Chit Chat
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I found this article by an ex-BBC journalist, now freelance, who recently got US citizenship. Hard to believe how bad the system is over there. A mate of his spent a week in 'outpatients' after a flying accident and was charged £60,000!
It is difficult to overstate how vital health insurance is in America.
Find yourself in the emergency ward, strapped to machines which go "bip" and surrounded by sullen doctors who have been called in from the golf course just to deal with you, and if you do not have health insurance the chances are you will be paying for your visit until the end of time.
About 47 million Americans currently have no health insurance
Even if you are a picture of good health, all it takes is a freak accident and you are toast.
An expatriate friend of mine spent a week in "outpatients" after having the misfortune of flying a small aeroplane in to the sea.
His bill was around $100,000 (£60,000). He told the cashier he had come in for treatment - not to buy the hospital.
And so, with heavy heart, I set about taking on the many-headed hydra that is the American healthcare system.
For some reason, there was no way of simply continuing the policy the BBC had in place and paying the premiums myself.
So I had to apply as if I had never had coverage before.
I found myself talking to Steve, a chirpy salesman at one of the larger insurance companies, who ran me through the details of one of their more popular policies.
Yes, I would still have to pay to see either a doctor or a specialist but he would throw in a prostate exam - and a colonoscopy every 10 years.
By the time he had finished, I felt like a winner on "The Price Is Right". The cost - $9,100 a year!
President Obama has made healthcare reform a big priority
Steve sent me a form which delved into my every malady since emerging from the womb. I was reminded that there is one thing that health insurance companies absolutely hate - sick people.
Sick people have the audacity to require treatment, which not only eats into profits, but upsets the accountants' balance sheets. Too much of that and you could completely spoil their day.
Having explained away virtually every cough and sneeze over the course of the last 49 years, I got to question 41: Has the person applying for coverage consumed any alcoholic beverage in the last six months?
I read that several times, even at one point substituting a different pair of glasses, and no, I was not mistaken - it really did say six months.
Not six days, or six minutes, but six months.
By the time I had finished the form I had a headache and eye strain, and so I went back and added those to my pre-existing conditions and then sent the form off to Steve.
He told me my application would be assessed by an underwriter - which conjured up images of Lloyds of London weighing the fate of the QE2, or in my case, the Titanic.
And so I wait on tenterhooks to learn whether my application has been approved.
The tension is killing me. And at my age that is no good for the blood pressure.
It is difficult to overstate how vital health insurance is in America.
Find yourself in the emergency ward, strapped to machines which go "bip" and surrounded by sullen doctors who have been called in from the golf course just to deal with you, and if you do not have health insurance the chances are you will be paying for your visit until the end of time.
About 47 million Americans currently have no health insurance
Even if you are a picture of good health, all it takes is a freak accident and you are toast.
An expatriate friend of mine spent a week in "outpatients" after having the misfortune of flying a small aeroplane in to the sea.
His bill was around $100,000 (£60,000). He told the cashier he had come in for treatment - not to buy the hospital.
And so, with heavy heart, I set about taking on the many-headed hydra that is the American healthcare system.
For some reason, there was no way of simply continuing the policy the BBC had in place and paying the premiums myself.
So I had to apply as if I had never had coverage before.
I found myself talking to Steve, a chirpy salesman at one of the larger insurance companies, who ran me through the details of one of their more popular policies.
Yes, I would still have to pay to see either a doctor or a specialist but he would throw in a prostate exam - and a colonoscopy every 10 years.
By the time he had finished, I felt like a winner on "The Price Is Right". The cost - $9,100 a year!
President Obama has made healthcare reform a big priority
Steve sent me a form which delved into my every malady since emerging from the womb. I was reminded that there is one thing that health insurance companies absolutely hate - sick people.
Sick people have the audacity to require treatment, which not only eats into profits, but upsets the accountants' balance sheets. Too much of that and you could completely spoil their day.
Having explained away virtually every cough and sneeze over the course of the last 49 years, I got to question 41: Has the person applying for coverage consumed any alcoholic beverage in the last six months?
I read that several times, even at one point substituting a different pair of glasses, and no, I was not mistaken - it really did say six months.
Not six days, or six minutes, but six months.
By the time I had finished the form I had a headache and eye strain, and so I went back and added those to my pre-existing conditions and then sent the form off to Steve.
He told me my application would be assessed by an underwriter - which conjured up images of Lloyds of London weighing the fate of the QE2, or in my case, the Titanic.
And so I wait on tenterhooks to learn whether my application has been approved.
The tension is killing me. And at my age that is no good for the blood pressure.
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Replies: 35
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better not vote Tory then
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BBC - must be true then.
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Watch Sicko by Michael Moore.
Soem shocking stories...Think it was 20k to have the top of a finger sewn back on :D |
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some*
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The NHS will one day be destroyed and then the British will learn exactly what real fear feels like.
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A couple of years ago my father suffered abdominal pains at the week-end. NHS direct advised me to take him to the nearest hospital for an examination. He was then directed to the local general hospital and admitted for observation. After a couple of days his condition worsened and within a week he was delirious. The ward was extremely dirty and the care left much to be desired. He was not made to take his medication - it was just left in a cup by the side of his bed. After learning about this I spent many days sitting by his bed taking care of and feeding him. Throughout the next 7 weeks he was moved from ward to ward. No-one could or would tell me exactly what he was suffering from. After he was discharged I found out from our GP that he had suffered a stroke (pretty much as I had guessed) and 2 heart attacks while inside. He would not confirm whether Dad had contracted MRSA or any other infection, neither did he deny it.
Six months later having received confirmation that he was strong enough to be operated on I booked him into a private ward to have his gallstones removed. This was done with no complications and 6 days later he was out. Due to the stroke he has never been the same again so please forgive me if i dont get too dewey eyed over the NHS service he received. |
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yes , all those lazy bast@rd public servants providing a shocking service, those screaming for privatisation are in for one hell of a shock
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are you a rich man Dary Destroyer? or a Tory voter?
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Dark I mean
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Dark, you and your Dad have had a very bad experience, its not all that bad, Im not convinced
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..that the privatisation of the NHS would solve problems you have had
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No and yes.
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sums it up
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I'm sure its not all that bad. I spent some time working in a teaching hospital when I was younger and have many good memories of what was being done there. What happened to my father was something very different.
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What exactly do you mean by that punterfleecer?
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My mate hurt his back in Cuba. He had an MRI scan on the same day! Viva Fidel.
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Tory voters want rid of the NHS
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OK -- at least it wasn't personal then.
As a Tory voter (hardly unusual - there are 10-15m of us) though I dispute that - my concern is that the standard of treatment I have seen first hand from the NHS has been so far below what I had expected. Nothing wrong with the theory of universal health coverage at all. |
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Biggest employers in they world....
1st Chinese Army (approx. 2.3M) 2nd Walmart (approx. 1.8M) 3rd United States Deparment of Defense (approx. 1.5M) 4th Indian Rail (approx. 1.4M) 5th NHS (approx. 1.3M) Must be sooooo good to employ so many people..... |
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the people who rely on it are delighted that soooo many people are employed. mind you you coudl easily get rid of a few execs and save a nice chunk of money
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Do you think if you support universal health coverage you have to automatically say the NHS is great?
No other first world country has copied it.. |
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but what if you're poor and live abroad?
you're gonna end up with atrocious health care |
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That's a very unpleasant experience, DD and you obviously feel badly let down. Reflect though, upon the fact that your father would not have been afforded even that care, had he not the money, if the system were privatised and further, the treatment he subsequently received was from doctors and nurses working (and trained) within the NHS. I know of no medic who says "This patient is private, I'll try harder to cure them."
Indeed, friends of mine who are doctors have always said they would rather visit an NHS hospital in extremis, than attend a private one. If you live in the States, believe me, the fear of illness is almost palpable for the uninsured or less well off. |
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remember we are a country that are unliked
the Americans want to copy our PAYE system |
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I have spent approx. 8 mths in hospital(NHS) in recent years,I found the commitment of almost all of the nursing staff to be 100% they could not have been better,cleanliness leaves something to be desired at times although I reckon it has definitely improved over the years,I have been in about 8-9 times mostly with open wounds and I never contracted any "hospital borne" infections though I did see about 6 people who did and I saw a lot of people who were found to be carrying MRSA on admission.I suppose different areas/hospitals are better served by the NHS,but if I had any complaints they would be about my treatment at consultant level(nothing serious) and the same consultants also do private work.NHS will do me.
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ive just come back from usa, had a gallstone attack halfway through holiday, admitted to emergency, was in 7 hours, was on drip etc, had a scan etc, total cost.. over 2.3k dollars. ended up with pain killers ( they offered to take it out, but i said i would do it myself when got home ) .
nhs is one of the great inventions, i despise any government that attempts to destroy it. |
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Gallstones AND an SMB, morpeth?
You can't catch a break :) |
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hear hear morpeth mackem, hope the town is still buzzing on a friday night
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As I have said obviously a lot of good about the system. I can only report from personal experince what my family has been through though.
Emotive subject for me. |
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havent been out fo ra while, had to take things easy , until get gallbladder removed. our new shopping centre is opening on thursday next week , ( joanna lumley is opening it ) .
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where is the shopping centre? is it indoor and lots of shops?
the indoor shopping centre next to the "banque" if it's still called that doesn't leave much to erm...talk about! |
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I lived in the US for years and , believe me , the care you get out there is far superior to here.
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punter, its behind there and slightly to right, replaced old arcade. , its quite flash. nice building.
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and by God you pay for it
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I take it , it's a modest shopping centre?
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