What can you tell us Yanks about Healthcare in the UK

Im no expert, but it reads to me as though its still almost totally reliant on individuals paying private insurers. Its not the "Socilaised Medicine" people associate with "Obamas Healthcare Reform".

You're right, I think. AFAICT, it extends their own version of the evil socialist NHS (Medicare) while making everyone else get insurance or be fined. At the same time, people will be given money by the government to help pay for insurance (obviously much more efficient than a single-payer system...) and there's some legislation that tries to stop insurance companies fucking all their new and existing customers quite so hard.

They'll still be 23 million uninsured (!!) in America, mostly illegal immigrants, and people that don't have to buy insurance but can't or won't enrol with Medicare. But that's OK, they can still wait until their condition becomes life threatening and then turn up at an emergency ward for treatment (again, obviously the most inexpensive and efficient system for all involved).

Anyway, that's what I can glean from reading news reports. If anyone - a Yank, for instance - has a better idea of what's going on then please correct me. I sort of stopped following the news about this after it became clear that the right of Obama's own party was going to fuck this up as much as possible.