Great moments in UK health care

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

After dealing with the insurance company for that procedure I found that this is how healthcare in the US is managed. You're supposed to expect to get bills in the mail, expect to have to fight them and argue it out between the healthcare provider and the insurance company. It's amazing how much time gets eaten up by that #######.

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

Yes, the US system makes SO much sense. I hated being oppressed by the excellent standard of care I had under an NHS/BUPA combo. I was yearning to be free so I could have my time and soul sucked fighting with health insurance companies.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Yes, the US system makes SO much sense. I hated being oppressed by the excellent standard of care I had under an NHS/BUPA combo. I was yearning to be free so I could have my time and soul sucked fighting with health insurance companies.

I feel sorry for anyone who has a chronic condition and has to deal with that stuff on a day to day basis.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

I feel sorry for anyone who has a chronic condition and has to deal with that stuff on a day to day basis.

So what was the cure? An allergy?

Edited July 18, 2010 by Col. Lingus

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

So what was the cure? An allergy?

The cure for what?

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

The cure for my lymphatic condition was excision of the lymph nodes.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The cure for my lymphatic condition was excision of the lymph nodes.

Same here.

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

Same here.

Except mine cost 100 quid (which at that point in time would have been approximately $170) and yours cost $3000.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Except mine cost 100 quid (which at that point in time would have been approximately $170) and yours cost $3000.

Yep, except for that.

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

US healthcare rocks -- so glad I don't have the jackboot of socialised healthcare on the neck of my medical expenses any more.

[Marilyn. 340]

a few months ago I went to the ER because I was having stomach problems.. they took a few blood tests, the doctor poked and prodded a little bit and then they gave me some nasty stuff to drink and sent me on my way.. a few weeks later I got the bill which was under 100 bucks which is what I was expecting.. I paid it and thought that was the end of that.. then about 2 months later I get a bill for about 300 bucks from the same hospital for that visit and I was like this isn't right do I checked our insurance site online and something didn't quite add up so I called the insurance company and they said the hospital was trying to double bill them but they couldn't do anything about it because the doctor that saw me in the ER was not covered by our insurance How in the heck was I supposed to know that when I went to the ER, I just assumed that because the hospital was covered by our insurance that everyone working there would be too ..... anyways, they had sent this bill under that doctor's name (sneaky bastards)

so I found the email address of the hospital and emailed them explaining the situation and figured if they didn't respond I would call them.. well the next day I get an email from the hospital saying they were sorry and that my account was now closed with a balance of $0.. yeah it all worked out but why should it have happened in the first place.. and I wonder how many people would have just paid the bill

and this wasn't the first time I had to straighten out a bill either... a lot of the times the doctors want to charge you the difference between the discount and what the insurance actually pays..

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

a few months ago I went to the ER because I was having stomach problems.. they took a few blood tests, the doctor poked and prodded a little bit and then they gave me some nasty stuff to drink and sent me on my way.. a few weeks later I got the bill which was under 100 bucks which is what I was expecting.. I paid it and thought that was the end of that.. then about 2 months later I get a bill for about 300 bucks from the same hospital for that visit and I was like this isn't right do I checked our insurance site online and something didn't quite add up so I called the insurance company and they said the hospital was trying to double bill them but they couldn't do anything about it because the doctor that saw me in the ER was not covered by our insurance How in the heck was I supposed to know that when I went to the ER, I just assumed that because the hospital was covered by our insurance that everyone working there would be too ..... anyways, they had sent this bill under that doctor's name (sneaky bastards)

so I found the email address of the hospital and emailed them explaining the situation and figured if they didn't respond I would call them.. well the next day I get an email from the hospital saying they were sorry and that my account was now closed with a balance of $0.. yeah it all worked out but why should it have happened in the first place.. and I wonder how many people would have just paid the bill

and this wasn't the first time I had to straighten out a bill either... a lot of the times the doctors want to charge you the difference between the discount and what the insurance actually pays..

There have been complaints about the bureaucracy in the NHS, but I can't imagine it is any better under the US system - especially when the patient is thrown right in the middle of it.

[Mags 112]

I had only one -- ONE -- bad experience with the NHS, and that was with an NHS-affiliated student health care service. Sorry to say that the standard of care I received in the UK was superior to that which I have received since I came back to the US. I was always treated in a timely fashion and with excellent care.

Healthcare in the US scares the pants off me. Not the actual care itself, which is adequate (for the most part), but it is the potential financial consquences afterwards.

The NHS has always been great to me - I have no complaints. No, it's not perfect, but it ain't going to bankrupt you if you need a heart bypass operation.

[slim 1,533]

What kind of "deal" do you guys get for that health care? In other words, how much are you paying in taxes and are there any costs associated with treatments, medications, etc.?

I only ask because here in the US I don't have to pay for health care if I don't want to. I can simply "opt out" by not going to the hospital or doctor. You guys don't have that choice, do you?

I hear soon we're not going to have that choice either so I'm wondering what I'm looking forward to. Also, let's not forget the OP of this thread. Still denying that was the case?

[Pooky 3,850]

Healthcare in the US scares the pants off me. Not the actual care itself, which is adequate (for the most part), but it is the potential financial consquences afterwards.

The NHS has always been great to me - I have no complaints. No, it's not perfect, but it ain't going to bankrupt you if you need a heart bypass operation.

Same here. US healthcare is a business, not care.