oxonlad

Yes. I don't make a habit of hanging out on expat sites for the sake of it.

Primula

But what about people who are unemployed?

HarryTheSpider

Your experience suggests British healthcare is inferior. At the national level the level of healthcare is actually slightly better in the UK than in the US, and for approx half the amount of GDP.

My direct experience of both healthcare systems suggests this is broadly so.

That doesn't make you wrong based on your experience. We just have different experiences.

Yes, some of the finest medical care is available in the US - not necessarily so in general health terms per se, but certainly for niche / highly specific conditions, very much so.

There are several hospitals in the area I live in that are shit to the point where our primary healthcare professional suggested we go to an ER room twice as far away, because the nearer one was shit. You can get shit in the UK, sure, but for nothing like the costs here. OH's father ended up at death's door in ER in the UK a few years ago - 3 weeks in intensive care etc - very nearly died - the staff there were totally fantastic. And he didn't have to get bankrupted because of it.

The simplistic comparison of US vs UK/non-US healthcare is unhelpful at best in the context of having a national debate about the future nature of healthcare provision & funding here in the US - a debate that is sorely needed and simply not happening - all we get is unsupported, often utterly wrong, statements from the different sides of the political divide. That and no improvement or progress in such a critical aspect of life in the US.

oxonlad

Each state is different - but in general there are options. In NY, you can purchase health insurance at around $300/month (it's called HealthyNY)

Insurance that covers only emergency events, like unexpected surgery, etc - is much cheaper.

Trixie_b

Pretty unusual.... I touched the handle which had been over the heat - when I felt how hot it was, I jerked my hand back and threw out my shoulder.

Anyway, I'd rather have the British health system (with a BUPA option) over the US system anyday.

The NHS may be far from perfect, but I think emergency services (ER's) are possibly the best in the world, they don't care who comes through the door, and don't treat according to ability to pay.

Lion in Winter

In the US people define themselves much more by the future than by the past, which is quite different from the UK. We know who we are because of what has gone before, not just in our own lives but in the generations upon generations past, and we can see that history all around us and grow up in it - not so the Americans. They know who they are by what they achieve in the here and now, and more importantly what they might achieve in the future. I don't think that makes the British pessimistic - we just have different measures of success. The whining is just a cultural oddity, but isn't a real measure of what we think. The Daily Mail should just be ignored.

Primula

American emergency departments cannot turn anyone away for treatment.

This is one of the problems with the U.S. healthcare system: people without medical insurance who use the emergency department for all their healthcare needs. (Not that I blame them, they have nowhere else to go.) Unfortunately those emergency room costs have to be paid by someone, most likely those of us with medical insurance.

Primula

I don't agree at all. Americans do have a history you know.

Lion in Winter

As you point out, this use of emergency rooms is due to lack of health care coverage, so either they are going there for things that are not true emergencies (and yes, you do get a bill for this, though it may well be unpayable) or it may be a true emergency that never should have happened. Poor people die of preventable diseases at a higher rate because they don't get the check ups and so on that catch things at an early stage. Cervical cancer is one of those things.

Lion in Winter

Of course they do, but it's much shorter than ours and they don't use it in the same way..

But more to the point, their national psyche is rooted in in the present and the future.

oxonlad

When Mohammed is the #1 boys name, I'm not sure England has much of a future anyways.

To all the NHS apologists - you can have it. I will proudly compare my Anthem HDHP with HSA to the socialized offerings of the mother country any day of the week.

Derrygal

[QUOTE= oxonlad;10017522]When Mohammed is the #1 boys name, I'm not sure England has much of a future anyways.

To all the NHS apologists - you can have it. I will proudly compare my Anthem HDHP with HSA to the socialized offerings of the mother country any day of the week.[/QUOTE]
Wow - aren't you smug????? The NHS is far from perfect, but at least it's there for everyone. Better than the healthcare system here (or I should say the lack of a healthcare system). Sure - health care is fine here if you have insurance, but what about the millions here who don't have health insurance -and I believe it is getting close to 50 million people now. That's a national disgrace.

Lion in Winter

Ah. Well at least we see where you are coming from now.

Lion in Winter

The US is the only developed country that is apparently unable to provide health care to all its citizens.

MoshiMoshi

What racist crap.

You know you're an immigrant, right? And I guess you'd like to name your children, and have them name their children, whatever you'd like? And practice whatever religion you like?

Please enjoy your Better Life in America. Better revoke your British citizenship, in case you lose your health insurance here and have to rely on going back to the socialist home country to get care from Dr Mohammed and the NHS safety net.