anyone else strongly consider leaving due to garbage US healthcare?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go ahead and move to Canada, or Europe....enjoy your months-long wait to see your doctor for a max of 15 mins.

If an American moves to these countries - do they even qualify for national health care as a non-citizen?

depends. You can pay into the system to use it.

We looked into it for the UK. It's about $3500 for 3 years.

Regardless, you can pay private for everything because health care in general is cheaper every where else compared to the US. No insurance premiums needed.

We spend $20K in the US for medical care here, and most years, we don't even hit the deductible. It makes me sick to think of how much money we waste on health insurance that we use maybe a few times a year. But, we don't want to go without just in case we get a serious illness. It's f*n scary here. We are in our 50s, and we have talked about going to the UK if we want to retire early because the cost of private insurance here is stupid expensive. We would use NHS for general checkups, non-urgent issues, and pay privately for things we don't want to wait for.

My spouse is a Brit.

I posted just above. My spouse is also British. Read up on what has been happening with ambulances. And with the fact it's very difficult to get even remotely non-emergency operations done on the NHS. LIke I say above: The NHS has helped my family tremendously (and was helpful to us a few times when traveling over there). But don't have rose-colored glasses on re: speed of service, availability of services everywhere, or availability of non-emergency services. We know people who have waited a year or more for surgeries including knee replacement. Again, I'm actually pro-socialized-medicine! But you yourself say it, PP: You would pay privately for what you dont' want to wait for. That's great for you but it's a position of immense privilege that most in the UK do not have. And you might be shocked at how very expensive those private pay treatments or operations would be.

“What’s happening with the ambulances” is that they’re currently striking. This affects care. You know, like nurses in multiple hospitals in the U.S. did last week.

You are not paying attention. I was clear that the delays are NOT solely about the strikes. and if you'd bothered to read the article by the doctor, you'd have seen that the issue there was not strikes. When ambulance services are operational there are STILL huge, life-threatening delays. You need to read with more care, and perhaps pay more attention to overall news, not just focusing on the strikes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go ahead and move to Canada, or Europe....enjoy your months-long wait to see your doctor for a max of 15 mins.

If an American moves to these countries - do they even qualify for national health care as a non-citizen?

depends. You can pay into the system to use it.

We looked into it for the UK. It's about $3500 for 3 years.

Regardless, you can pay private for everything because health care in general is cheaper every where else compared to the US. No insurance premiums needed.

We spend $20K in the US for medical care here, and most years, we don't even hit the deductible. It makes me sick to think of how much money we waste on health insurance that we use maybe a few times a year. But, we don't want to go without just in case we get a serious illness. It's f*n scary here. We are in our 50s, and we have talked about going to the UK if we want to retire early because the cost of private insurance here is stupid expensive. We would use NHS for general checkups, non-urgent issues, and pay privately for things we don't want to wait for.

My spouse is a Brit.

I posted just above. My spouse is also British. Read up on what has been happening with ambulances. And with the fact it's very difficult to get even remotely non-emergency operations done on the NHS. LIke I say above: The NHS has helped my family tremendously (and was helpful to us a few times when traveling over there). But don't have rose-colored glasses on re: speed of service, availability of services everywhere, or availability of non-emergency services. We know people who have waited a year or more for surgeries including knee replacement. Again, I'm actually pro-socialized-medicine! But you yourself say it, PP: You would pay privately for what you dont' want to wait for. That's great for you but it's a position of immense privilege that most in the UK do not have. And you might be shocked at how very expensive those private pay treatments or operations would be.

Yes, I know that's happening now.

Have you ever read about people dying here in the US because they have no access to healthcare? It happens. It happened to my cousin. People don't go see doctors because they can't afford it, and by the time they do get around it because they are in agony, it's too late.

Do you hear about how people go bankrupt here because they can't pay their medical bills? Does that happen in the UK?

Yes, I'm privileged to pay private in the UK if I need to. Do you think most Brits could afford paying $20K per year for health insurance that they barely use here in the US? I don't think so.

ITA, no system is perfect, but if you have money, you can buy great healthcare anywhere. But the vast majority of people don't have that kind of wealth. Hence, the need for some type of universal healthcare.

BTW, I have looked into private care costs in the UK. It isn't that cheap, but it's cheaper, plus you don't have to pay for health insurance premiums like we do here, which is ridiculously expensive.

You aren’t factoring in the higher income taxes you pay in the UK.

Nor is that PP factoring in the immensely long waits for some non-emergency operations like knee replacements or hip replacements. Ask me how I know. Better yet, ask me how my relatives in the UK know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Earlier this month, democracy literally died in the US.

So yes, we are planing to move overseas as soon as possible.

Likely to Europe, if we can find any possible way.

Don’t expect any pain meds though. My friend’s mom fell off a bike and broke her wrist badly while on vacation in Italy. At the hospital they said they didn’t have pain meds and sent the daughter to some pharmacy across town to pick it up. Well, it was lunch time so it was closed. When it opened then said they didn’t have that medication but a pharmacy about 35 miles away did. WTH? My friend said it was awful hearing her mom and others screaming in pain. No thanks. OP sounds like she needs a new insurance company.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go ahead and move to Canada, or Europe....enjoy your months-long wait to see your doctor for a max of 15 mins.

If an American moves to these countries - do they even qualify for national health care as a non-citizen?

depends. You can pay into the system to use it.

We looked into it for the UK. It's about $3500 for 3 years.

Regardless, you can pay private for everything because health care in general is cheaper every where else compared to the US. No insurance premiums needed.

We spend $20K in the US for medical care here, and most years, we don't even hit the deductible. It makes me sick to think of how much money we waste on health insurance that we use maybe a few times a year. But, we don't want to go without just in case we get a serious illness. It's f*n scary here. We are in our 50s, and we have talked about going to the UK if we want to retire early because the cost of private insurance here is stupid expensive. We would use NHS for general checkups, non-urgent issues, and pay privately for things we don't want to wait for.

My spouse is a Brit.

I posted just above. My spouse is also British. Read up on what has been happening with ambulances. And with the fact it's very difficult to get even remotely non-emergency operations done on the NHS. LIke I say above: The NHS has helped my family tremendously (and was helpful to us a few times when traveling over there). But don't have rose-colored glasses on re: speed of service, availability of services everywhere, or availability of non-emergency services. We know people who have waited a year or more for surgeries including knee replacement. Again, I'm actually pro-socialized-medicine! But you yourself say it, PP: You would pay privately for what you dont' want to wait for. That's great for you but it's a position of immense privilege that most in the UK do not have. And you might be shocked at how very expensive those private pay treatments or operations would be.

Yes, I know that's happening now.

Have you ever read about people dying here in the US because they have no access to healthcare? It happens. It happened to my cousin. People don't go see doctors because they can't afford it, and by the time they do get around it because they are in agony, it's too late.

Do you hear about how people go bankrupt here because they can't pay their medical bills? Does that happen in the UK?

Yes, I'm privileged to pay private in the UK if I need to. Do you think most Brits could afford paying $20K per year for health insurance that they barely use here in the US? I don't think so.

ITA, no system is perfect, but if you have money, you can buy great healthcare anywhere. But the vast majority of people don't have that kind of wealth. Hence, the need for some type of universal healthcare.

BTW, I have looked into private care costs in the UK. It isn't that cheap, but it's cheaper, plus you don't have to pay for health insurance premiums like we do here, which is ridiculously expensive.

You aren’t factoring in the higher income taxes you pay in the UK.

Nor is that PP factoring in the immensely long waits for some non-emergency operations like knee replacements or hip replacements. Ask me how I know. Better yet, ask me how my relatives in the UK know.

My mom sat next up an elderly man from the UK on a flight. He said he was lucky that he only had to wait 18 months for a hip replacement. He was using a walker and in pain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should move to Canada. So much better where people are dying while in waiting rooms in ER, due to insanely long wait times.

Source?

Their hairdresser’s roommate’s best friend. Or they just read it on the internet and changed it to “someone they know,” because they think it makes them sound more credible.

Canadian NP. Yeah, we're having huge issues with wait times for services right now because so many medical personnel burnt out during the pandemic. I don't know about people dying in waiting rooms in the ER (that seems unlikely) but the long wait times and stressed out providers are definitely in news. But fun fact: just because our service levels are lower than they were in the past doesn't actually mean that they're worst the US averages. Frequently when people with national health services get up in arms about decreases in service, pro-insurance US people point to it as "nationalized health care doesn't work" but if you dig into it the service the Canadians/Brits/whoever are losing is a service very few Americans had easy access to in the first place. So basically you're just trying to drag the rest of the world down to your level of (terrible) health care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go ahead and move to Canada, or Europe....enjoy your months-long wait to see your doctor for a max of 15 mins.

If an American moves to these countries - do they even qualify for national health care as a non-citizen?

depends. You can pay into the system to use it.

We looked into it for the UK. It's about $3500 for 3 years.

Regardless, you can pay private for everything because health care in general is cheaper every where else compared to the US. No insurance premiums needed.

We spend $20K in the US for medical care here, and most years, we don't even hit the deductible. It makes me sick to think of how much money we waste on health insurance that we use maybe a few times a year. But, we don't want to go without just in case we get a serious illness. It's f*n scary here. We are in our 50s, and we have talked about going to the UK if we want to retire early because the cost of private insurance here is stupid expensive. We would use NHS for general checkups, non-urgent issues, and pay privately for things we don't want to wait for.

My spouse is a Brit.

I posted just above. My spouse is also British. Read up on what has been happening with ambulances. And with the fact it's very difficult to get even remotely non-emergency operations done on the NHS. LIke I say above: The NHS has helped my family tremendously (and was helpful to us a few times when traveling over there). But don't have rose-colored glasses on re: speed of service, availability of services everywhere, or availability of non-emergency services. We know people who have waited a year or more for surgeries including knee replacement. Again, I'm actually pro-socialized-medicine! But you yourself say it, PP: You would pay privately for what you dont' want to wait for. That's great for you but it's a position of immense privilege that most in the UK do not have. And you might be shocked at how very expensive those private pay treatments or operations would be.

Yes, I know that's happening now.

Have you ever read about people dying here in the US because they have no access to healthcare? It happens. It happened to my cousin. People don't go see doctors because they can't afford it, and by the time they do get around it because they are in agony, it's too late.

Do you hear about how people go bankrupt here because they can't pay their medical bills? Does that happen in the UK?

Yes, I'm privileged to pay private in the UK if I need to. Do you think most Brits could afford paying $20K per year for health insurance that they barely use here in the US? I don't think so.

ITA, no system is perfect, but if you have money, you can buy great healthcare anywhere. But the vast majority of people don't have that kind of wealth. Hence, the need for some type of universal healthcare.

BTW, I have looked into private care costs in the UK. It isn't that cheap, but it's cheaper, plus you don't have to pay for health insurance premiums like we do here, which is ridiculously expensive.

You aren’t factoring in the higher income taxes you pay in the UK.

Nor is that PP factoring in the immensely long waits for some non-emergency operations like knee replacements or hip replacements. Ask me how I know. Better yet, ask me how my relatives in the UK know.

well my SIL just had breast cancer surgery, free and done quickly.

Ask an American without insurance how they feel about getting a hip replacement surgery? Oh, wait, they can't get one because they don't have insurance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should move to Canada. So much better where people are dying while in waiting rooms in ER, due to insanely long wait times.

Source?

Their hairdresser’s roommate’s best friend. Or they just read it on the internet and changed it to “someone they know,” because they think it makes them sound more credible.

Canadian NP. Yeah, we're having huge issues with wait times for services right now because so many medical personnel burnt out during the pandemic. I don't know about people dying in waiting rooms in the ER (that seems unlikely) but the long wait times and stressed out providers are definitely in news. But fun fact: just because our service levels are lower than they were in the past doesn't actually mean that they're worst the US averages. Frequently when people with national health services get up in arms about decreases in service, pro-insurance US people point to it as "nationalized health care doesn't work" but if you dig into it the service the Canadians/Brits/whoever are losing is a service very few Americans had easy access to in the first place. So basically you're just trying to drag the rest of the world down to your level of (terrible) health care.

This just isn’t true.

[Anonymous]

What's with all the sleep studies? Wouldn't it be more cost effective to just give folks a Cpap and see if it works instead of sending every snorer in for a sleep study.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's with all the sleep studies? Wouldn't it be more cost effective to just give folks a Cpap and see if it works instead of sending every snorer in for a sleep study.

But then how would doctors get paid?

Sleep apnea is very serious though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No.

I don't have garbage healthcare. I have very good healthcare.

Change insurance companies. My DH's sleep study was covered. I'm not saying that our insurance company is amazing but they do answer the phone.

Workers do not have control over what their employers offer.

Workers do not have to get what employer offers. Workers can get Obamacare on the Affordable Care website. It will cost a lot more.
There are about 8 different vendors and about 25 different plans I can buy in my state.

How to tell me you've never bought Obamacare in a crappy state without telling me you've never bought Obamacare in a crappy state.

My bro had to buy Obamacare in NJ. It was craptacular, covered nothing, and cost like $1000 per mo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No.

I don't have garbage healthcare. I have very good healthcare.

Change insurance companies. My DH's sleep study was covered. I'm not saying that our insurance company is amazing but they do answer the phone.

Workers do not have control over what their employers offer.

Workers do not have to get what employer offers. Workers can get Obamacare on the Affordable Care website. It will cost a lot more.
There are about 8 different vendors and about 25 different plans I can buy in my state.

How to tell me you've never bought Obamacare in a crappy state without telling me you've never bought Obamacare in a crappy state.

My bro had to buy Obamacare in NJ. It was craptacular, covered nothing, and cost like $1000 per mo.

indeed, the alternative is to go without or get a job where the employer provides subsidized health insurance. MAGA

BTW, I had private insurance for 20 years. It was craptacular then, too. I was always gutting it and switching to a higher deductible plan because the costs kept going up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should move to Canada. So much better where people are dying while in waiting rooms in ER, due to insanely long wait times.

Source?

Their hairdresser’s roommate’s best friend. Or they just read it on the internet and changed it to “someone they know,” because they think it makes them sound more credible.

Canadian NP. Yeah, we're having huge issues with wait times for services right now because so many medical personnel burnt out during the pandemic. I don't know about people dying in waiting rooms in the ER (that seems unlikely) but the long wait times and stressed out providers are definitely in news. But fun fact: just because our service levels are lower than they were in the past doesn't actually mean that they're worst the US averages. Frequently when people with national health services get up in arms about decreases in service, pro-insurance US people point to it as "nationalized health care doesn't work" but if you dig into it the service the Canadians/Brits/whoever are losing is a service very few Americans had easy access to in the first place. So basically you're just trying to drag the rest of the world down to your level of (terrible) health care.

This just isn’t true.

So the person who reported two day ER wait times upthread was lying? My local (DMV) pediatrician who couldn’t see us for a sick visit within a week this fall was my imagination? The US is also experiencing long wait times and rough post-pandemic medical care; we just don’t consider it national news beater we don’t expect better.

[Anonymous]

This thread highlights just how stupid Americans are and their obsession with corporations. We argue about wait times and death panels as a reason to not have UHC, even though we absolutely do have wait times here also and insurance companies deny coverage for certain procedures all the time. People just bury their heads in the sand and deny there is any issue, likely because Americans are brought up from birth to view corporations as the most important thing. Nothing is wrong with expecting people to choose between their mortgage payments and their medical bills. I wouldn’t even have an issue with for profit healthcare if OOP costs were at least reasonable and not expected to pay thousands when I have insurance. And the hilarious thing is that the exact same people who see nothing wrong with our system and anything that isn’t so expensive that it doesn’t put someone at risk of losing their home as an “entitlement”, are the same ones who LOVE their Medicare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Earlier this month, democracy literally died in the US.

So yes, we are planing to move overseas as soon as possible.

Likely to Europe, if we can find any possible way.

Don’t expect any pain meds though. My friend’s mom fell off a bike and broke her wrist badly while on vacation in Italy. At the hospital they said they didn’t have pain meds and sent the daughter to some pharmacy across town to pick it up. Well, it was lunch time so it was closed. When it opened then said they didn’t have that medication but a pharmacy about 35 miles away did. WTH? My friend said it was awful hearing her mom and others screaming in pain. No thanks. OP sounds like she needs a new insurance company.

My cousin gave birth in France in the summer. No AC, so the windows were open. She could hear all the other women screaming throughout the wing and no pain meds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should move to Canada. So much better where people are dying while in waiting rooms in ER, due to insanely long wait times.

Source?

Their hairdresser’s roommate’s best friend. Or they just read it on the internet and changed it to “someone they know,” because they think it makes them sound more credible.

Canadian NP. Yeah, we're having huge issues with wait times for services right now because so many medical personnel burnt out during the pandemic. I don't know about people dying in waiting rooms in the ER (that seems unlikely) but the long wait times and stressed out providers are definitely in news. But fun fact: just because our service levels are lower than they were in the past doesn't actually mean that they're worst the US averages. Frequently when people with national health services get up in arms about decreases in service, pro-insurance US people point to it as "nationalized health care doesn't work" but if you dig into it the service the Canadians/Brits/whoever are losing is a service very few Americans had easy access to in the first place. So basically you're just trying to drag the rest of the world down to your level of (terrible) health care.

This just isn’t true.

So the person who reported two day ER wait times upthread was lying? My local (DMV) pediatrician who couldn’t see us for a sick visit within a week this fall was my imagination? The US is also experiencing long wait times and rough post-pandemic medical care; we just don’t consider it national news beater we don’t expect better.

My local DMV doctor was appalled when I had to stay on antibiotics and wait two months to get an outpatient procedure. All the doctors and nurses looked exhausted.

I want to know who all these people are in the US who don't have wait times.