One other thing I learned at the above site: In the entirety of the UK, there are a grand total of 223 MRI scanners (as of the 2006, I believe). In the US, where Dems insist we have the worst healthcare system in the world, there are approximately 9,000 MRI machines. Can't you just feel the compassion?
Is it just me or is there something positively Orwellian about this organization being called NICE? "Dear, the NICE people called to say that saving your life isn't cost effective. They regret any inconvenience this may cause you but, hey, your going to die so, you won't have long to complain about it." Real NICE, right?
The irony about the number of MRI machines is that it was the British who invented the MRI —and now, most of their patients can’t get on a schedule to get one.
But...if they have “private insurance” they get to the head of the line —the NHS folks still have to wait.
In Canada, it’s the same thing. Folks in national health care
have to wait a long time, but if you have private PET (as in cat/dog) insurance, a dog or cat can get an MRI before a human. The reason? For every human who gets an MRI, it’s a cost to their system; for every dog or cat that gets an MRI paid for by private insurance, it’s a payment to them.
How do I know? My Master’s Thesis was on “Should the US Go To a Single Payer System” —man, the stuff I uncovered! And...most of this is on the net.
Want to know how long it takes to get some common surgeries in Western Canada? Click here:
http://www.healthservices.gov.bc.ca/waitlist/index.html
When I was diagnosed with the need for a hip replacement, it took 4 weeks from diagnosis to the surgery —if you look at some of the wait times for the same surgery, you’re talking months and months of needless pain.