That's my life too. Although it normally takes days of her pestering me to go to doctors before I do.
Yeah. Which is why I have to be in a pretty bad way before I go. With all the medical issues though we've long since hit our $7500 deductible for the year this year so it's relatively cheap now until next year. Probably under $100 for an office visit. I'd be more likely to go if I need to now, once January rolls around again though, no more doctor for me. Hopefully next year will be healthier for the family.
That's after paying $1.5k a month for insurance for the family too. and it's $2500 deductible not $7500. Typo. Still pretty crappy to have to pay out after spending so much on insurance.
Jeez. There's not much point in us being smug, though - after we've left the EU we'll be increasingly open to adopting the US model. It's what all Tory politicians want anyway.
Well, I know cost of medical coverage is double over here what it is in Europe, so you're probably paying several thousand for a family anyway and just not realising how much you spend because the government takes it all before you count it. Who it really hurts are people who get cancer or chronic heart disease. A financial nest egg for retirement can be snatched away and someone thrown into deep debt. I think I saw a cartoon online once joking how Breaking Bad would be a boring show if filmed in Britain because Walter White would just use the NHS to get treatment instead of setting up a meth lab to pay for it.
For all their crap about loving the NHS, that's what the Tories want to do to us. I remember Gore Vidal summed up the whole of Clinton's tennure as one long, unsuccessful battle against the powerful, vested interests of private medical insurance companies and their Republican hucksters. And they have the temerity to talk ****e about spending an extra £350m a week on the NHS. Yeah, only if it's siphoned off straight into the back pockets of the Tory Party-financing private care providers already growing in the NHS and education. Whoops, getting a bit political there...
The £350m was always a load of bollocks. The money wasn't there in the first place, and whatever is recouped is never going to go to anything remotely "socialist". Though no doubt they'll massage a few figures to make it look that way with the help of their media poodles.
Insurance companies are to blame for the high prices over here. It's a never-ending feedback loop. If Tories ever try to go to insurance based care then fight them tooth and nail. Doctors charge more than they should because they know "insurance will pay for it" and every insurance company wants to be seen as one that will accept more doctors. Insurance raises rates because Drs charge more and Dr. prices are too high for anyone to afford without insurance (in other words you're forced to pay... Literally since Obamacare) Drs see no push back on rates so raise them again. Etc. There is motivation for prices to go up (Healthcare providers wanting more money). No motivation for price to go down. When you go to the doctor you won't know how much you owe until weeks later. A simple annual checkup the doctor might charge $700 for. The insurance company will negotiate them down for you, usually about half way but you never know how much you will owe. They never tell you prices up front. If your car breaks you take it to the shop and they'll give you an estimate up front, or at least before they start work. If your leg breaks there is no up-front cost discussed. No chance to shop around for a better deal. You never know how much you're going to be charged and no chance to back out. Dr free to arbitrarily charge any amount he cares to. I'm not saying a private medical system can't work but there needs to be some checks and balances. Don't let them take the NHS away.
You watching Panorama on BHS? ****ing hate neo-liberal economics, the Anglo-American model espoused by Thatcher and Minford. ****ing guillotine the ****s now.
