I was handed this by a man in Seattle yesterday.

I told him it was offensive, an insult to all the millions who voted for Obama in the hope that he'd sort out the terrible mess that is the healthcare system. But he gave me the same beneficent grin as I got back at Mardi Gras, when all the loony Christian fundamentalists converge on the den of iniquity that is New Orleans. I told one what I thought of his banner saying that atheists and homosexuals would burn in hell, but I was just wasting my breath.

I regard it as an immense privilege to live here, and I don't normally believe in biting the hand that feeds me, but I make an exception where healthcare is concerned. I think it's the worst aspect of living in the United States. If you're rich, old, a child, or you work for the right company, you don't need to give it a second thought. Otherwise, it's a constant worry at the back of your mind: one episode of illness could leave you bankrupt. I have my own insurance because I'm self-employed, and it's so grotesquely overpriced that all I can afford is basic catastrophe cover.

Anyway, Britain's national health service has been in the news a lot over here recently, and for all the wrong reasons. The Republicans, and pharmaceutical and insurance companies masquerading as concerned citizens' groups, are trying to persuade the public that the NHS is somehow inferior to the US system.

The other night, we wandered into a bar in a small town in Washington state. It was empty except for the bartender, who was watching an anti-NHS rant on Fox News, with its laughable slogan, "Fair and Balanced". We got chatting, and he said: "You're from England. They have socialized medicine over there."

Socialized is a dirty word here, appropriated by the right and given a whole new meaning. To me, it implies that people look after one another and the rich help to subsidize the poor; to the likes of Fox News, it means that Britain belongs up there with Cuba and North Korea in a totalitarian empire of evil. It's like the word "liberal", which to many people here is the worst insult you can bestow on anyone. To me, it's the opposite of "illiberal", and therefore a good thing.

The bartender told me that he'd recently had a hip replacement, and was glad his insurance company had taken care of all the bills because there was no way he could afford them. "If I'd had to go through your system, I'd still be waiting," he said.

"Maybe, but the waiting lists have come down dramatically since Tony Blair came to power," I said. And then I told him about my first wife, Jayne, who died of cancer in January 2006. "She was in and out of hospital for seven months, and she had every treatment in the book - intensive care, chemotherapy, everything. And do you know how much it all cost?"

He shook his head.

"Nor do I," I said. "That's because every penny of the bill was picked up by the taxpayer."

He didn't look convinced, and that was the end of the conversation because he had to attend to another customer. But I hope he went away and thought about it, because until people like him are convinced that a national health service is exactly what America needs, it's never going to happen.