What do Americans do if they have no healthcare?

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Seeing posts on Reddit about the costs of routine medical visits and the astronomical breakdown of figures charged, but I'm assuming these are all covered by health insurance.

But what if you have no insurance. What happens if you get cancer etc. Are you left to die?

My sister was being wheeled into a&e and she said a woman was running among side her trolley with a clipboard asking her for her name, address, insurance number... my sister told her in no uncertain terms that this was neither the time nor place. I’m sure they wouldn’t have rolled her into the street if she didn’t have insurance - but you never know!

Thank goodness for the NHS - sadly half the country don’t know when we’re well off and the other half seem to want to undermine it at every opportunity.

Only the very elderly in this country (UK) remember what it was like before the NHS. Only they know the dread of having to call out a doctor to a sick child - putting it off, and putting it off because of the cost (which might mean that they actually had no food in the house for several days) until they HAD to call them out - and then it was often too late.

We have largely, as a nation, grown up with this wonderful service. Very few of us have ever had to make a harsh decision between paying the rent or calling the doctor. We always get treatment, though sometimes we may have to wait.

Health care is so much a part of our lives that it's like the air we breathe - we don't notice it any more, but if it wasn't there, my God we would suffer! I don't think many people realise how much under threat the NHS is from this government - they are dying to hike off the profitable parts and sell them off - and American pharmaceutical companies are the first in line to get their hands on them!

The health service isn't perfect (show me a service - any service - that is), but it has kept a lot of people alive when they would have died of comparatively minor ailments, and it has relieved a HUGE amount of chronic and acute suffering.

We would be idiots to let it go.

[quote Kitkat151]@UsedUpUsername
Gas and air is brilliant....had it with all 3 of mine and didn’t need anything else.....epidurals come with a risk[/quote]
I had g&a and frankly felt like I was dying, it didn’t do anything for me. In contrast, the epidural was calming and relatively painless

People need to keep an eye on what is happening in the UK and use POLITICAL PRESSURE to enure that we do not get moved to a US system (ie vote socialist).

After lurking on the Rosacea forum on Reddit I was shocked at the price people in the US were being charged for a face cream to help treat it. It's called Soolantra, obviously in the UK it costs just over £9 on prescription but some people in the US were having to pay $300...for a face cream you use every day for a condition that never completely goes away. The main active ingredient in Soolantra is Ivermectin which actually used in oral Horse wormer, (theory is that rosacea can be caused by mites) people are buying oral horse wormer for around $6 from Amazon and are using it on their face because Soolantra is too expensive to buy. People that haven't actually been diagnosed but suspect they have rosacea also use it because they can't afford to see a dermatologist.

I’m curious how they track all the items used for each individual patient. Does the nurse carry a note pad and writes down the number of syringes, pill pots, IV lines used?

I’m a nurse and can’t imagine trying to keep track of it all, what if I dropped a syringe and had to use a new one, who pays then?! It boggles my mind!

@PopsicleHustler

Its incredible that you literally have to pay to have a baby, give birth. Imagine the pain and everything else and then having to pay. Sounds ridiculous really. I cant fathom paying thousands to give birth. I've done it 5 times and definitely would be bankrupt if I lived in the states. Really does make you appreciate the NHS

Everyone part of your care should be well-paid for their efforts.

I mean, I guess you pay through your taxes but I don’t see what’s wrong with paying at point of service? I paid after discharge after having DC2 and didn’t think it was ridiculous at all

I’m curious how they track all the items used for each individual patient. Does the nurse carry a note pad and writes down the number of syringes, pill pots, IV lines used?

I worked with a couple of nurses who had worked in the US. If they didn't have time to give a patient an injection / pill or treatment and record it, they recorded it and didn't give the injection, pill etc.

@MustBeThin

After lurking on the Rosacea forum on Reddit I was shocked at the price people in the US were being charged for a face cream to help treat it. It's called Soolantra, obviously in the UK it costs just over £9 on prescription but some people in the US were having to pay $300...for a face cream you use every day for a condition that never completely goes away. The main active ingredient in Soolantra is Ivermectin which actually used in oral Horse wormer, (theory is that rosacea can be caused by mites) people are buying oral horse wormer for around $6 from Amazon and are using it on their face because Soolantra is too expensive to buy. People that haven't actually been diagnosed but suspect they have rosacea also use it because they can't afford to see a dermatologist.

Yes, it’s true that medicines are expensive in the states. So many things, like retin-A and birth control pills, could easily and cheaply be available OTC.

The argument against OTC BCPs was that women would never get their annual pelvic health exams anymore (which you’d get along with a BCP prescription) but I don’t think it’s justified personally

@sashh

I’m curious how they track all the items used for each individual patient. Does the nurse carry a note pad and writes down the number of syringes, pill pots, IV lines used?

I worked with a couple of nurses who had worked in the US. If they didn't have time to give a patient an injection / pill or treatment and record it, they recorded it and didn't give the injection, pill etc.

I don’t think it’s the nurses who do that though, it’s likely the nurse’s aides (LPNs) etc doing those up

[quote apalledandshocked]@UsedUpUsername And I know the UK and US (stereotypically) have different priorities when it comes to having good teeth. [/quote]
People often say this - and yes, wealthy Americans have fabulous teeth, but look at the average Gerry Springer guest . . .

I also think that there are different priorities re: teeth in the UK and the US. here in the UK most people prefer straight teeth, and pain--free teeth, but they aren't particularly bothered about that red-carpet smile with gleaming white, totally even gnashers! (Though it seems to be going that way).

Most of us, I think, are quite happy to have "tooth-coloured" teeth ie slightly yellow natural colouration, and as long as we have otherwise healthy teeth aren't bothered that our teeth aren't luminous white.

I broke my arm badly about twenty years ago. Ambulance to hospital, I used up most of their gas and air on the way . Straight through A&E, 'knocked out' and woke up to a plaster cast from shoulder to fingertips.
Every other day was nil by mouth as further surgeries needed. In hospital for two weeks (they let me home for the weekend in the middle) then back soon after for bone grafts from my hips.

Cost to me? Apart from my HI absolutely bugger all.

My friend, who moved over here from the States just before my accident paled at first he he heard as he just thought my bill would be astronomical.

The NHS is a long, long way from being any where near being perfect, but I know what system I prefer

I remember once me and a friend were at Gatwick Airport waiting to board a flight to Washington Dulles and I saw three women in the queue all on their own with newborn babies. I thought it was strange at the time but I wonder if they came over to the uk to give birth to save money.

@Nothingyet I don’t know any poor people who want a privatised health system. I don’t know anyone at all who wants a privatised health system for that matter, but I don’t socialise with rich politicians who have an interest in making money from it.

I do know lots of people who do have an issue with how the nhs is run and abused, including immigrants and health tourists.

I’ve lived in countries with a fee paying healthcare system, I’m currently living in one now. I have noting but respect for the nhs and the staff who are dedicated to providing health care for everyone. I do have a problem with so many things about how it’s run and abused.

As an immigrant to other countries I accept I don’t get the same healthcare benefits as residents/citizens when it comes to medical care unless I pay for it. In a country I lived in for almost 20 years I would have to prove my residency status every time I registered with a new gp, every hospital appointment, for maternity care. Before I qualified for residency I paid for everything I needed with regards to medical care. I’m not saying this as someone who is paid shit loads of money either, I wasn’t even paid minimum wage for the first 3 years living there. Accident and Emergency and life saving care was provided to all. Some costs would be recovered by insurance etc but no one was pursued if they genuinely couldn’t pay.

There are plenty of things the nhs could do to be more financially sustainable.

In my home city the nhs sold off loads of its property a number of years ago, they then proceeded to rent the same properties and have now paid more money in rent than what they made from the sale. It just defies logic.

Car parking. They outsource to external companies who rip off the public. I’d be very happy to pay for parking if that money was being fed directly back into the nhs so would most if not all people.

Agency staff. Nhs staff are so burnt out the nhs spends a fortune on agency staff to cover them. Not only that but many staff leave to work for agencies as they are paid more. How much money is wasted paying the agency??? Why can’t they just pay nhs staff a reasonable wage. If they actually hired enough staff and paid them a decent wage there would not be so many staff leaving and being burnt out. So many good medical staff move overseas to get better jobs too, something needs to be done to keep them here and treat them well.

Immigrants. I have absolutely no problem with immigration or people receiving emergency medical care. I’m an immigrant, my parents and grandparents were immigrants, I do have a problem with immigrants getting blanket free care from a system they havnt paid into. As with the benefits system. A system needs to be put in place that none citizens or full residents pay for some of their care, gp visits, hospital appointments etc... it dosnt have to be to the point of it being unrealistic for them to get treatment, but they need to contribute to help sustain the NHS otherwise we will have an American based system whether we like it or not.

I’m not sure I totally agree with the level of care in the US either. The one time I needed medical care there, I saw some flash Dr in New York and after spending a small fortune he gave be a prescription and some very dangerous medical advise. If I hadn’t have had common sense and called my insurance company to check the advice I was given I could have caused some serious irreparable damage. I suppose the benefit of that would have been I could at least of sued him in the US.

Government healthcare can function nicely as a safety net, but why not encourage those who can to use private care? Would take a lot of pressure off the NHS we do this, everyone I know does it too, maybe in other parts of the U.K. it’s not that common?

My daughter has multiple health issues, she currently is involved with 6 different specialisms through the NHS, I shudder to think about what that would cost in insurance and fees in the US. I had a family member who lived in the States for many years, she basically said that she’d do anything not to see a doctor because a GP visit alone would cost $150, before any medication or referral to a specialist. That was with decent health insurance.

As it stands my daughter gets very good health care, with good communication between the various specialties, for the cost of my tax/NI contribution. I’d hate to be totting up the cost of every health appointment for her and wondering if I could afford it.

Also I don’t think anyone at all is suggesting moving the NHS to a US style system. No one at all. So let’s be realistic

You are very naive if you don;'t think we are in danger of this.

Watch "Srubs" on TV.
They constantly have story lines where the staff have to use various ploys to give treatment to patients w/o insurance.
On one episode they changed the name to a patient that had just died, using their insurance details.
Obviously the script is a "joke", but it does reflect a serious ethical issue for hospital staff.

For all those saying there are payment plans etc, this is true. However many people realise they will never come close to repaying it in their lifetime and I’m not sure bankruptcy necessarily cancels it out so they accept the route of death, viewing it as the only option. It’s very common. It’s a shit system. Yet one the majority of Americans want as they don’t see why they should pay for others via increased taxes.

Immigrants. I have absolutely no problem with immigration or people receiving emergency medical care. I’m an immigrant, my parents and grandparents were immigrants, I do have a problem with immigrants getting blanket free care from a system they havnt paid into. As with the benefits system. A system needs to be put in place that none citizens or full residents pay for some of their care, gp visits, hospital appointments etc...

They do though, if you emigrate here you need to pay a levi for NHS care, my BIL emigrated here when my sister returned from the US and had to pay I think a few thousand pounds for access to the NHS.

" How do you deconstruct an entire industry? "

In 1948 when Bevan was asked how he got the doctors on board with the "new" NHS, which they had been massively against, he answered "I stuffed their mouths with gold". (said in a fierce & scornful Welsh accent)

You are very naive if you don;'t think we are in danger of this.

That’s hysterical rubbish. I’ve worked in a few systems and you won’t end up with a US system at all. It will be a system aligned with some European systems or the Australian system. No way will it be the US system. It’s not the only other system that exists.

@BabyYoda

I believe standard protocol is to start cooking crystal meth...

Yeah well that's all right for those who have a chemistry degree and access to a campervan and a desert but not everyone is so fortunate!

What happens in the US when people retire? And no more work supported insurance?

Cowbells