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Politics, politics, politics (so long and thanks for all the fish)

thfcsteff said:
I agree wholeheartedly with the preventative approach to healthcare. You are on-point with regards to getting preventative screenings, etc. I believe later on in these exchanges, you've also spoken about the importance of education in these matters, again I agree. I think the final phase has to be both affordability and the adjustment psychologically from fear to taking control. So many people I knoware afraid of doctors/getting routine healthchecks, when it is no different to making sure you maintain (and treat)your vehicle properly. Personally (and this is certainly somewhere I think we might disagree) I'd like to see things such as fitness centre/gym memberships subsidised and made highly affordable and accessible to all. The net result for society can only be good.
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It's why an NHS model doesn't work. Publicly funded healthcare can, but an NHS can't.

The govt can't increase spending massively this year to save money 20 years down the line. Anyone hit with higher taxes with just vote for another party and anyone within 20 years of retirement will tell them to go fudge themselves.

Insurance companies can and regularly do make that sort of investment decision all the time. They can also discourage unhealthy behaviour such as smoking or eating brick food with increased premiums.
 
scaramanga said:
It's why an NHS model doesn't work. Publicly funded healthcare can, but an NHS can't.

The govt can't increase spending massively this year to save money 20 years down the line. Anyone hit with higher taxes with just vote for another party and anyone within 20 years of retirement will tell them to go fudge themselves.

Insurance companies can and regularly do make that sort of investment decision all the time. They can also discourage unhealthy behaviour such as smoking or eating brick food with increased premiums.
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At this point I am totally prepared to accept that I don't have the same grasp on what the NHS has become versus the model I knew versus where it's going. I am certainly open to 'ideals vs reality of where we're actually at' thinking. My idealistic heart will always, always believe in the principles of the NHS, but truthfully, what I want is a model whereby everyone in the country has health insurance. Whatever that model is will be the one I support. I will always support an individual's right to top up their insurance with whatever private provision they want, so long as it is not at the expense of the average person beiong able to receive quality, affordable care.

The 'lifestyle' stuff is trickier, albeit I agree that if you shovel brick food in your mouth, drink, smoke, don't exercise and then expect to be 'healed' you really need to take more responsibility of self. I think the single biggest breakthrough we can make is increasing the support for mental health/joining the dots for people who make awful choices in seeing that heaklthy choices actually make you feel and operate better. I am probably a little 'lemon bowl' than you with regards to how we can approach that as a society, but I'd say we both in the end want the same thing. A healthier society which takes responsibility for itself and in turn, does not deplete the system for those who really need it. On a footnote, I'm sure we'd both agree that people who call the NHS/doctors for every sniffle or cough really need to sort it out!
 
As the economy and market confidence in the UK sinks (at an admittedly slower pace) back to where it was under Truss and Kwarteng. And Rishi Sunak's second prediction in about a year about an opponent's economic policies looks set to be proven right, I think it may start to dawn on some just what a steady hand we had on the wheel which ultimately controls most of our lives. In and amongst all of the chaos of the Johnson government and Covid 19 pandemic, the UK's economic resilience and bounce-back was also evidence of his IMO sterling work....
 
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