What Would England Do?

The American debate about health care is ruffling British feathers, as U.S. advertisements slam nationalized medicine. The Washington Post reports that the chairman of the British Medical Association said he was dismayed by the "jaw-droppingly untruthful attacks" by some American critics. According to the British Health Department, the claim made in some commercials that Ted Kennedy, 77, wouldn't receive brain cancer treatment because he is too old, is "just wrong," because Brtain’s NHS "provides health services on the basis of clinical need, irrespective of age or ability to pay." A commercial stating that in Britain, "if a medical treatment costs more, you're out of luck," is also "untrue or misinformed," according to the chief executive of Britain's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.