How can you not have an American View, you are an American living in the UK.
Just as I have a British view on things here, being a UK expat.
This is British Expats site, so chances are we have all lived with the NHS for care at some point, there may be a select few who haven't.
I've pretty much done 50/50 with my live, here in the US and in the UK and have worked in the health care industry in both. For patient centered care I'd choose UK, for fancy waiting rooms and good magazines I'd choose US. Although our local doc is starting to slide on the magazine choice and needs to re decorate soon.
Seeing specialists in UK in an emergency you are right in, if you are not life threatening then you are sent an appointment, seems pretty fair to me.

Some of this is very subjective. Personally, my idea of a childbith 'horror story' would be the production-line method favoured here, but that may be what an American wants.

The NHS doctors are trained to a high standard and will usually do private consultations if you want to jump the queue for something non-urgent.

Maybe you were lucky?

What country is the following paragraph describing?:

[The clinic director] rattles off a litany of horror stories. There was the man who walked into the clinic with a brain tumour. It took Lee three months to get him an MRI scan and another two to get an appointment with a neurosurgeon. Or the patient whose nerves in his neck were pushed against his spinal cord so that he lost use of both arms; by the time Lee found a way of getting him an MRI he was so sick he had to be operated on immediately. Or the woman who had such heavy periods she would wind up in ER every three months requiring a blood transfusion. What she really needed was a hysterectomy. "It took us almost a year to beg hospitals until she finally did get a hysterectomy," Lee says.

Of course, this is from an excellent report in today's Guardian by Ed Pilkington, who collected this intelligence at a health clinic in Kansas. Highly recommended reading.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...horror-stories

Oops, for some reason I thought I was posting on the US board I guess I should rephrase my comment to "Almost everyone who posts on this site will have had firsthand experience of the NHS".

I've lived in both countries, both have treated me well.

I'm sure your husband is swayed by the fear based negative propaganda that is rammed down our throats by the political powers and profit based medical and insurance industry...

I have numerous relatives in the UK and NON of them would trade their system for ours...

Neither system is perfect, I'm sure you could find plenty of horror stories about both countries systems...

Do you have 100% coverage with No deductibles at the moment? that's what people in the UK have had for many years, they do pay a co-pay for prescriptions...

What happens if your husband should lose his job in the USA, Yes there is COBRA, but its expensive and without a job its very hard to pay those bills...

Even with healthcare coverage, I'm worried that I may lose everything through medical bankruptcy, it only takes one major illness, In fact its the one thing that scares me most about living in the USA.

1 million people went medically bankrupt in 2009, that's 1 in every three hundred people... I have never heard of a single person going medically bankrupt in the UK, EVER!

I'm not promoting the NHS, I'm just telling you how I feel...

Good Luck to you... Fish

That's the point I tried to make.

Fish thanks for your insight. Yes, my husband is swayed politically he is very conservative in thinking and I'm the complete opposite which doesn't help matters. It's hard to open his mind about this.

Medical bankrupty is a big fear for me! Knowing that the economy isn't great my husband still hasn't found decent work. My job is good, with good benefits but it's not amazing. We just had a baby and I'm looking at it as a new parent my world has completely changed now that I have him. I want to know he'll be taken care of if he gets sick, and we are not hurting financially for his care. If he's elligiable as he's a British citizen then it's a no brainer to me.

Sorry for the long ramble :-)

I don't think having lots of ultrasounds is necessarily a good thing unless you have a specific problem. Scans in the UK are treated (as they should be) as a way to see if a fetus has any problems, not as a 'meet the baby opportunity' and a money making side line.

I have 5 kids , 3 of whom were born in the UK with midwives and 2 (twins) who were born in the US with a an independent lay midwife. There is no way on earth I would have a baby in the US in a hospital they have totally medicalised pregnancy and birth.

I can go one better as I've experienced the Canadian system too

I'd say that the US system is the best if you're one of the lucky few with a good health plan, that you are able to keep without interruption through your whole life, and that doesn't have a ton of hidden deductibles and restrictions - and if you live in an area with good access to healthcare. But that's a lot of conditions. At some point, most people will be without care for one reason or another and they have to pray that they don't get sick during that period. Or, for the athiests like me, just cross your fingers really tight.
What's more the quality of coverage is declining as costs rise. And access to GPs is very hard in some areas - ours routinely tells people to go to the emergency room because there's a 2-week wait for an appointment to see him.

The Canadian system treated me very well, but prescriptions are covered privately, so again, those who lose their jobs can be hit very hard.

While far from perfect, the NHS is by far the most fair system because your treatment never depends on your employment status.

Each system has its faults, but I want to live in a country that views healthcare as a right not a privilege. I want to stop worrying about losing my coverage, and I want to stop feeling guilty about the millions of people who don't have access to the care I get.

I think the OP's husband would be amazed at the care he'd receive if he was in the UK. It's a shame that some US politicians have lied to him about what he'll find.

I agree totally.

My experience of the Canadian system is that it's every bit as good as the UK - except the prescriptions aspect. My wife and I are both diabetic. In the UK that would mean free prescriptions and testing supplies. Here it means about $700 a month.

Or those whose families live there, right?

My sister-in-law has a rare brain disease and is receiving amazing care - I can't imagine how much it has cost to date.

My gran has Alzheimer's and various other ailments and I can't say enough good things about how she has been treated.

My MIL broker her hip and got amazing care both in the hospital and when she got home. plus the fire brigade came round to install extra fire detectors because of her condition.

My mum broke her ankle while fell-walking and got great care after being helicoptered back to civilization by mountain rescue.

Having managed benefits here years ago, I've heard enough US horror stories to last me a lifetime, so we can start trading those if you like

I loved your post, it hit the nail on the head.

The fire brigade fits and provides everyones fire detectors for free: all you have to do is phone and ask your county council.

For the females: when I phoned I got 3 firemen in uniform, the fire engine and a ladder Oh, and the smoke alarms fitted in the correct place too.

Thats amazing...

We buy our own, plus ones for carbon monoxide, thats the silent killer, many new homes have to have fire alarms fitted by law, they still need maintaining, we usually change batteries when we push our clocks forwards/backwards...
I'm funny about stuff like this as my Grandad was killed by a fire in a British coal mining disaster.

Our local Fire brigade and Ambulance service have a plan where you can get service for $60 a year, if you dont join the plan you get billed for every call out, that could be $500 just for a 2 mile ride to the local E.R./A&E...