Will U.S. Healthcare Reform look like healthcare in the U.K.?

Will U.S. Healthcare Reform look like healthcare in the U.K.?

A recent report from the BBC in the U.K. hints at what healthcare in the U.S. may look like as Healthcare Reform takes effect here in 2014 and its not encouraging.

The U.K. has national healthcare along the lines of what is envisioned for the U.S. under Healthcare Reform, basically providing coverage for everyone through a government subsidized health insurance program. One of the concerns raised by opponents to Healthcare Reform has been the likelihood that it will lead to health care rationing, given the budgetary constraints that will inevitably occur.

The U.K.s National Health Service recently launched an effort to find efficiency savings of up to $30 billion by 2015. The BBC reports that in its aftermath, patients in some parts of England have spent months waiting in pain because of delayed operations or new restrictions on who qualifies for treatment. The BBC surveyed nearly 700 surgeons and found that one in seven reported having to put on hold hip or knee replacements in their area because of measures introduced to improve efficiency.

The BBC quotes a spokesperson for the Department of Health as saying: When clinicians and patients are making decisions about joint replacement surgery, it is right that other procedures – which could provide better outcomes for patients and provide better value for taxpayers – are also considered.