elsslots:
- The basic coverage of health insurance is the same for everybody in NL. Though it has been privatized, insurance companies are not allowed to reject somebody because of a pre-existing condition
UK national health insurance ONLY covers people WHILST they are in UK or a jurisdiction with whom UK has a reciprocal arrangement. WithIn UK of course there is no issue of rejection for reasons of poor health etc. But the view is that it is not up to the tax funded scheme to pay for people's health matters whilst they are swanning around the world on holiday (and if they go abroad on business then it is up to their employer to cover them).
The UK system is also far from " free" - many people will pay 12% of their salary (those who are unemployed or on low incomes get it for "nothing" - hence one of the concerns regarding immigration). This sum however is also paying towards state pension etc (although Ordinary taxes do this as well).
The BIG difference seems to be the UK practice of NOT covering illness whilst abroad from what is a "National" health scheme.