[ch4s3]

The article outline that 1 in 10 people in the UK have done DIY emergency dental care, wich suggests strongly that the availability is less good than advertised. In fact a large portion of the article is about growing NHS wait times.

[spacedcowboy]

I know about 6-700 people over here in the UK, I live in a poor-ish Northern town and I don't know a single person who's done "DIY dental care". Not one.

Now 600 people is a lot smaller than 60 million, I don't doubt there are people who have pulled a tooth out, but to get those sorts of figures, you'd have to count all the kids who pull out a tooth with a bit of string to get £1 from the tooth fairy.

[ch4s3]

I didn't write the article. But it would be similar to me saying that everyone I know in the US has access to pretty good healthcare.

[jaggs]

This is a completely bogus article and it's no surprise that the Brits are jumping in to uh complain. There's no comparison between the two areas.And to discuss the failings of the NHS and dentistry is just laughable. They're not perfect, but they're really a lot better than dying because you don't have your credit card. Nobody's ever died in the UK because they didn't have a credit card.

[ch4s3]

> but they're really a lot better than dying because you don't have your credit card

This isn't a correct characterization of US healthcare either. No one is denied lifesaving care due to inability to pay by law. In fact 92% of Americans have some kind of health insurance. Of the ~8% who are uninsured, yes many do defer routine medical care which may lead to adverse long term effects. Its a real problem. However ~70% of the uninsured are eligible for Medicaid, subsidy, or employer insurance, so there's room to improve on getting those people signed up.

[spacedcowboy]

Technically, no-one is denied critical and emergency care due to inability to pay. Chronic diseases are ... a lot less likely to be looked after.

Unlike the NHS.

[toraway]

  > However ~70% of the uninsured are eligible for Medicaid, subsidy, or employer insurance, so there's room to improve on getting those people signed up.

That number will decrease once Trump’s Medicaid work requirements take effect, and subsidies were also significantly reduced.

I’d love if our government saw “room to improve” there instead of doing the exact opposite and working overtime to reduce the number of fully insured people.

[ch4s3]

The medicaid work requirement is pretty dumb, granted, but the COVID era increased demand side subsidy was a terrible policy that every healthcare economist said would cause prices to rise. The government should focus on increasing supply instead of driving more demand.