Some uncomfortable truths

[chloe 1]

Wow, whatever happened to patriotism?

no offense, but I worked in Upper Holloway Jobcentre for 5 years and believe me, Beirut looks appealing in comparison.

England is a beautiful country with such diversity, we have excellent healthcare, welfare for those who need it and

everything one could possibly want.

It annoys me that, I pay the same tax in the US, yet if my daughter needs an ambulance, Ill get billed $600.

So we are forced to pay insurance as well as taxes, that sucks.

I love my husband and I love where we live, but I find it hard that things I have taken for granted, just aren't available

in the US yet.

I hope that the US follows Britains lead, as far as Healthcare and Welfare goes and Britain follows the US' lead in

Immigration issues.

guess, Im alone here...right?

x

[broma25 2]

Wow, whatever happened to patriotism?

no offense, but I worked in Upper Holloway Jobcentre for 5 years and believe me, Beirut looks appealing in comparison.

England is a beautiful country with such diversity, we have excellent healthcare, welfare for those who need it and

everything one could possibly want.

It annoys me that, I pay the same tax in the US, yet if my daughter needs an ambulance, Ill get billed $600.

So we are forced to pay insurance as well as taxes, that sucks.

I love my husband and I love where we live, but I find it hard that things I have taken for granted, just aren't available

in the US yet.

I hope that the US follows Britains lead, as far as Healthcare and Welfare goes and Britain follows the US' lead in

Immigration issues.

guess, Im alone here...right?

x

I agree with you Chloe. The healthcare drives me nuts here. Yes we have insurance, but alas I cannot always afford the Co pays so hence I dont get treatment when I need it.......and that sucks!!!!!!!!

[TracyTN 237]

I hope that the US follows Britains lead, as far as Healthcare and Welfare goes and Britain follows the US' lead in

Immigration issues.

guess, Im alone here...right?

x

No you're not alone - but for healthcare, only to the extent that its affordable and available to all.

For immigration - following our lead would be great. Making the system more automated and in the 20th century (instead of where we are, having to play catch up) would be optimal. Oh and securing the borders would be nice too.

[Dr_LHA 3]

I'm with you Chloe about healthcare. Actually someone asked me last night if I wanted to go to see "Sicko". My response was that I didn't need Michael Moore to tell me that the US healthcare system is f***ed up, because I come from a country where free healthcare is a given, so I'm fully aware!

Edited July 20, 2007 by Dr_LHA

[TracyTN 237]

Free? I thought everyone paid in (unless disabled or of a certain age)?

[Dr_LHA 3]

Free? I thought everyone paid in (unless disabled or of a certain age)?

Yeah, of course, taxes. I never paid any taxes in the UK though, so it was free to me.

Right now however I pay $150 a month for health insurance (on top of what my employers pay). I wonder how this compares to how much people pay in taxes towards the NHS every month in the USA.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

Free? I thought everyone paid in (unless disabled or of a certain age)?

Yeah, of course, taxes. I never paid any taxes in the UK though, so it was free to me.

Right now however I pay $150 a month for health insurance (on top of what my employers pay). I wonder how this compares to how much people pay in taxes towards the NHS every month in the USA.

My own experience is that it works out about the same. Of course, that's just the cost of insurance, never mind the copays and the costs insurance doesn't cover.

Of course, we pay for healthcare through our taxes here in the US - as a percentage of GDP, it's about the same as the UK. We just don't have universal healthcare.

[Dan J 277]

Free? I thought everyone paid in (unless disabled or of a certain age)?

Yeah, of course, taxes. I never paid any taxes in the UK though, so it was free to me.

Right now however I pay $150 a month for health insurance (on top of what my employers pay). I wonder how this compares to how much people pay in taxes towards the NHS every month in the USA.

Its not easy to compare it directly, my estimate is that those in the UK pay about half of what we do in the US, maybe even less since everyone is paying unlike here were 40 million people go without health insurance.

To compare the US spends about 16% of its GDP on health care, UK is around 8%. There are other factors to take into account, but we generally spend too much for what we are getting out of it.

[broma25 2]

I did a comparison of my wages here and my wages in the UK.

Earnings for earnings I pay the same taxes here as I did in the UK, included in my US taxes are what I pay for medical here (wage deduction).

I am still left with a defecit of $700 per month AND I have to pay Co-pays and a 3 tier prescription plan. There is also the BS about pre-authorization certificates for certain medicine. It took a whole week for my Dr's office here to tell my husband that he cannot have the medicine he was prescribed in the emergency room.

I think both systems have their faults, but I now have a problem with my foot and lord only knows when I will have the money to get that looked at.....I am also 2 months late in having a follow up mammogram as they wanted me to have a repeat at 6 months (again no $$). At least in the UK my appointments may be a way off but they would come around eventually.

At this rate I will have to wait until my next bonus check in April 2008.

Welcome to America........

[Dr_LHA 3]

Of course, we pay for healthcare through our taxes here in the US - as a percentage of GDP, it's about the same as the UK. We just don't have universal healthcare.

Therein lies the problem. We pay the same amount of money, but there's a large part of the population who is too well off to get free healthcare, but not well off enough to have insurance. So we're effectively getting less for our money.

[cheeky^Wolf 0]

I agree about the healthcare and it's the one thing that worries me about getting older in the US. It's very sad to see people not getting treatment needed due to cost.

Saying that, I went to the doctors this week with abdominal pain. She told me she wanted me to have an EKG and an Ultrasound. The EKG machine was wheeled into the examination room and the ultrasound was booked for 2 days later. I walked out 45 minutes later with a prescription which cost me $4.

In the UK, I waited 8 months for an ultrasound appointment, which then came through for when I was on vacation, so I went back on the waiting list and am probably still on it! Gotta love the NHS.

[KaiserD 12]

we have excellent healthcare

I am (very genuinely) glad if you've had good experiences with the NHS.

Unfortunatly I did not. I had to wait up to 2 weeks for an appointment for a GP, my grandmother got told she had cancer when she didn't, my grandfather had to wait over a month for an "emergancy" appointment for what was thought to be a cancerous mole, Warrington hospital almost killed my mother through neglect when they failed to give her an important drug they knew she needed, got a call at 4am telling us to come...plus we have had nothing but grief with two of the consultants, they are very arrogant (when mum said she was feeling down because of her lack of normal life she was told "just be glad you don't have cancer").

Then there's my own care, it took me years to get diagnosed with Endo after being told I can't have it, it's very unlikely I have it, don't worry about it unless you want kids e.t.c ... I do recognise that's a bit different as some things are hard to diagnose but still.

In the mean time I move to the US and although I had to wait a few hours I got to see a GP on a SATURDAY, on the same day that I decided something needed to be done. And the place was clean! And the doctor was friendly!

Some of the medicine and care is over priced, and I hear it's going to get worse but if I can be treated like a human being and not a statistic and not have to worry about picking something UP from the hospital then maybe it is worth it.

By the way, not getting at the OP or anyone else on the thread, but it's a subject I am very passionate about (lots of things I didn't bother to mention too).

[broma25 2]

we have excellent healthcare

I am (very genuinely) glad if you've had good experiences with the NHS.

Unfortunatly I did not. I had to wait up to 2 weeks for an appointment for a GP, my grandmother got told she had cancer when she didn't, my grandfather had to wait over a month for an "emergancy" appointment for what was thought to be a cancerous mole, Warrington hospital almost killed my mother through neglect when they failed to give her an important drug they knew she needed, got a call at 4am telling us to come...plus we have had nothing but grief with two of the consultants, they are very arrogant (when mum said she was feeling down because of her lack of normal life she was told "just be glad you don't have cancer").

Then there's my own care, it took me years to get diagnosed with Endo after being told I can't have it, it's very unlikely I have it, don't worry about it unless you want kids e.t.c ... I do recognise that's a bit different as some things are hard to diagnose but still.

In the mean time I move to the US and although I had to wait a few hours I got to see a GP on a SATURDAY, on the same day that I decided something needed to be done. And the place was clean! And the doctor was friendly!

Some of the medicine and care is over priced, and I hear it's going to get worse but if I can be treated like a human being and not a statistic and not have to worry about picking something UP from the hospital then maybe it is worth it.

By the way, not getting at the OP or anyone else on the thread, but it's a subject I am very passionate about (lots of things I didn't bother to mention too).

We are all here to give our own opinions and experiences.....no need to feel bad....sorry though that you had so much ####### to contend with from the NHS. It was always good to me, but then again I was never really sick.

[chloe 1]

So sorry to hear about your experiences with the NHS.

I too, have had bad experiences, had friends and relatives misdiagnosed.

On the whole however, its the reassurance that if my child takes ill, or I do, I can see a doctor that morning

and receive the necessary treatment at little or no cost.

Here, I panic that one of us will take ill, as we fall into the category of not having insurance as yet.

We aren't poor, but it isn't easy for us to be able to afford healthcare until we have 2 incomes, so if one of us were to fall ill, it will be a 'bill me later' situation. Not ideal.

Makes me feel rather vulnerable to say the least, my pristeen credit isn't going to stay that way too long, if we get the

sniffles.

Still, the fast food is excellent and my husband is wonderful, but I won't hear a bad word about ol' Blighty..

ohhh......toad in the hole..

[munchkins 0]

I should of said my husband DOES miss the bacon! lol

Ohhh the bacon!!

Go for it Lansbury! I'm midway through joining the American masses in the medical field. Something I always wanted to do in the UK, but the idea of being a paramedic around London just filled me with fear. As well as learning the medical side, I also have to learn my way around the Township! I think that may be the bigger hurdle of the two. Not looking forward to trying to drive backwards through cones in an ambulance for my driving certification, but it'll be fun I'm sure.

Definitely the bacon

I am an "OAP" as classed in the UK but certainly do not feel it here, I love this country and we have settled in really well. Neither of us miss the UK and I can say that honestly with hand on heart. Will I give up my British citizenship, I doubt it, as it will affect my pension I think ,which is transferred over her every month and after paying in nearly all my life to it in the UK I am not giving it up.

Life is what you make it and if you come here with the attitude that this is a new life, embrace it, and you will love it!!!

Becca, good to see you girl, hope that you and Wes are as good as ever

Val