Am I being AIBU to ask how many of you have looked into medical insurance and hospital plans? And are you 100% you can afford it?

[MaggieLightBlue]

Only asking as we have more than one, non self-inflicted condition in our family unit and I from what I have researched, this may be a hindrance to us getting Medicare or getting affordable Medicare, when the NHS finally collapses.

Concerned citizen

Brittbugs that is interesting - but what happens if your friends then get seriously ill? Cancer treatment for example can be astronomical.

My impression is that people in other European countries don't go untreated if they are on low incomes, and nor are people bankrupted there by serious illness. I may be wrong - it's always interesting when mners overseas comment about other health systems, and i haven't heard of that.

It is a strange fact that people automatically think of the US as the only alternative to the NHS - Western Europe has a number of other models, like social insurance. But. I think my concern about any social insurance based system is that even if you start off with "no exclusions, no differential premiums based on pre-existing conditions etc'", as i believe is the case with eg France and West Germany, those protections can be eroded over time if governments aren't committed to them. And of course co pay caps can be lifted. So despite reservations about nhs experiences, I think that would be a reasonable concern about a move to insurance.

I17neednumbers This was my exact question along with what if you have a child! She said that the other would take out a policy for them which they recommend for terminal illness and her place of work offers a maternity health package.

I agree though that it's funny, and I do it myself, that when we look for a comparison, we turn to the States to compare, not the rest of the world!

This thread seems very strange to me.

A very controversial statement about the NHS and then the OP disappears altogether.

Perhaps I am mistaken but this is typical DM material.

Interesting take on US healthcare here... I've lived in the US for years. Yes, you have insurance. Yes, it can be a pain. $50 for an inhaler for DD's asthma, anyone? That said, the treatment for certain conditions is amazing compared with the NHS and the speed with which conditions are spotted and treated is phenomenal. It's not perfect but three of the four of us would be dead without the level of intervention we've had here. We have Drs' personal numbers, an open door policy, can always get an appointment the same day, see the same pediatrician so she's known the children since birth. It's not all bad!

I cannot believe that in 2017 I have just seen some mention West Germany as a country. Germany reunited in 1990.

I am in the Netherlands. We pay about 100 euros per adult per month which is the basic level. If you pay more you get things like more physio for free or dental work. Insurers can't exclude anyone and those on low income don't pay anything. Works ok for me (care seems similar to NHS) but my Italian friend moans constantly about it as she hates the "take 2 paracetamol and come back in two weeks if its still bothering you" approach by GPs. Admittedly they don't seem to do much in the way of preventative care.

Eek that was me Persian (well you know it was, obviously!). No idea why I did that, thanks for pointing it out.

ps the thank you is not sarcastic - just realised it looks as though it is!

I don't actually think it is scaremongering
I had a cancer scare last year after an ultrasound scan and had to be fast tracked to a private hospital for biopsy. It has really shit me up tbh it would have taken over 20 weeks for me to get an appointment through nhs services. As it was I'd had two operations and 4 appointments and discharge in the time it would have taken to get an nhs appointment. It's worrying. I have a good GP, obviously.

OP seems to have disappeared funnily enough....

There is a lot of different healthcare models not just the USA, when DD was sick in Singapore the doctor cost £10 and the hospital cost £10 for A&E, drugs were £5 DD was seen straightaway no waiting around. I did start to think then that maybe the NHS isn't the best the waits are very very long.

Eek that was me Persian (well you know it was, obviously!). No idea why I did that, thanks for pointing it out
I must admit I only noticed it because I sometimes think it too.

Ah, that is kind of you persian! Maybe i got too engrossed in Deutschland 83 - brilliant series!

Janet I am seriously ill. Definitely not my fault. I had a bad reaction to a flu jab, ended up in hospital. I now have servere brittle asthma, anaphylaxis, and am waiting for confirmation that I have pulmonary fibrosis. All because of a flu jab. There is no legal comeback for me, and I will most likely need a lung transplant within the next five years.

I am TERRIFIED of the Tories getting in. LibDems are merely ToryLite in my book.

And no, no insurer would touch me with a barge pole. It's NHS or nothing for me. Fortunately, so far I have received exemplary treatment, bar the odd hiccough.

There are many, many different healthcare models between ours and the US's. I think your time would be better spent researching those.

No European country has an NHS. As it happens, they virtually all have better healthcare outcomes.

I think they also do spend more pigface tbf (you don't mind me calling you that?) But I seem to remember cancer 5 yr survival rates in Uk compare unfavourably with some/many European countries.

(Though to be honest I am never sure how much longer survival actually means 'longer period knowing you have cancer because it's diagnosed earlier'. How much of it is a 'real' difference in survival is harder to tell).

I did get the shivers reading Theresa May's refusal to rule out opening the NHS to US companies in a trade deal with Donald Trump.

Why do people equate "privatisation" with "paying for healthcare". They are not synonymous.

It's scaremongering, and those who peddle it know it.

And I can't spell severe

Are you aware that some GPs are already wheeling out a two tier system, where you can pay to see your GP sooner? Thank goodness I am blessed with a fantastic GP surgery.

FFS I've been hearing the propaganda "The Tories are going to destroy the NHS" in the run up to every GE for forty fucking years

Reminds me of the Jehovahs Witnesses claims of the date of Armageddon - it keeps being set, not happening, then recalculated.

The NHS cannot stay as it is - it is not fit for today's society, science and demographic - but that will have to be addressed whatever political party is in the hot seat at the time.
One of them will have to bite the bullet and tackle this issue properly instead of just throwing more and more money into a bottomless pit.

If the NHS in any form is to be saved, it MUST evolve.

The question is, who has the balls to do the necessary?.

the NHS is in decline and as the funding continues to decline and staff become more demoralised the cracks will become more apparent. Yes it won't all go at once - I expect co-payments to come in first. then you get the situation you have in other countries where someone cant afford to pay for tests to find out if their cancer has returned.

Countries with systems better than the NHS pay a lot more for their health care. So as a Tory landslide seems on the cards we'll all be paying more in future for a less efficient system. Anyone with any sense is looking at how they will pay for their health care in future. The Tories will let the NHS decline as far as they can and if you cant afford either private insurance or to self-fund treatment you can wait longer or just not have any care.

I've researched it, with high blood pressure, anxiety, depression, a personality disorder and PCOS, All of which require treatment, it isn't out of reach for us, we aren't minted, but I don't see it being a necessity for anyone in the future if I'm honest.

I think those who can afford it, and are fed up of NHS waiting lists may decide to go private, but I don't think anyone will have to.

sorry but you are swallowing Tory propaganda wholesale. they cant come out and say honestly that they dont want to fund healthcare for anyone but themself but they will keep reducing funding so that the NHS cannot treat everyone.

So you will have to plan for private health care costs if you wish to be sure of being treated. If you do get NHS treatment you may be waiting a long time in pain while others who are in even worse pain are treated. If you cant pay you dont matter to the Tories.