Posted: 4/28/2010 9:42:10 AM EDT
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As many of you know our glorious Socialist President Barack Hussein Obama, decided to shove health insurance down the American people's throat and be part of the European mentality that everyone has a "right" to everything. Anyhow,
How long do you have to wait for a Dr. appointment? For example I called my Primary Doctor on Monday afternoon and I had an appointment Tuesday morning. If I want to see a specialist, I get the phone number and called them and make an appointment? my co-payment, $20 or $30 US dollars and I am on my way to the Pharmacy. We can buy anything from anywhere, no restrictions. I don't have to wait for a committe, consultation group, authorization, etc. How does it really work in the UK? Does your Healthcare cover illegal immigrants? How many days, weeks or months do you have to wait? For example I need surgery, I go for a clearance, info goes to my primary doctor, then goes to my surgeon and I can get surgery within 1 week? Let me know. |
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10am…
'Hello, I need to see my Doctor ASAP' 'Yes, we have an appointment at 10.20, can you make that OK'? 20 minutes later… 'Hello Doctor, I've got a swollen leg' 'That looks like a DVT' 'Hello, is that admissions?, Yes, I have a patient with a suspected DVT' 'OK, can you make your own way to the hospital, or do you need transport?' 'I've got my car outside' 'Fine, report to D7 ward, they are expecting you' 30 minutes later… 'There's your bed Sir, make yourself comfortable, the Consultant will be here shortly' Treated and fixed and home a few weeks later, cost - Nil. |
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I think that it depends where you are...
My girlfriend has had abdominal pain for the better part of 2 months. Whilst it isn't crippling, it is constantly uncomfortable and she was obviously worried about it. She had no problem getting a GP appointment and has seen several doctors all of who have given a different diagnosis. However it took 6 weeks to get an ultrasound and looks like being another month to see a (lady) specialist. My brother has been to see the doctor this week and has been told to expect to wait a similar amount of time to see a specialist. I think that if you have a potentially life threatening condition (ala DVT) then you can expect rapid treatment. However if they aren't sure what it is or it isn't life threatening; then you can expect to wait a fair bit longer - depending on where you live and how busy they are. Likewise I once sat in A & E for nearly 5 hours when I had a serious kidney infection a couple of years ago - and I was the only person in A & E (Cheltenham hospital) at the time |
| Illegal immigrants will be treated if it is life threatening (if for instance they have been beaten by their gangmaster) - however they will probably and be deported (provided they show up to answer bail after being released). In order to get treatment for a run of the mill condition then you would have to go and see a doctor and they would want name/address etc etc if you weren't registered with them. |
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Whilst the NHS may not be perfect, the US system is a no paradise either despite the shite you see spouted in GD.
Go watch Sicko for a warts an all view of the reality of the US healthcare system. Of course, I didn't need to watch Sicko to know what the reality was and is. Take my Uncle Frank who emigrated to the US in 1960. Was doing very well for himself as a farmer until he had a heart attack. Sure, the medical insurance picked up the tab and he was fixed, but they refused to reinsure him when the policy was due for renewal, after all, they want to make money and someone who's had a heart attack is a bad risk. So when he had further problems, he had to pay out of his own pocket and within a few years he was broke and was forced to move back across the Pond leaving his now grown up kids and grand kids behind. I see people in GD droning on about the ebils and expense of 'socialized healthcare' and then whining that some of them are paying $2,000 a month! For a family health policy. The US system is only better than the NHS when you have almost perfect health and only make minor claims, get anything serious and its a vary bad system unless you are rich. |
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Let me ask all of you, what is the tax rate in the UK? Out of every pound you earn/make how much of it is tax based? vat tax, property taxes, sales tax, state tax or whatever you may have in the UK?
for examaple at $180K US salary, you are at about 33%-39% tax bracket? depending on your CPA you can actually reduce your tax exposure even more, thus I invest more of my income. just wondering..... |
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Quoted:
As many of you know our glorious Socialist President Barack Hussein Obama, decided to shove health insurance down the American people's throat and be part of the European mentality that everyone has a "right" to everything. Anyhow, How long do you have to wait for a Dr. appointment? For example I called my Primary Doctor on Monday afternoon and I had an appointment Tuesday morning. If I want to see a specialist, I get the phone number and called them and make an appointment? my co-payment, $20 or $30 US dollars and I am on my way to the Pharmacy. We can buy anything from anywhere, no restrictions. I don't have to wait for a committe, consultation group, authorization, etc. How does it really work in the UK? Does your Healthcare cover illegal immigrants? How many days, weeks or months do you have to wait? For example I need surgery, I go for a clearance, info goes to my primary doctor, then goes to my surgeon and I can get surgery within 1 week? Let me know. I went to my Doc today........ chest infection. Phoned up for an appointment at 08:30hrs this morning, was offered an 11:30hrs appointment but couldn't make it due to a business meeting, so they rescheduled fo 15:30hrs this afternoon, I was in surgery waiting for 5 minutes and got a 15 minute consultation. I had a medical condition a while back that caused my Docs come concern..... Basically I saw the doc with some strange symptoms, he was concerned and I had blood tests and a referral to the Hospital to see a specialist within a week....... initial consultation had me fast-tracked into the cancer diagnosis system  (which was scary for me as a youngish bloke) I had tremendous support from the NHS and within 3 weeks of the initial visit to the doc I had had a full blood screen, x rays, Cat Scans and a follow up consultation with a diagnosis (not cancer (Phew) )!!!..... I have had regular visits since including x-rays and cat-scans and treatment accordingly for the condition.
I have nothing but praise for the NHS, as do my family. Don't know how Obamacare will work out for you, all I can say is that our system for the most part works well and I don't have to pay a huge insurance premium to get the treatment I need. I heard recently about a chap in the US who was paying $1000 a month Is that common for insurance premiums to be so high?
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Here's how it works here in Germany.
22:00hrs, I get home from hunting to find the wife doubled up in agony running a fever, so I called the emergency number. 22:20hrs, Doctor arrives at our house. 22:30hrs, Ambulance arrives. 22:45hrs, They leave with the wife for the nearest Hospital 23:00hrs, I leave the house, having packed the wife a bag with her stuff. 23:30hrs, I arrive at the Hospital and ask which ward is my wife in? The receptionist tells me which ward she will be in once she gets out of surgery. 23:40hrs, I leave the wife's bag with the night ward sister and go home to sleep. Next morning I go to the Hospital and the wife is awake having breakfast and is glad to see me and the kid's, then the Doctor arrives and we have a chat about the OP and further treatment etc., 5 days later the wife returns home. Tony |
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Insurance hovering around $1k a month is commonly known as a "Cadillac" plan, the best of the best. It is like driving a Cadillac Escalade or a Range rover, every one wants one but not many can afford it.
Unfortunely many of those who are uninsured are between the ages of 21-33 years old on average or not been able to afford it financially. So my point is I don't want to pay for a lazy ass that does not want to purchase health insurance or those who would like everything provided by the government. There is also the issue of a shortage of Primary care physicians in the US, Due to the fact many Doctors become specialist one way or another. How can you add 30 million uninsured people and the President says is going to save money? We called him Santa Obama, because he want to give everyone a gift for FREE. I know that many of you grew up in that particular system, so you don't know any other system, but someone has to pay for it and there lays the problem. Nothing is ever Free, because someone has to pay for it in the end. Look at Greece, who is next, Spain, Portugal, Next...... Thanks to all who provided some good information, With deep respect......to my fellow arfcomer's accross the globe.......didn't Braveheart Sir William Wallace (the movie) cried out " FREEDOM"......Is not free either. Have a safe week...... |
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Quoted:
Insurance hovering around $1k a month is commonly known as a "Cadillac" plan, the best of the best. It is like driving a Cadillac Escalade or a Range rover, every one wants one but not many can afford it. Unfortunely many of those who are uninsured are between the ages of 21-33 years old on average or not been able to afford it financially. So my point is I don't want to pay for a lazy ass that does not want to purchase health insurance or those who would like everything provided by the government. There is also the issue of a shortage of Primary care physicians in the US, Due to the fact many Doctors become specialist one way or another. How can you add 30 million uninsured people and the President says is going to save money? We called him Santa Obama, because he want to give everyone a gift for FREE. I know that many of you grew up in that particular system, so you don't know any other system, but someone has to pay for it and there lays the problem. Nothing is ever Free, because someone has to pay for it in the end. Look at Greece, who is next, Spain, Portugal, Next...... Thanks to all who provided some good information, With deep respect......to my fellow arfcomer's accross the globe.......didn't Braveheart Sir William Wallace (the movie) cried out " FREEDOM"......Is not free either. Have a safe week...... He may have cried out "FREEDOM" but we still hung him till he was half dead, gutted him while he was still alive and then cut him into four pieces before parading his head on a spear. 
Social medecine seems to work over here because most people either have or are paying into the system. I can understand your reservations about what Obama is proposing but you may find that with a social medecine system he may introduce a form of national insurance where those that don't want to pay now will have to pay by law.... albeit a much smaller amount per month (Like our National insurance system) Not sure how that will work in the US but if you have been paying $500 a month and have a pro-rata system imposed, you may find yourself paying less...... who knows. Thanks for stopping by and asking though..... There's a lot of Americans that make assumptions about "Death panels" and other nonsense, and believe everything they read in the papers to be absolute truth...... No wonder people are a bit antsy about the system and have concerns. Hope we have been of help and feel free to visit anytime 
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$1,000 a month for a 'cadillac plan'… Jeebus!
That's about £670 p/m… £8,000 PER YEAR!
And that's as long as you don't do something outrageous, like get ill and make a claim and get the premiums bumped or cover declined. And how much does the supposedly 'so expensive' and much derided by the American right NHS cost us per year? £100 Billion to cover 62 million people and no rising premiums or declined cover no matter how sick you get. The 'free market' = you can get the best healthcare your money can buy, but you have the freedom to die if you get ill and can't afford the premiums. Of course, I'm of the rather strange belief that the true benchmark of a civilized society if how it cares for the sick. Like the rest of Europe, we look after the sick as part of societies duty of care, not throw them on the scrapheap when the insurance company decides they are no longer profitable. |
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Cadillac's are shite  And Land Rovers aren't?  They will both stop at the same place on the hill. The Land Rover will break down halfway up, and the Cadillac will get stuck halfway up. And the electric windows will stop working. No, Range Rovers are shite too...........and Discoveries.............and Freelanders. Land Rover should have just stuck with the Defender, but as they didn't even finish that properly, what came after was never going to be good. |
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Quoted:
Here's how it works here in Germany. 22:00hrs, I get home from hunting to find the wife doubled up in agony running a fever, so I called the emergency number. 22:20hrs, Doctor arrives at our house. 22:30hrs, Ambulance arrives. 22:45hrs, They leave with the wife for the nearest Hospital 23:00hrs, I leave the house, having packed the wife a bag with her stuff. 23:30hrs, I arrive at the Hospital and ask which ward is my wife in? The receptionist tells me which ward she will be in once she gets out of surgery. 23:40hrs, I leave the wife's bag with the night ward sister and go home to sleep. Next morning I go to the Hospital and the wife is awake having breakfast and is glad to see me and the kid's, then the Doctor arrives and we have a chat about the OP and further treatment etc., 5 days later the wife returns home. Tony Not bad considering she only wanted some hayfever tablets
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Quoted:
$1,000 a month for a 'cadillac plan'… Jeebus! That's about £670 p/m… £8,000 PER YEAR!
And that's as long as you don't do something outrageous, like get ill and make a claim and get the premiums bumped or cover declined. And how much does the supposedly 'so expensive' and much derided by the American right NHS cost us per year? £100 Billion to cover 62 million people and no rising premiums or declined cover no matter how sick you get. The 'free market' = you can get the best healthcare your money can buy, but you have the freedom to die if you get ill and can't afford the premiums. Of course, I'm of the rather strange belief that the true benchmark of a civilized society if how it cares for the sick. Like the rest of Europe, we look after the sick as part of societies duty of care, not throw them on the scrapheap when the insurance company decides they are no longer profitable. Well Put
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Very worried, I can just picture you bopping away with your black leather tie, stonewashed jeans and fluffy white socks on with your big ginger fringe barnet - chatting up some fat bouffant-haired hairdresser from Hull down at the local disco... |
| With a niece living in Scotland and a brother of a friend from the US military I find them not really happy with the UK healthcare. Niece lived in London during first few pregnancy's and felt US care was much better. Ward conditions were dirty. Access to a specialist was difficult. Moved to Scotland for better care. Brother of ex-military friend lives in Suffolk, I think, and feels left out. Recently the brother was told that he had diabetes and if he wanted information to try the internet. Me, most I paid for including eleven major surgeries was for the TV and telephone. Retired and body just started falling apart. The new US healthcare bill is over two thousand pages long and most of our representatives in congress do not know all the information written into it. |
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Very worried, I can just picture you bopping away with your black leather tie, stonewashed jeans and fluffy white socks on with your big ginger fringe barnet - chatting up some fat bouffant-haired hairdresser from Hull down at the local disco... I think he dressed more like Boy George to be honest. 
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