[paulhauggis]

"They could have paid and gone privvate at any time."

Once you have government health care in place, private care costs get so high, only the rich can afford them.

[DanBC]

I'm not so sure that's true. I think prices compare pretty well with the US. Here's one website found pseudorandomly via a web search. (http://www.bmihealthcare.co.uk/paying-for-yourself)

Notice that they offer many surgeries "at a fixed price" and that all costs are known before surgery starts. I'm not sure what happens if there are complications; whether those are covered or not.

(I would have called them to get a quote, but they're not open yet.)

[chc]

The United States has had this situation for a long time, despite healthcare being almost entirely private.

[arethuza]

"private care costs get so high, only the rich can afford them"

That is most certainly not the case - private health care is a fairly common perk for senior positions in many companies (I get it and I'm two layers away from a CxO).