PrintOctober 18, 2009
UK universal health care bypassed by its own workers
Stunning! Britain's National Health Service care standards may be good enough for ordinary folks, but the people who work there know better. They are getting taxpayer money to pay for their own private care. The UK Times reports:
THE National Health Service has spent £1.5m paying for hundreds of its staff to have private health treatment so they can leapfrog their own waiting lists.More than 3,000 staff, including doctors and nurses, have gone private at the taxpayers' expense in the past three years because the queues at the clinics and hospitals where they work are too long.Figures released under the Freedom of Information act show that NHS administrative staff, paramedics and ambulance drivers have also been given free private healthcare. This has covered physiotherapy, osteopathy, psychiatric care and counselling - all widely available on the NHS. [....]
The health department defended the practice and said sending doctors, nurses and other key staff for private treatment helped to get them back to work.
In order to serve the people better, the "public servants" must be treated better than the ordinary people. This exact logic was used in the old Soviet Union to justify very different treatment for the elite, who naturally could not bear the poverty they forced on the rest of the populace.
It is time that Americans learn and use the concept of nomenklatura, the communist version of a ruling class. In the Soviet Union, party members and high officials had special stores, vacation facilities, health care, cars, and much more. Money didn't define the rulers; political status did. No matter how much money a consumer had, there were still lines and shortages at the stores selling meat, toilet paper, and many other things which were deemed "luxuries." For the nomenklatura, special outlets closed to the public were abundantly stocked, and prices were affordable.
It is time that Americans learn and use the concept of nomenklatura, the communist version of a ruling class. In the Soviet Union, party members and high officials had special stores, vacation facilities, health care, cars, and much more. Money didn't define the rulers; political status did. No matter how much money a consumer had, there were still lines and shortages at the stores selling meat, toilet paper, and many other things which were deemed "luxuries." For the nomenklatura, special outlets closed to the public were abundantly stocked, and prices were affordable.
Do you suppose that Obama and Congress ever plan on being dependent on ObamaCare? They have exempted themselves.
Never eat at a restaurant where the owner and staff do not dine themselves. And never agree to a health care system whose own providers refuse to take part in its level of care. Unless, of course, you have no choice.
Hat tip: Bryan Demko
