To be shocked that a US friend is paying $1970 a month health insurance

[crunchymint]

That is her monthly premium for health insurance and is an insane amount of money.

No, it is because she has had lots of health problems, but it is so much.

OMG, that's huge.

My husband, daughter and I were planning to move to the US last year. Even though we're all healthy (touches wood it would have cost a supplement of £1000 on top of my husband's company's contribution. It's insane! Dental would have started at £100pppm too.

I guess in this country people do not pay the true cost of private healthcare as the NHS steps in, and so many health personnel in private sector have been trained by NHS.

They pay less tax. I'd rather pay more and have an NHS.

Well if DP and I had to pay £1000 for work medical insurance per month, that is more than our total tax bill every month.

They pay less tax. I'd rather pay more and have an NHS.

They do pay less tax. However, they actually pay MORE in tax for healthcare than we do even though they pay for it. Lots of reasons for that but basically healthcare in the States is vastly more expensive AND prevention (which national healthcare does) is cheaper than cures (which corporations love because they make more money).

It's a shitty system that people with money would like us to stumble into.

She will all so have to pay part of the costs each time she uses health care. We paid $1500 a month for insurance (family of 4, no pre-existing conditions) an accident leading to an ER trip in an ambulance cost over $500 extra. Just checked over, no x-rays, scans or treatment needed. Love and cherish your NHS, I miss it so much.

M is an oldie but a goody.

Urg

Why the hell wasn't Obamacare popular then?

Healthcare taxes in the us go towards lining the pockets of insurance companies. It is a system that is hugely inefficient as well as unfair. Just like gun control though, there's this weird idea that seems to hold political sway that no other country has a better answer!

this is one of the reasons why we didn’t move to the USA when we had the opportunity to

Wait until you hear about the lifetime cap on medicines and treatments.

My DBs policy is $1,000,000 total. One of his former GFs (US Citizen) suffered a few ailments and had burned through her lifetime cap by age 30. She was lucky that she could get some sort of discounted medicines from Canada.

Really we should all be making plans for when the NHS is gone. Not me, obviously (too old) and not DW (too much Multiple Sclerosis). But DS should be OK if he starts saving.

Don't forget that private medical insurance here in the UK doesn't cover chronic conditions, pre existing or not. So diabetes for example is usually reliant on the NHS even if you have good insurance.

MrsTerryPratchett - I thought about linking that video when I started reading the thread. You beat me to it!

Why the hell wasn't Obamacare popular then?

Because the people who make the money from this have a vested interest in keeping people poor, sick and stupid. It's treated as a political football (sort of like Brexit) and no one tells the truth. Their President lies all the time so how can people be expected to make critical judgements about it?

Great minds... ThanksForAllTheFish

Why the hell wasn't Obamacare popular then?

In surveys, the affordable care act was popular, Obamacare wasn't.

They are of course the same thing, but one of those has a black guy's name in it.

@MrsTerryPratchett this would also be my way of explaining it. Their system is totally crazy, more expensive, less efficient - but they constantly tell people an NHS would be worse for them. There are many in the US who see any State intervention as bad, healthcare should be a personal responsibility, NHS is just too socialist for them. And many many people die needlessly because of this view.

Running out of lifetime cap on medicines by 30 - wow! I know when I added up the actual cost to the NHS - a rough estimate - of what it would have cost for my last hospital admission, I was shocked. That included a paramedic visiting followed by an ambulance journey. And I shudder to think how much it would have cost in the US.

I pay the equivalent to 100 dollars for health insurance in Brazil. Medicine is not included in this unless it's given to the patient in a hospital due to a procedure such as chemotherapy, surgery, emergenxy consultation, etc. Dental care is also not included, but could be if i paid a bigger fee. I find it cheap, to be honest. I have a cronic condition and my health insurance provides me with complete care for this condition.

Omg lifetime cap! My DS who has health conditions and learning difficulties would probably already be through his

Really we should all be making plans for when the NHS is gone.

No, we should be putting pressure on our elected representatives to make sure the NHS is preserved for future generations. Yes there are inefficiencies that need to be addressed and yes we may have to pay a penny or two more in tax, but does anyone really want to move to a US-style system? Medical bankruptcy is the most common reason for bankruptcy in the US.

If you haven't already, please write to your MP about this and sign all the petitions out there! Here's one for a start:
you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-the-plans-to-dismantle-our-nhs

Why the hell wasn't Obamacare popular then?

Do some research and you’ll see why. Hint: it was essentially written by insurance companies.