Shortly after we arrived in the UK and got set up with a doctor’s office, the doctor told me I probably qualified for free medicine because I’m diabetic and have thyroid disease. She had me fill in a form similar to this:
And then she stamped it and I mailed it in. A week or so later I got a card that means all of my prescriptions paid for by NHS. ALL OF THEM. Not just the two I actually take for diabetes and thyroid, but all of them.
Because the UK’s medical philosophy is based on prevention, and part of prevention is making sure people get their proper medicine up front before lack of it makes conditions worse.
Contrasted to this, before the Affordable Care Act in the US a significant number of my friends were experiencing declining health because they had no insurance and couldn’t afford basic medication. Since the Affordable Care Act, more of them have at least some coverage, but it’s still far from perfect. And even the good-quality, employer-based coverage we’ve had from various providers in the US over the years never paid for medications outright. In fact, most had high copays, deductibles, and excluded piles of medications. As in, we paid for insurance that then inserted itself between me and my doctor to say, “Nah, we won’t cover that particular medicine because we have a backroom deal with a competitor.”
Colour me impressed that the NHS takes much better care of its patients!
Then today when I was in the clinic for a routine blood pressure test, they were giving out something from Cambridgeshire County Council marked “Winter Health Packs”.
This is what was inside:
A lengthy booklet with health tips that includes a thermometer to make sure your rooms are warm enough, a pamphlet on where to go/call for various problems, a comment card/survey, a tip sheet on how to avoid falls in the winter, a card about eating healthy that includes a vegetable soup recipe, and a tea bag that says KEEP CALM AND HAVE A CUPPA.
It’s pretty much all about how to stay warm, safe, happy, well-fed, and healthy through the winter. And it has tea. Cheeky tea designed purely to make you happy.
Now that is health CARE, both from the national system and the local shire.
NHS has its problems like any system, but let me assure every Brit reading this that you have it really, really good. As a Canadian I know what it’s like to complain about your national health care but I promise you this is leaps and bounds better than the US system.
And now for something completely different: more beautiful photos from my walk home from the clinic. Because Cambridge rocks.
(Click to enlarge.)
Is it any wonder that my blood pressure is better than it’s been in a decade? It’s almost low!