The NHS has its faults, but it won't leave you broke

I just received one of two bills from the emergency room in Pennsylvania. We have insurance for our child who needed two staples to her head after she fell and cut it. The copay was $35 which we paid. This week we received a bill from the ER doctor who saw us in the amount of $420. My insurance company tells us they paid the bill and it was cashed last month, so what's going on? The ER bill, which was separate, is apparently over $1700. While it's unlikely we will have to pay this since we have insurance, I am sick and tired of having to make phone calls and write letters and waste my time trying to get this sorted out. I cannot believe a simply procedure requiring two staples could cost over $2,100.

Since I moved to the US ten years ago I've had nothing but problems with insurance companies.

A trip to Ireland a few years ago, my wife was in the hospital, pregnant, with a kidney stone. It took five months to get the bill paid and lots of faxing and letter writing.

When we got back from Ireland, she went into preterm labour too soon and the dr told her she needed to be admitted. The health insurance company refused to pay. We didn't get a bill but I am told it was $52,000.

Three years ago I got bitten by a tick, had health insurance, and they refused to pay citing preexisting condition. After exhausting all their appeals and writing to the state department of banking and insurance, which ruled in my favour, the health insurance company paid, but only after a year had gone by. Meanwhile I had to pay the doctor because if you don't they will send your bill to collections and it will end up being twice as large and your credit rating will be damaged. I had to wait a year before the insurance company reimbursed the doctor who then reimbursed me. I was even interviewed by a national newspaper and went on TV proclaiming the merits of the NHS over the US system.

Nothing has changed since Obama signed the health care reform bill. Our health insurance goes up 15% a year, but the benefit cap on diagnostics stays as it is. The insurance got a waiver from the state this year so they wouldn't have to pay more than 80% of their income on health care. They'd rather pay fat cat salaries and pensions and we end up paying more for less each year.

My point in writing this, is that while the NHS has its problems, over bloated management, pen pushers and "NICE" telling you what drugs they can and can't give you, they won't leave you bankrupt. You won't get hit with a bill from the emergency room and the doctor who saw you. You won't pay hundreds of pounds for a prescription as I did.

I hope to move back to the UK next year and can't wait to get out of this country. I love America but the system is completely corrupt and there is no sign of improvement. Government is run by the banks for the banks. It doesn't matter who you vote for next year, be it Republican, Democrat or Independent, they are all cut from the same cloth. Republicans want to overturn the health care law. Voting is nothing but an illusion of democracy.

Government is run by the banks for the banks. It doesn't matter who you vote for next year, be it Republican, Democrat or Independent, they are all cut from the same cloth. Republicans want to overturn the health care law. Voting is nothing but an illusion of democracy.

Theres similar issues here.
The 'coalition' is no better. All politicians are corrupt and only work for those who line their pockets and not the people who vote for them. Cameron & Co are doing everything in their power to break apart the NHS bit by bit.. Its still here, for now...

My sister felt and broke her pelvis about 5 years ago. She was uninsured and unemployed, as she had just moved back to the US after living abroad for a bit. The cost was over $42,000 for two weeks in hospital (not to mention loss in earnings as she was bed ridden for 3 months or the cost of the home care equipment she had to buy out of pocket) One Dr had the balls to charge her over $400 for seeing her for over 15 minutes. She was lucky as a charity took away half her debt, but that took almost 9 months to do and she had to pay that balance out of her savings during that time. Eventually her lawsuit settled (5 years after the fact) but it shouldn't take that. She was VERY lucky she had savings to go on, otherwise she would have been financially screwed for a really long time...

Its disgusting that some people feel health care isnt a basic right. We all deserve to have access to quality care and be treated equally regardless of the co-pay or what our coverage entitles us to. The NHS is a HUGE reason why we would never move back to the US. Canada, maybe, but not the US.

I agree. It's a mess. I told my husband ages ago that I wouldn't be moving back to the US and this is the #1 reason. My parents always had health insurance. Excellent health insurance, in fact. And all I remember is how much they had to fight with the insurance company to get them to pay for even the simplest things. I'm not raising my children over there. Fortunately, he's not keen on moving over there either.

We moved back to the UK this summer. I was self-employed, and my BC/BS premium for the HIGHEST deductible was over $500 per month. My husband was still working at 69 because he was not eligible for Medicare and has some chronic conditions. After his employer dumped him to give his job to the father of another employee (really horrible situation, very complicated), he had coverage under COBRA. This was $586 per month.

Our living costs here are not much more than we paid for health insurance, and lord help you if you actually have to use it.

A few things were made better by the Obama reformed, but it doesn't go far enough. No way were the Republicans going to allow universal coverage or even decent affordable coverage to get through Congress. But in past decades, the Democrats were their own worst enemy. Jimmy Carter had a plan to put an NHS-style system in place. But he had to back off because Ted Kennedy opposed it. Carter sees that as one of the great mistakes of his presidency - not somehow getting that through.

Yes, the NHS is not perfect, but ANYONE who has faced medical issues (and the resulting bills) in the US can tell you that the insurance companies determine your health care, NOT your doctor.

I agree. It's a mess. I told my husband ages ago that I wouldn't be moving back to the US and this is the #1 reason. My parents always had health insurance. Excellent health insurance, in fact. And all I remember is how much they had to fight with the insurance company to get them to pay for even the simplest things. I'm not raising my children over there. Fortunately, he's not keen on moving over there either.

I could've written exactly this!

Having had a bone marrow transplant, there's no way I could ever afford health insurance in the US now, even anyone would even agree to cover me. I'm not religious, but thank God for the NHS.

My employer offers very good retiree health plans if you qualify for years of service. They offer 3 different plans. This year however the BC/BS Medex one has raised the deductibles and premiums big time and no doubt the others will follow suit. Our union is agitating because it could well be a hardship for a lot of people on fixed incomes.

The NHS comes up trumps for the "big" stuff. You may have some inconvenience getting your ingrown toenail, etc. seen to but they pull out all the stops for things like cancer.  Thank God indeed.

I myself is totally convinced that the people who are against universal healthcare either 1. never had an illness like cancer that can eat up bills.... or 2. have the income to back up any gap that the insurance does not cover.

And with the whole healthcare reform going to the supreme court in March we still have a long way to go before it gets implemented fully. Needless to say I will be ecstatic when I move to the UK and this is one of the reasons

I absolutely agree with you. Our (idiot) congressman said he was against 'Obamacare' because ''30 million people who don't go to doctors now will be going if it's passed''.

HELLO - these are the folk who can't AFFORD to go to see a doctor, or end up crowding the ER when something happens. I told anyone and everyone that all the scare stories about waiting lists in the UK (and Canada for that matter) that were in the news were just plain rubbish. Sure you have to wait for something non-essential, but it's not like the NHS say, 'well, gee, you have cancer, and you are on a list and we hope to treat you before you die.'

The NHS took superb care of my father in law until his death at age 93

There are the dangerous idiots who say healthcare isn't a right. They better be looking over their shoulders every second because very few of us get to the grave unscathed with at least one health problem. Everyone benefits when we all are as healthy as we can be. The US has always been clinging to stupid, unrealistic ideals. You'd think the total obsession with youth and beauty would include good health for every one! Hahaha! I mean, we should strive to be gorgeous and die young and look good in our coffins!

Truly, people who are currently in good health should not be smug and so selfish. Also, I would think we have all seen that insurance companies and plans are not a sure reason to feel confident!

The US Healthcare system works impeccably.. unless of course, you get sick.

@ vadio
I used to work for COBRA (WORST job I've ever held, by the way) and sometimes I'd sit in disbelief starring at my computer screen wondering how people, who were UNEMPLOYED, could afford a premium THREE to FOUR times the amount i made in a couple of weeks.

Having been born in EU, i can safely say that the US does NOT care for its citizens and residents. Corruption and money backed government exist just about everywhere there is land, but the US healthcare is an exceptional and unique problem that VERY few countries share.

The US Healthcare system works impeccably.. unless of course, you get sick.

@ vadio
I used to work for COBRA (WORST job I've ever held, by the way) and sometimes I'd sit in disbelief starring at my computer screen wondering how people, who were UNEMPLOYED, could afford a premium THREE to FOUR times the amount i made in a couple of weeks.

Having been born in EU, i can safely say that the US does NOT care for its citizens and residents. Corruption and money backed government exist just about everywhere there is land, but the US healthcare is an exceptional and unique problem that VERY few countries share.

AMEN!

As a Scot, can I say that having been a patient of NHS and been treated for life threatening conditions twice over the years and inbetween treatments for various minor illnesses and the odd minor accident. I've never had any complaints either about waiting times or quality of care despite the wards at Edinburgh's Western General not being as impressively high tech as from what I've seen and heard of U.S. style hospitals. NHS nurses and doctors are amazing people trying to make do with the best of what they have. The U.S. has impressive hospitals but I think the whole thing being under control of Health Insurance companies is scarily wrong, these massive sums of money that are quoted for various treatments are shocking, but I think they are made up to force joe public to fork out on insurance. So america's health care is run by huge money making insurance companies getting rich over ordinary folks fear of getting ill. OK you're getting great health care but what if you're low paid or just struggling to make ends meet?

And the care isn't all that great or at least not all over. Again, its all smoke and mirrors here. Hospitals look impressive!

I figure I must have good health insurance here because I get it through my university.  However, I haven't had to go outside of the university health services for any treatment, so I don't really know if I could end up with a huge bill for something down the line.  And it's really hard to figure out exactly what you're covered for.  When I signed up, I didn't get a brochure telling me how much they would pay for x, y and z.  I only know that I don't pay for treatment within the university health services, and what my copays are for prescriptions, ER visits etc.

A couple of years ago I phoned up my insurance company to see if I would be covered on a trip to Costa Rica.  She wouldn't just give me a simple answer, it was like getting blood out of a stone.  In the end, I had to give her a scenario: "if I broke my leg and had to be airlifted to hospital..." etc.

I feel pretty good that I'm in Massachusetts at least, where everyone is required to have health insurance.  It's just scary that even if you try to do the right thing and get insurance, you could still end up underinsured.  I haven't heard any of my friends or family mention that they've run up huge medical bills, but I've heard plenty of scare stories on the internet.

ETA:  And with regard to the quality of care, I've been happy with it, but I must say, I have only seen my doctor once, and that's in 8 visits to the doctor over 5 years.  She's always booked up, so they put me with a nurse practitioner instead.

I'm not a religious person either, but we are truly blessed to have the insurance plan we do here in the US. I fight for very little and when there is some query, our outstanding doctors have fought for me. One of my sons has GI issues and developmental issues so we see doctors a lot.

What do I pay for all this? Nothing.

The sad thing is that we get the state insurance for people on low incomes - effectively what EVERYONE should get. We're lucky to live in an enlightened state (Maryland) and I know things could be very different if we had to move.

The bad thing about all this is that I actually dread the day I get a job with benefits, or my ex does. Because then we will probably lose the insurance we have and my son will either lose the therapy he gets or we'll have to pay out of pocket.

It's a crazy old world.

ETA: the care we get is great - but again, we're lucky to be in an area with top ranked hospitals and doctors.