The Joys of the US medical system

[Lansbury 19]

Have been having balance problems for a few days. Realised I had the same problem this time last year, along with block sinuses.

Oh well off to see the doc.

Explain symptoms and he says you had this last year. I say yes and I wondered if it was an allergy of some sort. He say yes it an allergy. Writes prescription. Total time about 5 minutes.

On top of my $367 a month insurance I paid a $30 co-pay, and $59.99 to have the only item on the prescription filled.

This is only the second time I've seen my doctor so since I saw him last my allergy has cost me $4493.99.

Edited March 27, 2008 by Lansbury

[Robyn-n-Kris 72]

As much as it sucks.. it's worse not to have it here LOL But trust me.. I feel your pain.

[Toshtishtash 1]

Eeek!

That's one thing that realllllly worries me about moving. I sure am going to miss the NHS...

[Lansbury 19]

Eeek!

That's one thing that realllllly worries me about moving. I sure am going to miss the NHS...

Quite amazing how good the old NHS looks from this side of the pond even with all it waiting times and a week to see your GP.

[luv2teach77 41]

I agree that the cost of medical care over here makes the NHS look like the best value for money ever. I also agree that when you add up what you pay to "have insurance" along with copays, prescription costs and the amounts we're left with when the insurance company has paid it's part, I often wonder what the point in insurance is at all !!

We have really been through the wringer with the insurance industry over here and it's left a pretty bad taste in both of our mouths. Add to that the contortions that some employers are doing nowadays to make it as hard as possible for workers to add family members to company policies, and I cuss under my breath whenever I have to pay a copay or some other charge in addition to my policy premiums.

The problem is that it's such a huge business now which employs so many people, that the companies have to keep driving up premiums to cover the administrative and employee costs associated with providing the insurance coverage in the first place. My wife currently (but not for much longer) opts out of her work policy and uses the $300 opt out stipend to pay for a private policy with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. Her monthly premium went up over $100 in the last 12 months to the point where to keep the cost manageable we have had to change to policy that now has a higher deductible and no prescription coverage. Luckily she'll be enrolling in the school policy in August so we shouldn't have to pay too much in precsription charges between now and then.

[Gaby&Talbert 1]

But how much are your income taxes in GB compared to the US? I know I have friends from Canada that pay a much higher percent tax than I have to pay here.

I do agree the US needs to fix the health care problems which mean allowing people to buy drugs for foreign competition and stop all the lawsuits which drive up the insurance for doctors and lawyers.

Here is a great example of how the US healthcare compares to for example Mexico. My wife is from Mexico so we visit quite often. She had a prescription which through my prescription insurance we pay $30 in the US. We went to a pharmacy in Mexico and without insurance for the exact same medicine we paid $30.

Another example, when my wife was pregnant and we went to visit her family she wanted to go see her Dr who was an OBGYN. Her Dr checked her out and also did an ultrasound. The charge for the visit and the ultrsound was $45. This is what a good Dr there charges without insurance, here in the US we would have paid $30 for the Copay visit and then the Ultrasound would be 20% only after the anual deductable was met. Her Ultrasound in the US was almost $400.00.

Something is seriously wrong with our system here, I don't thing national health care is the solution but something has to be done to bring the costs down here when you can drive across the border and get the same thing for less without insurance than what you pay here with insurance.

[raymaga 25]

"The Joys of the US medical system" doesn't really make sense!!!! There are NO joys!!!

However, in Canada, where I'm from.... we don't get "free" medical care.... we do in fact pay for it.... BIG TIME!!!!

At my husband's income level here in the U.S., he pays at least 1/4 of the income tax here than he would in Canada. So, we have more useable income here than we would ever have in Canada. The only difference is that in Canada you never have to worry about getting sick, going to the hospital, delivering babies or seeing a doctor. You may have to wait.... but it won't cost you anything.

[Lansbury 19]

"The Joys of the US medical system" doesn't really make sense!!!! There are NO joys!!!

It British humor - irony.

[Tex'n'Brit 0]

"The Joys of the US medical system" doesn't really make sense!!!! There are NO joys!!!

It British humor - irony.

I agree that there is little good to be said about the US medical system. Hubby and I are enrolled in his company's health scheme, but it costs us a fortune every month and it still scares me if anything should go wrong with our health. I'm very tempted to try to get back to the UK if I ever fall ill.

Irony does seem to be such a very British thing doesn't it? After two and a bit years here my new friends/family here still start chuckling or look totally blank/mystified sometimes when some new Anglo-ism slips out or I'm being ironic. It's a shame that people here don't automatically 'get' everything we Brits say. But then again I still don't 'get' everything I hear ... here either, and it does make for some entertaining conversations. Where I live, British accents are pretty rare, so that in itself intrigues practically everyone I meet.

Luckily my darling (Texan born) hubby is nearly fluent in Anglo and Irony now. In fact he's accidentally (or sometimes on purpose) said a variety of different English-isms at work and naturally they tend to amuse/bemuse/confuse his colleagues!

Mind you, a friend here claims she heard me say 'fixin to' in normal conversation ... ... Then again most of my new family and friends are 'leg pullers' like me, so who knows ... If I did, I bet it sounded weird, coming from an ex-pat 'snooty southerner' like me!

Edited March 29, 2008 by Tex'n'Brit

[TracyTN 237]

I agree that our system needs a major overhaul (namely to make it more affordable and available), but hubby & his family have very few nice things to say about the NHS - nor do I. After witnessing how he was treated after nearly losing 3 fingers, I did my level best not to go off on every NHS nurse I saw. I think the phrase I used to them was 'Even prisoners of war get food and water at least once a day!'

He prefers our system, even with the costs. I have to say I do too - I just think we can do better.

Edited March 31, 2008 by TracyTN

[pucklechurch 0]

Of course you can go private in the UK if you wish to pay and possibly get better treatment but my experience of the NHS has been perfectly good. I have had no problems with the British National Health service and neither has my bank manager. You can pay to be educated privately if you want to as well. If you have the money send your kids to Eton, Harrow or Winchester. If you want better health care and have money then do that as well. The choice is there.

In the US you pay and you pay a hell of a lot. Rich or poor. And if you are poor you can say goodbye to your savings if you have the misfortune to be involved in an accident.

It's funny how most civilised countries have national healthcare.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

The problem is that it's such a huge business now which employs so many people, that the companies have to keep driving up premiums to cover the administrative and employee costs associated with providing the insurance coverage in the first place.

I don't think admin costs are THE problem. I don't have an answer, but would like to share some personal data. I have software to manage medical expenses so I can give you exact dollar amounts easily. My husband died of cancer. In ten months of the year he died, we were billed $448,270.91 (yes, almost half a million). We only paid $3,438.97. I don't have the figures for the two years before that. That's why I pay for insurance.

Did you know that one round of chemotherapy, that's sitting in the chair one day, costs $8,000-$10,000? Have you seen those commercials where actors say "I'm ready" (for chemo) because they took something like Nulasta to boost their blood count? Did you know that's a shot that costs about $1,500? It's daunting.

[no name 1]

You get one free round of IVF on NHS.

'Nuff said.

[sj5 4]

there's no Joy

[Tex'n'Brit 0]

The problem is that it's such a huge business now which employs so many people, that the companies have to keep driving up premiums to cover the administrative and employee costs associated with providing the insurance coverage in the first place.

I don't think admin costs are THE problem. I don't have an answer, but would like to share some personal data. I have software to manage medical expenses so I can give you exact dollar amounts easily. My husband died of cancer. In ten months of the year he died, we were billed $448,270.91 (yes, almost half a million). We only paid $3,438.97. I don't have the figures for the two years before that. That's why I pay for insurance.

Did you know that one round of chemotherapy, that's sitting in the chair one day, costs $8,000-$10,000? Have you seen those commercials where actors say "I'm ready" (for chemo) because they took something like Nulasta to boost their blood count? Did you know that's a shot that costs about $1,500? It's daunting.

I'm so sorry you lost your husband like that.

Thank goodness you had insurance - those numbers for just ten months are terrifying. We have insurance too, but it makes me shudder even imagining the worry and stress levels involved, even have to look at figures like that would scare me. I find the whole prospect of handling my darling Kyle ever falling ill here very daunting indeed. If it's me that gets ill ... well, I think I really might try to catch the first plane back to the UK, if possible - At least I know how everything works there.

I hope life has improved for you since that difficult time.

PS - If anyone hasn't seen Michael Moore's 'Sicko' film (which is mostly about the US medical insurance industry), you might like to get it on DVD ... It's quite revealing/annoying/entertaining, depending on your point of view/politics

Edited April 3, 2008 by Tex'n'Brit