Fish n Chips 56

I just saw a story on Portland news where a lady spent $78.000 on dentistry, her new dentist said the previous dentist did more damage than good as she now had a bone disease, he not to mention the amount of money spent.

They followed up with a story about crooked dentists, you should check your state records, some states have records online that tell you about problems with dentists.

If in doubt google your dentist, who knows what you may find.

luvwelly

The current policy in the UK NHS is only to remove wisdom teeth if they are symptomatic. In the USA it seems to be a great moneyspinner to remove in as many cases as possible, so you are right to beware.

One upside of the NHS is that there is very little incentive (because of the excessive real demand/need) to overtreat for the sake of it. I can think of many downsides as well though .

Cookie

They remove them here in Canada too but mostly because at least one wisdom tooth is coming in squint. They tend to remove all four because nowadays most people don't have the room for the rest of the wisdom teeth to fit in their mouth properly.

Our dentist told us that because our 2 sons already have lovely straight teeth, their incoming wisdom teeth will start to push the rest out of alignment (seems to be a pretty common sight in UK). Aftercare advice is very good. Plenty ice (for 8 hours) prevents bruising and swelling, plus chewing gum for a few days prevents the jaw seizing up.

In the UK I had one wisdom tooth removed, no aftercare advice given and had some swelling, and my jaw seized. My son had 4 removed in Canada and you wouldn't have been able to tell by looking at him the following day. Son No 2 is getting his removed this summer. Costs around $1300-$1500 with insurance picking up $1000.

Englishmum

Here's yet another report about a family who became homeless (in Colorado) due to medical bills. It's tragic:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/ar...geant-win.html

aviva

Maybe they are waking up to this insanity....finally?

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...7200Y520110301

Medicare is run for the Government by.............yes folks........insurance companies. They are called Fiscal Intermediaries so as not to confuse us that we might get screwed by these money grabbing scumbags!

sallysimmons

Americans love this stuff though. They think the government can't do anything right and private companies are always the answer. Of course, that's just what the corporate overlords want them to believe so they can rip them off for more money and then send them out to tea party rallies like obedient little foot soldiers. So sad.

aviva

So there is an upside to US Healthcare:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...,1787689.story

Mallory

A bit condescending don't you think?

Giantaxe

Judging by the "keep your government hands off my Medicare" signs during the healthcare debate in '09, it's more than a little accurate though.

confusedenglishrose

Mmm Medicare a universal healthcare component. Military medicine in the USA = universal healthcare. Politicians of all persuasions once in the clubs i.e. Congress or Senate receive yes you guessed it universal healthcare?

So why do the vast majority of the electorate just not see the truth. Is it morality, cerebral quality of the populace. I think the answer truly points to business interests. Very clever really. Keep the decision makers happy with healthcare. make sure the military who might have the ability to change things, happy with their own universal healthcare for life. And tithe or enslave the rest of the population. Sounds just like an insurance company plan to me!!

windsong

I often wonder about the denial in the general population in this country but I wonder if it is present because this is all they know. They have not had the opportunity, like us, to compare one country with another at the very deepest level. Just like when I was living in the UK, it was all I knew. I had nothing else to compare it until I left it to live somewhere else.

Having said all that, this country is huge and each state has different laws so you would think that moving between states as they do that the denial would have disappeared and they would be of a comparing mindset. I don't see even that. It's very sad.

sallysimmons

Perhaps so, but also accurate.

Here is video from a recent tea party event.

Fish n Chips 56

Sally, Before I looked I thought it was going to be one of those Pg Tips adverts with the Monkeys, I was unpleasantly surprised. Huuuu not him again... Im tired of him already.

Englishmum

Hmmm.

So I got back to the US after being away for a couple of months and met up with my close friend, an Aussie expat. She's been going through the most awful experience this past Summer. Her partner lost his job in NYC earlier this year, she has one young child with him and two kids (9 and 13) from a previous marriage. She is self-employed.

My friend hadn't been feeling too great for a few weeks, bloated tummy, constipation etc. but nothing really specific and she's really busy all the time, commuting into NYC for work and dealing with her kids so she didn't go and see a doctor until she felt really uncomfortable. She hadn't had a PAP smear for ages, so had one done and when the results came back the doctor wanted to refer her for more tests. She had an initial consultation....and then freaked out when she found out how much it was going to cost for more invasive tests; it turned out that her partner hadn't arranged for the COBRA insurance because it was going to cost $9000 and they weren't insured at all!

It turned out that my poor friend had ovarian cancer - she is aged 44 She's been in the US for many years and knows only too well that medical costs can cause bankruptcy. She booked a flight and flew home to Australia; she still has an Aussie medical card, apparently she is under a scheme where one pays 25% of medical treatment and the govt. pays 75%.

My friend had to have the full MRI body scan and the surgeon operated on her a couple of days later.....she'd got stage 3 cancer (stage 4 is terminal) and one of her fallopian tubes was removed. She had to fly back to the US a few days later and back to work (no work - no income and she's the breadwinner). She said that at the Aussie hospital they told her that she would have to pay AUD $500 and the lady who told her the fee said that she felt bad that they had to charge so much! My friend was just so relieved at how inexpensive it was compared to what she would have probably had to pay for the same treatment in the States.

My friend is making plans to move back home to Australia next year, she says she and her siblings have been told that they are prone to cancer, her dad has lung and liver cancer and has a poor prognosis....she is currently trying to find an insurance plan in the US but is aware that it's not going to be affordable or even available with a pre-existing condition.

I'm overdue for a PAP smear and mammogram and need to make some appointments: I've just checked with our insurance, BUPA International and although I'm covered 'globally' there is a yearly maximum for a 'well woman check' of US $320. I reckon the charges at my local medical group practice are likely to cost well above that! I guess I'll spend ages on the phone trying to find out too....there seems to be no fixed price, it all depends on the patient's insurance plan on what they choose to charge...

Giantaxe

I hate to sound critical about what is obviously a horrible situation, but I would make two points. Firstly, $9000 for what coverage? A month? A year? COBRA costs what it cost your employer + 3%. Even with the ludicrous price of insurance in the US this can't be COBRA for a month. Secondly, it's really unfortunate that someone wouldn't let their partner know that they were taking such a huge decision as letting their health coverage lapse. In fact, that's being polite.