Due in March/April/May 2013 Roll call!

[suregena]

I would like to think so, but not sure sometimes! We pretty much can call and ask any question anytime and come in anytime for a visit if something is up. Our dr. office has like 10 different obstetricians and we rotate and see a different one each time we come in. But I think that is mostly because I live in a smaller town. But, as soon as we go into labor the dr is called to the hospital and since my office rotates, the doc on call is the one who will deliver (unless the shift changes b/c you have been there so long). I would be interested to go through the healthcare system in another country just to see how different it is!

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.

[NCBeachyGrl]

Suregena you really do have a unique perspective knowing and having been through both sides! Thanks for sharing!!! I do agree that the US is money driven. With DS2, I felt they they went WAY overboard with me. I had a *slightly* elevated thyroid (never had to be on med) and through my whole pregnancy they insisted on sending me to an endocrinologist for testing ($100 each time), then b/c I had a vanishing twin they sent me to a maternal specialist ($100 each time), and then when I had gestational diabetes, I had to go back to the specialist even more. I felt like they put me through the ringer, going from place to place and scaring me to death in the process.

I switched doctors and told them I do NOT want to go to anyone but the OB and the in-house high risk OB for diabetes if needed. Hopefully this time will be much different!

[suregena]

What happens in the US if you can't afford medical care and don't have insurance?

Everything is highly unregulated. It can end up being different for everyone, with or without insurance.

You will be treated if you don't have insurance, and then you will get a bill. This bill sometimes they'll reduce it 50% if you can't afford it. If you had a lengthy stay in the hospital with mounting hospital bills, that charity hardly amounts to anything to someone who doesn't have money. Around 60% of bankruptcies in the US are attributed to medical bill costs.

There is a system called Medicaid, but even then you have to fall within a certain category to qualify. It covers a lot of costs but you still are expected to pay some. There is a lot of people who are working in the US but do not qualify for Medicaid, but cannot afford healthcare either. They cannot afford taking out insurance on their own. They may not be offered insurance through their employer. There are a lot of people like that. People probably just like me... two person working household type people. They work, they make enough money to just cover their bills and basic necessities, but the monstrous costs of taking out insurance or being seen as an uninsured patient makes it impossible.

It is common practice to weigh the odds of seeing a doctor with how much it will cost you... how much the prescriptions will cost you. One person won't pay the same thing as another. Your neighbor could have the same procedure and pay a completely different price.

The huge push of deregulation is very dangerous to me, as no one is held accountable.

The costs of being uninsured in the US is very dangerous.

For people who are lucky to have what they feel is really good insurance are indeed lucky, but even myself now views that as unlucky. It's still angering to me.

There are many kinds of insurance types/companies, etcetera. No Insurance Is Created Equal. No Patient is Treated Equal.

It's a very messy, convoluted, minefield.

[Butterfly Spirit]

Suregena you really do have a unique perspective knowing and having been through both sides! Thanks for sharing!!! I do agree that the US is money driven. With DS2, I felt they they went WAY overboard with me. I had a *slightly* elevated thyroid (never had to be on med) and through my whole pregnancy they insisted on sending me to an endocrinologist for testing ($100 each time), then b/c I had a vanishing twin they sent me to a maternal specialist ($100 each time), and then when I had gestational diabetes, I had to go back to the specialist even more. I felt like they put me through the ringer, going from place to place and scaring me to death in the process.

I switched doctors and told them I do NOT want to go to anyone but the OB and the in-house high risk OB for diabetes if needed. Hopefully this time will be much different!

Wow that is scary! I'm sorry. I have hypothyroidism so I have to take medication every day and get it tested every now and again.. and pregnancy does alter the thyroid for some strange reason. And yes, the US is WAY money driven, and I do not trust the government at all.. period end of story!
LOL I will talk crap about it all day long if you want me to. Just ask Surgena! haha I already shared my personal rant with her.

[suregena]

I didn't even MENTION if you can afford to take out insurance on your own - you may not even find one who will take you on - maybe because you weigh too much, or you have asthma, or you were a cancer survivor. Or maybe they do take you on, but refuse to cover the costs of certain things, because you weigh too much, or you have asthma, or you were a cancer survivor.

Hopefully this pre-existing conditions business gets better as I know Obama has tried to start making that not allowed... but who knows. With that Republican controlled house during his first term, something that could have really overhauled healthcare in the US got gutted to pieces because Republicans didn't like the "public" option on there (SOCIALIZED MEDICINE OH MY GOD THE DEVIL!) and so on... and gutted it to the bare minimum frame of what he was attempting to get through.

[suregena]

I think the Government can be a source of good or evil - depends on how it is used and who are pulling the strings... as is proven in various countries around the world.

I'm pretty much certain that Insurance Companies are evil, though.

[suregena]

I'll shut up now. *goes quietly into a cave*

[mummypink]

So interesting to hear such a first hand comparison Suregena, it is so lovely to hear such positive things about the NHS. I agree it is fab and very under rated by a lot of people in the UK, I suppose it is taken for granted because it has been there for so long.
I don't think it would do any harm for some of these direct comparisons to be talked about more openly to promote how fantastic the NHS is.

Out of interest why do you think the US doens't have a system similar to the NHS? If most people have insurance anyway surely that could just be changed to a national insurance type tax that could then be used for public hospitals? Do you think it would just be way too complicated to set up? x

[ThreeMenAndALAdy]

I know everyone has been talking about insurance, but I'm a little off topic this morning. I think I remember Rainbow talking about dreams that family members have had about her carrying a little girl. I hope I have the right person. Well I had an amazing dream last night that I was carrying a girl. It was so real!!!! I remember saying my dd was going to have a sister and my dh was on the verge of tears. The woman at my nt scan told me (that would never happen irl). My u/s pic was a real pic and the baby had clothes on...hahaha...and red hair like my 2nd ds. It was so wonderful. I hope it becomes my reality.

[mummypink]

Awww what a lovely dream 3men, hope it comes true for you!

I had a dream I was carrying a baby girl called Emily when I was pregnant with ds1, I have a neice called Emily now though! This time I had a dream I gave birth to triplets, two boys and a girl so I'm hoping that was meaning the two boys I already have and that I'm having a girl this time. Not relying on my dream after last time though lol!!