Illness is chief cause of bankruptcy in US

I am writing to express my admiration and appreciation for the NHS in Cornwall. As an American physician I have long experience in private sector medicine in the USA, and when my British mother fell ill I came to help her here.

She has received outstanding NHS care, all done with efficiency and kindness and concern for her welfare.

The doctors and nurses are top-notch.

They have done everything just as I would have liked to, even caring for her at home when needed.

This just could not be matched by any US program, only available to the very rich. In America my patients are required to get themselves to my office no matter how difficult that is, laboratory, X-ray and pharmacy are all in separate places, often far apart. Healthcare companies drive US practitioners to make choices not always based on the patients’ best interest, to keep profits healthy.

Even with apparent insurance, two weeks into an illness the bills start coming, complex, confusing, always expensive.

If the patient is out of work too long the job is lost and with it the health insurance. Then the bills are astronomical and collection agencies call the patient, while the insurance companies try to avoid paying the fees due to the doctor.

Illness is the chief cause of bankruptcy in the US, and so many people live in fear of illness and expense.

Elderly patients are sometimes driven to suicide by these bills, as I know from experience.

Your NHS is a priceless jewel. Please protect and care for it, and don’t let private companies snatch it from you.

by Anne Tait MD