I was born in

[eris]

I'm very poor. I work but I do get subsidized healthcare and I can see whatever doctor or specialist I want with no copay, and my prescriptions are 1 - 3 $ a peice.

All American hospitals take Medicade, and it is illegal for a hospital to turn down treatment to a patient in need. Now if you've got no insurace at all that could result in huge bills.

The people that get in trouble are the people that make too much money for Medicade and their jobs don't have an insurance policy.



Is it hard to live ? Yep. But mostly that's just cause I'm poor. The bigger problems for the poor are housing costs and general cost of living.

[Adam]

Over here we hear horror stories about Medicaid.

Like what? It's there for those who need it. Some private doctors don't take medicaid but there's pleny who do.

Everyone though?  We hear here of people who don't qualify for medicaid but are still pretty poor

['Butterflies']

I don't know enough about your system to give a real comment on it but I am sure the further down the socioeconomic line you go the worse it gets

I don't know enough about your system to give a real comment on it but I am sure the further down the socioeconomic line you go the worse it gets

How? Everyone has equal access to the NHS

eris - from what I have read (and I am not pretending to know a lot so could be wrong), there's a considerable amount of people stuck in the middle - not poor enough to qualify for medicaid but definitely not with enough money to get seen properly

Say you Queen needed a heart transplant do you really think the guy down at the corner store would get one before her.  Same goes for anyone with money or influence they will always use it those without do without

In theory if the Queen was using the NHS she would be given the same treatment as th guy down the road. In reality the Queen will use private healthcare though.

We have the NHS which claims to give free and equal treatment to all, no matter their financial circumstances. However, funding to the NHS is being squeezed, and the sysem is struggling slightly. Private health care is available to those who can afford to pay for it, and it is of a higher standard.

[Adam]

In reality the Queen will use private healthcare though.

lol Now I feel like an idiot. This is so obvious yet I didn't even think of that

The richest would always go private, yeah

[Scrapheap]

Well, I can't say anything about the healthcare systems, but it's obvious that American dentists are better than the British. 

Oooh, how can you people look past this perfect piece of pwnage?? 

['Butterflies']

Well, I can't say anything about the healthcare systems, but it's obvious that American dentists are better than the British. 

Oooh, how can you people look past this perfect piece of pwnage?? 

We're just treating that comment with the contempt that it deseves

[Scrapheap]

Well, I can't say anything about the healthcare systems, but it's obvious that American dentists are better than the British. 

Oooh, how can you people look past this perfect piece of pwnage?? 

We're just treating that comment with the contempt that it deseves

Well, as long as Soph is going to accuse all Americans of being fat... 

[Osensitive1]

Over here we hear horror stories about Medicaid.

Like what? It's there for those who need it. Some private doctors don't take medicaid but there's pleny who do.

Everyone though?  We hear here of people who don't qualify for medicaid but are still pretty poor

There's medicare for all elderly and medicaid is fairly easy to get for coverage of children, even for the middle class though maybe pay nominal fees rather than completely free for some children. Yes, there's a middle ground area that's tough for some adults, so the system might need some expanding.

['Butterflies']

I'm very poor. I work but I do get subsidized healthcare and I can see whatever doctor or specialist I want with no copay, and my prescriptions are 1 - 3 $ a peice.

All American hospitals take Medicade, and it is illegal for a hospital to turn down treatment to a patient in need. Now if you've got no insurace at all that could result in huge bills.

The people that get in trouble are the people that make too much money for Medicade and their jobs don't have an insurance policy.



Is it hard to live ? Yep. But mostly that's just cause I'm poor. The bigger problems for the poor are housing costs and general cost of living.

Over here we hear horror stories about Medicaid.

Like what? It's there for those who need it. Some private doctors don't take medicaid but there's pleny who do.

Everyone though?  We hear here of people who don't qualify for medicaid but are still pretty poor

There's medicare for all elderly and medicaid is fairly easy to get for coverage of children, even for the middle class though maybe pay nominal fees rather than completely free for some children. Yes, there's a middle ground area that's tough for some adults, so the system might need some expanding.

Yes. We're likely to hear of the times that it all goes wrong, rather than when it all works out well. It's not very newsworthy to report on a poor American who gets ill and then recieves good treatment. It's much more newsworthy to report on a poor American who is seriously ill and is turned away from a hospital for not having health insurance, or someone dying from a manageable illness because they can't afford the drugs.

[Osensitive1]

Hospitals can't refuse treatment because of insurance.

[Adam]

There was a guy on zomg a couple years ago (a moderator) who was having problems with insurance and needing healthcare

[Osensitive1]

There's plenty. There's also those who use the system, those who can't afford it because they have lived or are living above their means, and there's plenty of healthy people who can afford insurance who choose not to pay it. It's a mixed bag; not a perfect system, but not a horrible one either.

['Butterflies']

Hospitals can't refuse treatment because of insurance.

I didn't know that. I have heard wierd stories about ambulances driving off because of lack of insurance, and these stories have came from respectable sources. I don't know why there seems to such a lack of understanding about healthcare between America and Britain.

I suppose it might have something to do with there being a large ammount of important people here who do not want to copy the American system, and want to paint it in as bad a light as possible. The truth is I don't know anything about the American system, apart from the stories we hear in our media.

['Butterflies']

I do believe healthcare should be free though.

[Osensitive1]

Also, with a system like yours. Taxes are high, very high for the single. Similar tax rates here would put a lot of lower-middle class into the poverty level.