Trump suggested he wants British health system included in trade talks
Instead, Trump may have inadvertently played into some of Britons’ worst fears about their post-Brexit future when he suggested that Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) could be a part of a U.S.-Britain trade deal.
“When you’re dealing on trade, everything is on the table — so NHS or anything else, and a lot more than that,” the president said when asked about the position of Britain’s health system in a trade deal. “Everything will be on the table, absolutely.”
Trump’s vague answer to the question may suggest he hadn’t given the idea much thought. However, British news outlets have been keeping an eye on the issue in recent weeks.
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Now there are fears that a trade deal with the United States could open up the NHS to profit-driven U.S. business interests — and, with it, the creeping possibility of privatization.
“I think the entire economy, in a trade deal, all things that are traded would be on the table,” Woody Johnson, U.S. ambassador to Britain, said during an interview with the BBC on Sunday.
Would that mean health care? “I would think so,” Johnson responded.
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Founded in 1948, it is the largest single-payer health system in the world and primarily funded by the British government.
The behemoth system is simultaneously one of the most lauded and derided parts of British life. Polls have shown that the NHS is more cherished than the monarchy or the British army but also that many Britons are dissatisfied with the service and worried about its future.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/06/04/brits-are-fiercely-protective-their-health-care-system-trump-suggested-he-wants-it-included-trade-talks/?utm_term=.0592ddbc33f1
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