Torquemada

...and at the same time I don't.

I ended up having episodes where my heart was sitting at 200+bpm for an hour or more, kinda dangerous.

First time it happened, I refused hospital treatment and went back into work. It kept happening and, the last time it happened (I was in the UK), my partner said she would kill me herself if I didn't go to the hospital. Ambulance called, I apologized for the fuss and they said "no, this is really bad, we really have to take you to hospital" then the NHS did nothing after that. But it was free....

So, I had to go back to US I saw a specialist there right away, ended up wearing a heart monitor on live 24hr monitoring for a month and it showed some SVT (supra ventrical tachycardia, or something) and I was told I needed it treated with surgery.

Had the surgery to burn bits of bad wiring out from inside my heart and I seem to be fixed. Nicest hospital stay I have ever had and it was better than most Hotels!!

Bill was $82,000.....

Fortunately I am insured though, yey!

Co-Pay bill is $3500, plus something that is like an Excess, of $2000

goddammit....

Blue by You

iTrader: (23)

Wow 82 grand. That's enough to give anyone heart problems!
Glad you're sorted though fella.

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

$82K......




I get that heart rate whenever there is a chance of a knee trembler with my missus

hodgy0_2

where you not put on any sort of pathway?, pretty poor if not

Torquemada

Thanks, Blue.

Yeah, $82k is just mental, they break it down for every single bit of the cost and the heart monitor was like 5k alone (pretty cool though, they called me whenever my heart went nuts, to tell me my heart had gone nuts, lol).

Swiss, it was funny, it happened a few times whilst amorous with the missus, I had to log it. So I logged it as 'Excercise'

Hodgy, yeah they were pretty crappy at NHS, I'm afraid. I got something from them 2 months later, saying they would do an Echo Cardiogram. By that point I was well on my way to getting fixed up here in US.

It's just amazing that, even with a life threatening illness (so they said), I was not on any sort of priority list. Or maybe that was the priority list, which is worse!

dpb

Do they actually let pay it off fiver a week

I mean if you signed the form and get treatment and can't pay

Or do you go jail or what

neil-h

Unfortunately that's the decision you have to take with health care. Go free on the NHS at their leisure or pay for it at your convenience.

hodgy0_2

Mm, yeah that is poor, I have known people who have had heart problems and gone straight to surgery

Not in the same league, but I had a horrific cist on my lower back (whislt on holiday)


Went to my doctor the day I got back - surgery at the hospital later that day


It seems the NHS can be a bit of a lottery

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Its sad to say, whilst some will boldly claim the NHS is at the front leading with the world's most comprehensive healthcare, and compared to a country with no free healthcare...it is! But its a long long way short of providing what is possible on the simple basis it cannot afford to do so.

And example of that is the story of the little lad with the brain tumour being chased across Europe after his parent decided he would better treatment abroad because the NHS didn't offer proton beam therapy (at the time).

Trying to be the "do everything health service" is impacting it. It cannot treat everybody's ailments. There is too many of us, and too many things to go wrong with us and not enough of us paying enough in.

Its almost like giving out lifetime warranty and servicing on Vauxhalls...yeah, they quickly pulled the plug on that offer...as the figures didn't stack up

But on the flipside....at least we have something....How teh US racks up its healthcare bills is astonishing, I'm guessing their fee structure is like a solicitors local to me (basically charge what they like for scratching their nose etc.).....

yikes: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-36721785

hodgy0_2

Money could always be better spent, believe or not we spend less as a % of GDP on the health service than quite a few other EU countries

Maybe a fee to see you GP

Torquemada

haha! Yes, good point, I'm waiting to find out, I'm certainly not chasing them up on that though

Not sure, I think they charge you per month what you can afford. I'm hoping I can make a big sale and pay it off right away but that is easier said than done at the moment, with the **** I'm selling.

If you can't pay then it just screws your credit rating, afaik

Torquemada

Absolutely, problem is I had no choice, really. Stay in UK and wait, whilst possibly losing my job and partner in the US, or go and get some of the best treatment I've ever had, with a large bill at the end.

Torquemada

Yup, totally true.

Funny thing is, I was knocked out after hitting my head last year and lost my sense of smell. They had me with an ENT specialist the week after my GP appointment when that happened. Diagnosed and done, boom. The heart thing had to wait though! So weird!!

Turbohot

I'm just glad you're ok, Torquemada. Best wishes.

David Lock

I've had health issues in past year and concluded that you have to politely ask exactly what is wrong and what they are going to do about it. And insist in talking to someone who knows what they are doing usually a Registrar or Consultant.


On the face of it the NHS hospital you first visited didn't do their job.


I have a District Nurse who dresses a wound I have but took a holiday to USA a couple of months ago but her Appendix burst. A bit touch and go but $42,000 sorted it out. She was insured.


Another friend of mine lived in US but suffered a brain tumour. They decided to operate but she died soon after and I have my doubts if the op was worth it $100k +


Hope you recover fully. David

hodgy0_2

Off course the flip side Torq, is that in the U.S. You are just seen as a pay check

I am not suggesting your condition was not serious, but I can imagine a scenario where doctors in the U.S. are more prone to suggest medical intervention because so much money is involved

Torquemada

Thanks m'dear. yeah, hearts beating less like a humming bird's and I don't feel constant chest pain now, so I'm fit as a fiddle.

I just have to be careful with all this Texan food - I've put on nearly 2 stone since the start of the year (to be fair I needed a bit of weight on, but I should really stop there, haha!)

Turbohot

Good to know that, T.

Torquemada

Wow, sorry about your friend, tragic

The apendix thing sounds rough as well - $42k!! wow, it's great healthcare, most of the time, but bloody expensive.

I was told that I had suspected pericarditis by the A&E chaps and they needed to do lots of other tests but that was it, it just took so long. As I knew I would probably be in the US when they got round to doing anything I made sure I took my notes from the visit with me.

Torquemada

Oh yeah, I was worried about that, all they care about here is making money, but seeing as the A&E guys in the UK were freaked out when I came in and then so were the US ER people, I figure it was kosher.

Oh well, fixed now! I wish they could fix my lack of sense of smell, or anosmia, but it is gone for good. Plus side is that I can't smell the p1ssy mens loo's or anything else that is gross.

Part of the point of this thread was that I wonder if the UK will go the same way - seems to be. Medicine is more and more of a big business in the UK like it is in US.

Do you ladies and gents think we cold end up in the same model?

Martin2005

Here's a staggering factoid for you (well it staggered me anyway)...


£27Bn of the NHS budget is set aside for malpractice law suits, that's around a quarter of the entire NHS budget

Torquemada

That's insane. We can probably thank the litigious 'Muricans for that trend in lawsuits as well!

dpb

I think even the next corbyn government electors realise underneath we will need pay in more for healthcare

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Possibly, but seeing my family has took legal action against the NHS, it was a situation created out of pure caring negligence. Long story short she broke her hip whilst in hospital, then gave zero physiotherapy...nobody asked or assessed her prior mobility, which resulted in a lady who could walk unaided being wheelchair bound for the remainder of her life.


Even the coroner said my Aunt's death was due to her immobility which was caused by the hospital's failing. All the money was used up in care home fees, but it never compensated for her loss of will to live

Sadly, due this. Unless they can provide the care, they need to pay the cost for someone else to do the caring. So the malpractice funds exists for good reason. Maybe it wouldn't need to be so big if services were not so overstretched and major failing weren't covered up/whitewashed leading to a snowballing of inquiries when someobe eventually blows the whistle (Stafford Hospital and its associated trust -now dissolved, being one local example).

I'm sure lawyers got rich out of it too, though

Torquemada

Uh-huh, I guess you are right!

Sorry for your loss there, mate

Yup, lost my grandfather as they didn't take him off bloodthinners prior to a quad bypass. Bled out and died after the op. Family were too distraught to do anything but that was a big hospital/care failing!