Anyone wish they were back in the UK

[DiZZyLoX 114]

Something that gets lost in this debate is that healthcare overall, by virtue of the NHS being a single payer system, is MUCH cheaper than the US even if you do elect to go private in the UK, which is always an option if you get put on a waiting list. I had BUPA through my employer which was free to me, but valued for taxation purposes at 495 quid annually. My US premiums are 584% more expensive than that for what I pay directly - I have no idea the costs to my employer.

Totally. Which is the reason most of us give for the reason why we feel us health system isnt perfect. But I can't wrap my head around thinking you can't get care here. You can. You gotta jump through the hoops but you can.

[Susita 175]

I think healthcare costs in this country are way out of whack. I'm not sure how I feel about socialized medicine, but I also don't think it's OK to profit off of someone NOT having a necessary surgery, etc. Do I think it should be free? No. Even socialized medicine isn't free (TAXES)! When the healthcare industry's #1 goal is profit, and not the best interest of the patient, then we have a problem.

Capitalist Case for Nonprofit Health Insurance

I thought this article was interesting, read it a while back.

We lost the positive aspects of affiliation health insurance starting in the 1960s and through the 1980s when Wall Street discovered there was money to be made turning nonprofit health insurers, hospitals and nursing homes into investor-owned companies. What we got was a massive conflict-of-interest--profit vs. public good--that has culminated in a dysfunctional health delivery system that has undermined our economy, reduced our national wealth and torn our social fabric.

[DiZZyLoX 114]

I think healthcare costs in this country are way out of whack. I'm not sure how I feel about socialized medicine, but I also don't think it's OK to profit off of someone NOT having a necessary surgery, etc. Do I think it should be free? No. Even socialized medicine isn't free (TAXES)! When the healthcare industry's #1 goal is profit, and not the best interest of the patient, then we have a problem.

Capitalist Case for Nonprofit Health Insurance

I thought this article was interesting, read it a while back.

Agree!!

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

I followed the rules. Went to one of the best colleges in the States, moved to the UK, got a few more degrees, built up a great career. Had the NHS and, like Trompe, had private cover (PPP). Moved back to the US, started a career as a consultant and had to buy my own insurance. My outrageous rates went up when the insurance company decided it felt like it. Bye-bye cover.

I have a great job, and it has NO health insurance. I need this position in order to move ahead in my career path and it was unbelievably hard to get. I've had illnesses I haven't been able to have taken care of because I cannot afford to go to the doctor. End of. I cannot afford it. Eventually, after I convert my English law degree into a California qualification, I should be able to afford it again. But it is bananas that I should be expected to feel terrified of getting seriously ill. I'm separated with no children. I rent. The likelihood that I can qualify for Medicaid or Medi-CAL is nil.

I'm a nice middle-class girl who made all the right life choices and I'm still getting screwed by this system. America seems filled with a "I got mine, who gives a toss about you?" mentality that I find sickening. The common weal is important to us ALL as a nation. In my opinion, failure to provide for a healthy society is immoral. But hey, you got yours, and I should just go get a job that has cover, right?

Yeah, right.

I think healthcare costs in this country are way out of whack. I'm not sure how I feel about socialized medicine, but I also don't think it's OK to profit off of someone NOT having a necessary surgery, etc.

Agreed. It's disgusting that profits are being earned on other people's ill health.

[Robert&Karen 264]

So if a person is paying nothing for health insurance, they should get no health care?

If I pay nothing for car insurance, how much coverage do you think I should get?

Also of note, my employer coverage that costs me $1,000 a month is the SAME that I can buy online for $400 a month. But I have to get it through work. Why can I not go buy it myself?

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

I think healthcare costs in this country are way out of whack. I'm not sure how I feel about socialized medicine, but I also don't think it's OK to profit off of someone NOT having a necessary surgery, etc. Do I think it should be free? No. Even socialized medicine isn't free (TAXES)! When the healthcare industry's #1 goal is profit, and not the best interest of the patient, then we have a problem.

Capitalist Case for Nonprofit Health Insurance

I thought this article was interesting, read it a while back.

Some of the most critical articles of the US system I've read have come from The Economist, the gist being that for all the money (private AND public) that we pour into healthcare it is outrageous that we do not have universal cover and costs that are spiraling out of control.

The US spends the same percentage of GDP in public money as Britain (and a similar level to Canada and Japan, slightly less than Germany and France) and yet we don't have universal cover.

[Susita 175]

America seems filled with a "I got mine, who gives a toss about you?" mentality that I find sickening.

I've noticed that too. It's a very "American" thing. We're all about independence, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, etc., which in a lot of ways is AWESOME, but in some ways is too extreme. When it means losing your sense of community or refusing to see that others truly need help and things are not fair, then it becomes a problem.

I think more people say things like that than actually think it though. I'd like to see what happens when some of the "too bad" people get themselves in a pickle (lose their job) and have to work somewhere where health insurance isn't offered & they can't afford to purchase a plan to cover themselves and their families, and Medicaid won't help them.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

If I pay nothing for car insurance, how much coverage do you think I should get?

Also of note, my employer coverage that costs me $1,000 a month is the SAME that I can buy online for $400 a month. But I have to get it through work. Why can I not go buy it myself?

Can't you? I've never worked anywhere where I was required to take a benefit that was offered.

[Susita 175]

If I pay nothing for car insurance, how much coverage do you think I should get?

Owning a car is a privilege, healthcare is a human right.

Article 25 of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) reads:

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

[DiZZyLoX 114]

I think the fix is to make healthcare available and affordable to everyone no matter their working status. Tge piece I dont think has been answered is who pays for that massive reduction in rates. I've always felt that way. I don't know the realistic answer to that which will make everyone happy. I just know truly free isn't it.

given where we are today, i'm playing the game with the choices I was given. To me insurance is a high priority because I need health care. Sure, it'd be great not to have to weigh that in my list of elective priorities, but today it has to be.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

They get health care and the bill that comes with it. It doesn't seem your issue is with healthcare, your issue is with who picks up the bill.

My hubby went to ER on a visit here to see me and we werent even engaged then. All they knew was that he had a first name and last name. He got excellent care, medicine and discharge instruction. 2 weeks later we got the bill. Like I'd expect.

His travel insurance picked up the bill. Nothing is free...TODAY. You do what you gotta do. I'm confused as to why this is being argued when you can get care. Anyone can.

Are you arguing that you can't get care or are you arguing that the doctors getting paid for what they do and the means to which are offered to pay them are not to your satisfaction?

And if not, i'm curious what you think is the solution?

In your personal example, your fiance had travel insurance that picked up the tab.

You have health insurance through your job.

It looks to me like you, personally, are familiar with situations where insurance kicks in for payment.

Some people don't have insurance. 15% of the population and rising.

What would you do if you didn't have insurance?

[Susita 175]

who pays for that massive reduction in rates.

Maybe not pay health insurance & pharmaceutical execs. astronomical salaries and bonuses. I don't know, it's just a start. But I'm sure it would absorb a bit of the expense, don't ya think?

15 Executives Who Get Paid Millions to Deny You Healthcare Coverage

[TracyTN 237]

I think more people say things like that than actually think it though. I'd like to see what happens when some of the "too bad" people get themselves in a pickle (lose their job) and have to work somewhere where health insurance isn't offered & they can't afford to purchase a plan to cover themselves and their families, and Medicaid won't help them.

I haven't heard anyone here say 'too bad' to those who lose their job and have no coverage. Anyone who would say that is just an #######.

[Susita 175]

I haven't heard anyone here say 'too bad' to those who lose their job and have no coverage. Anyone who would say that is just an #######.

They wouldn't say it to their face, they say it on the internet.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

If I pay nothing for car insurance, how much coverage do you think I should get?

Also of note, my employer coverage that costs me $1,000 a month is the SAME that I can buy online for $400 a month. But I have to get it through work. Why can I not go buy it myself?

I don't understand either why you HAVE to buy your insurance through your employer. I've never heard of such a thing. But if it is true, then perhaps you are feeling the pinch of lack of choice?