Originally Posted by mamasue

Private insurance isn't an option.... as a 13-year cancer survivor, insurance companies won't touch me... and if they did, it would be unaffordable!
I'm just counting the birthdays to 65 and Medicare!
BUT..... I love living in Georgia... property prices are affordable, and people are more friendly than the UK.

Originally Posted by augigi

It's hard - when I'm in Australia, I miss the US and call it "home", when I'm here, I call Australia "home". Australia will always have my family, be the place I'm FROM, where people just get you etc. But my life is in the US now, and although it's been a relatively lonely couple of years, I feel I'm quite settled here and made some great friends now.

Originally Posted by Bob

Food in MA costs way the pluck more than back in blighty unless you go to places like Hay Market...you have much more fluctuation of cost depending on season and locality of crops than you do in the UK. Cost of food really does depend on where you end up, I could get a bakers dozen of corn for $1 up in Maine, but a half dozen would cost $3 in MA.

Originally Posted by HumphreyC

Oh clucking bell. Never mind, stuff from the pharmacy is definitely cheaper; and they sell ibuprofen and paracetamol in bulk as opposed to the pathetic quantities of it you get here. That means I should find it easy to top myself once I get pissed off with the price/quality of groceries, the extortionate house prices and having my nuts frozen off clearing the drive in the winter. Welcome to the American Dream.

Originally Posted by confusedgirl

....it seemed unethical to profit from something which is essentially life.

Originally Posted by HighlandPenguin

I couldn't agree more and this point is one of my concerns with living here in the US(going on 6 years). Hopefully Health Care Reform will move the US in the right direction.

Originally Posted by TracyTN

I agree wholeheartedly.

Hubby LOVES it here and has no desire to ever return to the UK to live. Sure, there are things which nark him and which he finds we're ripped off on - but in general, he feels his quality of life here is much better than it was in the UK. He wishes his mom would emigrate here one day - but we both worry about how she'd find health insurance (one of the US' definite down sides - although we have good insurance, we know that isn't the norm).

It does depend on where you live in the US too. We're in the South which is pretty hospitable both weather wise and the people LOVE his accent - I swear he is treated like a celebrity sometimes! LOL. No shop keep or bartender ever forgets him, let me just say! But also the cost of living here is less than other parts of the country which I think helps too.

Originally Posted by Sally Redux

Kind of, but it will still be run for profit.

Originally Posted by HighlandPenguin

Beware though, that along with the lovely southern hospitality also comes conservativism and depending on your ideologies this can wear one down very quickly. I have been here for 6 years(Kentucky) and was very optimistic early on, but these days I am so fed up with the narrow minded views of conservatives. Especially with the raging Health Care Reform debate that is going on. As a result, me and the missus are seriously considering moving to a more liberal area in the US.

Originally Posted by HighlandPenguin

I agree - I was so hoping that a public option was part of the reform.

Originally Posted by nettlebed

It's not what I hoped for, but if the House bill gets through, it's not as bad as it could be.

Originally Posted by chrisfromusa

But, how bad does a bill have to be that Democrats won't vote on it without getting special deals if this was a well intentioned bill with everything rosy, you'd think all the Democrats would vote for it?? Something's not right if Obama is this desperate twisting everyone's arm and interfering with a different branch of government

Originally Posted by nettlebed

Yes, there's something that doesn't smell quite right.

However, as it got down to the wire, I think that the Dems who adamantly stated that they would vote "no" would pretty much all vote "yes."

Despite strident arseholes like Boehner saying "[...] the American people are saying, ‘stop!’ and they’re screaming at the top of their lungs," I think that's bullshit.

I believe the majority of Americans want better health care, and they will punish Dems in the elections this year if they vote against it. Obama didn't need to be held to ransom on this one: he's just being a pussy...