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A bit of a rant...
May. 11th, 2007 11:17 amI wish to have a little rant about private health care. So I’m going to. Because I believe in instant gratification.
I was reading the Guardian yesterday, as one does, and was once again annoyed at a throw-away comment by one of the columnists, about *of course* one doesn’t believe in private health care. Rah rah rah, and so on. It’s not uncommon amongst the liberal section of the country (a section to which I generally belong); it’s up there with not believing in private education (and I’m with them there). But actually, not believing in private health care, and sticking firmly to the NHS, isn’t a particularly logical attitude.
Absolutely, the NHS is necessary. Adequate medical care should be available to everyone, no matter their creed, colour, or, more importantly, their income. But the fact remains that the NHS is dangerously over-burdened, and ever at risk of collapsing in on itself. The fact also remains that there are a heck of a lot of people who would be perfectly able to pay for private medical insurance. So what is so wrong with people doing that?
If you can afford medical insurance, in my opinion, you should have an obligation – moral, if not legal – to do so, and thus ease the burden on the NHS, leaving it free to provide services for those people who are unable to pay for them. It’s all very well for Saffron, or whoever, to sit back with a glass of white wine* and say that of course she wouldn’t dream of going private because she doesn’t see why she should get preferential treatment etc etc, but actually, if she did go private, some patient who doesn’t have that option would get seen that little bit faster. And if everyone who could afford to go private, did, things like waiting lists etc between the public and private sectors would probably even out a bit.
Private education, on the other hand, is just wrong (as I have said before). It’s unfortunate that if you want your child to have a good education in this day and age, you basically have to send him/her to a private school. Grr. So yes, I am rather hypocritical on this point. (Though, yes, I will be looking into medical insurance once I am no longer quite so continually poor.)
* Ah yes, see me embrace the concept of socio-political stereotyping… *g*
I was reading the Guardian yesterday, as one does, and was once again annoyed at a throw-away comment by one of the columnists, about *of course* one doesn’t believe in private health care. Rah rah rah, and so on. It’s not uncommon amongst the liberal section of the country (a section to which I generally belong); it’s up there with not believing in private education (and I’m with them there). But actually, not believing in private health care, and sticking firmly to the NHS, isn’t a particularly logical attitude.
Absolutely, the NHS is necessary. Adequate medical care should be available to everyone, no matter their creed, colour, or, more importantly, their income. But the fact remains that the NHS is dangerously over-burdened, and ever at risk of collapsing in on itself. The fact also remains that there are a heck of a lot of people who would be perfectly able to pay for private medical insurance. So what is so wrong with people doing that?
If you can afford medical insurance, in my opinion, you should have an obligation – moral, if not legal – to do so, and thus ease the burden on the NHS, leaving it free to provide services for those people who are unable to pay for them. It’s all very well for Saffron, or whoever, to sit back with a glass of white wine* and say that of course she wouldn’t dream of going private because she doesn’t see why she should get preferential treatment etc etc, but actually, if she did go private, some patient who doesn’t have that option would get seen that little bit faster. And if everyone who could afford to go private, did, things like waiting lists etc between the public and private sectors would probably even out a bit.
Private education, on the other hand, is just wrong (as I have said before). It’s unfortunate that if you want your child to have a good education in this day and age, you basically have to send him/her to a private school. Grr. So yes, I am rather hypocritical on this point. (Though, yes, I will be looking into medical insurance once I am no longer quite so continually poor.)
* Ah yes, see me embrace the concept of socio-political stereotyping… *g*
