To think it is terrible that Americans with health insurance have such high deductibles

[crunchymint]

I have been reading this article about American healthcare.

www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/01/go-fund-yourself-health-care-popularity-contest/

It says -

"With health care costs and high-deductible plans on the rise for more than a decade, medical expenses are the largest single cause of bankruptcies nationwide. Despite Obamacare’s efforts to rein in costs, the average deductible on a typical plan under the Affordable Care Act is $2,550—nearly as much as the entire monthly take-home pay of the average American worker. President Donald Trump’s efforts to destabilize Obamacare have already raised premiums, and experts predict the cost of a deductible under some versions of Republican health care legislation would rise to an average of at least $4,100."

Basically when someone has health insurance, they still have to pay a certain amount out of their own pocket. Typically they have to pay a certain amount to visit a Dr and for any treatment - with insurance covering the rest. So even someone with insurance who has a chronic or serious illness, still has to pay a substantial amount of money out on top of their insurance premiums.

Normal for any private healthcare policy.

We oay for a GP

But not any treatment

Pay obviously...

Many insurance policies will have an excess.

We don't know how good we have it with the NHS.

Oops

But only if we go to a private GP

NHS GP is free

Fucks sake

When we had an excess it was £100

(Sorry for multiple posts)

That's incredibly high! I have private healthcare (in the uk) and my deductible's £100 and that's for everything from a course of physio through to huge surgeries.

But in the UK, plenty of healthcare treatment is only given by the NHS, and you will be transferred there by your private healthcarer. That is why deductibles are much lower.

Hardly surprising when healthcare is run as a profit-making business.

Well this is what we are heading for in this country.
The NHS is being systematically sabotaged so it can be sold off to the highest bidder, under the guise of "reform".

US hospitals also offer their own repayment plans for certain treatment, if you don’t have insurance, and often have their own charitable trusts so eligible low income people can have some (or all) of their work completed pro bono. It’s still shit though - the US should have free healthcare. It certainly has the money to offer this.

And the irony is that, despite citizens having to have insurance and pay large deductables, the US Government spends more per capita on healthcare than countries such as Canada, Sweden and probably the UK that have NHS healthcare (or equivalent) due to the involvement of highly profitable private sector providers and insurance companies.

uk.businessinsider.com/us-spends-more-public-money-on-healthcare-than-sweden-or-canada-2017-4?r=US&IR=T

Co-pay is common in lots of countries

The co-pay/excess for things like GP appointments is quite low, as in Ireland, France etc
But it can rise a lot for operations

A private GP appointment can cost as little as £25, so of course the co pay is not going to be extremely high.

Our annual deductible/excess was $10,000 for a few years while we lived in US, doctor visits and treatments cost us 80% of the full cost each visit so long as the doctors we used were part of the insurance plan, so we'd pay 80% each time till we'd spent $10,000 in a year then it was free for the rest of the year. We did spend $22,000 one year, but that included our monthly insurance payments.
Then Dh got a job with fantastic insurance, our annual dedutible was £50 for two of the family then the whole family was free.
The NHS has loads of problems, but is still better than the nothing that a lot of people have.

I think it's terrible. People shouldn't be in a position where they have to decide whether they can afford to see a doctor.

@LIZS

Normal for any private healthcare policy.

Not normal for the UK.

I pay £125 excess.

The American system is beyond shit. Who benefits the most, the hospitals or the doctors/consultants?

That's incredibly high! I have private healthcare (in the uk) and my deductible's £100 and that's for everything from a course of physio through to huge surgeries

It’s not the same, private healthcare in the uk only tops up nhs care. It’s more like premium seats rather than first class iyswim.

NHS care is very good (and free), once you get timely treatment and a bed for surgery/procedures.
GPs are free but you cannot get an appointment.
Emergency out of hours care is free but not timely in a lot of cases.

NHS is not perfect but it is free, when you can avail of it.

There will be co payment introduced in UK at some point I think. Current costs are unsustainable and it shows.

I am surprised at OPs surprise on this issue.

While DH & I lived in the US our annual deductible was $3000, and that was on a gold standard health plan, more than 10 years ago. We could pick any practitioner who would accept our insurance ( pretty much anyone) and self refer to any specialists . DH got a diagnosis for a long standing problem which our UK GP was unwilling to pursue.I would not go back to that though.
I have friends who are bankrupt after one suffered cancer ; friends who stuck in crap jobs because they needed the insurance etc.
It’s a country & system which favours the wealthy massively.
I agree the NHS needs a rethink, but we are very lucky to have an expectation of social healthcare.

All healthcare has to be rationed as it is scarce resource.

In the UK, we ration by waiting list and research (NICE). In the US, they ration by ability to pay.

Pick your system.

All depends on the plan you are on.
Years ago we had to buy our own cover for the family, the deductable was $10,000 not that we actually paid it. Use the plan preffered family doc and each visit was $20 Prescriptions from their preffered pharmacy were $10 each after we had paid our $200 on prescriptions, etc etc.
Right before coming back to UK we had great cover through Dh work.
Two people in the family paid $50 deductable for the year and then the rest was free for the year. Dentist was £12 a visit, doctor was free after the first £50 paid. Hospitals free (after the $50 paid) Chiroprator free after the £50 too Optical was good too but I can't remember what that cost, definitly a lot less that the normal bills.
NHS needs a shake up but it doesn't need a US style system, I've heard good things about some EU country systems, like France and Germany

I am American and have mixed feelings about our healthcare system. I hate how many people fall through the cracks and the ways they can fall through the cracks. There are ways that people can get tricked into having high bills. I don't really mind the deductible part, I figure that somewhere along the line, it is part of what one has to pay for healthcare, whether it is through taxes or insurance or whatever.

On the plus side, I think good U.S. health care is probably the best in the world, and that's why people with serious conditions will flock here if they can. I have a friend whose child is studying to become a doctor in the UK and I am shocked at how much easier it is in every way to become a physician in your country than ours. It takes fewer years, and the residencies are much less grueling. In the US, it is incredibly competitive and serious. I was really not impressed with what I saw. Doctors from other countries have to retrain to become doctors here. From what I read on a thread here, this is true for nursing, also. My mother and SIL were nurses and they were/are incredibly smart and technically proficient. Nursing is a very competitive profession as well. I have had some experience as a patient of having hard to diagnose problems, and found that sometimes, going to the absolute best doctors can cut right to the chase. Because I have good insurance, I could go to a top rheumatologist, and in one visit, he diagnosed my autoimmune disease and got me appropriate medication. I could also get care in Sloan-Kettering, the best cancer hospital in the world when I needed it. I felt very reassured that the smartest people possible were giving me personalized care.

It is difficult. I want everyone to have a basic level of healthcare. So in that sense, it's fine to have a system that is basic and provides a certain level of care for all. But if I had a kid with an unusual form of cancer, I would want to be in a reasonable American healthcare plan where I could access top level American- medical specialists.