US healthcare system a haven for many, but sick Americans are often jilted
The NHS is sending patients abroad for advanced treatments, but that same care is hard to come by for many living there
Ethan Fidler is a 10-year-old from England who has spent six weeks in Florida and by now is missing football. Many would think him a lucky boy, and indeed he is – not because of Disney World or the beaches but because the the British national health service was willing to fly him four thousand miles and pay upwards of £50,000 for specialised radiation treatment for his brain tumour.
The NHS – often derided in the US as "socialised medicine" – sprang into action for Ethan and there is every likelihood he will be cured. His doctor at the University of Florida institute of proton therapy in Jacksonville, Danny Indelicato, is delighted with him. His mother, quantity surveyor Julia Fidler, who has been in Florida with Ethan throughout, while his dad, Mark, stayed home with their daughter, is astounded.
"I was amazed. To be told that this was something that could happen for Ethan – I was staggered," Fidler said. "To just be told that all this is going to be available for your son. It gives you a massive sense that they must really feel they can cure Ethan or they wouldn't go to these extremes. Every parent must feel that. It does give you confidence."
Ethan is in the US because the NHS as yet does not have proton therapy machines, although the UK government has just agreed to fund two of them, in London and Manchester. But while the British boy is getting cutting-edge cancer treatment here, others who live in America are struggling to obtain the medical care they need. And when they are seriously ill or have a long-term condition, many will not be able to pay the bills that pile through the door. Two-thirds of personal bankruptcies in the US are related to healthcare costs.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/jun/06/us-medical-care-haven-nhs
