- Thread starter skotl
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Morrisman
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When I worked for an American company I got supplemented healthcare insurance. I paid about $100 a month for full cover, free dental, free glasses every year, full on medical exam once a year etc.
My American colleagues paid $1000 for that same cover.
I also had my income tax paid in any country I worked except my home country.
My American colleagues cried in their beer over that one.
Do you see the point in expensive insurances that include practically everything possible? Or better the cheapest and usual insurance? So far I've been to the simplest insurance that practically doesn't include anything, and I've never had any problems. But I'm already getting old, and the risk of various health problems increases. And now I'm thinking about what insurance to take...
badabec
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I used to get health insurance from work. When I retired, I asked for a quote for a similar policy. A good job I was sitting down. £48k per year!
"Would I like to proceed?"
The NHS is maligned, but when the poop hits the fan I've found you can rely on them.
Put some money every month in a stocks and shares ISA. Use it if you want to bypass the waiting list.
"Would I like to proceed?"
The NHS is maligned, but when the poop hits the fan I've found you can rely on them.
Put some money every month in a stocks and shares ISA. Use it if you want to bypass the waiting list.
Morrisman
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You don’t need insurance, until you need it. If any of us could answer that question we’d be some sort of deity. We could wait until we knew we were just about ready for some massively expensive health costs, then buy insurance the week before.
When you buy insurance you’re basically paying for someone else to take the risk on whether you’ll need to claim a million quid, or never need to claim.
Erie Fred
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Your Medicare Part D is coming due....
MikeBs
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Have been putting money away for years with the intention of using it for health reasons if needed.
When it came to the time to buy scans or specialists, I started looking at how quickly paying private could get me sorted.
Surprisingly the NHS came in with dates sooner than the private services. People moan about the NHS but I can’t fault it.
When it came to the time to buy scans or specialists, I started looking at how quickly paying private could get me sorted.
Surprisingly the NHS came in with dates sooner than the private services. People moan about the NHS but I can’t fault it.
500e
Always buy fire insurance a flood is a hard start
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As @northwest Said
"In the UK the sheer volume of waste in the NHS is now starting to tear holes in the fabric, many people laud the NHS as being our savior during the recent pandemic. Scratch beneath the surface though and you will see an organization in disarray and crisis, hemorrhaging cash at a rate I struggle to comprehend. It cannot continue as there is no bottomless pit and people are unwilling to work for free".
Have a friend in US who flies AA the costs of an air lift is mind blowing. Here free, funded by donations
"In the UK the sheer volume of waste in the NHS is now starting to tear holes in the fabric, many people laud the NHS as being our savior during the recent pandemic. Scratch beneath the surface though and you will see an organization in disarray and crisis, hemorrhaging cash at a rate I struggle to comprehend. It cannot continue as there is no bottomless pit and people are unwilling to work for free".
Have a friend in US who flies AA the costs of an air lift is mind blowing. Here free, funded by donations
Part of the reason the NHS is haemorrhaging cash is the number of private services they have to use. Our doctors surgery used to be run by the doctors, but now there’s a private company sitting between the doctors surgery used and the patient. Drug supply, cleaning services, car parking - all have private companies involved now. Privatisation by the back door has been happening for years.
But it’s still better than what the US is now facing.
Pigeon_Droppings2
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If you're quicker than private then you're at the front of the queue I reckon.
Private MRI where I am is around 2-3 days. NHS is generally slow if you aren't deemed to be urgent...I think the problems arise when something is deemed non urgent...but then something unexpected is found...then the delay can be rather important!
Personally if I'm worried about something I've always just paid...what's a few hundred quid for peace of mind.
Erie Fred
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Do tell......
skotl
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Three points to everyone who has responded to a 3 and a half year old thread by a first-time, pre-moderated member:
1. This thread is three and a half years old
2. The member is pre-moderated after precisely one post (asking about medical insurance on a welding forum), which suggests there are already concerns
3. Politics and recent events
And a bonus extra point: no politics
This is a troll post - best to ignore.
Pigeon_Droppings2
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3 years old...quit recent by forum standards.
skotl
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fair...
And to ensure we keep to forum standards, what do you make of the quality of the white lines painted on the motorways?
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More Amps
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Not to be too political, but aren't they a bit too white...
On a more serious note, this thread reminds me of my first visit to the States way back in the 80's. A mate had been over for two summers running and by the time year three came round he asked me and another mate along for the ride. We were to stay on a farm in upper New York state where James knew the son. We turned up and discovered a small rather run-down farm where Robby lived with his folks. His Mum had a heart condition which had been getting worse over the years and was confined to a bed in the sitting room. Initially she had been admitted to hospital, but then the insurance had stopped paying and she was sent home - where her sole medical care beyond the family consisted of a nurse visiting once a month for an hour. Then under the terms of the insurance she would be re-admitted to hospital for a month, once per year. That was the full extent of her medical care - the family didn't have the funds to pay for anything else.
My personal opinion - the NHS is a bottomless pit which can never have "enough" money. Plenty of people have had a look and decided that there are ways of improving it, which are usually touted as making it more efficient, but the sheer size of it makes that almost impossible - just look how long the average health secretary has remained in post over the last fifty years... Every time a new minister takes charge they are compelled to have a go, which means doing something different from their predecessor - when really what is needed is someone who has worked their way up through the organisation and understands it from the inside. They would be in a much better position to re-design everything.
Health insurance has its place - cancer survival rates are much better in the States due to doctors running scared of litigation; go to the doctors with unspecified stomach ache and you'll be subjected to a comprehensive battery of tests because they daren't take the risk of missing anything in case they're sued!
Anyway, I don't expect a birthday card from the king, so I'll rely on the NHS to keep me going for a few more years and pray for a sudden ending rather than a slow decline.
MikeBs
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The private MRI was going to be 4 days, but the NHS had me scanned after 3 days. My wife drove me 20miles each way for it, but we didn’t care.
The place that did the CT-PET called me the next day and the booking was for 2 days after that. Again we had to travel about 40 miles each way, but didn’t care.
The hospital that did the MRI called me while we were on our way back from the CT-PET and asked if I could attend the next day for the 2 ultra-sounds.
Perhaps it was a slow week in the Worcestershire/Gloucestershire area or the rheumatologist was owed some favours or she thought I was a proper emergency.
Shortly after that I ended up in surgery so I think it was the latter of those.
Pigeon_Droppings2
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Hope the surgery went well and you have a good recovery.
Mick Annick
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My Old Landy
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I got notified because I had posted a reply back in 2021.I said about my father in law being diagnosed with dementia but not being able to prove it was from over 40 years of welding. He is still going even though he doesn't know who he is, let alone anyone else.
Still, it was a reminder that ppe is there for a reason.
Erie Fred
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Yup, seen it right away, hence my post #86
