Just saw something that you might find interesting. CBS News is running a feature this week on the decline of cancer research in the American medical profession. It seems that federal funding has drastically decreased since 2004, and that private industry is not picking up the slack. Doctors are seeking employment of all places in Europe with all of your perceived faults of socialized medicine and the problems with Great Britain's National Health Service. It would appear that the decline in the quality of treatment you envision with the European system has already begun here in the U. S. One of the doctor's interviewed had just accepted a research position with Oxford University in England. The situation is already referred to in the medical profession as the "Brain Drain",  and Europe may be the new frontier for medical research. 

The main problem cited by doctors was their inability to make a living in research under the free enterprise economy of the U. S. The medical profession expects the problem to worsen with the drain of dollars to such areas as the continuing war in Iraq, the generally poor state of the U. S. economy at present and the rise of the European Union as a trade competitor with the resulting decline in value of the U.S. dollar against the Euro.

It also appears that the problems you perceive with the health care rendered in Britain are not as grievous as you may think. While there may be people waiting for treatment, a triage system is used. Those with life threatening illnesses are treated immediately. Those with less than life threatening problems or elective surgery take their place on line. However, it would appear that the same practice is employed here in the U. S. ...except we pay more for it with private insurance... if we are lucky enough not to have the claim denied by the insurance carrier.

I recently observed a friend in need of medical attention. She was not able to reach her treating physician, and instead went to the emergency room of one of the nation's finer research  hospitals located here in Connecticut. Her ailment was deemed to be less than life threatening under the triage system. Nine hours later she had still not been able to see a doctor. She gave up, and traveled to another hospital an hour away where she was given treatment...she was on privately funded health insurance.

I think I had mentioned in one of my posts below that I had been told to get new medical insurance coverage by my doctor, and given a year to do it. It was an inconvenience, but ultimately it was a good idea. The same insurance company was the subject of a news feature last year. It seems that it had canceled a woman's policy on the eve of her surgery for breast cancer.

As you can see  from practical experience I am less than impressed by the roll of the dice offered by  our current system of health care, and really see no disadvantage to adopting a system similar to the Europeans.