Quote:
Originally Posted by NCBeachyGrl
Here we have a similar thing (in the UK.) In terms of comparison, I much prefer the NHS over the US healthcare system. Is that because it's less stressful to me? Probably a lot of it is, but I also found the care a lot more focused and caring. As a lot of the healthcare experience in the US is heavily money-driven, while I do not think for a moment they do not care, I also think there will be a lot of other factors that come into play in how they provide and what they provide. Prescription costs are mind-blowing there, whereas here when you are pregnant, all prescriptions are free. All children under 16 are free. All low-income are free and all retire age (can't remember the exact age) is free. Everyone else pays a flat fee of £7.65, no matter the amount (i.e. how many pills you are given) of the drug - no matter what the drug.
I worked in Radiology in the US and now I do the same here, and the experiences in contrast are so different. There, for cancer patients, I would have to ask for and receive thousands of dollars prior to their PET/CT/MRI scan. I felt dirty doing this. It felt incredibly unethical to me (because it is.) I would get people screaming at me because they "had insurance" and shouldn't have to pay that much, and I would have to explain that this is what their insurance company has requested that they must pay up front, or if they hadn't covered their deductible yet, etcetera. And then the patients who had NO insurance coverage and going through cancer treatment? Just unbelievable, the costs. I mean - who in their right mind would think this is okay? As if they weren't going through enough as it is to begin with...
Here, patients whom are outpatients get seen, according to their urgency... i.e. cancer is fast track, urgents, and routines. But no one is left on a trolley dying, despite what some people have liked to spread around about socialized healthcare in the US. No one is asked for money. No one is turned away. You are treated based on need. If you need it, you got it.
In the US, I got fired from a job because I had chickenpox (and I ended up going to the ER at one point which I got a bill of $600 for sitting around for 5 hours. I wasn't even given a tylenol while there, just sat in a quarantine room with a dangerously high fever.)
I lost a job because it was the day I qualified for health insurance, and she decided (without saying it) that they didn't want to pay out, and instead (through what coworkers told me later on) had replaced me with two part-time employees (because part-time employees don't qualify for health insurance coverage through the employer at all - a bonus saving to them.)
Here? During my two miscarriages, I was signed off work from the GP (doctor) both times, for 2 weeks... with pay, and I was NOT fired. Morning sickness? I was off work quite a bit... but I was NOT fired.
As you can see, my whole perception is constantly comparing my experiences. I didn't even really know of the existence of the NHS until I met my husband. And then when I moved here, I began to experience it first hand, and I was really impressed. Especially when I found a lump in my breast and the speedy fast track investigations I was put through after to come to the speedy conclusion that it was okay and not cancer. Ultrasounds, specialist consultants, etc... all free.
Outpatient surgery in the US? For me, with insurance, that was $400... not including the specialist consultant visit cost. I had to get help to afford it as I didn't make that much money.
I worked in an Neonatal/Special Care Baby Unit as my first proper job here in the UK (for St Mary's in Manchester) and some babies would be there for 5+ months. What would that have cost parents in the US? I thought about it *ALL* the time while working there.
When I first moved here, I CRIED... a lot, thinking about my family, my grandparents, hearing about so and so going to the hospital, etcetera, and the costs, and thinking how wrong it all is.
I am REALLY rambling.... I guess I just feel like I am in between two worlds. When I read about, even the trivial discussion about costs associated with even antenatal care, it ends up infuriating me. Seriously. I do plan to move back to the US one day, and I am going to have a LOT of work to do with keeping my mouth in check because I have a feeling I will be at great odds with everyone else if things haven't begun to change by then.
