- ID
- 5577541
- Banca
- Marinha
- Órgão
- ESCOLA NAVAL
- Ano
- 2021
- Provas
- Disciplina
- Inglês
- Assuntos
Read the text below and answer question.
U.K. hospitals are overburdened. But the British
love their universal health care
March 7, 2018
When Erich McElroy takes the stage at comedy
clubs in London, his routine includes a joke about the first
time he went to see a doctor in Britain.
Originally from Seattle, McElroy, 45, has lived in
London for almost 20 years. A stand-up comedian, he's
made a career out of poking fun at the differences in the
ways Americans versus Britons see the world - and one of
the biggest differences is their outlook on health care.
"| saw a doctor, who gave me a couple pills and
sent me on my way. But | still hadn't really done any
paperwork. | was like, 'This isn't right! " McElroy says
onstage, to giggles from the crowd. "So | went back to the
same woman, and | said, 'What do | do now?! And she
said, You go home! "
The mostly British audience erupts into laughter.
McElroy acknowledges it doesn't sound like much
of a joke. He's just recounting his first experience at a UK.
public hospital. But Britons find it hilarious, he says, that an
American would be searching for a cash register, trying to
find how to pay for treatment at a doctor's office or hospital.
Itis a foreign concept here, McElroy explains.
Onstage, McElroy recounts how, when the hospital
receptionist instructed him to go home, he turned to her
and exclaimed, "This is amazing!"
Amazing, he says, because he did not have to pay
- at least not at the point of service. In Britain, there is a
state-funded system called the National Health Service, or
NHS, which guarantees care for all. That means everything
from ambulance rides and emergency room visits to long
hospital stays, complex surgery, radiation and
chemotherapy - are all free. They are paid for with payroll
taxes. In addition, any medication you get during a hospital
visit is free, and the cost of most prescription drugs at a
pharmacy are cheap - a few dollars. (Private health care
also exists in the U.K., paid out-of-pocket or through
private insurance coverage, but only a small minority of
residents opt for it.)
Since the 2008 financial crisis, the U.K., like many
countries, has been taking in less tax revenue - so it has
had to cut spending. Its expenditure on the National Health
Service has still grown, but at a slower pace than before.
[...] Wait times at the emergency room are up, says
Richard Murray, policy director at the King's Fund, a health
care think tank.
"If the ER is really busy, it makes the ambulances
queue outside the front door - not great," Murray says.
"And in some cases, the hospital is simply full."
(Adapted from https://www.npr.org)
hich option replaces the word “overburdened” in the title
“U.K. hospitals are overburdened”, according to its
meaning in the text?