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March 4, 2008
British Socialized Medicine Rakes in Surplus While Cutting Services
Socialized medicine may be a nightmare for patients, but it offers immense benefits to government bureaucracy, granting it not only power of life and death over citizens, but also a lucrative revenue stream. Even Britain's dysfunctional NHS is forecast to rake in a £1.8 billion surplus, thanks to cutting back on services and refusing to fund vital treatments.
Michael Summers, of the Patients’ Association, said: "When wards are closing and hospitals are cutting back on cleaning and nursing staff up and down the country, it is quite astonishing that they are generating such a huge surplus."
Last month a former Second World War airman, Jack Tagg, was told by his local primary care trust in Torbay, Devon, that he could not be given drug treatment for age-related macular degeneration because it was too expensive. The trust, which later relented but only on a technicality, is heading for a £7.8 million surplus, 3.5 per cent of turnover, this year.
Imagine if a company could charge whatever it liked for a product, without even having to provide the product, secure in the knowledge that you have to pay for it anyway or you'll go to jail. Try to top that for a lucrative business model. No wonder Democrats want to impose socialized medicine on the USA.
On a tip from Oiao.
Posted by Van Helsing at March 4, 2008 9:23 AM
Comments
" . . .it is quite astonishing that they are generating such a huge surplus."
Well, no, it isn't astonishing at all -- the money is simply going into bureaucrats' pockets, making these useless pencil-pushers incredibly wealthy, rather than going to the medical providers to pay for their services. Hence, the cut-backs, the denials of service, the defections from the ranks of nurses and doctors, etc.
If I were a young person in G.B., I'd be looking into getting some kind of cushy, extremely lucrative job in the bloated bureaucracy of the Health Care Administration over there, and as soon as I could out of high school or college -- to Hell with becoming a doctor (much less a nurse)! I can make far more being a useless appendage, denying the sick the healthcare they need with a virtually guaranteed job for life!
Now, sleeping at night might be a problem, but hey, you can get used to anything, I suppose, and a little loss of sleep or a somewhat guilty conscience is a small price to pay for doing nothing for a living and getting rich, rich, rich off the backs of my fellow "citizens" (er, sheep).
Posted by: jc14 at March 4, 2008 1:37 PM
OT: "what is the most ethical way to commit suicide? I don’t want my self-destruction to be destructive to the planet!"
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/2100/
Is this a joke?
Posted by: baldeagle390 at March 4, 2008 2:21 PM
One of our local Liberals will undoubtedly bring up (Again) the point that the VA is "like" socialised medicine, so I'll point out that those veterans who are treated by the VA are NOT forbidden the option of going to a doctor outside the VA, which one is not alowed to do under "universal health care".
In fact, when I had my wisdom teeth removed under my disabled veteran's benefits, the Air Force did the prep work and refered me to a CIVILIAN dental surgeon.
Posted by: KHarn at March 4, 2008 3:10 PM
KHarn, thank you for your service.
Posted by: Oiao at March 4, 2008 3:52 PM
KHarn: nippin' 'em in the bud! Awesome!
Posted by: monsterforge at March 4, 2008 4:01 PM
In San Francisco, real whores demonstrate for their right to be owned and abused by pimps. Real whores as opposed to Code Pink, who are just attention whores.
Posted by: V the K at March 4, 2008 4:07 PM
The Brits should be ashamed to be rationing health care using a SOCIALIST system of allocation. We use a CAPITALISM system of health care allocation, which is MUCH more fair. You pay, you live. Too poor to pay? NO HEALTH CARE FOR YOU! You made some bad life choices.
I'm with KHarn on the sweet VA handout. I get nifty VA coverage from my National Guard duty, and stayed out of Vietnam to boot! Why doesn't everyone get on this gravy train?
Iraq = 52nd State = Free Oil
QUAYLE '08 -- YOUR ONLY REMAINING CONSERVATIVE CHOICE
Posted by: Dan Quayle at March 4, 2008 4:35 PM
"Imagine if a company could charge whatever it liked for a product, without even having to provide the product, secure in the knowledge that you have to pay for it anyway or you'll go to jail. Try to top that for a lucrative business model."
Well said. I may quote you.
Posted by: Hope at March 4, 2008 5:05 PM
Not meant for a theread of their own - but interesting reading.
Sign up for you NAMBA cards...
Hollywood on the Offensive
Child abuse hits the silver screen.
by Kevin Kusinitz
03/04/2008 12:00:00 AM
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/831dvpov.asp
NYT Leadership looking for their personal Tax Shelters while they push the agenda of higher taxes for you..
http://www.nysun.com/article/72232
Posted by: Oiao at March 4, 2008 6:54 PM
Can someone drop a link in here to where I can find the correct HTML tags (examples).
Come on, help a brother out.
Thanks.
Posted by: Oiao at March 4, 2008 6:57 PM
Berkeley of the east. Wait until a conserative area puts arresting President Obama or Clintoon on their initiave - you think the MSM will go nuts then?
The symbolic article seeks to have police arrest Bush and Cheney if they ever visit Brattleboro or to extradite them for prosecution elsewhere — if they're not impeached first.
I think the President should just go there to thumb his nose at em, and watch the Secret Service Reaction if someone tries...
Another great waste of exhaled carbon from all of the Moonbat talk.
http://www.nysun.com/article/72232
Posted by: Oiao at March 4, 2008 7:18 PM
Here ya go, Oiao.
The only one you really need to worry about starts with "a href" to provide a link. To italicize text, prepend "i" encased in angle brackets; to embolden, substitute "b" for "i."
Posted by: Jay Guevara at March 4, 2008 9:02 PM
Thanks Jay.
I actually used to know some of this stuff, but if you don't use it, you loose it.
Appreciate the helping hand.
Posted by: Oiao at March 4, 2008 9:11 PM
"KHarn, thank you for your service.
"Posted by: Oiao at March 4, 2008 3:52 PM"
You're welcome. I don't often mention it, because I was injured in peace-time and I have the greatest respect for those members of "the club of them what got shot at".
"KHarn: nippin' 'em in the bud! Awesome!
"Posted by: monsterforge at March 4, 2008 4:01 PM"
I do what I can.
Posted by: KHarn at March 5, 2008 3:16 PM
