On 2008-06-28 21:10:34 +0100, geoff said:

In message 486694eb@qaanaaq, Andy Hall writes
On 2008-06-28 19:24:35 +0100, geoff said:

In message 48667d0a@qaanaaq, Andy Hall writes
On 2008-06-28 17:52:05 +0100, geoff said:

does your private health insurance pay for immediate treatment for e.g.
a broken bone or cut requiring stitches - A&E type injuries
No, because it isn't designed to do so. It's worth pointing out that
in addition to the tax distortion of the market, the other components
of immediate treatment such as the 112 call centres and ambulance
services do not operate on a competitive basis for A&E purposes but
feed NHS facilities.
So your shiny ins policy doesn't give you a point of sale facility

It provides exactly what it is designed to do which is cover for
diagnosis and acute care. I know exactly what I can get, when and
where. I can't get that from the NHS.

So it provides a cherry picked subset of a health service

It provides what its customers want to buy, and there is a choice of
whether or what to buy. The NHS doesn't provide the choice. There
is no means of opt-out on a part or whole basis and little patient
control in terms of selection of treatment. Worse yet, the system
stifles competition and penalises those who wish to use independent
healthcare.



it doesn't provide the open ended comprehensive care that the NHS is
attempting to do

*Attempting* is the very operative word. The NHS has been attempting
for 60 years and has continually failed to deliver on its promises.




like the courier companies who have taken on the profitable parts of
the royal mail and left the unprofitable bits so that we end up with a
strapped for cash service which can't operate effectively

It never could operate effectively. What has changed is that
customer expectations have increased and Royal Mail remains stuck in a
bygone era - like the NHS.