It's 1976 all over again here in the UK

1976

2025

No economic growth, the pound falling against the US dollar and the yield on gilts approaching 5%:

In 1976 we were bailed out by the USA but I don’t think that is going to happen again!

You guys could become the 52nd state right behind Canada. But you would have to denounce your healthcare system first.

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All of them all the countries on the planet need a trading partner.

That US is the only option.

The US is bowing out for 2025.

Yeah go kill your own. Congrats!

Wasn’t it “Airstrip One” in “1984”? They wouldn’t renounce the NHS, it would be privatized.

Steve

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Our health system doesn’t work either!

If it’s any consolation, the euro is also down against the dollar. Over the last six months…

Euro down 6.34%
Pound down 6.27%

DB2

At least it’s cheap in comparison (with the US).

A new report from the Bloomberg American Health Initiative at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health finds that life expectancy in the United States is, on average, 78.6 years versus 81.3 years in England and Wales, an overall 2.7-year difference.

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I think he does not like this.

United Kingdom/Life expectancy

82.06 years (2022)

Versus

United States/Life expectancy
77.43 years (2022)

I guess saving money is not the same as corruptly making money. God Speed Divitas.

Some of us know murder for money when we see it.

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We are lucky in that we can afford the booming private health industry here in the UK!

If they have to compete with the Government healthcare that must keep it fairly cheap.

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I was working for Exxon in London back in 1985 when the USD-GBP exchange rate hit the all-time low of $1.05 to 1 GBP. The housing allowance I got from Exxon allowed me to rent a penthouse apartment overlooking the Thames River near Chelsea.

I still had a better lifestyle when I was living in Houston in a $500/month apartment with palm trees, swimming pools and tennis courts.

intercst

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Wow!!! I was in London during the winter of Gulf War 1 and it was costing me TWO DOLLARS for one pound. I remember treating myself to a nice restaurant one evening and the bill was a little over 50 pounds … and that was OVER A HUNDRED BUCKS. Likely it was the most expensive meal I ever had at that point. It was a personal trip, so no expense account!

At first I stayed at a hotel in the centre of London, but the car park was charging me 20 pounds a day which was $40. After a day or two, I switched to a hotel in Ealing right near the Underground stop and put my car into their free car park for the duration. I couldn’t drive anyway because it snowed quite a lot (deepest in 50+ years for London).

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no law against a state having their own helathcare system

Economics prevents it. Otherwise, it would have already happened.

That’s easy. Everybody goes to other states/countries…

That is a good point zippy. If there isn’t a law against it then I am wondering why California, Washington, or Oregon haven’t done it? I am sure California would have.

There has to be more to it than that. California has a bigger GDP than almost every other country. It is 5th in the world.

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Single-payer proposals have died in California, Vermont and Colorado (California four times). They couldn’t get the economics to work. When a new proposal would cost more than the entire state budget, it sets off alarm bells.

From the 2017 go-round:

The price tag on universal health care is in, and it’s bigger than California’s budget
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article151960182.html
The price tag is in: It would cost $400 billion [over half a trillion inflation adjusted] to remake California’s health insurance marketplace and create a publicly funded universal health care system, according to a state financial analysis released Monday. California would have to find an additional $200 billion per year, including in new tax revenues, to create a so-called “single-payer” system, the analysis by the Senate Appropriations Committee found.

DB2

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US private insurers match Medicare payouts. The good ol’ boys find there way to making money.

Have the govt charge the insurers a 25% fee (per treatment) for “finding” that lower cost. If the insurers do not like that 25% fee, charge them 50%.