Strange how little thinks catch my eye on the news after midnight
It was comparing the French health service to ours wit ha multitude of obscure people as 'experts'
The gist was French people pay into a compulsory insurance scheme and the country spends about 11% of its GDP on healthcare.
That is significantly higher then the UK who spends around 8% of GDP a difference of approx £2,500 per head
Interestingly more money is spent on healthcare of the young than the elderly contray to what we are led to believe
There were two bits which stood out one was they all carry a healthcare card which entitles and confirms their right to treatment and stops healthcare tourists which we have and second they pay upfront £21 for a visit to their GP and a portion of the money is paid back within days usually between 70% and 100% depending on their circumstances but one euro is kept for research
I think these are both great ideas as it stops abuse of the 'healthcare tourist' and would save a fortune as if you missed the appointment you would lose the money. When I came here I did not qualify automatically for healthcare we had to work and pay contributions first and in Ireland I had to pay for my treatment for cancer as my insurance only covered a small part of it, and everywhere else I have lived I have had to provide insurance cover.
No system is perfect anywhere in the world for heathcare but maybe we should think about broadening the scope of how it works in order to keep it free at the point of need and stop the abuse of people never contributing getting treatment
Before someone screams about what to do about people who fall ill while here - emergency treatment only and stop pregnant women arriving close to their due date - if you get ill abroad they do not treat you for free and if you have no insurance provide basic emergency treatment then you have to raise money to get home with your broken leg etc and you are pursued for the cost of treatment
It was reported this week illegal immigrants head here not because they can find work but because we are 'nice' to them that is because the law requires us to be unlike other countries so maybe we should get tougher
