How Easy Is It To Receive Healthcare?

In the UK it's very easy to get healthcare. I can phone the doctors any day and get an immediate appointment if I need one. If I need specialized care, or to get an op, tests, scans - whatever, it's all 100% free'at point of use' to quote the official jargon.
Working people have to pay for prescription medication, but the price is a fixed one, no matter what the cost of the medication or other items.
Not every medicine that comes out is available on the NHS, as some are deemed to be too expensive and not cost effective for the service to provide, but those are quite rare cases. Some decisions not to provide certain medications to people have been reversed following public and media outcry.

All thanks to post world war II English socialism. How long it will go on this way is in the balance, as the current government would like to privatize the service entirely, but that would be political suicide for them if they tried. I can't really imagine living in a country where one has to pay to see a doctor - it's been this way here for all of my life, and I've benefited enormously and continue to do so along with tens of millions of others.It's about the best thing any government ever did here the day they set up the National Health Service.

Of course, the rich can still pay to see a private doctor if they wish, but the care they get is not really any better - just more luxurious and maybe they get an op a little bit sooner. Many surgeons do both NHS and private work. Most doctors here are 100% committed to the service.

It's funded by a special kind of income tax called National Insurance.(and of course by government borrowing) I tried to look up the current rates but the UK Gov website is clunky and difficult, so I can't say how much you'd pay as an employer. I know that if you're self employed it's around £2.80 ($4.05) per week - chicken feed.

Prescriptions are currently £8.20 ($11.87) per item. If you need a lot of medication you can buy a monthly certificate for £29.10 ($42), and have as many items as required, or £104 ($150.58)per year. Some get free prescriptions, such as children and those who are medically unfit for work, and some unemployed people.

 

Just as long as you stay healthy...


Quite pricey. init?

 

Well shoot! I was counting on being eligible for Medicare when I started drawing social security. I haven't looked that up about the age one can get Medicare but I have looked it up about being able to draw social security at 62 1/2 at a reduced rate. It will not be significantly reduced to make me wait the intervening years. Plus I will be able to work and make up to like 10K at the same time I draw SS.

So, I'll know to make sure and hope that I don't get deathly sick or break another bone before I get some kind of insurance.

I do know that it is the law that when one does get Medicare, you have to pay for/buy a supplement also.

Unless something drastic happens between now and then, I know I will not be getting any kind of drug prescription plan, especially since I am not on any kind of medication on a regular basis. My mother recently canceled the prescription plan part of her supplement. JUST the prescription drug plan was going up to $73/month from $59/month. She takes NO MEDICATION. The only thing she "takes" are vitamins or supplements, so I was all in favor of saying to hell with that. At 96 yrs old, I do not see anything big changing as regards what she will take medication wise.

 

Wow. She's incredible.

 

Honestly, this is straight the fuck up. Seriously. This is the first time in my life that I have ever suffered from "seasonal depression" (if we can even call it that, but for definition sake, lets go ahead and call it that) and man, it has knocked me on my ass. I've been going through things mentally that I've never experienced in my life. It's fucked. I won't go into detail, nor am I ignoring the rest of your post by just quoting a mere part of it, but boy did you hit the nail on the head with the hammer there, my friend.

 

Mate I have Had the winter Blues Like Never before !!
I have Decided Just this morning that from today " Things Change "

 

And Reading some of these posts I am So Glad Here in the UK we have the NHS Flawed as it can be sometimes

 

Anyone can rock up to the emergency department here and expect to be treated for free. Not saying our health care system is perfect by any means but I like that everyone can access emergency treatment without going into debt!

 

I was once weighed down by almost 30k in emergency room bills during the seven years between when I lost my work insurance and eventually got state medical assistance in Maryland. I had to prove how sick I was to get MA. I had to check myself in for psych care in order to do it. It took me 4 years of begging , crying and bitching to get a mammogram only to be told that it wasn't a bid deal and there was nothing that could be done about it..
I was seen by a dozen doctors before one gave me the referral to the neurologist for the migraines I'd had for over 20 years. The neurologist is the first time I ever had a doctor listen to me.
I was seen by the same OBGYN for 26 years before she finally had the good sense to treat me for one of the symptoms ( a single symptom of a more complex issue related to hormones and endometriosis).
I spent 2 years with my liver shriveling and gave birth to my son before I walked into the ER and demanded someone tell me why my stomach had been hurting for months.. I had to have emergency surgery the next day to remove my gall bladder and 15 stones the size of nickels.
I had a tumor in my head for over almost ten years before I had it removed because it had swelled to the size of a golf ball in 6 months and almost paralyzed my face.. I have a nice scar to remind me of that. I had the tumor for ten years!!
I had to pay to get my tubes tied, in cash. ($2400) Up front. After I'd had an abortion ($600) to stop what was the beginning of a miscarriage at the end of my very last abusive relationship.
Each one of my 4 wisdom teeth cost 400+ dollars in cash, up front.
I had my tonsils out and they grew back.. I swear. The same doctor who removed them told me.
Some of this stuff has been paid for by MA and most of it hasn't. I paid off more of the 30k myself, over a long period of time. Over my adult life, MA has mostly covered the 5k it cost to deliver each of my kids because for some reason you can go to a doctor all day long if you're knocked up.

When I moved to Texas I lost the Maryland MA and was told I had to sign up for Obamacare.. I was technically homeless, unemployed for almost a year and my ex had stopped paying child support. My bill for Obamacare was set to be $550 a month.. That's without any income.. WTF?

Texas reconsidered my MA application for some reason and apparently I have it now but I haven't been to a doctor since I got here because I'm just fed up. I bring a list, they look at me down the slope of their medical degree and offer me percocet. Which I refuse because I hate pain killers so they consider me a difficult patient and write me off. I've been dismissed from at least four doctors in the last ten years because of my unwillingness to take what they give me blindly and I have the gall to tell them how to do their jobs.

 

Ain't that the truth.

 

You too, hey? I am so sorry you've been feeling down. Have you tried vitamin D supplements? I'd suggest getting some, if you haven't, and laying off the booze for a bit as well. That should help. Hang in there, Mal.

 

Healthcare is easy to access here. Doctors visits, hospital visits and most necessary medical stuff is free. Dentist and eye doctors are not free, nor are prescriptions, but I know that our government has programs in place to take care of that stuff for low income families and people on welfare.

My boyfriends parents were in Florida last month for a cruise though and his dad got sick and rushed to hospital. They kept him there for one night and he just received a bill for $13000..... that would have been 100% free here.

(Canada)

 

ffs... that is amazing. I am literally speechless and don't know what else to say.

It's okay, I understand My depression has been kicking my ass all winter too. Fall didn't seem all too bad, but there was so much that happened over the winter season. Plus hearing everyone's stories here about healthcare and how UNGODLY COMPLICATED IT IS!! It should NOT be this way. Things need to fucking change. I still think Tyrson labelled it best and I've been using the word lately too. Wealthcare. I am completely appalled.

(Another comment related to this, I'll put under Thinker's post I've quoted.)

My friend spent the night a few days ago and he started talking about hope. While I do believe hope is useful and necessary (I do), I interrupted him while he was talking and said "Fuck hope! Hope isn't going to get us anywhere! We've gotta MAKE change happen!!"

And to quote a character from The Boondock Saints "You've got to fucking believe!! You've got to force it into reality!" ("Go left!!!!")

I know and have known SO many people (including myself) that think about what the financial outcome will be before making a decision to check themselves in to receive any type of healthcare. Especially when it comes to those working for minimum wages. It is so sad that things are so ridiculously complicated when they really don't have to be. Raise taxes on gas, cigarettes, alcohol, I don't care. I'd much rather live to see another day than have the ability to go on a short vacation to ease my stresses... which are mostly about health and well-being to begin with.

What a nightmare this is. It makes me want to cry, but I know crying and wallowing in sorrow does not provide an answer to any problem. Getting pissed off, however, unionizing and making a statement... well... let's all hear it for the one percent.

I'm glad I've started this thread, as sad as some of it is and coming to realize some of the things others are going through as well, at least there's a channel where people can talk about it and vent a bit (if you can call it that). Sad, but interesting and very knowledgable nonetheless.

Jesus. $13,000 dollars... for a single night's stay.

That includes testing, monitoring, equipment, medication, and personal labor costs I'm assuming.

 

I need knee replacements...5 years ago... oh well.

Pain medication? Who can afford $100 every month for a pain doc visit?

Dentist? please! I've lost 4 back teeth over recent years. Painful? yes, but who gives a shit?

Eyeglasses? Yes, but the prescription is about 6 years old.

 

It's ridiculously expensive here, even with insurance. An honest embarrassment to the first world.

 

I'll correct mine to say that I haven't lost four of my back teeth. They've broken off at the gum line. The fillings became old, fell out, and the teeth fractured.