The high cost of a simple doctor's appointment.

hollydolly said:
oh bless you Mike, 🧡 ..I'm not exactly young at 64, but the point is that if I don't get this treatment, I probably won't get old.. !! I'm not being dramatic unfortunately it's fact!!
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I'm sorry to hear this HD. I sure hope the medicine will work and work well and that you'll get better💜
 

Hollydolly - all our very best wishes from the Lightning clan. Surely if your problem is that serious, you should be fast tracked to see a GP. We have that process here.

Buckeye, we are entitled to free healthcare, and in most parts of the UK, free prescriptions too. The weakness of the system is that you increasingly have to wait for it. If you have a minor or ongoing complaint, this may not be a problem. If you have an emergency, you will get seen right away. However, if you fall outside these, you could well have an unacceptable wait and pay to go down the private route.

I don't even bother with the NHS for things like physio or dentistry, I just pay up. There is no waiting (here anyway) for eye care.
 
Thank you @Capt Lightning, for your best wishes.🧡 they're really appreciated.

Oh yes I could have seen my GP..or more to the point a locum on the day, but there's a strict 8 minute appointment time, so trying to remember everything that crucially needed to be told means that things are often overlooked in the rush to get everything said., However the GP couldn't fast track me to the hospital, so for my almost 100 pounds I got to see a doctor immediately, who had time to listen and explain precisely what she believes is happening and make the necessary advisories, and prescribe the necessary medication . and who also has it within her power to fast track me to the necessary consultant at the hospital immediately also.. Unfair as it is to everyone who cannot afford this, I'm both relieved, altho' slightly irritated that so many doctors are using private practice rather than work for the NHS with it's national shortage. ..

I pay for dentistry that's just something I've always done , and physio which I have regularly for my knee and sometimes for my back . There's little or no waiting list here for eye appointments, dentists or physio, but for eye ''care'' at the hospital unless it' a total emergency then there quite a long waiting list at Moorfields
 

The "doctor" is another crook milking Medicare for every dollar he/she can get. These scammers cause the cost of Medicare to continually rise. When patients do nothing about it they are Justas guilty as the quacks.
 
Gardenlover said:
Another factor is that the politicians don't have the same health care as the rest of us in the USA. I feel even worse for veterans, they should have the best health care and retirement the country can offer, anything less is simply criminal. Ship the politicians off to war and see if they don't agree.
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The veterans in my family have been using the VA system for years and have nothing to say but great things! My son had knee surgery after injuring his knee on active combat duty, his knee works better than ever! A+ for the VA health system! They earned their care, and deserve it....
 
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win231 said:
Exactly why many doctors won't accept cash patients.
12 years ago at my diabetes diagnosis, the first doctor I saw wanted to hospitalize me immediately for "dehydration," even though lab tests showed I wasn't dehydrated. But after I told him I'm a cash patient & had no medical insurance, his diagnosis changed to "Just drink Gatorade."
He wanted to bill my insurer for $10,000.00 per day - until he found out I had no insurer.
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I have an urgent care down the street and was seen by a physician that morning and paid a low fee, it worked great!
 
hollydolly said:
Thank you so do I with regard to the meds.
Unfortunately no, the private docs recommendation holds no further sway than my own NHS GP'. It's a matter of not enough NHS hospitals, and very long waiting lists, so the only thing she can do is fast track me to a private hospital to see the specialist there.. who ironically would be the same specialist I would see on the NHS if I could wait for months....
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In America you can get in to be seen by a physician the same day, right down the street from my house. Very low fees, I go there lay down the cash seen by a doctor the same day get my medication, doing great! Love the quick service.
 
It must be great to live in a country where money can buy anything. Of course, some of us are happy to live in a country, that despite the shortcomings of the health service, you don't have to worry if you are diagnosed with a condition that will cost a fortune to treat.
 
Buckeye said:
Hmmm. Back in Mid December, on a thread about going to a different country for health care you said:
Well we get our health care FREE so there is nowhere cheaper..
and followed that up with a gihugant defense of you system in an additional post.

Hope the new meds work for you. Best wishes.
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well it is free, at source , and I also did point out that we have private medical care and insurance available to anyone who can afford it or needs it.. no taking away from that. I didn't however say it was fast!...thank you for the best wishes.. very much appreciated.. :)
 
Capt Lightning said:
It must be great to live in a country where money can buy anything. Of course, some of us are happy to live in a country, that despite the shortcomings of the health service, you don't have to worry if you are diagnosed with a condition that will cost a fortune to treat.
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Sounds like money works in the UK about the same as it does here. If you can afford to go the private care route, you can get the treatment you need when you need it, but if you can't afford it, well, good luck.
 
Capt Lightning said:
It must be great to live in a country where money can buy anything. Of course, some of us are happy to live in a country, that despite the shortcomings of the health service, you don't have to worry if you are diagnosed with a condition that will cost a fortune to treat.
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We use medical insurance for larger health care expenditures....hopefully that clears up the difference...😀👍
 
hollydolly said:
Ha you smooth talker... :D That is my own picture Mike.... all the pictures I put on here are of me...unless it's obvious it's not, like a puppy..
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I've said it before, but you look nowhere near your age! You're a true beauty. I'm very concerned about your current health scare HD, and I sincerely hope everything will be fine, after your meds are taken. Keep us informed, if that's cool, for you.
 
Deleted because of a problem!

My answer kept getting a /quote inside the square brackets after my
signature, nothing would stop it, I deleted the /quote, but it came back
even during an edit.

Mike.
 
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I get lab work twice a year because of the meds I'm taking. I used to get the labs done right at my family practice, and insurance paid much of the cost of it. Then my primary care provider was assimilated by a larger conglomerate, the cost of my labs doubled, and insurance would only pay the previous amount, leaving me to pay several hundred out of pocket. I now get my labs done at a private lab outside of the system which agrees to accept as payment what the insurance will provide. Bigger medical systems aren't always better, and it pays to shop for required services...
 

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