US Healthcare and deciding to move to the UK

I'm not sure if this is at all the right forum for my question.

For those of you US/UK couples who made the decision to live in the UK, how much of that decision was based upon the pathetic healthcare situation in the US?

If one of you had a health condition, would the NHS alone be enough of a reason to live in the UK?

I met my DH in the UK and lived there for 8 years. We got great care on the NHS. DH then got a job offer (post doc) here in the US so we took it. He gets pretty good coverage through his job (actually, it's one of the many plans all fed government employees are eligible for which seems to be a hot topic these days!).

We have recently had some medical scares for both myself and my older son. I do have to say that fear of the health care system here could one day drive us to consider a return to the UK before a job or other development might.

That is why I am watching Obama's attempts here very, very closely.

It wasn't a factor.  I did, however, have a Chapter 7 bankrupcy, back in 2001, and medical debt was the nail in the coffin for me. 

Now I am pushing 40 and have three young children, there's no way I'd move back to the US especially considering the healthcare/insurance system.

For many years I worked in jobs I didn't like in order to keep insurance.  Hated all that paperwork, too, and then having to chase things up and argue over coverage, whilst getting more and more bills and threatening letters through the door.

No thanks, I have quite enough stress in my life right now as it is.

I'm not sure if this is at all the right forum for my question.

For those of you US/UK couples who made the decision to live in the UK, how much of that decision was based upon the pathetic healthcare situation in the US?

If one of you had a health condition, would the NHS alone be enough of a reason to live in the UK?

Not a consideration of where we chose to live, it was more down to the fact it was easier for us to get my wife's visa here rather than me in the US, also I had the better job and the house.
However, the more I learn about the US healthcare system the more it puts me off moving there as much as I would like to....particularly as we both approach our 50's.

None whatever. Luckily, I've never been seriously ill in either country. From the ordinary care I've experienced in both, the treatment has been broadly the same. My care under Blue Cross in the States slightly edges my care under the NHS. But, frankly, the amount of routine diagnostics my US doctor ordered was a bit of a pain.

My mother moved over to the US for a while to be near us -- I think the health system was one of the key factors in her decision to return to the UK after about a year. She didn't relish the prospect of growing old under such a system.

Now that we are planning our own move over to the UK, the NHS is not one of the main factors driving our decision, but it's a nice bonus...

If you had a chronic condition, would it play more of a part?

If you had a chronic condition, would it play more of a part?

Definitely -- it seems like so many US insurers are looking for any reason not to cover you, and any sort of 'pre-existing' or chronic condition would make things very difficult.

Depends on the condition, I guess. I don't have the same negative experiences of US insurance that I've read about. I worked at the same job for 25 years, and saw a lot of coworkers go through a lot of illnesses, acute and chronic, and the standard of care (and coverage) seemed uniformly excellent.

So I guess the answer is, I'd rather be in the US on Blue Cross than in the UK on the NHS. But I'd rather be in the UK on the NHS than the US without a premium insurance plan.

So I guess the answer is, I'd rather be in the US on Blue Cross than in the UK on the NHS. But I'd rather be in the UK on the NHS than the US without a premium insurance plan.

I agree.  I'd rather be in the US with insurance than in the UK with the NHS.

So I guess the answer is, I'd rather be in the US on Blue Cross than in the UK on the NHS. But I'd rather be in the UK on the NHS than the US without a premium insurance plan.

i agree with this, as well.  i have amazing insurance here in the US, so one of my concerns in moving over was giving that up.  i was initially concerned about the wait times/quality of health and dental care i'd receive there versus what i receive now in the US.  the concern wasn't enough to stop me from moving over, but it was large enough that i've spent the past few months having EVERY minor checkup and procedure that i have been putting off done before my move (so much so, that i'm actually arriving with stitches in my back that my fiance will have to remove for me in 2 weeks!). 

this said, however, i was really impressed by the ER visit i had last fall and found that visit to be WAY more pleasant (and shorter!) than any ER experience i've had in a major american city.  also, i will say that the NHS is not the reason i am moving over but it may factor into consideration over whether we move back to the US or not, particularly if one of us were to develop an ongoing illness/condition.  for me to feel comfortable relocating a family back to the US, the system would need to have changed or we would need to be healthy without any pre-existing conditions and with a job secured that provided excellent insurance before i'd consider it. 

While healthcare was not the main reason for us to move to the UK, it did contribute to our decision making process.  Our oldest child has a rare syndrome.  I did plenty of research prior to moving over to determine what would be covered. 
DH (who is British but had lived in the US for many years) worked for a large company while we lived in the States and we had good health coverage.  It was slightly better than the NHS.  Overall, I am pleased with the NHS. It isn't perfect, but then again our health care plan in the US wasn't either.
 DH was recently made redundant.  Not having to worry about COBRA premium payments is nice.

I'm not sure if this is at all the right forum for my question.

For those of you US/UK couples who made the decision to live in the UK, how much of that decision was based upon the pathetic healthcare situation in the US?

If one of you had a health condition, would the NHS alone be enough of a reason to live in the UK?

About 75% of our choice was the healthcare. I like it here now so it's not to say that if the healthcare situation changes in the US we'll move back, but when we were first deciding where to settle, health insurance was a huge factor.

But I agree with geeta: I'd rather be in the US with insurance than in UK with NHS. It's just getting and affording that insurance that's a problem.

Our move from the UK to the US was because of my husband's job, but healthcare was a big issue for me. In the UK I had a very traumatic birth with my first son. My brilliant midwife was the one shining gem in the whole situation, the rest of the care was abysmal, even requiring me to fly to the US and pay out of pocket for a repair surgery the NHS deemed unnecessary. That's the short story.

Here in the US, I've seen my mother die of cancer - uninsured - yet receiving brilliant care. The kicker is that she was on many experimental treatments only available in the US at the time. My dad is looking at a medical bankruptcy for it all, so the benefits of it are a double edged sword. She had a very high quality of life right until her death, and she wouldn't have had that elsewhere. Dad says those extra 7 years with her were worth the bankruptcy. But I'll never forget, on her literal death bed, her apologizing to my dad over the cost of it all.

And that's when my mind largely changed. My horrible NHS experience colored me. One large very bad thing. But over here in the US, I've had plenty of other bad doctors, and disasters waiting to happen.

And we are *still* paying off the bills from when my son was born prematurely and had to be in the hospital for 3 weeks, and he will be 3 in January. That stinks, big time. And we have Great Insurance. Yet here I am, paying beacoup de dollars every month, which is hard not to resent.

So. My theory is this. There are good things about both systems. There are horrible things about both systems. The bad experiences in both countries largely overshadow the good ones. And that no matter where we live, with either system, our basic needs *can* be met, sometimes you just have to fight for them.

Healthcare sucks no matter where you are, brilliant doctors and care exist in both places, it is just mainly down to LUCK - and some willingness to fight for your own care. Which I've had to do in both countries.

I agree.  I'd rather be in the US with insurance than in the UK with the NHS.

I agree with Geeta!

Personally, the NHS scared the heck out of me. Our GP office (the doctors) were beyond horrible, I actually preferred and trusted the nurses more. I always worried what would happen if either of us had a terrible disease....would we be on a long wait list, receive the proper drugs (post code lottery)?

One of my worst experiences was going "private" for a mammogram and I received a really nasty lecture from the consultant (same as doctor/specialist in the US, for those of you reading from the US) about why I didn't need one, he was almost yelling at me. Really, I thought? My mother had breast cancer and I was over 40 so it made sense to me that I needed to be screened.  

That said, the US system really needs an overhaul but I worry that they are trying to push the reforms through too quickly. It's a mess and will take more than just a few months to sort out.

Modified to say: I had to go private for the mammogram because the NHS wouldn't give me one  (you have to be over 50) even though I had a family history of breast cancer.