The Many Faces of US Politics...

[johnnycool]

What's the verdict on the health care system in America? Are we better off over here or is it much the same?

Really it depends on the severity of the issue and your personal situation with insurance and money for bills.

Northern Ireland
3 weeks ago in Ireland my mother fell in the kitchen. She waited 2 hours on the floor for an ambulance, then waited in a chair in a hallway in the Erne for almost 36 hours prior to getting a bed after her X rays and scans.
She went half days without being seen or talked to after her proper admittance to the Erne and spent 6 days there total sharing a ward bed with other patients present and no privacy except a curtain. She was at times frustrated with her experience and care that was being administered.
She's home now.

America
On Friday of last week my wife took a Grand Mal seizure in our living room while sitting in a chair (in America). It was a second event, first having happened in September. We had just paid off her first event bill, which came to us around $35,000. That included an ambulance ride to the hospital ($7,000). Our insurance kicked in and we paid about $2,000 out of pocket.

Within 60 minutes of the Seizure my wife was in the ER, had had an emergency EKG and CAT scan. Within 12 hours she had had an additional EEG, MRI, and Ultrasound as well as multiple administrations of anti seizure medications, IV administrations of amino acids and electrolytes. She stayed 3 nights in her own private room, and I expect this bill to be around $50,000 before our insurance kicks in. Our deductible is close to having been met for the calendar year, so I expect our out of pocket to be around $1200 for this on the upper end. If it happens again in 2025 our deductible will be back at Zero and I will probably have to pay the full $5k maximum out of pocket.

EDIT: She also broke 2 teeth during the Seizure so that's gonna be a $calping as well.

How much would you be paying a month on your insurance plan? I know it could well be tied into your salary if through a work plan, but ball park it for us ignoramus' ?

[Puckoon]

I pay $112 per pay period (2x a month) for Medical. $26 for dental, $3 for vision.

YTD:

Medical (for daughter and I): $2,464.00
Dental (daughter and I):$569.68 (includes 2 free cleanings and 1 set of X rays)
Vision (daughter and I):$67.10

[Puckoon]

I pay $112 per pay period (2x a month) for Medical. $26 for dental, $3 for vision.

YTD:

Medical (for daughter and I): $2,464.00
Dental (daughter and I):$569.68 (includes 2 free cleanings each and 1 set of X rays each)
Vision (daughter and I):$67.10

[dec]

I pay $112 per pay period (2x a month) for Medical. $26 for dental, $3 for vision.

YTD:

Medical (for daughter and I): $2,464.00
Dental (daughter and I):$569.68 (includes 2 free cleanings and 1 set of X rays)
Vision (daughter and I):$67.10

I am paying for 4 (wife and 2 kids)

YTD
Medical  $6,245.65
Dental $1,316.98
Vision $277.84

There are cheaper plans but they would have bigger out of pocket costs. When I have worked for companies that share that information, the total cost (employer + employee contributions) has been over $20,000

[imtommygunn]

NHS here is couped tbf. I have similar experiences with my own mother.

What way do employee benefits work with this? I know there's something in our work - something k but can't mind the name.

[whitey]

I pay $112 per pay period (2x a month) for Medical. $26 for dental, $3 for vision.

YTD:

Medical (for daughter and I): $2,464.00
Dental (daughter and I):$569.68 (includes 2 free cleanings and 1 set of X rays)
Vision (daughter and I):$67.10

I am paying for 4 (wife and 2 kids)

YTD
Medical  $6,245.65
Dental $1,316.98
Vision $277.84

There are cheaper plans but they would have bigger out of pocket costs. When I have worked for companies that share that information, the total cost (employer + employee contributions) has been over $20,000

$898 per month for Health insurance (family of 4) Low deductible and ability to go out of network at no cost

Employer pays $2,233 per month.

(And while not directly related, company 401K match comes close to about what I'm paying for Health Insurance)

A friend of mine is self employed and has a wife and 5 kids. (Due to changes brought on by Obamacare according to him) he got quoted $50K for coverage a few years back.

It was also the year after he had a brush with cancer where he got treated at Sloan Kettering

[Main Street]

What's the verdict on the health care system in America? Are we better off over here or is it much the same?

Really it depends on the severity of the issue and your personal situation with insurance and money for bills.

Northern Ireland
3 weeks ago in Ireland my mother fell in the kitchen. She waited 2 hours on the floor for an ambulance, then waited in a chair in a hallway in the Erne for almost 36 hours prior to getting a bed after her X rays and scans.
She went half days without being seen or talked to after her proper admittance to the Erne and spent 6 days there total sharing a ward bed with other patients present and no privacy except a curtain. She was at times frustrated with her experience and care that was being administered.
She's home now.

America
On Friday of last week my wife took a Grand Mal seizure in our living room while sitting in a chair (in America). It was a second event, first having happened in September. We had just paid off her first event bill, which came to us around $35,000. That included an ambulance ride to the hospital ($7,000). Our insurance kicked in and we paid about $2,000 out of pocket.

Within 60 minutes of the Seizure my wife was in the ER, had had an emergency EKG and CAT scan. Within 12 hours she had had an additional EEG, MRI, and Ultrasound as well as multiple administrations of anti seizure medications, IV administrations of amino acids and electrolytes. She stayed 3 nights in her own private room, and I expect this bill to be around $50,000 before our insurance kicks in. Our deductible is close to having been met for the calendar year, so I expect our out of pocket to be around $1200 for this on the upper end. If it happens again in 2025 our deductible will be back at Zero and I will probably have to pay the full $5k maximum out of pocket.

EDIT: She also broke 2 teeth during the Seizure so that's gonna be a $calping as well.

I´m just curious (maybe a bit more than curious), the hospital treatment seems ott even for such a medical event as a Grand Mal, how long time was the wife in seizure? My suspicion is that the medics go on on overdrive with tests etc in order to jack up the bill. I say that having attended about a hundred seizures from petit to the occasional grand mal.

Based on a bog standard average salary for a low achiever in USA society, such as (on frequent enough occasion) the  school teacher, the medical insurance you pay for is a heavy toll on such an annual salary. Most probably my tax rate isabout 30 -35% on average of total salary in a Nordic country but the returns dwarf that of low tax countries. Taking one event, I broke my leg, fire brigade came (2 engines to be sure) to hoist me down to the ambulance, immediate surgery and post treatment all free, the only thing I had to pay for was about $30 for the ambulance which all goes to the Red Cross.

[gallsman]

7 grand for an ambulance ride! What in good heavens etc.

French girl I work with works in Switzerland. Very, very good wedge. Lives back across the border in France so good cost of living as well. Has been on secondment in San Diego for about 18 months and had a baby over there. Reckons it's cost her about 20k all in. She has the money pretty easily but god help the average American.

[whitey]

7 grand for an ambulance ride! What in good heavens etc.

French girl I work with works in Switzerland. Very, very good wedge. Lives back across the border in France so good cost of living as well. Has been on secondment in San Diego for about 18 months and had a baby over there. Reckons it's cost her about 20k all in. She has the money pretty easily but god help the average American.

You do realize that essentially no one would ever actually pay 7 grand for an ambulance ride?

https://www.berkshireeagle.com/state/cost-of-ambulance-ride-in-massachusetts-expensive-more-than-other-states-why/article_3274f0ae-ae12-11ed-8f59-6fe2ac6b7bf5.html

"Nationwide, commercially-insured patients pay an average $761 for an ambulance trip from a municipally-owned emergency medical services company, compared to a $1,578 charge in Massachusetts"

[gallsman]

Yes, as unlike you, I'm not not a complete f**king moron.

The issue is that, somewhere in the whole process, someone has decided that seeking to bill 7k for an ambulance ride is a reasonable start.

[johnnycool]

An old school friend, now living and working in San Antonio, Texas, is a diabetic and says the price of insulin in the US is unreal. I can't remember the exact cost, but it was like 100's of dollars a dose. I don't know how long that dose would do him for and he's a good job also but says it is a big drain on his income every month.

It's free over here.

The NHS I grew up with was second to none, and even when both my parents were ill in their latter years in the last three or four years when it worked it worked well, care packages etc etc, but it's so broken I dread having to use it and have taken my company up on their private health insurance for the whole family.
It costs me £140 per month for the seven of us which the company makes up the rest although it's a benefit in kind so I get taxed on that benefit. I haven't had to use it yet. Touch wood!

[imtommygunn]

The nhs is couped. It should be a great thing but between mismanagement, incompetence, Brexit and outright corruption it is in a bad place and I don't know how it comes back from it. Private health should not be required but pretty much is. The worst thing is it is considerably more couped in the north than the rest of the uk which says a lot about our politicians really.

[Milltown Row2]

The nhs is couped. It should be a great thing but between mismanagement, incompetence, Brexit and outright corruption it is in a bad place and I don't know how it comes back from it. Private health should not be required but pretty much is. The worst thing is it is considerably more couped in the north than the rest of the uk which says a lot about our politicians really.

The NHS doesn't have to be couped, but it needs to be streamlined, free prescriptions is mad for starters, a minimal charge on doctor appointments would reduce the chancers that go to get free stuff and clog up the system, there should be grants to help people get hip and knee ops rather than waiting 8 years on a new hip/knee, audiology and eye departments again should have a grant so that they can go private. In the south they have PSRI which helps for things like that. Leaving the NHS for cancer detection/treatments improved A&E better ambulance services.

Social home care needs to be better funded, some nursing homes I've been in over the years are well below standard

The worst thing for me is the lack of people trained to deal with mental health issues, I'm in a clinic that uses a room once a week, they are in other clinics other days but they are private, most of their clients are referred by the NHS and the rest private, they are flat out and over prescribed leaving people waiting long times before they have availability..

Streaming it and concentrating the money on areas that need it most would be better.

I've seen nothing but good with the NHS but so many stories from others that have had the worst experiences   

[SaffronSports]

It's as basic as if you continue to reduce funding to something it will get worse.

They spend millions on that Incompass system but they need to spend millions on people to work there and machines that can be used to help people. My wife had an appointment recently, a scan on her liver and was told that was the only machine for that purpose in the north.

[imtommygunn]

There has to be a willingness to streamline it though. Many of the people in it are saints tbh and it is not the fault of a lot in it. A neighbour's dad is close to his last legs and has just been bucked on a trolley bed in more or less a corridor.  That's the kind of thing that's happening all too regularly and my own mother has bad stories too.