UK National Health Service A Point of National Pride

Here is how the London Daily Mail reported about the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony yesterday in London (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2180227/London-2012-Olympics-Som...):

Americans left baffled by left-wing tribute to free healthcare during Opening Ceremonies

It had been shrouded in intense secrecy in the run-up to the Games, but the wait for the London 2012 opening ceremony seemed to be worthwhile as viewers around the nation heaped praise on Danny Boyle's lavish $42million showpiece.
More than a billion people from across the world are thought to have tuned in to watch the spectacular, while thousands of others travelled to the UK to witness the official start of the sporting celebration in person.
But many Americans were left scratching their heads at the lengthy segment featuring dozens of descending Mary Poppinses, skipping nurses, and children in pajamas leaping acrobatically on massive hospital beds.

Los Angeles Times sports writer Diane Pucin said: 'For the life of me, though, am still baffled by NHS tribute at opening ceremonies. Like tribute to United Health Care or something in US.'

My comment:

Of course we Americans are baffled by the prominent place of pride afforded the National Health Service during the Olympic Games Opening Ceremonies. Who would pay tribute to a private, for-profit American health insurance company? But the NHS is nothing like the greedy business of American health insurance. Rather, it is an international leader in organizing quality care for ALL citizens in the UK, at a very low price. The UK featured so many parts of their fabled past and present in that ceremony. But among all of the accomplishments of that nation, the NHS is something they are most proud to show off. By virtually any measure, the NHS outperforms the US health care non-system, and it is done at less than half of the per capita cost.

What will it take for the US to gather the political will to reform our health system so that we, too, can be proud of how well we take care of patients?

Dr. Joe Jarvis