Now wait a minute here guys. We can’t seem to make up our minds: either the NHS has been cut to the bone by years of underfunding and is on its knees and desperately in need of more resources; or it’s a world-beating system envied around the globe. It can’t be both, surely.
I don’t think people earning over, say, $70,000 a year should get costless treatment. In fact, I don’t think any serious person thinks that’s a good idea. They should be paying a per diem, perhaps with a cap, and should be paying 5 or so percent of their total bill. Something like that, anyway.
Thing is, this is a sacred cow in the UK. We think it makes us special. Different. Better, even.
British exceptionalism is the phrase, I believe.
