MarylandNed

I wouldn't say that's an American notion at all. Your wife should really go for annual check ups to have all her lady bits checked out. Depending on age (beginning at 50 I believe), a colonoscopy should also be performed every few years. Many health plans cover preventative treatment 100% without any deductible at all.

hungryhorace

Mrs H does all that. I just mean in circumstances where I would go - for example, feeling unwell still after a week with fever - my wife won't, as her family grew up poor so couldn't afford to go to the Doctors. It's a mentality which exists today regardless of our incomes.

My mentality is more of a British one which is if something is wrong, i'll go to the Dr as I never paid anything (up front) for this service when I lived in England, so it's just the mentality I grew up with.

Pulaski

Sounds like a personal thing, not a country thing, so I believe the opposite is often true in both countries: IME many Americans seem to want to "get value" for the insurance premiums they have paid and visit the doctor frequently, whereas my family in the UK rarely ever visited the doctor unless it was obviously serious (most commonly got worse, or OTC medication hadn't worked after say, 48 hrs).

durham_lad

I haven't noticed any cultural differences between folks we know in the USA and the UK. Some folks just don't like going to see the doctor.

There was a very good documentary a few years back called Sick Around The World on PBS which looked at several universal health care systems in different countries, including Japan which uses private insurance companies but has strict controls on the prices of visits, procedures etc.

One statistic from Japan is that the average Japanese person visits the doctor 4 times more often and has 5 times more scans than the average American. I suppose that factoid stuck in my memory because I had bought into the idea that the reason for the long lifespan of the Japanese as being their diet, but it could include better preventative care.

http://video.pbs.org/video/1050712790/

Pulaski

That was my point, perhaps badly expressed, when I said "Sounds like a personal thing .....", and I should have continued ".... so I believe the opposite is true as often as not.

durham_lad

I understood, and was agreeing with you

Back onto HMO v PPO.

After being on a PPO for a good few years I did try one year on an HMO with my employer and felt very restricted in the choices I had and the fact that in my HMO I had to go through an in network GP for a referral to a specialist. In 2011 we spent a long time in Yorkshire and hiked over 250 miles. By the time I came back I had a very sore heel and after talking to a good friend who is a personal physical trainer decided to take her recommendation for a foot doctor who she said was very conservative. I looked him up and he was in network for my PPO so I was able to make an appointment directly with him, and he was brilliant. I think after 26 years in a PPO I am spoiled.

With the OP I think a good option would be to try the HMO for at least a year or 2 and see how he gets on. It doesn't sound like he is an old wreck like me and the chances on him having really expensive problems outside an ER in out of network facilities is pretty small.

hungryhorace

Ironically, I wouldn't even think to go to a specialist first before going to my PCP. I've been referred to a specialist twice since moving here (nothing serious), and each occasion I went to my PCP for the initial referral. I guess I'm too used to the NHS way of doing things?

I really appreciate all the input on my healthcare options; I think i'm going to take the HMO option for myself and my wife.

Thanks all!

Jerseygirl

I felt the same at first...but being able to go directly to see a specialist is much better. You are not wasting time and money going to see your PCP...you are essentially cutting out the middle man.

IMO PPO is the way to go.

notshipman

You sound slightly of a nervous disposition so perhpas imo would be better off paying extra for the PPO plan and giving you that piece of mind that perhaps you need

robin1234

Me too. I've lived in the US for 24 years. Why would I attempt to seek out a specialist physician, when I don't necessarily know which specialist is appropriate? Surely that is what your family doctor is for?? The idea of going to a specialist without a referral from my own doctor seems a bit weird.

robin1234

Sorry, but I have to say this. This post is so stupid, I find it hard to believe the poster is posing as a medical doctor - that is, someone with an advanced degree and years of training.

hungryhorace

I'm not of a remotely 'nervous' disposition. What nonsense. I'm of a 'I want to ensure I am not going to be bankrupted if I get ill' disposition. Hence, my original question.

hungryhorace

I agree. I wouldn't even know where to start, indeed, a quick trip to the GP is me validating that there's even an issue to begin with.

Sally Redux

Snap. I really have doubts about this person, who also seems to know nothing at all about the medical and/or insurance system.

Pulaski

You make a fair point, which is right much of the time, but other times going direct makes more sense. For example GP's are notoriously bad at orthopaedics, so I wouldn't generally waste my time with a GP if I had a bone or joint complaint. Even in the UK when I had a cracked bone in my foot I consulted a sports physiotherapist directly and got all the treatment and advice I needed (there was nothing to be done but support and rest my foot).

Mostly I go to my GP, though "mostly" is actually "rarely", and I was only referred on once, for blood poisoning leading to minor surgery, though under general anasthetic, for skin sores and three days in hospital on an antibiotic drip.