So do we cancel our US Health Insurance or not?!? This is what I'm faced with at the moment. I have always had health insurance. It's always been very important to me to be covered. We are paying over $3K a year in US Health Insurance costs. (That's a trip to a far away land) So why aren't we using the US Health system? Well mainly because they told me on the base that if I wanted to have a natural birth that I would have to go to the British system. So since we were sent (kinda forced) to the British system (the NHS) we have just been getting all our care from there.
On the NHS, my daughters birth was FREE! All our pre-natal care was FREE! My dental while pregnant and 1 year after her birth is FREE! All her prescriptions are FREE! (We got 1 ointment on the US and that costed us $129 and we didn't even use it cause it was too aggressive and the NHS doctors recommended not to give it to her and turns out the problem just went away on it's own) All her shots (they say jabs here) are FREE! All our check ups are FREE!
Now we're pretty lucky cause we're not really sick people. (knock on wood) But that means that we don't really know what would happen if we got super sick. (We have been to the ER once and that was FREE) However, I do have the worst teeth ever and I did need a new filling and the experience was definitely better than I've had in the US. ( Only took 30 minutes, only had to give me 1 needle, and no pain afterwards). I was a little wary though. The dentist is like 25 and eastern European so I couldn't really understand everything he was saying. But it all turned out awesome.
So is free healthcare better than paying for healthcare? I don't know but I can say that I have gotten better attention with Free Healthcare than I ever got with paying for it. So I guess the grass is just a different shade of green... And we will be using that savings to travel to a far off land of amazingness.
The Brits (and adopted Brits. Me!) are very proud and passionate about the NHS. And rightly so. I'm so pleased you are being well looked after. It's not perfect but it is very good. It is a very different perspective when you are having someone treat you when profit isn't thrown into the equation.
ReplyDeleteNHS sounds so awesome and based on the olympic presence, a key point of British pride. Personally I would ditch the payments. One way or the other the healthcare is being paid for since it is for the collective well being of a nation instead of individual profiteers. Its interesting how the primary objective of healthcare is supposed to be the socialization of well being. Although in the U.S. we are so stuck on everything capitalistic which works well for individuals but not the collective well being of a population, the result mass murder instead of manslaughter due to the aforethought and profitability built-in to a capitalistic healthcare system. Bring some NHS home with you when you come back, maybe some day medicare/medicaid will be reformed into a national healthcare system and get rid of both, sooooo close.
ReplyDeleteJust a reminder its in the tax rate so its not free
ReplyDeleteyeah, its not free.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you are getting great care however I am guessing they pay higher taxes to cover the costs. In your situation though you may really make out since you are there with a US Government job. Do you not have to pay those British taxes but still get the bennies? I say cancel your US health insurance until you are back in the states and need it. Who knows by then we may be on a similar plan! Most companies are pushing people to higher deductible plans that make you really think about what healthcare you are getting and who you are seeking it from which will could incentivize people that are uncomfortable with that to want a government plan like NHS.
ReplyDeleteThey have a 20% VAT tax here on purchases. So I guess we are paying some taxes. But not as much as the Brits. I still pay US self employment tax even though I work for the US and the UK as a yoga instructor. It's odd but I think we will cancel for a year and start back up before we come home.
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