I had a conversation with a very intelligent acquaintance last week. He’s from the UK. We were talking about financial planning and the topic of college costs and health care came up.

He moved here to marry an American and has been here long enough to offer a personal comparison between costs and accessibility for college and health care here and in the UK.

He was extolling the virtues of near-free college and universal (read socialized) health care in the UK.

Coincidentally, I came across this today (from the Telegraph in the UK):

High earners face increased National Insurance payments and a new supertax under a raft of measures announced in today’s pre-Budget report.

Okay, so Superman, he’s a champion of good, not evil. Supertramp; a favorite 70’s band. Super Bowl: a clash of the best in the NFL. Supermodels. All good.

And yet…supertax? That can’t be good. Now that my acquaintance is making that kind of dough, here in the rebel states I might add, I wonder if his comparison would be so glowing?

As widely predicted, Alistair Darling (he’s the [liberal] dude with the eybrows-JR) introduced a new top level of tax, which will be imposed on people earning over £150,000 a year. They will pay 45p in the pound, up from 40p, from April 2011.

That’s a nice little holiday gift. A five percent tax hike. As of this writing, $1 trades for $1.5166 Pounds. So £150,000 a year is about $230,000 a year in the US.

Hey, we should nationalize health care so we can join the other taxed up the wazoo nations of the world that pay more to stand in line for crappy health care – and soon everything else as socialism bleeds their economies dry.

Another timely coincidence:

Today I finally went to the doctor to see about the pain in my shoulder that commenced during a volleyball match in August and has sustained a searing continuum. My doctor referred me to TRIA Orthopaedic Center a couple weeks back (this is not a veiled endorsement of Tria by the way). I was advised an appointment was’t necessary. Just show up and they would see me.

If I learned anything today (other than that thankfully surgery wasn’t indicated) was that health care in America can be a lot better and TRIA, from my vantage point, is the standard.

Bear in mind, it was one visit, to one provider; behold:

1. I arrived at Tria at 2:30 PM; a walk-in.
2. The decor was bright, modern and pleasant
3. I was greeted by a concierge (really) who asked for my name and why I was visiting
4. She walked me to the elevator, pushed the button for the second floor, rode up with me and walked me to the desk where I would get started with my visit
5. I had nary the time to fill out the medical questionnaire and my name was called
6. Five minutes later and I was getting x-rays done
7. Five more minutes later and the doctor came in and told me I have tendonitis and he would like to prescribe a shot of Cortisone and a couple subsequent physical therapy visits
8. Thirty seconds later a nurse handed a shot of Cortisone to the doctor
9. After a pleasant visit regarding my condition and the doctor’s prognosis, I put my shirt back on
10. I was out the door five minutes later

All in, I was there for little more than a half hour. It was pleasant, efficient and I got the feeling, inexpensive; as health care goes any way. An extraordinarily well-choreographed experience. And they were busy.

As for my chap from the UK, he was selling it. I wasn’t buying it. Plus I pretty much believe the exact opposite of anything Michael Moore flaps his flaccid jowls about.

Contrast my experience today with anything run by the government (save the military – those guys are so cool plus they have bravery, guns and bombs and stuff).

Is one experience, one day, with one health care provider proof of anything? Yes. That healthcare can be done right and without the government.

My shoulder feels better already.