Britain Loves its National Health? Fox Nation Doesn't Know How to Deal With That

The Olympic opening ceremonies celebrated Britain’s National Health Service as one of the country’s great achievements. Fox News, which reviles “Obamacare” as an evil Commie plot even though it’s a whole lot weaker than Britain’s universal-coverage system, found this somewhere between baffling and horrifying.

The Fox Nation reprinted a piece from the Christian Science Monitor about the sequence in the opening ceremonies that featured hospital beds spelling “NHS,” under the oh-horrors title, "Olympic Opening Ceremony Celebrates Socialized Medicine" (they tried to include the video but the International Olympic Committee has blocked it). Director Danny Boyle, who put the ceremonies together, said, “One of the reasons we put the NHS in the show is that everyone is aware of how important the NHS is to everybody in this country. One of the core values of our society is that it doesn't matter who you are, you will get treated the same in terms of health care."

But American writers have nothing comparable to the NHS in their country. “Certainly the US equivalent, which would be dancing health insurance corporate executives, was hard to imagine”, jibed the Guardian. (See here) So some were a bit confused. Some, like the CS Monitor, wondered if the hospital beds were a coded message to US viewers.

But not everyone was horrified at the glorification of socialized medicine, even on Fox Nation, and the discussion is pretty lively:

Of course there were exchanges like this one:

(Ahem! It was not the Prime Minister of Canada but the Premier of Newfoundland who came to the US for heart surgery, and that was because he, like that Saudi prince, was rich enough to afford it. Health system reform isn't about making sure the rich get health care. It's about making sure that people like you and me who can't hop private jets get health care. And though Brits and Canadians may gripe about waiting lists, would they abandon universal health care for the US model? Absolutely not.)

Follow @NewsHounds

Follow @NewsHoundEllen

Do you like this post?

Showing 6 reactions

commented 2012-07-31 12:12:24 -0400 · Flag

I’m always flabbergasted by the ignorance and lies displayed by U.S. pundits concerning Canada’s Health Care Systems. Here’s some reality for those interested: http://behindthehedge.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/adventures-in-albertas-public-health-care-system-a-true-story/

commented 2012-07-31 09:25:59 -0400 · Flag

I lived for 35 years under the evil, Socialist, Communistic Canadian Health Care system. Never had a co-pay, never had to reach into my pocket for a penny and I never had a problem, nor did anyone I know.

Now that I am in ‘Merka I am gambling that my health doesn’t fall apart so quickly that I can’t get back across the border to the country that accepted me as a citizen.

Tommy Douglas is STILL considered one of the greatest Canadians for his introduction of Universal Health Care in 1962 as Premier of Saskatchewan, which was eventually adopted by the entire country. Canada’s economy is better off than ’Merka’s, even with this Socialized medicine. (Douglas is Keifer Sutherland’s grandpappy.)

With all my yadda, yadda, yadda…
Headly Westerfield, who continues to keep a blog at: http://notnowsilly.blogspot.com/

commented 2012-07-30 11:05:10 -0400 · Flag

Universal-coverage, single-payer healthcare will eventually become a reality in the USA much like it already is in the rest of the civilized world. Only a bunch of idiot teabaggers are now standing in the way.

commented 2012-07-30 10:31:28 -0400 · Flag

I come from a country that has had National Healthcare for so long that I can’t remember how long.What I do remember is,that my mother would pay a small premium every month,when anyone got sick or needed Hospital care you were taken care of immediately.Doctors would come to the sick patients, not sick patients sitting, waiting for hours deathly ill in a doctors office, getting infected with God knows what.
This whole American Medical system sucks and it needs seriously to move forward into the Twentyfirst Century.The country I’m speaking of is “the Netherlands”,a modern country that takes care of its people when they need it,not a perfect place by any means ,but a good place.

commented 2012-07-30 02:24:53 -0400 · Flag

Britain Loves its National Health? Fox Nation Doesn’t Know How to Deal With That

Maybe they should ask Sarah Palin, who took advantage of Canada’s national health as a child:

“My first five years of life we spent in Skagway, Alaska, right there by Whitehorse,” she told a paid audience in Alberta, according to the Calgary Herald. “Believe it or not – this was in the ‘60s – we used to hustle on over the border for health care that we would receive in Whitehorse. I remember my brother, he burned his ankle in some little kid accident thing and my parents had to put him on a train and rush him over to Whitehorse and I think, isn’t that kind of ironic now. Zooming over the border, getting health care from Canada.”

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20000152-503544.html

.

commented 2012-07-29 18:35:20 -0400 · Flag

At least six million Americans go abroad each year, with seeking medical treatment in other countries listed as a specific reason:

http://news.health.com/2009/04/08/traveling-treatment/

In comparison, when you hear about someone coming to America to be treated, it’s always the same story:

They’re a leader or member of the country’s 1%, and they’re there to be treated by a specialist living or attending practice in the US. When they make a statement, you can always tell they want to say “We would have much rather flown them here!”