3 ms·

It's been like that in the US like forever. Once you actually have medical problems. The main difference is the whole going bankrupt thing.

kick_in_the_dor 3y ago
I'm a US expat living in London for 1.5y. I find the opposite is true. US healthcare moves much faster and turnaround to getting a new appointment with a specialist is a fraction of the time in the UK (NHS only). My SO had a personal health issue that she attempted to get help for in the UK. She had to wait months for a GP appointment with the NHS, only to be told "let's monitor the issue" instead of actually doing anything. We went home to the US (making an appointment <2w in advance) and we saw a doctor who immediately found the underlying issue and had it fixed. I could go on about the health system in the UK... edit: Ha even the article talks about this! "I am in the system for NHS treatment, but things are so bad that I have not even received an inital letter with a date for a test. It would likely take up to year for the NHS to treat me."
- dv_dt 3y ago
  As far as I can follow, the NHS has been severely and intentionally undermined of resources by the ruling party. They are in the cusp of doctors going on strike.
  - kevviiinn 3y ago
    They're trying to get things privatized like they did with rail. You can see how well that turned out
LoganDark 3y ago
> The main difference is the whole going bankrupt thing. US healthcare really does seem to want to bankrupt people. As an example, most insurance doesn't cover dental care, which is (in)famously one of the parts of the body that needs the most maintenance. My insurance doesn't cover my ADHD meds because I have to take more than 1 pill a day. $80/mo for the rest of my life if I want to treat a disorder. (My case is pretty bad, too.) I (hopefully?!) have decades of life left, and $80/mo is almost $1,000/year. Not super cheap. I actually can't afford this on my own income and have to rely on a family member to help.
- arghnoname 3y ago
  Most work plans include a separate dental plan, for which I am thankful. However, near worst-case scenarios for dental issues are comparatively affordable ordeals. My routine dental care is covered for me, but it's affordable either way. I had to have a root canal and crown, which would have been annoying to pay for, but certainly not something that would bankrupt me. If I remember correctly, it was in the ballpark of $2k in the DC metro area. It's still possible to set money aside for possible dental issues and self-insure. Because dental costs are more reasonable, insurance premiums don't tend to be very high and can be purchased outside of your main health plan. If primary medical costs were more on par with dental costs (as it probably did once upon a time, when the offerings were much more primitive), insurance wouldn't be such a big issue.

kick_in_the_dor 3y ago

I'm a US expat living in London for 1.5y. I find the opposite is true. US healthcare moves much faster and turnaround to getting a new appointment with a specialist is a fraction of the time in the UK (NHS only). My SO had a personal health issue that she attempted to get help for in the UK. She had to wait months for a GP appointment with the NHS, only to be told "let's monitor the issue" instead of actually doing anything. We went home to the US (making an appointment <2w in advance) and we saw a doctor who immediately found the underlying issue and had it fixed. I could go on about the health system in the UK... edit: Ha even the article talks about this! "I am in the system for NHS treatment, but things are so bad that I have not even received an inital letter with a date for a test. It would likely take up to year for the NHS to treat me."

dv_dt 3y ago
As far as I can follow, the NHS has been severely and intentionally undermined of resources by the ruling party. They are in the cusp of doctors going on strike.
- kevviiinn 3y ago
  They're trying to get things privatized like they did with rail. You can see how well that turned out

LoganDark 3y ago

> The main difference is the whole going bankrupt thing. US healthcare really does seem to want to bankrupt people. As an example, most insurance doesn't cover dental care, which is (in)famously one of the parts of the body that needs the most maintenance. My insurance doesn't cover my ADHD meds because I have to take more than 1 pill a day. $80/mo for the rest of my life if I want to treat a disorder. (My case is pretty bad, too.) I (hopefully?!) have decades of life left, and $80/mo is almost $1,000/year. Not super cheap. I actually can't afford this on my own income and have to rely on a family member to help.

arghnoname 3y ago
Most work plans include a separate dental plan, for which I am thankful. However, near worst-case scenarios for dental issues are comparatively affordable ordeals. My routine dental care is covered for me, but it's affordable either way. I had to have a root canal and crown, which would have been annoying to pay for, but certainly not something that would bankrupt me. If I remember correctly, it was in the ballpark of $2k in the DC metro area. It's still possible to set money aside for possible dental issues and self-insure. Because dental costs are more reasonable, insurance premiums don't tend to be very high and can be purchased outside of your main health plan. If primary medical costs were more on par with dental costs (as it probably did once upon a time, when the offerings were much more primitive), insurance wouldn't be such a big issue.