transatlantic_chap

Seems like the US medical system is one of the major things people have a hard time adjusting to. Is there anyone on here who has had a good experience with it. Comparisons with the NHS are welcome but not essential.

robin1234

The problem with your question is, there really is no "system" over here. Just thousands of different service providers and several different ways to pay for services (e.g. government programs such as Medicare and the VA, and various insurance companies, or simply pay the bill yourself, if you are very wealthy.) Probably as in other countries, some experiences will be satisfactory, others disastrous, and others in between.

bruceba

I see a my doctor quickly. Same with specialists. If MRI or Scans needed it is within a day or two. I can choose my own doctor.
I have good insurance which is important.

Jerseygirl

Ditto. It's great if you have good healthcare insurance...can easily afford to pay the ever increasing premiums, co-pays, deductibles, meds etc.

Edit: This year I have had 2 MRIs...2 CAT scans...2 x-rays...seen several specialists all within a couple of weeks. It has cost several thousand dollars on top of our monthly premiums. People in the UK can't come to terms with having to pay out that sort of money. Heck they complain about the cost of NHS prescriptions.

SEL_boy

The 'medical' part is great - doctors, nurses, and support staff here are almost uniformly excellent, as good as you could hope to find anywhere in the world.

The 'system' part is diabolical. Almost literally.

Speedwell

I have good medical and vision insurance through work. I belong to a clinic that is staffed by several dozen doctors. I can get seen very quickly for routine and minor issues. My co-pay for a routine appointment is affordable for me. The cost of routine pharmaceuticals is affordable. My deductible isn't triggered until I have a scheduled non-routine procedure or I have to go to the emergency room.

For dental procedures, I go to the dental clinic at the University of Houston. They do not accept insurance, but their prices work out better than I would pay at a regular dentist even with insurance. They are staffed by graduating students and overseen by instructors.

</damning with faint praise>

Songbird

The US medical system is among the best that money can buy - if you cant afford to buy it (via insurance, co-pays etc ) and don't qualify for Medicare /Medicaid then you are SOL

robin1234

Don't completely disagree with this, but just to note .... the US is a very big country and much of it is sparsely populated. For instance, where I live, the closest big city with a major hospital (Burlington, Vermont) is 120 miles away. Most people around here are very poor and have no health insurance, or inadequate health insurance. Net result is, not enough doctors and specialist services around here. And some of the ones here are distinctly "third world" quality. The "third world" quality practitioners charge the same as the very good ones, after all, they too have boat payments to make and kids to put through college.

SEL_boy

Exactly. My insurance is excellent, I have nothing to complain about personally. Until I lose my job, and with it my insurance.

The 'let them eat cake' attitude I run into all the time here makes my blood boil. "My insurance is fine, what are people moaning about?"

I cannot count the number of times I have had the argument with people who have some irrational fear of Obamacare or "socialised medicine" who rail on about not wanting the government dictating which doctor they can see, all the while having a behemoth insurance company whose only interest is hoovering up money dictating precisely that.

/seeth


I just ran across this, makes for some interesting reading - there are some facts about health about three graphs down:

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/n...-prism-privacy

Songbird

Yep very important point, overlooked that one.

Bob

Level of care is no different to any where else. Some is top notch, some isn't.

Access totally depends on location, quality of insurance or ability to pay.

Same goes for the cost of parking. No longer will I complain about the 60p parking at the Nuffield when it's $25 in Boston.

More comfortable seats at the hospital here though and less smell of piss in the lifts and certainly more room to park the car. Better cafeteria coffee too, even if the food is still meh.

Songbird

You can argue till you are blue in the face - wont make a blind bit of difference UNTIL it happens to them - and even then there's still no rational thought amongst some. I think it's something to do with this notion of 'rugged individualism' implanted deep in their psyche, sprinkled with an irrational fear / lack of understanding of the difference between 'socialism' and a 'socialized plan of provision' I gave up trying to argue the point a few years back.

Rete

I'm not a foreigner but I have only had wonderful experience with all my medical experiences, including this one - http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...=800413&page=4

You can see your doctor rather quickly and if it is a true emergency then the ER at the hospital will take care of you or places like Urgent Care Centers.

If you possess quality healthcare, you don't have to worry much about bills since you are normally only responsible for co-pays which are neglible.

You can pick and choose your own doctor or change doctor's if the one you originally chose is not working out for you.

What more can I say but ... HAVE GOOD HEALTHCARE INSURANCE.

SEL_boy

>What more can I say but ... HAVE GOOD HEALTHCARE INSURANCE.


This reminds of the old Steve Martin routine about how to get a million dollars and NEVER PAY TAXES!

First: get a million dollars...

Mrs Danvers

True...........

Trouble is, it's not like anyone picks their own health insurance, their HR director does and then the policy changes every year, normally to the detriment of the employees.

If ever there was a system more stacked against being fair, it's the American one.