Re: US Medical Insurance...
 

Hi Michael,

My wife and I are actually moving out to the States at the very beginning of July this year. Sorry for any confusion.

Cheers,
Rich.

Re: US Medical Insurance...
 

Hi All
UK NHS budget for 2012 was £104 billion
UK Total Income 2012 was £591.7 billion
Cost of NHS 17% of total UK Government income
Average wage in uk 2012 was £26,500
Average cost to fund uk NHS £4505 = £375.00 a month for average
wage earner

We all pay you just dont see it in the uk

Re: US Medical Insurance...
 

That isn't quite correct...people paying income tax pay for the NHS.

Re: US Medical Insurance...
 

The doctor probably didn't want to give her the results because they were under a baseline of 7.0. The American Diabetes Association says that an HbA1c under 7.0 is "controlled". The doctor probably thought that your maid wouldn't be motivated to stick to her diet if her numbers were "controlled." But it's not normal, let alone optimal. Normal is around 5. Your maid should be checking her blood sugar with a decent meter (I use the cheap one with the cheap strips from Wal-Mart) to make sure that her blood sugar stays as close to 90 as possible at all times and never spikes over 130 even after a high-carb meal. She does not need a prescription for the meter or the strips.

Re: US Medical Insurance...
 

Yes I totally understand that but it was just to indicate that the NHS is not free as a lot of people think. All Uk income tax payers pay a lot for the health service they receive and everybody pays for the NHS by paying tax in the form of VAT tax on petrol/ cigs/ insurance policies etc

All Uk tax revenue of whatever form goes into the general government treasury before it is dished out again to the various departments ie defence education.overseas aid (sore point) etc

What is important is that 17% of this (TAX) money goes to the NHS


Regards

Alan

Re: US Medical Insurance...
 

I know what you meant. ;)

The point is it is free at the point of service. If you need major surgery or have a major illness you need not worry about the cost. Of have to chose between meds or whether you can afford to eat that day.

Re: US Medical Insurance...
 

You get a better value for your money in the UK, and it better serves the goal of maintaining public health and welfare.

Re: US Medical Insurance...
 

6.5 is considered diabetic and below that along with higher than normal glucose readings is considered pre-diabetic. Time has long passed when the doctor was considered god which is what that doctor seems to think he is.

Those are her records and she has legal right to see them no matter what the doctor may think. He is breaking an important ethical rule in the profession.

Re: US Medical Insurance...
 

Medium family income was £26,500 and not average wage.

Re: US Medical Insurance...
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20442666

"The average annual earnings of full-time workers in the UK rose by 1.4% to £26,500 in the year to April 2012."

Re: US Medical Insurance...
 

What's more significant is that this represents approx 9% of UK GDP whereas the US spends approx 18% of its GDP on healthcare whilst at the same time leaving 50m uninsured and countless more underinsured.

Re: US Medical Insurance...
 

Your calculation is awry. That 17% is of government income, i.e. total of taxes, national insurance etc. You can't simply use that 17% number and use it as the percentage of average income that someone effectively pays on the NHS: that would imply a tax rate of 100%! I'm guessing the tax take from income is more like 50% in total, which means the average cost is half of what you state, i.e. £2500 a year.

Re: US Medical Insurance...
 

Average is very misleading especially if you only consider full time workers and if there are 25,000 people making over £1 million or 250,000 people making over £100,000, that can skew the figures dramatically.

In 2011, the UK medium household income was £24,400.

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/househ...ouseholds.html