To think the most shocking thing about James VDB's death is...

[Hitthebestbooth]

...that a famous actor, recognised worldwide for his role in Dawson's Creek (putting this in the first lines for the benefit of MNetters who love to comment 'who??' on these threads) struggled to pay for his cancer treatment? His death has left his family 'out of funds'.

Now, James Van der Beek had enough fame and affection from fans that a Go Fund Me has raised a lot to support his family already. But there must be countless families across America who are ruined by medical bills - if Dawson couldn't pay for his cancer treatment, how do non-famous people in ordinary jobs cope? What do their families do after they've been crippled by the costs and still lose their loved one along with their homes and security for their children?

As a millennial, I was so sad to read of James' death. I loved Dawson's Creek. But it makes me very afraid for a future where Farage gets his hands on the NHS and we find ourselves in this position too. I have plenty of bad experiences with our healthcare system and am not saying it's perfect. But if I or my husband are diagnosed with cancer tomorrow, we won't have to sell our possessions or ask friends and family for money or risk leaving our kids with no home after treatment costs. There are plenty of wealthy people out there eager to take the NHS apart and sell it off, and for all people say we'd get a European system and it would be improved, it seems far more likely that capitalist greed will win out and we'll actually get an American model.

James Van der Beek's death highlights just how ruinous that model is. He spent his illness selling off memorabilia and trying to raise money. He died knowing his family's finances were left decimated. And he was someone with more resources than most. It's a sobering indictment of how bad things can get, and I am truly afraid that a Reform government would put us all in that dystopian scenario.

There are all kinds of options I could put for a poll but I'm just trying to make it really simple.

YABU - US healthcare is fine
YANBU - US healthcare is a terrifying prospect

My son was in hospital for 10 months due to cancer and complications that often arise from it. He thankfully survived and is in remission but is now disabled as a result and will need care for the rest of his life. I also lost my job when he was in hospital and can't work now due to caring for him.

I dread to think where we'd be if we were in the US. Much worse off, that's for sure.

Well I'm not surprised at all. FIL had cancer in the USA and I saw his bills. A man who had worked his whole life and paid his taxes. It's not just the bills too, it's the admin for the sick and dying. The paperwork related to his treatment was a huge stack of paper by the time he died. Americans just accept that this is the way it is, but it's a terrible, stressful system that means people who should be focused on recovery or at least quality of life in their final months are often stuck on the phone with the insurance company, receiving bills constantly that must be queried and dealt with. That James VDB's family are struggling is no surprise to me, particularly since he had six kids, currently aged 4-15 years and he was too sick to work after 2021. Imagine the bills for a family that size, and with so many DC and a sick DH, presumably his DW was unable to work herself. It's a very sad situation for them all.

So many comments about the six children - it's a lot more children than I'd choose to have, but the whole tradwife push from the right in America is about encouraging (white) people to have more babies. But not providing any kind of safety net for when things go wrong. I imagine the Van der Beeks felt pretty secure and confident that he had good earning potential - which he did, he still had the profile to be on Dancing With the Stars and Masked Singer so if he had stayed in good health presumably he could have supported his family. I doubt he expected that all his money would be wiped out by cancer treatment costs at such a young age.

No he won’t.

I don't think it's surprising but I do think it's shocking. Also, I think he did DWTS and Masked Singer in the last couple of years so he hasn't been too sick to work since 2021 - I read that he wasn't diagnosed until 2023.

He absolutely will!

The nhs wouldn't work without migrants.

It’s partly because he died so young with 6 children under 18 and I don’t think his wife works so he was always the breadwinner. Most people don’t die this young, they have children expecting they will be around to see them into adulthood. I’m surprised they had so many children though, the US is very different in the way things like university education is funded even and schools too so they must have known having six, they’d have a lot to shell out.

I guess they figured he’d always get work to sustain it. They always struck me as an organic vegan wholefoods sort of family, his illness was probably even more surprising for that reason. It’s very sad nevertheless.

Sorry - I wrote that a bit muddled. His last regular job was apparently from 2017-2021 and he hadn't had anything steady since then. In the USA, steady = healthcare package. A bit of work here and there generally doesn't. I suspect that he didn't have an employer healthcare package, so he and his DW were quite possibly paying for their own health insurance and that can a be a lot. At best, hundreds of dollars a month per person.

And still those hundreds of dollars every month doesn't come close to covering the enormous costs of treatment. It's so frightening to think of.

You clearly haven’t listened to him speak about the NHS. He won’t.

You clearly haven't realised that the words he says are meaningless.

I’ve just finished cancer treatment for the same cancer and same stage 3 diagnosis. (I’m 45) I’m one of the VERY lucky ones but his story has hit the emotions hard.

because of cancer we almost lost our house! Suddenly we were on one salary and it just didn’t work. (Thankfully my parents gave us a massive loan and I discovered that I had a really good health insurance so we’re winning now)

someone without my parents help or an insurance payout would be screwed!

I applied for PIP and got turned down!! It took a year to fight for it and have now got high rate for both for 3 years which is ridiculous because all I wanted was that financial help when we needed it, when I was too weak to walk and my partner had to care for me, and not a year later!

to think what it would be like without free healthcare? I’m just glad it all happened now before reform gets in!

But he hadn't really done any work since DC. I don't think starring in one TV show as a teen will mean you're rich and famous in your late 40s if your adult acting career never really took off. And you didn't decide to change to a regular but more steady career. And with six children.

This is why we should fight to keep a free at the point of care system paid for by taxation or something like they have in Europe. PFI, private companies paid by the NHS to carry out operations and scans and the whole push to sell healthcare data, data security, Palantir shows that there is a insidious creep towards privatisation. Not that the NHS is perfect mind, it could be more efficient and savings could be made.

When I had pregnancy complications due to placenta percreta with DC3 and required major surgery there were women on my support group in the US with the same outcome as me that were faced with paying off $1 million in fees. I feel grateful that living in the UK meant that I wasn't charged for the emergency surgery required to save my life.

Watch Aaron The Social Worker to see what Insurance in the US is like.

https://youtube.com/shorts/wIInKgnYVY?si=MR78J6umi-4TuU2k

https://youtube.com/shorts/xF3NjoXeqZA?si=LJa6tYOFnZleSYE5

And how do you think people will afford it? And what if they have existing conditions? Neither My DH and I can get life insurance at all. I investigated life insurance for my DD in her 20s and the cost was huge, with major things like cancer being excluded.

OK. Well there’s no discussion to be had if you can just insist someone plans to do something when there is zero evidence that they will, but statements made to say that they won’t that you simply define as meaningless. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Scaremonger away…

Not all cancer treatments are available on the NHS. Plenty of people start gofundme pages to access US treatments.

And not all celebrities are rich, especially not 30 years after making their name and we don’t know what those actors earned back then. Plenty of celebrities go bankrupt mid-career.

This dilemma was the premise for the plot of Breaking Bad.
People knock the NHS, but we are very lucky to have it!

So because we can't trust anything he says, that means we can assume his intentions to be whatever we think they are? This is a bit weak OP.

Perhaps you could explain exactly why you think he'll sell off the NHS to US-style insurers. Give us a bit more than 'he's friends with Trump'.

Personally, I think it's very unlikely that would happen. Firstly, it would be politically impossible in this country. It would be a hugely unpopular policy. Secondly, you're ascribing financial motivations - basically you're saying Farage is corrupt and that's why he wants to sell the NHS. I think there would be much easier ways for him to make money.

Why on Earth do you think any politician would ‘sell off the NHS’ and ‘hand it over to US health insurance companies’ when neither they nor their party, nor their party’s MPs would ever be voted in ever again? We have a parliamentary system where such a major change would have to go through parliament. You think the US insurance companies have enough money to pay off a majority of MPs? All of whom would know they’d need to find a new career afterwards?

This ‘X will sell off the NHS to US insurance companies’ has been a scare tactic ever since I can remember, starting with Mrs Thatcher, Tony Blair and successive
Tory leaders. Strangely enough, after nearly 50 years, no one has sold it off yet. Because whatever their political views, they recognise political suicide when they see it.

I don't live in the UK, but was shocked to recently hear how appallingly poor the supports offered to bereaved families are.

In case this is of help, this is a link to a petition to bring this issue before parliament...

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/752501?fbclid=IwdGRjcAP6iO9jbGNrA_qIzWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHlxg1E7XeI-XFhKo-F-uwENrxOoZpBeFbFG2QnSDwkFcRkosnJ10qvBxFb6k_aem_dlW-ujcQ1xTozC8gljTUew

JVDB widow is hardly struggling- they've got their mansion rented out so that's easily a few hundred $K a year.
They bought a huge $4mil ranch. She's asking for donations to keep 6kids in private education the day he died as she knows when to cash in on fans grief. She's a grifter.
I suspect the majority of donations are coming from people in a much worse position.

I was shocked to read that too. I have family in the US who were upset Obama care didn’t go further, they had to delay retirement due to healthcare costs and actual treatment for chronic illness seems worse than you’d expect in the UK. NHS ain’t perfect but the US is just awful, worst of all worlds.

Surely we have to be responsible for ourselves at times? This is literally what life insurance is for.