You get that everywhere, it's not exclusive to the UK or the NHS. It's just in some places you get that, and they send you a bill afterwards.
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I wish I were British...
- Thread starter Kwesi
- Start date
You get that everywhere, it's not exclusive to the UK or the NHS. It's just in some places you get that, and they send you a bill afterwards.
You get that everywhere, it's not exclusive to the UK or the NHS. It's just in some places you get that, and they send you a bill afterwards.
A bill which can be hundreds of thousands of dollars too. Plus you've also got the added limitations that most insurance companies place on the costs of treatments.
I was watching a documentary where a family was living with a severely disabled young boy, and because of the way their insurance worked, they were having to spend money from their own pocket to merely keep their son alive, simply because this boy had supposedly come to some insurance limit.
The whole US insurance system is a bit of a sore point for me right now - I broke my ankle about two months ago in the snow, went to the doctor, and was recommended to get an operation to screw the bone back together, or risk post-traumatic arthritis and possibly not being able to walk in a few years.
The cost of the operation (a half-hour procedure, done under spinal anaesthetic and with no hospital stay) was $24k. My insurance company (insurance through my employer) said they'd cover... get this... $1250. So I haven't been able to get it done. I've just been wearing one of those orthopaedic moonboots and trying to keep off it as much as possible. I hope I've dodged a bullet and it'll heal up OK, but it might not. I feel very let down, and I don't think I want my 4-month-old son to grow up somewhere where this sort of thing can happen. It's this sort of thing that really makes me miss the NHS.
The whole US insurance system is a bit of a sore point for me right now - I broke my ankle about two months ago in the snow, went to the doctor, and was recommended to get an operation to screw the bone back together, or risk post-traumatic arthritis and possibly not being able to walk in a few years.
The cost of the operation (a half-hour procedure, done under spinal anaesthetic and with no hospital stay) was $24k. My insurance company (insurance through my employer) said they'd cover... get this... $1250. So I haven't been able to get it done. I've just been wearing one of those orthopaedic moonboots and trying to keep off it as much as possible. I hope I've dodged a bullet and it'll heal up OK, but it might not. I feel very let down, and I don't think I want my 4-month-old son to grow up somewhere where this sort of thing can happen. It's this sort of thing that really makes me miss the NHS.
I see your point, as shaky as the NHS has been, I'll take my chances there, after all it is tax funded, we pay for it.
The whole US insurance system is a bit of a sore point for me right now - I broke my ankle about two months ago in the snow, went to the doctor, and was recommended to get an operation to screw the bone back together, or risk post-traumatic arthritis and possibly not being able to walk in a few years.
The cost of the operation (a half-hour procedure, done under spinal anaesthetic and with no hospital stay) was $24k. My insurance company (insurance through my employer) said they'd cover... get this... $1250. So I haven't been able to get it done. I've just been wearing one of those orthopaedic moonboots and trying to keep off it as much as possible. I hope I've dodged a bullet and it'll heal up OK, but it might not. I feel very let down, and I don't think I want my 4-month-old son to grow up somewhere where this sort of thing can happen. It's this sort of thing that really makes me miss the NHS.
What the...? Seriously? Sometimes I'd love to know how they justify charging so much for even the most basic stuff.
I've heard of people being charged hundreds of dollars for Glucophage, a medicine I take. The actual cost per pill is something like 5c a time.....15c a day, or $5 a month.
Rusty chainsaw, if the UK is so good then why dont you live there ???
To cut a very long story short, my wife's American, and, since I have no family left in the UK any more, and we have a 4-month-old son, we want him to be near his only living grandparents, who are here in the US.
Seriously, if it wasn't for that, we wouldn't be here. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty I like about the US, but there's things like the healthcare system that scare the crap out of me, and things like that become that much more important when you're worried about the welfare of a 4-month-old.
To be fair, many insurance policies over here would have covered it, it's just that I had to wait until after something happened to find out that my coverage is crap.
As a rule, you go with the insurance you're offered with your job, because getting individual insurance can be prohibitively expensive (I checked, and it's nearly $2k a month for me, my wife and my son to have coverage that's better than this job offers me, and that's with no pre-existing conditions or anything).
I did consider getting on a plane and going home and getting it fixed on the NHS, but flying back with a cast on your leg isn't exactly practical!
Fassa, the Swedish moms is just the VAT but Sweden has many other taxes and these are just dramatic
I'd say it started with fantastic education system in mid-19th century and avoiding wars since that time. Although the Swedish social system appears perfect, Sweden will face big problems soon. The Swedish industry started moving their production offshore long before any other country grabbed that idea -- because of enormous taxes. Ever heard of IKEA? I drink from Russian IKEA glass, sit by Bulgarian IKEA kitchen table, my room is lit with Chinese IKEA lamps, my desk is Czech IKEA, and the living room furniture is Polish IKEA. The only goods I know are genuinely Swedish are Hasselblad cameras and Akzo Nobel table salt. I wonder if Volvos are still made in Sweden ;-)
On some day that fantastic social system will collapse and the Swedish will wake up in shock.
Over 10 years ago, any working Swede could declare sickness and not come to work. The Swedish government noticed that it cost too much and put some discipline, only for the good of the Swedish...
I'd say it started with fantastic education system in mid-19th century and avoiding wars since that time. Although the Swedish social system appears perfect, Sweden will face big problems soon. The Swedish industry started moving their production offshore long before any other country grabbed that idea -- because of enormous taxes. Ever heard of IKEA? I drink from Russian IKEA glass, sit by Bulgarian IKEA kitchen table, my room is lit with Chinese IKEA lamps, my desk is Czech IKEA, and the living room furniture is Polish IKEA. The only goods I know are genuinely Swedish are Hasselblad cameras and Akzo Nobel table salt. I wonder if Volvos are still made in Sweden ;-)
On some day that fantastic social system will collapse and the Swedish will wake up in shock.
Over 10 years ago, any working Swede could declare sickness and not come to work. The Swedish government noticed that it cost too much and put some discipline, only for the good of the Swedish...
To be fair, many insurance policies over here would have covered it, it's just that I had to wait until after something happened to find out that my coverage is crap.
As a rule, you go with the insurance you're offered with your job, because getting individual insurance can be prohibitively expensive (I checked, and it's nearly $2k a month for me, my wife and my son to have coverage that's better than this job offers me, and that's with no pre-existing conditions or anything).
I did consider getting on a plane and going home and getting it fixed on the NHS, but flying back with a cast on your leg isn't exactly practical!
Yes, I see exactly what your concerns would be, at least with a tax funded system that equation is taken out, you will receive the treatment the system was designed for, I didn't realise the extend of medical bill's in the states, that's quite something.
On a lighter note:
YouTube - Frolicking with badgers - BBC wildlife
Showcasing how some people in my home county of Devon speak. (some of my Dads cousins actually do speak like this)
Hilarious
Oh, and more importantly there's Badgers - Always a good thing 
YouTube - Frolicking with badgers - BBC wildlife
Showcasing how some people in my home county of Devon speak. (some of my Dads cousins actually do speak like this)
Hilarious
Oh, and more importantly there's Badgers - Always a good thing
Conversely, if it's that bad, why not leave? Just asking as it seems a logical response.Rusty chainsaw, if the UK is so good then why dont you live there ???
I'm all too well aware of the issues facing the UK, but the fact is most of them are similar to those faced by many other countries, including the US and the rest of Europe. I'm fortunate enough to have travelled a lot and love to do so, but there's no way I'd live anywhere else as on balance this country still suits me better than any other I've visited.
This is a very sane comment. I've also been around and seen a lot, I still return home very happy, sometimes ready to kiss the home soil. Even if I like, say, Hungary very much and you can get a litre of perfect red wine for mere 1.75 EUR there, I still like the balance my home country gives me.
Said the above, I like UK very much, as a tourist.
This is a brilliant thread, so many good points raised, maybe the way a person feels at a given time reflects their opinion of the place they live in, we are bombarded with bad news all the time so its no surprise we dont feel good about the country, when you hear that your wife might lose her job or that you will be worse off with all the latest govt cuts then its no surprise that you are living under a cloud, the distrust of politicians is part of the gloom as well, I have never known such an insincere political system as we have had in the last say 20 years, we had the MPs expenses scandal where so many were on the make and fiddling expenses for items like porn films and duck houses in their gardens yet at the same time being told we had to tighten our belts, we had the Labour govt borrowing far more than it could ever hope to pay back, yes, its the idiots running the country that cause a lot of the bad feeling, its no surprise that so many do not bother to vote !
I am off to sit in my car for 3 hours now, I have to do a 15 mile journey on the M25
The reason I dont leave is because my family are here and I believe that my kids should grow up with full contact with all their grandparents, cousins etc like I did
If you can ignore all the problems then YES, britain is not a bad place to live, sadly I do not wear rose tinted spectacles !
And YES, our football team is crap despite earning vast sums of money and behaving so badly, how many other players score a hatrick of goals then go up to a TV camera and shout abusive insults at the TV audience like Wayne Rooney who appears to be lacking in brain cells, funnily enough he has complained that his two match ban punishment is too severe, idiot
I am off to sit in my car for 3 hours now, I have to do a 15 mile journey on the M25
The reason I dont leave is because my family are here and I believe that my kids should grow up with full contact with all their grandparents, cousins etc like I did
If you can ignore all the problems then YES, britain is not a bad place to live, sadly I do not wear rose tinted spectacles !
And YES, our football team is crap despite earning vast sums of money and behaving so badly, how many other players score a hatrick of goals then go up to a TV camera and shout abusive insults at the TV audience like Wayne Rooney who appears to be lacking in brain cells, funnily enough he has complained that his two match ban punishment is too severe, idiot
Cheer up, mate!
I think people in every European country (I'd not dare to extend it beyond Europe) have similar feelings towards the politician, feel insecure economically, and what's worse, the media do everything so we would feel bad.
Still, whenever arriving to the British soil I feel good. Simply good. Interesting country, indeed. And I had the luck to only meet positive people there. (Which does not mean internal insight couldn't be different). I'm simply a lucky guy, Graham
{Not going into details, I'll add that in some rich and extremely civilized European country (not UK) I was pursued by a drug-full knife fighter on parole from the prison; the guy -- after being pacified by me -- told me he had been convicted for stabbing someone else with no mortal effect although he regretted he hadn't killed that other guy}
I think people in every European country (I'd not dare to extend it beyond Europe) have similar feelings towards the politician, feel insecure economically, and what's worse, the media do everything so we would feel bad.
Still, whenever arriving to the British soil I feel good. Simply good. Interesting country, indeed. And I had the luck to only meet positive people there. (Which does not mean internal insight couldn't be different). I'm simply a lucky guy, Graham
{Not going into details, I'll add that in some rich and extremely civilized European country (not UK) I was pursued by a drug-full knife fighter on parole from the prison; the guy -- after being pacified by me -- told me he had been convicted for stabbing someone else with no mortal effect although he regretted he hadn't killed that other guy}
If you met me Antek, you would find me very positive about many things, just not about the immediate everyday things that have an effect on and restrict my life
Threads like this are good and help one to be more positive, as we all know its easy to live on `the surface` and miss all the stuff below, you guys have made some great posts
Threads like this are good and help one to be more positive, as we all know its easy to live on `the surface` and miss all the stuff below, you guys have made some great posts
Thank you for this... I'm on a bit of a home baking binge at the moment, so it caught my eye.
Invalid Link Removed, next week, I'll report back with photos.
Mmmm...
...Cake.
