Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post

DJ Happy · 07-24-2008, 05:58 AM

I've lived in the UK and experienced their healthcare system, and now I'm living in a country that does not offer socialised medicine so I have to take out private medical insurance. Here is what I have experienced:

I pay much more for the private medical insurance than I paid in the UK for the NHS (National Health Service) - in the UK you can see exactly what part of your tax goes towards paying for health services. This is understandable, as the larger the group you are part of when you engage in any kind of insurance, the lower your premiums are. In the NHS, I signed up as part of the whole country (65 million or so), whereas with private insurance I sign up as one of maybe 1000 people (those in my company).

My deductibles were less in the NHS - far less. Unbelievably less. In fact, in most cases, they were nothing. It was only for prescriptions that I had to pay anything, and even then it was the same amount for every prescription, never mind what the prescription was for.

My mind was more at ease on the NHS than in private medical insurance. I didn't have to worry about whether I was covered for something or not, or whether my claim would be denied, or whether I wouldn't get approval for a procedure because the insurance company found some clause on page 124 paragraph 5 of the small print that they never explained to me (or even showed me) when I signed up that nullifies my policy - I was covered for anything that adversely affected my health (and more), and that was that. Even physiotherapy for a severely sprained ankle, which is obviously far from life threatening, was treated to completion and the treatment started just a few days after the injury (that was on the NHS, by the way).

My choice of hospitals and doctors was greater on the NHS than private insurance. Far, far greater.

There is not a single part of private medical insurance that is better than the NHS. Not one. Nothing.

As an aside, I'd also like to say that the argument against socialised medicine that "I don't want to have to pay for other people's problems" is simply bogus, 100% nonsense, illogical and coming straight from the PR spokesman of the health insurance companies. Whether your healthcare contributions are made in the form of taxes or insurance premiums, you are already paying for someone else's problems. That's the way insurance works. You pay whether you make use of the service or not, you don't get any refund of you don't make enough claims, you don't pay more if you make too many (although that's only strictly true in the case of socialised medicine - you do pay more in private insurance if you exceed your level of coverage). If you don't make any claims and someone else makes loads, your premiums go towards paying for his healthcare (if his claims haven't been rejected anyway). The only difference is in the amount you pay (you pay more in private insurance) and the coverage you receive (worse in private insurance).

Mine's a pint of Guinness, thanks.

07-24-2008, 05:58 AM	#24 (permalink)
DJ Happy Psycho	I've lived in the UK and experienced their healthcare system, and now I'm living in a country that does not offer socialised medicine so I have to take out private medical insurance. Here is what I have experienced: I pay much more for the private medical insurance than I paid in the UK for the NHS (National Health Service) - in the UK you can see exactly what part of your tax goes towards paying for health services. This is understandable, as the larger the group you are part of when you engage in any kind of insurance, the lower your premiums are. In the NHS, I signed up as part of the whole country (65 million or so), whereas with private insurance I sign up as one of maybe 1000 people (those in my company). My deductibles were less in the NHS - far less. Unbelievably less. In fact, in most cases, they were nothing. It was only for prescriptions that I had to pay anything, and even then it was the same amount for every prescription, never mind what the prescription was for. My mind was more at ease on the NHS than in private medical insurance. I didn't have to worry about whether I was covered for something or not, or whether my claim would be denied, or whether I wouldn't get approval for a procedure because the insurance company found some clause on page 124 paragraph 5 of the small print that they never explained to me (or even showed me) when I signed up that nullifies my policy - I was covered for anything that adversely affected my health (and more), and that was that. Even physiotherapy for a severely sprained ankle, which is obviously far from life threatening, was treated to completion and the treatment started just a few days after the injury (that was on the NHS, by the way). My choice of hospitals and doctors was greater on the NHS than private insurance. Far, far greater. There is not a single part of private medical insurance that is better than the NHS. Not one. Nothing. As an aside, I'd also like to say that the argument against socialised medicine that "I don't want to have to pay for other people's problems" is simply bogus, 100% nonsense, illogical and coming straight from the PR spokesman of the health insurance companies. Whether your healthcare contributions are made in the form of taxes or insurance premiums, you are already paying for someone else's problems. That's the way insurance works. You pay whether you make use of the service or not, you don't get any refund of you don't make enough claims, you don't pay more if you make too many (although that's only strictly true in the case of socialised medicine - you do pay more in private insurance if you exceed your level of coverage). If you don't make any claims and someone else makes loads, your premiums go towards paying for his healthcare (if his claims haven't been rejected anyway). The only difference is in the amount you pay (you pay more in private insurance) and the coverage you receive (worse in private insurance). Mine's a pint of Guinness, thanks. Last edited by DJ Happy; 07-24-2008 at 06:10 AM..