"Facts" about the UK and NHS

OK...I'm more irritable than normal...so forgive me but I've been dealing with this for months now and a rant needs to be let out.

I am soooooooo sick to death of hearing (and seeing...mostly on Facebook) all these "facts" and "statistics" about the UK and the NHS.  First off, where the hell do these people even get this information from?  I swear they just literally make these numbers up.  "People in the UK have a 68% income tax."  Oh really?  Do they?  Let me just go check my husband's paycheck stub.  Nope...doesn't look like it to me.  But I guess since you saw that figure on FOX News...it must be true...right?

The thing that aggravates me most about these people, is that they do little to no research before they start spouting out all these statistics as if they are 100% fact...and most people believe it.  HELLO!!!  I actually live in the UK...I actually use the NHS...you can't tell ME of all people, how it works!! 

I realize that statistics are averages...not representative of every individual case...and I don't claim to be an expert on the subject...but people will actually argue with me and say that I'm wrong about something that I experience on an everyday basis.  For instance, the other day one of my Facebook acquaintances had posted that people who use the NHS are not able to go to the store and buy non-prescription medicine (pain relievers, cough/cold medicine, etc.).  She also stated that everyone who uses the NHS gets free prescriptions.  I corrected her, but she still insisted on arguing the issue.
 
That's just a minor example of the things I've had to deal with recently.  At first I set about correcting everyone (at least on the issues that I knew for a fact where incorrect)...then I tried to avoid the subject or ignore it.  But it really irks me that these people are spreading lies...and easily convincing so many other people that they are true.  If people want to have a bad opinion of the NHS (or the UK in general), let them...but at least let their opinions be based on the truth!!

No, no you're not alone!  Although I just gave up ever talking about the NHS once the Health Care Bills was called "communist"--I mean, please, just, please. I just kept repeating my mantra about how, when I first arrived and had no money and no job, I got great healthcare (bunch of allergy tests and prescriptions as I kept breaking out in hives here) and it was all free at the point of service (and I hadn't even paid any taxes yet!).  And easy. There is just no speaking to some people.

I was in the US for the last two weeks and it seemed like all anyone wanted to talk about to me and DH.  It got really annoying after day 2.  My sister came up with a good story that she heard from an English person living in the US.  Apparently this person's "cousin/friend/dogwalker" broke their foot and had to wait 3 days in a hospital waiting room before they would put a cast on it.  Or something like that.  I said that whilst that may well have been part of the story, that I doubted it was the whole thing.  She insisted that this was 100% true and that according to this other english person (who moved to the US 20+ years ago), that this was the norm in UK hospitals.  I tried to explain that this certainly wasn't our experience...but she wouldn't listen.  I gave up. 

I hope that the healthcare bill really does deliver what the politicians have been promising.  But I suspect that for the time being most people won't notice any change in their lives. 

Wait, you mean people in the UK aren't dying on the streets because they were forced to wait in line for an appendectomy?

 

What do you know, socialist communist Marxist medicine does work!

I suppose some people might be paying 68%.  If you are in the 50% tax band then add in NI?  Maybe.   

I suppose some people might be paying 68%.  If you are in the 50% tax band then add in NI?  Maybe.   

NIC drops to 1% for this level of income.  So the top rate would only be 51% percent.  No where near 68%.

NIC drops to 1% for this level of income.  So the top rate would only be 51% percent.  No where near 68%.

And remember that's not on your whole salary, only on the portion above the threshold.
So if the 50% tax bracket is at £100,000 and you earn £120,000, your 50% tax rate only applies to that £20K not the £100K.

I see these figures bandied around and it's almost like people think that high earners in the UK are taking home 1/2 their advertised salary, not really the case, it would only appear to be so if you were a super high earner and the tax bracket was negligible compared to your salary.

NIC drops to 1% for this level of income.  So the top rate would only be 51% percent.  No where near 68%.

Also even people in the 50% bracket don't pay 50% on their entire income, a fact American right-wing commentators seem conveniently ignorant of.  When you factor in the tax free allowance and the 20%,40% rates the total tax rate is lower.

I had a quick look at a tax calculator and someone earning £150,001.00 (just in the 50% bracket) would pay £52,520.50 in tax, which by my sums is 35%.  If we count NI as tax too then we need to add another £5,259.61 or 3.5% which gives a grand total of 38.5%.

38.5 is less than 68.

(Cross-posted with cheesebiscuit.)

I would assume all the NHS bashing is coming from US health care talk.... divert the conversation.  Tell people that the US health care bill is a universal health insurance bill, not a universal health care bill.  The opposition did a good job of selling fears about the British and Canadian systems so at this point you can't beat it, if you get sucked into discourse around the lie.  Instead change the discourse to reality and make them talk about what the US health care bill is... insurance reform.  It has been working for me, though I don't have many friends on facebook talking negative about the bill and the ones that do, I am on top of responding to, though I have worked on US health care policy issues for years now so I know a fair amount of information. ;-)    

That's an excellent suggestion Goods.. think I'll do that next time. 

I knew it was unlikely.  Thanks for the info.   

Also if you have questions about it, let me know, I have been trying to share as much information as possible.  Or if you want to correct someone's comments about the US bill and want a bit more info, feel free to ask me, if I don't know the answer off the top of my head, it shouldn't take me long to find it :-)

  Apparently this person's "cousin/friend/dogwalker" broke their foot and had to wait 3 days in a hospital waiting room before they would put a cast on it.  Or something like that.  I said that whilst that may well have been part of the story, that I doubted it was the whole thing. 

A typical case of only hearing what they want to hear....more likely they went with a broken foot and due to the amount of swelling they will put on a temporary cast or just bandage up and then they'll go back and have the cast put on when the swelling goes down.

I suppose some people might be paying 68%.  If you are in the 50% tax band then add in NI?  Maybe.   

But the 50% is only on income above £150,000, not on ALL their income!
I worked mine out taking both income tax and NI together and it worked out at 23% of my salary. Of course there are things like VAT, road tax, fuel duty etc to take into account.

Tell us about it Shrubbery!
DW gets so many emails about what is supposidely happening in the US, some she passes to me because she knows I like to check them out.
Her sister sent her one about how the "Democratic Congress had voted not to give Seniors a cost of living increase" - I found a very good piece on Politifact that explained it all and the best bit was that it said Obama was proposing a one off payment to seniors to compensate for the fact that an algorithm used for about 30 years based on inflation had determined no raise was payable!
Her sister just said "Oh, thanks for checking that out for me". It was a simple internet search, why can't people do this themselves?
And I had arguments with my in-laws about the health debate. In fact when DW tried to explain to her dad that the system was fine here and she had no issues he said "Oh well...I'm glad it's working out for you" in a tone that suggested she was an exception!
I used to be incuded in a mailing list from one of DW's friends in the election, however because I kept challenging on things aand sending back explanations I found they stopped sending to me, yet still to DW....I'm not sure what I dislike the most, them sending it to me or just not sending it to me but continuing to forward to others just because you prove them wrong!