Tommys Ankle Op

[Tommy Tainant]

Yes, I go back into surgery on friday to have the plates removed from my ankle. It will be an overnighter and I will then be plastered up for a few weeks before the dreaded boot and even more dreaded physio starts.

My original operation was in November and I have been back and too for check ups in the interim.

I have just had the third dose of physio on my dislocated finger and I am also due to go back in 3 weeks to check progress on that.

It got me wondering what it would cost me in the US ?

We pay for our healthcare through our taxes and I have not been asked for a penny extra for all of this. Drugs, accommodation and so on is all included. I believe they will even send an ambulance round for you if you cant get to the hospital. I am a firm supporter of the NHS which has done so much to improve our lives.

I know that you have insurance for healthcare. Does this cover accidental damage as well ?

Would I be anxious rather than bored ?

 

[Eaglewings]

Most people healthy get insurance with a high deductible Which means you need to pay that amount before insurance covers 100%
It is mainly catastrophic health insurance.

Older people get medicare which is for older people, but not everything is covered.
My husband and I are older so we pay high for our insurance plus Obamacare because of cancer.

People keep saying how horrible health coverage is in Europe. It is probably just the ones who hate Obamacare..

 

[Arianrhod]

^This might give you an overview of what your situation would cost in the States with and without insurance:

How Much Does a Sprained or Broken Ankle Cost? - CostHelper.com

The key thing you'd need to know with insurance, though, is your annual deductible. So if, for example, you had an annual deductible of $4,500, you'd have to spend that much per year before insurance would pick up the rest.

Insurers also decide how much physio you were entitled to. Your doctor might want you to have 12 sessions, but the insurer would only be willing to pay for six.

Every insurer has its own rules and fine print. It's a bit of a rats' nest, which is why costs for healthcare in the States are astronomically higher than anywhere else in the industrialized world.

BTW, best of luck on Friday!

 

[Tommy Tainant]

Wow !!
So if it cost $20,000 I would have to find a large % of that depending on my deductable ?
How much does the actual insurance cost ?

 

[ClosedCaption]

Wow !!
So if it cost $20,000 I would have to find a large % of that depending on my deductable ?
How much does the actual insurance cost ?

My wife's plan that we didnt take was $550 a pay period. Thats twice a month

 

[Arianrhod]

Wow !!
So if it cost $20,000 I would have to find a large % of that depending on my deductable ?
How much does the actual insurance cost ?

Depends on the carrier and the plan (individual vs family) and whether or not it's provided by one's employer (a group plan) or by the individual.

And, since passage of the PPACA, whether or not one is eligible for a subsidy.

As I say, it's complicated.

 

[Tommy Tainant]

Wow !!
So if it cost $20,000 I would have to find a large % of that depending on my deductable ?
How much does the actual insurance cost ?

My wife's plan that we didnt take was $550 a pay period. Thats twice a month

Did that cover the family or just Mrs Caption ?

 

[ClosedCaption]

Wow !!
So if it cost $20,000 I would have to find a large % of that depending on my deductable ?
How much does the actual insurance cost ?

My wife's plan that we didnt take was $550 a pay period. Thats twice a month

Did that cover the family or just Mrs Caption ?

The whole family but my jobs payment was almost half that

 

[Tommy Tainant]

Wow !!
So if it cost $20,000 I would have to find a large % of that depending on my deductable ?
How much does the actual insurance cost ?

Depends on the carrier and the plan (individual vs family) and whether or not it's provided by one's employer (a group plan) or by the individual.

And, since passage of the PPACA, whether or not one is eligible for a subsidy.

As I say, it's complicated.

Sorry for being nosey but..............so how does it work ? Over here you have a fall and either get yourself to the nearest A and E or phone 999.
It sounds like you need your accountant onsite to tell you what you can afford. I noticed that you also have to pay for x ray.I had to have a CT scan as well. Nightmare.

 

[Arianrhod]

Wow !!
So if it cost $20,000 I would have to find a large % of that depending on my deductable ?
How much does the actual insurance cost ?

Depends on the carrier and the plan (individual vs family) and whether or not it's provided by one's employer (a group plan) or by the individual.

And, since passage of the PPACA, whether or not one is eligible for a subsidy.

As I say, it's complicated.

Sorry for being nosey but..............so how does it work ? Over here you have a fall and either get yourself to the nearest A and E or phone 999.
It sounds like you need your accountant onsite to tell you what you can afford. I noticed that you also have to pay for x ray.I had to have a CT scan as well. Nightmare.

When you're signed in to the ER, there's a person with a computer who asks you pertinent stuff like name, DOB, what medications you're taking, any allergies, who your family doctor is, and what insurance you have. They'll photocopy your insurance card and your driver's license, take your blood pressure, etc., and log your injury into their computer. (If you've been to that hospital before, they'll already have you on file, so all they'll ask is whether anything's changed since last time.)

You'll be trundled off to the room where your injury will be dealt with, the nice person who took your info will be sent the total owed after you've been discharged or admitted, and will then bill your insurance company.

Some weeks later you'll get a bill sent to your home with anything not covered by insurance that you'll need to pay.

 

[Sun Devil 92]

Wow !!
So if it cost $20,000 I would have to find a large % of that depending on my deductable ?
How much does the actual insurance cost ?

My wife's plan that we didnt take was $550 a pay period. Thats twice a month

Is that even reasonable ?

 

[Tommy Tainant]

Wow !!
So if it cost $20,000 I would have to find a large % of that depending on my deductable ?
How much does the actual insurance cost ?

Depends on the carrier and the plan (individual vs family) and whether or not it's provided by one's employer (a group plan) or by the individual.

And, since passage of the PPACA, whether or not one is eligible for a subsidy.

As I say, it's complicated.

Sorry for being nosey but..............so how does it work ? Over here you have a fall and either get yourself to the nearest A and E or phone 999.
It sounds like you need your accountant onsite to tell you what you can afford. I noticed that you also have to pay for x ray.I had to have a CT scan as well. Nightmare.

When you're signed in to the ER, there's a person with a computer who asks you pertinent stuff like name, DOB, what medications you're taking, any allergies, who your family doctor is, and what insurance you have. They'll photocopy your insurance card and your driver's license, take your blood pressure, etc., and log your injury into their computer. (If you've been to that hospital before, they'll already have you on file, so all they'll ask is whether anything's changed since last time.)

You'll be trundled off to the room where your injury will be dealt with, the nice person who took your info will be sent the total owed after you've been discharged or admitted, and will then bill your insurance company.

Some weeks later you'll get a bill sent to your home with anything not covered by insurance that you'll need to pay.

Sounds similar to ours - minus the cars payment. How long do you have to wait ? It can be hours over here.

 

[Arianrhod]

Wow !!
So if it cost $20,000 I would have to find a large % of that depending on my deductable ?
How much does the actual insurance cost ?

Depends on the carrier and the plan (individual vs family) and whether or not it's provided by one's employer (a group plan) or by the individual.

And, since passage of the PPACA, whether or not one is eligible for a subsidy.

As I say, it's complicated.

Sorry for being nosey but..............so how does it work ? Over here you have a fall and either get yourself to the nearest A and E or phone 999.
It sounds like you need your accountant onsite to tell you what you can afford. I noticed that you also have to pay for x ray.I had to have a CT scan as well. Nightmare.

When you're signed in to the ER, there's a person with a computer who asks you pertinent stuff like name, DOB, what medications you're taking, any allergies, who your family doctor is, and what insurance you have. They'll photocopy your insurance card and your driver's license, take your blood pressure, etc., and log your injury into their computer. (If you've been to that hospital before, they'll already have you on file, so all they'll ask is whether anything's changed since last time.)

You'll be trundled off to the room where your injury will be dealt with, the nice person who took your info will be sent the total owed after you've been discharged or admitted, and will then bill your insurance company.

Some weeks later you'll get a bill sent to your home with anything not covered by insurance that you'll need to pay.

Sounds similar to ours - minus the cars payment. How long do you have to wait ? It can be hours over here.

That's a variable that's almost impossible to measure. Every hospital is different. In attending with family members, I've dealt with three hospitals in two major urban areas. In one it took four hours on a weeknight to deal with a kid who needed stitches after running into the corner of a table (needed to wait for a neurologist to rule out a concussion); in another it took two hours on a Sunday morning to see someone to treat a scratched cornea.

Both of those occurred prior to passage of the PPACA. On a visit to the same hospital this past year with a relative having a panic attack and palpitations on a holiday weekend, the wait was about 15-20 minutes.

Obviously these are post-triage assessments. If you're brought in by ambulance, you're brought to a treatment room immediately and the EMTs do the intake based on what they were able to ascertain from you (if you're conscious) or whoever accompanied you to the ER (if you're not).

If you walk in, you're assessed and then you wait. I don't know if anyone's ever done a national survey of ER wait times. The tabloids in NYC love to target the busiest hospitals for a "scandalous wait times" article now and then. And there was that horrible instance of the woman who was told to leave and then died on the sidewalk outside the hospital. Those make headlines. Everyday stuff - including whether or not ER staff are polite and helpful (I've always found them to be) - isn't highlighted.

 

[Tommy Tainant]

Ours are going backwards. They have a 4 hour target that they dont hit any more. Having said that I was in and out in less than 2 hours on a sunday night. That included x rays,stitches and working my finger back in.

 

[Arianrhod]

Ours are going backwards. They have a 4 hour target that they dont hit any more. Having said that I was in and out in less than 2 hours on a sunday night. That included x rays,stitches and working my finger back in.

Does anyone ever tell you what the slowdown is? Is it paperwork, or do they need to hire more personnel?

In the States, we've been told for years that there's a shortage of nurses, but I'm not sure what's being done about that or whether the PPACA has changed it. Will have to look into it...

 

[Tommy Tainant]

They tend to tell you when you go in but it is only a guess. I think that you can have jams when you need to speak to a specific person. There can also be problems if there are no spare beds for you.
The real problem is that funding has been cut every year since the Tories came in. Every area you can think of has had to cut back.
As an example they have cut back on social care. So the wards fill up with old folks with colds and so on. As there is nowhere for them to go they stay there. Its called bed blocking and is a big problem in the winter.

My wife is a nurse and she touted moving to the States a few years ago.They were paying top dollar then.
Our whole health service is shored up by immigrants and is about to collapse.

The government has decided that you need an income of £35k in order to stay in the UK. Even the Nurses top rate is below that and so recruitment is struggling. Oh, they also stopped the learning grant that helped student nurses through their training. Yoou then enter a low paid profession with massive debts. Its madness.

On top of this they are trying to impose a new contract on the Drs which has just caused a strike. They have also promised a new 7 day service whilst stating that it will not need extra funding. Common sense suggests thatif you move resources from thursday to sunday then thursday might be a bit tough.

 

[Arianrhod]

^Migod, it's like Margaret Thatcher and GW Bush had a love child! My condolences. Guess you'll just have to oust the Tories.

 

[Tommy Tainant]

^Migod, it's like Margaret Thatcher and GW Bush had a love child! My condolences. Guess you'll just have to oust the Tories.

Speed the day. I suspect that you actually get a better service over there,if you have the cash.

This fella is actually the Health Secretary. He suggested that parents should google their childs possible meningitis rashes rather than see a Doctor.

Does Jeremy Hunt think you can tell the fatal difference between these 2 rashes?

Like most of the cabinet he has interests in private health, receiving £30k from a lobbyist.

'Selling off NHS for profit': Full list of MPs with links to private healthcare firms

 

[Sun Devil 92]

They tend to tell you when you go in but it is only a guess. I think that you can have jams when you need to speak to a specific person. There can also be problems if there are no spare beds for you.
The real problem is that funding has been cut every year since the Tories came in. Every area you can think of has had to cut back.
As an example they have cut back on social care. So the wards fill up with old folks with colds and so on. As there is nowhere for them to go they stay there. Its called bed blocking and is a big problem in the winter.

My wife is a nurse and she touted moving to the States a few years ago.They were paying top dollar then.
Our whole health service is shored up by immigrants and is about to collapse.

The government has decided that you need an income of £35k in order to stay in the UK. Even the Nurses top rate is below that and so recruitment is struggling. Oh, they also stopped the learning grant that helped student nurses through their training. Yoou then enter a low paid profession with massive debts. Its madness.

On top of this they are trying to impose a new contract on the Drs which has just caused a strike. They have also promised a new 7 day service whilst stating that it will not need extra funding. Common sense suggests thatif you move resources from thursday to sunday then thursday might be a bit tough.

Very interesting.

We have a lot of immigrants in our elderly care facilities.

 

[Tommy Tainant]

They tend to tell you when you go in but it is only a guess. I think that you can have jams when you need to speak to a specific person. There can also be problems if there are no spare beds for you.
The real problem is that funding has been cut every year since the Tories came in. Every area you can think of has had to cut back.
As an example they have cut back on social care. So the wards fill up with old folks with colds and so on. As there is nowhere for them to go they stay there. Its called bed blocking and is a big problem in the winter.

My wife is a nurse and she touted moving to the States a few years ago.They were paying top dollar then.
Our whole health service is shored up by immigrants and is about to collapse.

The government has decided that you need an income of £35k in order to stay in the UK. Even the Nurses top rate is below that and so recruitment is struggling. Oh, they also stopped the learning grant that helped student nurses through their training. Yoou then enter a low paid profession with massive debts. Its madness.

On top of this they are trying to impose a new contract on the Drs which has just caused a strike. They have also promised a new 7 day service whilst stating that it will not need extra funding. Common sense suggests thatif you move resources from thursday to sunday then thursday might be a bit tough.

Very interesting.

We have a lot of immigrants in our elderly care facilities.

Immigrants can age, and get sick as well.