The Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, is now being enforced with very serious implementation problems. As I have stated in previous commentaries, there are two parts of Obamacare I agree with wholeheartedly. Two areas of agreement are providing appropriate healthcare coverage to the uninsured and coverage for pre-existing conditions. These were the two emotional issues used to finally sell Obamacare.

Obamacare basically establishes the first vestiges of socialized medicine in the United States. My experience with socialized medicine convinced me this is the wrong medical delivery system for the United States, or any country. The present medical system, as it exists today, is by far superior to socialized medicine based on my personal experience. Let me explain.

From years 1977 to 1981 I lived and worked in an area of England called the West Midlands, an industrial section just a few miles from Birmingham, England, United Kingdom. My tenure of four years brought me up close and personal with socialized medicine and the chronology of real events are as follows.

It wasn’t long after our arrival in the U.K. that my wife, Connie, developed a severe sore throat. My only option was to take her to the doctor who we were assigned to under socialized medicine.

We arrived at the doctor’s office which was a square room with wooden benches covering the perimeter of the room. Everything was first come, first serve, consequently Connie assumed her place in line. There were about 20 patients ahead of her so I told her I would wait in the car with my London Times. In about 15 to 20 minutes Connie arrived back at the car having already been seen by the doctor.

I was amazed and quickly did the math. The doctor averaged about two minutes per patient. I’m not being judgmental, but this seemed to be a bit fast. I found out later these same doctors had their private practice in the afternoon, and yes, the U.K. has private medicine. The doctors were required to see all patients who fell under the socialized medicine umbrella before private patients.

My staff in England was all British. Any health problems of my staff were made known to me for obvious reasons. One day Joe, Director of Transportation, came in my office limping, and I asked Joe what was his problem? He told me he had a knee problem and needed a knee replacement. I asked him when the surgery was scheduled and he told me in four years. Not four weeks, not four months, but four years! Because of the cost of private medicine Joe had opted to stay in the socialized program provided by the government. Joe had to get in the government queue for knee replacement regardless of his need.

On an ensuing day, this same staff member was obviously in pain and white as a sheet. He told me he had a tooth pulled that morning. Being sympathetic to Joe I commented, the Novocain must be wearing off. He replied, what Novocain? If Joe had used Novocain he would have been required to pay for the deadener under socialized medicine, and yes, dental care in the U.K. is socialized. Dental care will become the next socialized health program in the United States.

Support Local Journalism Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reporting—but good journalism isn’t free. Please support us by making a contribution. Contribute

There were many adverse medical occurrences in the U.K., but one last up close and personal experience demonstrates the quality of socialized medicine in the United Kingdom. I needed industrial engineering help from personnel in the United States to help solve manufacturing problems in Wolverhampton operations. I brought two industrial engineers from Tyler, Texas, to help with the remediation of our manufacturing dilemma.

One night, after being in one of the English pubs, the two engineers managed to get themselves in a traffic accident. One of the engineers was hurt rather badly with internal injuries not the least being a ruptured spleen. Because of his injuries he was taken to the Royal Wolverhampton hospital, my first introduction to serious medical facilities operated by the government.

Upon entering the hospital to check on the two engineers, I was escorted to a huge ward of probably 100 beds, one of which was occupied by one of the American engineers. The ward reminded me of a scene from the movie “War and Peace”, a movie about World War I. One engineer was in intense pain and I told him we would arrange for him to be moved to the private hospital the next day.

When I arrived at the engineer’s bedside the next day, I was told by the patient that he preferred to stay at Royal Wolverhampton to receive his treatment. I acquiesced to his wishes. The problems developed immediately, and the engineer was not progressing as he should. His brother was a doctor in Mississippi and I called him and asked if he could take the time to come to Wolverhampton and check on his brother? His answer was an immediate yes.

The doctor was an honorary member of the Royal College of Surgeons of the United Kingdom. This gave him full access to the hospital and the hospital’s care procedures. His brother’s condition continued to deteriorate. After two and a half days he came to me and said, “John, I am getting my brother ready to travel and we have to get him out of the Royal Wolverhampton hospital and back to the states. He is not getting the rudimentary care for injuries he has sustained. We have to get him back to the United States.” With some difficulty, we made arrangements for his return to the states where he fully recovered from his injuries.

My actual personal experience is indicative of what can be expected from the Affordable Care Act the way it is written. If the framers of the Act had only tweaked the present system, the U.S. health care system would not be in its present dilemma.

What we now have is a prime example of a finished product designed by incompetents.