Dan725

Sounds like some words of wisdom here to me, and a good potential way to play it....maintaining a National Insurance number and some form of address (parents, family, etc) - if you have this in place, I can't see that anyone would question you.

mandpete

When we were visiting my parents in England my daughter developed a nasty rash so I took her to see our 'old' GP. The receptionist told us because we hadn't been to her or replied to any correspondence for over 12 months our records had had to go back to the Health Authority who managed to find out we were no longer resident in the UK. The GP however didn't charge us anything for the visit and put the prescription in my Mum's name. They don't use your NI number to check on you they use your NHS number which is kept by the health authority or so I was told.

I was also told that if you give a relative's address and they find out you are not a UK resident they may well send your relative the bill.

Dimsie

It might even be viable to pay several months' rent on a bedsitter or small apartment to obtain residence - although I think there might be something about 6 months' residence being the qualifying period. We came across this when my US huband was living with me in Yorkshire and he needed a prescription. After much argument my doc eventually agreed to provide NHS prescriptions for a limited period until we moved to the US.

gooner81

What is HMO? sorry for not knowing and why does it suck so bad?

Elvira

OMG you have a lot to learn!

Health Management Organizations :scared:

Google for HMO problems for a start...

anotherlimey

Not for profit doesn't mean you can't make some profit to keep for later expenses. They would obviously base their estimate on previous records, it would be easy to do.

Dan725

I know what a HMO is, but same question from me for Bob, whats so bad about HMO's?

We are on one through the missus's corporate insurance, we had a choice of plans.

Seemed to us the HMO made more sense, in our case. You don't get such a choice of doctors, etc, but unless you are need specialist treatment and are ill all the time, I can't quite see whats so bad about the HMO. We don't have a percentage co-pay - any treatment we have, we just pay a flat deductible (which is not much) and the rest is covered up a very high sum.

anotherlimey

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_...e_organization

It's all about the money.

Elvira

Just wait till you need something that isn't covered...

Or you find that the services you used had been 'sub-contracted' to another 'service provider'. And they start playing pass-the-buck as to who is responsible for paying the bill. Whilst the hospital of course insists on YOU honouring the pledge you signed when you used their services. You know the bit about them being kind enough to send the bill to your insurance company, but YOU REMAIN RESPONSIBLE FOR IT GETTING PAID

One of my boys had a minor bike accident last year. It took me 8 months and countless hours on the phone to sort out the payment. No point sending them letters as they get ignored. even so my file was 2" thick (all those 'if you don't pay up now' letters...). At one time we were actually getting threatening letters from debt collectors :scared:

And don't get me started on what the ER where actually charging for a 2-minute consultation with a bored doc, a bit of cleaning up by a nurse, an X-ray and a Tylenol... It's obscene!

AmerLisa

As far as the bankruptcies....Bush is stopping the "wipe out the debt system and starting anew" part. According to what I've heard you will no longer be able to file bankruptcies and just walk away. You will (soon) have to make arrangements to repay back the debt. There may be more to it, I'm sure, but imagine being stuck with thousands and thousands of dollars in medical bills especially if you are in your 50's or older.....talk about debtor's prison.....

anotherlimey

OT: I believe the rule is now: If you can pay $100 per month, over 5 years, for all your debts then they will setup a payment plan for you.

Dan725

Hmm, thanks very much, food for thought, I'll have to discuss it with the wife some more I think and make sure we've got the right deal. That said, she did have an operation a couple of years back, I think the bill was some $18k and all we had to pay was 200 dollars - no trouble, no fuss. She does work for a huge national corporation though, and it does appear to be that the medical coverage offered is a very good package, with good providers whatever you choose, HMO or PPO.

Elvira

Oh, don't get me wrong. For some people an HMO is a good option. We ended up signing up for one too, for all sorts of reasons ($$$ being a big one, the fact that ours is linked to a major teaching hospital being another).

However, it is important to educate yourself about how they work, and what the potential pitfalls can be. You really have to be an 'educated consumer'. Always remember: in the US, you are a consumer first, and a patient second...

mrcusa

Problem is getting on the electoral role.

You cannot say you are a permanent resident if you tell the tax man you have gone!

I don't know of any country that still provides healthcare to citizens who have left the country.

Dimsie

I'm not sure the electoral roll would pose a problem as it's not updated very frequently as I remember. Also I'm not sure that anyone would check tax records in relation to medical matters. But I realise there could be big snags, perhaps related to council tax etc. If I was seriously ill and uninsured here in the USA I'd try anything though.