3 ms·

Good grief. I'm from California, and in the past couple of years I've started a couple of companies. We've been successful and now have a handful of full-time e

by nkoren 13y ago

Good grief. I'm from California, and in the past couple of years I've started a couple of companies. We've been successful and now have a handful of full-time employees in addition to the usual assortment of contractors. Reading through this material -- and seeing the level cost and complexity required to sort out one's healthcare situation -- makes me incredibly glad that I emigrated to London to do it. I'm reasonably sure that Obamacare is in fact an improvement upon the status quo, but it's still an absurd level of overhead to inflict upon either individuals or businesses. It's clearly in society's interests to have a healthy populace. Everybody benefits when the "are you covered?" checklist looks like this: 1.) Are you a human being? [ ] No -- Sorry! [ ] Yes -- Great, you're covered. And the premium/co-pay policy looks like this: 2.) Can you walk out of here under your own power? [ ] No -- Stick around and we'll see what we can do. [ ] Yes -- Excellent; now put away your wallet and scram. Honestly the NHS has its problems, but it's saved my life at least once, and made my businesses far easier to get off the ground, and I'd never again live in a country that doesn't have something like it.

psychometry 13y ago
That's great, but in case you hadn't noticed, it's practically impossible to get a U.K. work visa these days so it's not like any of us here in the U.S. can follow your lead.
Apocryphon 13y ago
Universal pet insurance seems like the sort of thing that Scandinavian nations, or Japan, could explore in the future.
- pekk 13y ago
  Because pets are just as important as human beings. Or maybe I should say, human beings are no more important than pets?
  - Apocryphon 13y ago
    Because those nations are wealthy enough and have sufficiently expansive social safety nets to accommodate such luxuries.
chamblin 13y ago
> 1.) Are you a human being? [ ] No -- Sorry! [ ] Yes -- Great, you're covered. Is this actually true? Does the NHS (or any so-called universal government healthcare programs) really cover literally any human?
- bmelton 13y ago
  No. It doesn't necessarily cover illegal immigrants, and may not necessarily cover legal immigrants, or those present on work visas. This will likely be challenged (along with many other tenets of it) shortly though, as there have been other resident alien cases regarding civil rights (voting, guns) wherein the decisions pretty routinely fell on the side of the alien, whether they were here legally or not.
- SEMW 13y ago
  Full details of who's covered: http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/healthcare_e/healthcare_help_with_health_costs_e/nhs_charges_for_people_from_abroad.htm http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/healthcare_e/healthcar... TLDR: all ordinary UK residents, non-ordinary-residents who've been living legally in the UK for >12 months, EU citizens with EHIC cards, and various other sets of people. Treatment at A&E (accident & emergency), family planning & HIV tests, and for certain communicable diseases is always free no matter who you are, for practical reasons (no time to ask who you are in A&E before they treat you, no requirement to ask who you are for family planning & HIV tests for confidentiality reasons, and for communicable diseases you want to minimise their spreading).
- VBprogrammer 13y ago
  Emergency treatment is free literally for anybody regardless of length of stay. You have to be able to demonstrate that you are a normal resident in the UK intending to stay for at least 6 months to register with a GP (student / working here is fine). Basically the only thing they care about is that you aren't a health-tourist. Pretty damn close.
onislandtime 13y ago
Unfortunately, this is the price we need to pay for living in a plutocracy. Healy insurance companies and brokers add no value to society. However, Obamacare is infinitely better than what we have now because it is almost impossible to get individual insurance for most people over 40 forcing them to stay at their current jobs. Perhaps this will make it easier for people over 40 to take 6 months off and start companies without having to play Russian Roulette with their families.

by nkoren 13y ago

psychometry 13y ago

That's great, but in case you hadn't noticed, it's practically impossible to get a U.K. work visa these days so it's not like any of us here in the U.S. can follow your lead.

Apocryphon 13y ago

Universal pet insurance seems like the sort of thing that Scandinavian nations, or Japan, could explore in the future.

pekk 13y ago
Because pets are just as important as human beings. Or maybe I should say, human beings are no more important than pets?
- Apocryphon 13y ago
  Because those nations are wealthy enough and have sufficiently expansive social safety nets to accommodate such luxuries.

chamblin 13y ago

> 1.) Are you a human being? [ ] No -- Sorry! [ ] Yes -- Great, you're covered. Is this actually true? Does the NHS (or any so-called universal government healthcare programs) really cover literally any human?

bmelton 13y ago
No. It doesn't necessarily cover illegal immigrants, and may not necessarily cover legal immigrants, or those present on work visas. This will likely be challenged (along with many other tenets of it) shortly though, as there have been other resident alien cases regarding civil rights (voting, guns) wherein the decisions pretty routinely fell on the side of the alien, whether they were here legally or not.
SEMW 13y ago
Full details of who's covered: http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/healthcare_e/healthcare_help_with_health_costs_e/nhs_charges_for_people_from_abroad.htm http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/healthcare_e/healthcar... TLDR: all ordinary UK residents, non-ordinary-residents who've been living legally in the UK for >12 months, EU citizens with EHIC cards, and various other sets of people. Treatment at A&E (accident & emergency), family planning & HIV tests, and for certain communicable diseases is always free no matter who you are, for practical reasons (no time to ask who you are in A&E before they treat you, no requirement to ask who you are for family planning & HIV tests for confidentiality reasons, and for communicable diseases you want to minimise their spreading).
VBprogrammer 13y ago
Emergency treatment is free literally for anybody regardless of length of stay. You have to be able to demonstrate that you are a normal resident in the UK intending to stay for at least 6 months to register with a GP (student / working here is fine). Basically the only thing they care about is that you aren't a health-tourist. Pretty damn close.

onislandtime 13y ago

Unfortunately, this is the price we need to pay for living in a plutocracy. Healy insurance companies and brokers add no value to society. However, Obamacare is infinitely better than what we have now because it is almost impossible to get individual insurance for most people over 40 forcing them to stay at their current jobs. Perhaps this will make it easier for people over 40 to take 6 months off and start companies without having to play Russian Roulette with their families.