Question

Discuss the pros and cons of a National Health Service (NHS) socialized model. Do other countries have something like this in place and how does it workout and perform?

Answer 1

Pros and cons of a National Health Service (NHS) socialized model are:

A. Pros:

1. This is a socialized single-payer healthcare provided by the British government and is a taxpayer-funded system.

2. All appointments, treatments, and most of the prescription drugs are provided free of cost to the patient.

3. The government runs hospitals and employs healthcare professionals. This is managed by the Department of Health and Social Care.

4. This is the most cost-effective system.

B: Cons:

1. Limited choices for doctors.

2. Patients do not have many options to choose from regarding the available treatments and procedures.

3. Often patients have to wait for weeks or months before getting a procedure a non-emergency procedure done.

Other countries like Germany, Canada, etc have government-funded healthcare systems. In Canada, the government is the health insurance provider but hospitals and clinics are run as private organizations or nonprofit organizations. In Germany, all employees pay for a common health insurance pool, but health care is provided free of cost to every citizen by the government with the help of this common pool.