yes, this is a prediction I am making (mark it well). I do not say this out of hyperbole or fear mongering, it is simply the natural course and conclusion based on a number of actions so far and the structure of our system of governence. It is inevitable.

Theres a loaded question! I believe that debating the issue with America in comparison with any other country is difficult. America is a country built on getting away from big government, getting away from nannyism, and taking charge of your own life. well 234 years later, people forget, parents give their kids everything, then they believe they deserve everything handed to them. There are still some people that would like to be responsible for themselves. That would like to pursue their dreams, their freedom. This does not include Big Brother "taking care" of everything! This is why we feel so strongly about this.

Fury and panic about how the US will suddenly turn into the USSR. Sigh...

i don't know. we don't even have that, probably similar to US. we don't have a Government controlled health care because the Government itself is corruption - and it's became part of the system. that's a lot to debate when it comes to reforms, but i can you, it won't be easy, more protest,debates here and there. don't be surprise if there is a heckler in those places

I think here in Britain it was seen as a miracle. Previously if people were ill,they often had to put up with it because they couldn't afford to pay for the doctor and if they did,they couldn't afford ongoing treatments. It is paid for through the national insurance tax of course which some probably resented but I don't think anyone complains about it these days because nobody here ever must wait while their 'insurances' are checked before they are treated at an accident and everyone is covered for things like maternity costs.

There are huge differences in the way the NHS was received way back in 1948 and the health care reform undertaken here in 2010 in the US. The first big difference, of course, is that this bill does not establish a national health care service. There's no public option. But more and very important differences abound. For one thing, very few people had any health insurance in the UK prior to the NHS. Some workers had some health coverage but their wives and children didn't. The majority of health care had to be paid for privately. Here, in the US in 2010, the majority of citizens already have health insurance, whether it's through self-insurance, employers or Medicaid/Medicare. If you take even the highest estimate of 47 million uninsured that means about 250 million ARE insured. It's much easier to convince the majority to accept something they want but don't yet have than it is to convince them to give up something they have already and want to keep in favor of something the government wants them to have. Fury and panic? Well, if you like. We see it as a matter of rights. This is just one of the many reasons that people from other countries with other systems can't really have a frame of reference on the US health care system or solutions. They aren't the same. The problems are not the same and the solutions therefore, cannot be the same.

The response in the U.K. was one of gratitude and relief. This was in perhaps 1944. Of course many people went overboard and would go to the doctor to bandage a little cut etc but it did settle down. I was born post war but my mother told me that when pregnant with my sister the money did not come from the army (my Dad was fighting in the war) and she begged the doctor to see her without payment and would pay him when her money came and was refused by every doctor she went to. she was terrified that she would go into labour early without the money to pay. It was initially rejected by the so called upper class but there was nothing against it like I have seen happening in the USA. I grew up feeling proud of our country that all its citizens could get the same goo health care. Here in Jamaica, there is supposed to be free health care but it is a joke. The reality is that you will die if you do not have money. Blessings