4 ms·

> With private, you get exactly what you want, whenever you want it. In the US this isn't how it works. You can't see whoever you want unless you have a really

> With private, you get exactly what you want, whenever you want it. In the US this isn't how it works. You can't see whoever you want unless you have a really, really good plan. Otherwise, you need referrals. And lots of specialists won't see you without a referral anyway. And, the wait is often on the order of months. I know that's something people complain about in the UK but I assure you, it happens that way in the US too even though we're paying 10x as much. I know private in the UK is quite good. What you need to understand is that the only reason it's any good at all is because of the NHS. It has to remain competitive. If you go full private, then it very quickly decays.

reillyse 6mo ago
In the US if I want to see my primary care doctor I need to wait 2 months for the appointment. I pay $500 per month for the privilege (and a $50 copay) So I’m paying $1000 in the time period where I’m getting no service.
- zdragnar 6mo ago
  Where in the US are you? I was able to book a visit with my primary the very next day less than a month ago.
  - tracker1 6mo ago
    That was my thinking... even for specialists, I can generally get into a new one within a few weeks. My SO is on state Medicaid (cancer) and does experience the kinds of waits mentioned above... so I guess it does follow similarly for government/state backed healthcare, where I'm mostly out of pocket. But even when I had relatively typical coverage, I didn't have issues getting into a doctor more often than not. I think getting my sleep study was the longest wait I had for anything, they were months backed up with appointments... but my kidney and retina specialists were somewhat easy to get started with.
  - array_key_first 6mo ago
    Not the person you replied to but I'm in North Texas and I just recently had to reschedule my physical. And yup, the next appointment is 2 months out. I also had cancer in the past and you might think that that would mean I get faster appointments. I do not. And I have a very, very, very good PPO plan.
    - chrisjj 6mo ago
      > I also had cancer in the past and you might think that that would mean I get faster appointments. I do not. Sadly you do not may be because lower life expectancy -> lower return on treatment "investment".
  - 0xffff2 6mo ago
    As usual when people say "the US", we're papering over the fact that the United States is really 50 countries in a trench coat.
    - chrisjj 6mo ago
      > the United States is really 50 countries in a trench coat. Appropriate attire... when you're in a trench :)
mgaunard 6mo ago
A specialist also requires a referral in the UK. There are also much more medicines which are prescription-only than in the US. That's why in practice we have all these (private) services to get easy GP appointments via phone, video or even online forms. While everyone knows those appointments can't realistically do any real medical work, they serve to give you prescriptions and referrals. It's just a gatekeeping mechanism, that you can more easily bypass if you have money. The more you pay, the more they care about your user experience and how streamlined it is.

reillyse 6mo ago

In the US if I want to see my primary care doctor I need to wait 2 months for the appointment. I pay $500 per month for the privilege (and a $50 copay) So I’m paying $1000 in the time period where I’m getting no service.

zdragnar 6mo ago
Where in the US are you? I was able to book a visit with my primary the very next day less than a month ago.
- tracker1 6mo ago
  That was my thinking... even for specialists, I can generally get into a new one within a few weeks. My SO is on state Medicaid (cancer) and does experience the kinds of waits mentioned above... so I guess it does follow similarly for government/state backed healthcare, where I'm mostly out of pocket. But even when I had relatively typical coverage, I didn't have issues getting into a doctor more often than not. I think getting my sleep study was the longest wait I had for anything, they were months backed up with appointments... but my kidney and retina specialists were somewhat easy to get started with.
- array_key_first 6mo ago
  Not the person you replied to but I'm in North Texas and I just recently had to reschedule my physical. And yup, the next appointment is 2 months out. I also had cancer in the past and you might think that that would mean I get faster appointments. I do not. And I have a very, very, very good PPO plan.
  - chrisjj 6mo ago
    > I also had cancer in the past and you might think that that would mean I get faster appointments. I do not. Sadly you do not may be because lower life expectancy -> lower return on treatment "investment".
- 0xffff2 6mo ago
  As usual when people say "the US", we're papering over the fact that the United States is really 50 countries in a trench coat.
  - chrisjj 6mo ago
    > the United States is really 50 countries in a trench coat. Appropriate attire... when you're in a trench :)

mgaunard 6mo ago

A specialist also requires a referral in the UK. There are also much more medicines which are prescription-only than in the US. That's why in practice we have all these (private) services to get easy GP appointments via phone, video or even online forms. While everyone knows those appointments can't realistically do any real medical work, they serve to give you prescriptions and referrals. It's just a gatekeeping mechanism, that you can more easily bypass if you have money. The more you pay, the more they care about your user experience and how streamlined it is.