629 Dollar Band Aid Bill After An ER Visit For A Pinky Cut.

reflection4 said:
You're sure?:confused:
There is no waiting list.
(Unlike the wait for that great health care in the UK, etc.)
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Only certain patients can be accepted at hospitals like St. Judes. And if you don't live near it or the other rare free kids hospitals you have to quit work and move there or leave your sick kid alone in the hospital.

Don't believe all the bias you read in the US media about the NHS in the UK or Canada. They are trying to convince Americans that it's crappy care and they are better off in the US. In the UK there is no waiting if you have a life threatening disease. Depending on where you live, you may have a wait for a specialist appointment or non life threatening surgeries and there are maximum waiting times that must be met. Emergencies are take care of immediately.

If you live in London or a big city you're likely to wait longer that elsewhere. The NHS in England is separate from the NHS in Scotland. My husband and I have zero complaints about any care or waiting times. When we've needed specialist appointments we have always gotten them within a week even though it wasn't life threatening. In Scotland and Wales all prescriptions are free. When I was first living here I asked about getting a bone density scan as my last one in the US (a heel scan) wasn't very good. Within about 2 weeks I was sent for a full body scan! No charge of course.

We have an NHS dentist. We pay £10 every 6 months for a thorough cleaning and check up.

Nobody ever has to file for bankruptcy due to medical bills in the UK. I believe that healthcare should be a right, not a privilege. The US is the only first world country that doesn't think so. You can keep it. I'll keep the NHS.

I was very lucky that my kids and I never got seriously ill or injured during the many years when I had no health insurance from my jobs in the US.
 

reflection4 said:
You're sure?:confused:
There is no waiting list.
(Unlike the wait for that great health care in the UK, etc.)
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Don't believe all you read in the press, I have never yet had to wait to see a doctor or specialist.

I have also been receiving free prescriptions since I turned sixty even though I was still working.

I also receive free NHS dental care.
 
Just having read this stuff, I wonder who is then paying for it all. Someone has to pay as it is not 'free' in fact.

I guess I was lucky as most of my employers did offer health care as part of the package. The one I retired from had a very good plan but when Obama care came on we were warned about the ultimate rise in cost and given a fixed dollar amount to spend against for coverage and then out of pocket. So they have tried to defend themselves from a mistaken 'better health plan' which will need fixed soon.

Dental is not part of the Obama care unit so we now buy from an insurance company. It does save us from the charges placed so I don't mind buying the insurance.

The cost of our health plan is not well publicized so we only know it is not fair as the insurance companies stop supporting or the rates start going up.

Interesting that the US hospital system is downgraded so severely as that must mean they rate it highly on the charges and not the skills and services. We have had more than one wealthy person come from over seas for the better services options. I remember one was a Canadian, don't remember if he was a politician or wealthy, but he came to the US for hospital services.
 

reflection4 said:
Better to believe comments and assumptions on internet forums? :laugh:

Glad you're happy with you health plan!
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We are people who use the NHS. Patients comments have value. You can't argue with the facts - no one ever goes bankrupt in the UK due to medical bills. You can't say the same for the US. You could try using Google to check it out yourself. Or is easier to believe what the media feeds you?
 
BobF said:
Just having read this stuff, I wonder who is then paying for it all. Someone has to pay as it is not 'free' in fact.

I guess I was lucky as most of my employers did offer health care as part of the package. The one I retired from had a very good plan but when Obama care came on we were warned about the ultimate rise in cost and given a fixed dollar amount to spend against for coverage and then out of pocket. So they have tried to defend themselves from a mistaken 'better health plan' which will need fixed soon.

Dental is not part of the Obama care unit so we now buy from an insurance company. It does save us from the charges placed so I don't mind buying the insurance.

The cost of our health plan is not well publicized so we only know it is not fair as the insurance companies stop supporting or the rates start going up.

Interesting that the US hospital system is downgraded so severely as that must mean they rate it highly on the charges and not the skills and services. We have had more than one wealthy person come from over seas for the better services options. I remember one was a Canadian, don't remember if he was a politician or wealthy, but he came to the US for hospital services.
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If you bothered to read my post #17....I said it is not free, it is paid for by our taxes. It is free at the point of service. Since it's not a 'for profit' system like the US it costs a lot less to run.
 
As far as wait time in the US in some states depending on the insurance available in that state and state regulations the wait time for an appointment has been frequently 2-3 months out just to get something checked out. A lot of that are practices trying to ensure every opening is filled for production line medical care. In the meantime a simple problem can turn into a big problem. This is why I have no problems with urgent care or clinic type medicine. So what I might have to wait an hour or two to be seen. I'd rather go through some inconvenience than have an issue hanging over my head for months or more importantly get worse.

The reason I mention state regulation of medical care is that I noticed in poorer states there are shorter wait times, cash will get you in the door compared to some states without insurance of any kind options tend to be extremely limited.
 
WhatInThe said:
As far as wait time in the US in some states depending on the insurance available in that state and state regulations the wait time for an appointment has been frequently 2-3 months out just to get something checked out. A lot of that are practices trying to ensure every opening is filled for production line medical care. In the meantime a simple problem can turn into a big problem. This is why I have no problems with urgent care or clinic type medicine. So what I might have to wait an hour or two to be seen. I'd rather go through some inconvenience than have an issue hanging over my head for months or more importantly get worse.

The reason I mention state regulation of medical care is that I noticed in poorer states there are shorter weight times, cash will get you in the door compared to some states without insurance of any kind options tend to be extremely limited.
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I never have to wait for an appointment here. It's always within a week unless I tell them it's urgent.

When I discoverd I had shingles a few years ago it was a Saturday, so couldn't go to my doctor's office. I phoned the NHS help line staffed by nurses and they set me up with an appointment at the local hospital. The doctor met me at the hospital, looked at my rash, and gave me a prescription for an anti-viral which I took to the nearest pharmacy. My shingles lasted only one week.
 
Ameriscot said:
I never have to wait for an appointment here. It's always within a week unless I tell them it's urgent.

When I discoverd I had shingles a few years ago it was a Saturday, so couldn't go to my doctor's office. I phoned the NHS help line staffed by nurses and they set me up with an appointment at the local hospital. The doctor met me at the hospital, looked at my rash, and gave me a prescription for an anti-viral which I took to the nearest pharmacy. My shingles lasted only one week.
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Not only telling them it's urgent but if the doctors office slips you into to a cancelled routine appointment opening they still bill it as urgent or emergency care even though days later. Single payer or a national health care system should definitely be an option but not a mandate.
 
WhatInThe said:
Not only telling them it's urgent but if the doctors office slips you into to a cancelled routine appointment opening they still bill it as urgent or emergency care even though days later. Single payer or a national health care system should definitely be an option but not a mandate.
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That's not how it works here. They don't bill anyone. Each office is given a budget for the year. There is no billing. Same with emergencies or hospital stays.
 
Ameriscot said:
That's not how it works here. They don't bill anyone. Each office is given a budget for the year. There is no billing. Same with emergencies or hospital stays.
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Sounds like a pay me now(with taxes) or pay me later(out of pocket). Is one designated a location or doctor by home address? Is there even a private sector when it comes to health care?
 
WhatInThe said:
Sounds like a pay me now(with taxes) or pay me later(out of pocket). Is one designated a location or doctor by home address? Is there even a private sector when it comes to health care?
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You never pay for healthcare here except out of general income taxes. It's not a special tax. There is no out of pocket unless you're a tourist. Normally you go to the doctors for your area, but if you don't like them you can sign up with another doctor. It would be difficult to do in a big city like London though.

There is private health insurance you can buy and they apparently have no waiting times at all. Never felt a need to do that as I'm very happy with my care here and my doctors.
 
Not sure where these delays come from in the US. I usually have no problems for doctor care or hospital events. We do have extended day care centers for when your doctor is not available, or you don't have one, and for half day Saturday. For any weekend sickness we can walk into the hospital emergency entrance and by law they are required to take us in and make sure we get taken care of. I have done that myself and also taken my wife in. It works pretty good and at least you get checked out and understand what is next. Do we end up paying, certainly, as we can. Do the real poor, not working, foreign visitors need to pay. They will be asked but if unable I am sure they do get let go. Maybe a bill to their countries for payment, but who can enforce that if their country refuses. The truly poor will get taken care of by our good folks that do help the poor. The illegal immigrants will get taken care of also. In the US we have plenty of charity going on and these are from the people or the governments or the hospitals business rules.

Plenty of our Obama care is paid for by our federal government using the tax moneys plus the many insurance policies that we must also buy. Some how all this seems to be a big rip off of the US taxpayers from day one. Soon to be corrected I hope. Next year should be a new year for out health system.
 
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BobF said:
Not sure where these delays come from in the US. I usually have no problems for doctor care or hospital events
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Never had a problem getting to see a doctor (sometimes on same day I call). Never had to go on a waiting list. I do know of people in UK who had go go on a waiting list to see a doctor or wait for months to have surgery. I've never had that problem.
 
reflection4 said:
Never had a problem getting to see a doctor (sometimes on same day I call). Never had to go on a waiting list. I do know of people in UK who had go go on a waiting list to see a doctor or wait for months to have surgery. I've never had that problem.
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I usually wait a couple of weeks to see my doctor but have an ER and urgent care nearby too. The dentist makes appointments faster and I have an appointment tomorrow. I also know of people that had to wait for about a month for their doctor appointment. Sometimes my gyn. takes a month to see.
 
reflection4 said:
Never had a problem getting to see a doctor (sometimes on same day I call). Never had to go on a waiting list. I do know of people in UK who had go go on a waiting list to see a doctor or wait for months to have surgery. I've never had that problem.
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Which people? According to some US news story? What percentage of the population and in which country?
 
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Ruthanne said:
I usually wait a couple of weeks to see my doctor but have an ER and urgent care nearby too. The dentist makes appointments faster and I have an appointment tomorrow. I also know of people that had to wait for about a month for their doctor appointment. Sometimes my gyn. takes a month to see.
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If I cancel/reschedule an appt I sometimes have a longer wait, but for routine things that's understandable.
 
reflection4 said:
Never had a problem getting to see a doctor (sometimes on same day I call). Never had to go on a waiting list. I do know of people in UK who had go go on a waiting list to see a doctor or wait for months to have surgery. I've never had that problem.
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I have never yet had to go on a waiting list to see a doctor, the last time I had to have non urgent surgery I was admitted to hospital within 3 days of seeing my doctor.

I only know about American medical care with what I have read of members personal experiences and expenses on different forums and each time I have read them.............I am always grateful for the fact we have the NHS in this country.
 
Bee said:
I have never yet had to go on a waiting list to see a doctor, the last time I had to have non urgent surgery I was admitted to hospital within 3 days of seeing my doctor.

I only know about American medical care with what I have read of members personal experiences and expenses on different forums and each time I have read them.............I am always grateful for the fact we have the NHS in this country.
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I am grateful as well, especially when I read here how much everyone has to pay for all the various Medicare and other insurance plans, the co-pays, etc. I know there is a small fee in England for prescriptions, but elsewhere there is none. Except for my allergy meds I rarely need a prescription, but glad I never have to pay.

Even when I had employer insurance in the US from a university I still had to pay $15 for each doctor visit, all my prescriptions, and 10% of my two surgeries.
 

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