Hospital fees rant

Quote: Evenbob

Fake news, then? Try this:


https://www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk/news-and-blogs/campaigns-and-policy-blog/nhs-waiting-times-trends-shows-drastic-increase-in-delays-to-bowel-cancer-diagnostic-testing/

bowelcanceruk is an organisation beating the drum and campaigning, quite rightly, to keep the NHS service under pressure to provide good service. No surprise that they shout out about service weaknesses.

Quote: OnceDear

bowelcanceruk is an organisation beating the drum and campaigning, quite rightly, to keep the NHS service under pressure to provide good service. No surprise that they shout out about service weaknesses.

Not good at getting the point? Which
is the US current system is better
than your system on almost every
front. UK citizens are leaving in
droves for treatment elsewhere.


Soaring Numbers Flying Abroad for Medical Care as NHS Lists Lengthen

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/10/22/soaring-numbers-flying-abroad-medical-care-nhs-lists-lengthen/

Quote: Evenbob

Not good at getting the point? Which
is the US current system is better
than your system on almost every
front. UK citizens are leaving in
droves for treatment elsewhere.

At the top of the decade, the UK had ~44k people leaving for medical tourism, according to the NHS. They find it an issue worthy of investigation and crackdown that those numbers have inflated to ~144k today. That's a whole 0.2% of their pop left in the lurch.

Today, 1.4mm Americans fled for same. That's 0.37%

For those even worse at math than me, that means America is doing worse.

Now compare the number of under or uninsured in US v under or uninsured in UK.

Bentley is better than your car on almost every front, too.

My wife's 93 year old mom fell
last week and needed an MRI.
Know how long she waited?
2 hours. A little different in the
UK:

"A BBC investigation has found that over one million patients in the UK are waiting too long for vital medical tests like MRI scans, CT scans, ultrasounds and endoscopies.
In the last year, the number of patients waiting longer than the recommended six weeks has risen from 9,000 to almost 29,000 in England. One in seven patients has waiting for a scan for more than three months."

In the UK she'd still be waiting. And
waiting. Thanks, you can keep your
suck ass medical system, we're doing
just fine.

Still, broadly in topic, I'm curious about how Accident and Emergency services and walk-in services operate in the US and Canada.

We call it A&E where i believe you call it ER. It's where we get delivered to by ambulance, or where we turn up under our own steam with injuries etc.

We also have what are called 'Walk-in clinics' which take walk in patients with minor injuries and medical problems. Walk-in's generally have senior nursing staff and x-ray machines, but just one or NO resident doctor, so they can deal with minor fractures and stitch up flesh injuries and give out some antibiotics or pain relief. Anything worse they send over to A&E either immediately or by appointment.

Being a careless DIYer, I'm a frequent flyer at both :)

I live mid way between two A&E units at about 10 miles each and have a walk-in about 6 miles away. Here's some typical real life scenarios.

Working with an angle grinder, i ripped into my arm a bit. Driven to local A&E with it wrapped tightly in a towel. Triage nurse looked at it after about 30 minutes and sent me back to the busy waiting room. About an hour later was stitched and bandaged and sent home with antibiotics..

Another time, hit in the face by a golf ball, went, dripping blood, to walk in centre, was seen within 15 minutes and given a few stitches and sent on my way.

Not always so lucky, one time had a very sore eye after sawing formica. went to A&E and saw posted waiting time of 5 hours. Got driven to the other A&E and was in and out in about 90 mins after diagnosed with scratched cornea and given some eye gel stuff.

Two ambulance admissions, one of Wife for chest pains and one of elderly MIL with actual heart attack. Triaged very quickly. Wife discharged next day after diagnosis. MIL in surgery quickly and kept in a week.

Some time back, seriously injured in a car crash, I woke up in hospital, in pain with compound fractures. Broken bones set properly and treated immediately. Woke again next day in a ward with the other two injured. We each spent about 2 weeks on a communal ward, and I was out in long leg plaster for 3 weeks with months of follow up treatment.

Most recently, reported to walk in with a broken finger. triaged in 15 mins. Strapped up and referred to trauma clinic with appointment a few days later.

On many of my visits to A&E there were long queues up and down corridors, mostly of folk who i reckon should have just visited their own general practitioner the next day. Friday evenings were seriously busy. But seriously needy folk seemed to get triaged promptly and put in a suitable holding queue. Since it can take a few days to see one's own GP, some folk abuse the A&E facilities to get seen that much sooner. Many are just packed off and told to see their doctor 'tomorrow' Whingers are weeded out by triage and obliged to wait uncomfortably long times.

In all instances, I've received acceptable service. Not generally superb, but certainly reasonable.

Also, in all instances, I found the treatment in proportion to the need. ANYONE with the same admission situation would get the same service. At no point would we be stressed to provide insurance info, or be sent away for having none.

I understand that a visitor from the US (outside EEC) would be given the treatment first and maybe asked about insurance MUCH later. I think Wizard might have experience of that. For EEC countries we all have reciprocal arrangements to whatever the prevailing service level is available. No invoices, but maybe additional medical insurance called upon.

For non-emergency treatments (e.g hernia). mole biopsy etc, One's GP arranges treatment. If I tell him i wish to, he'll refer me to a private hospital immediately, and I pay a few £K. Otherwise, I join the NHS queue and take my turn. Treatment often at the same facility.

So... without too much politicking, How does the US compare for ME, for John Doe with no money, for 90 YO lady with no insurance but with money in the bank?

I don’t imagine EBs had any monumental medical bills.

Quote: Evenbob

My wife's 93 year old mom fell
last week and needed an MRI.
Know how long she waited?
2 hours. A little different in the
UK:

"A BBC investigation has found that over one million patients in the UK are waiting too long for vital medical tests like MRI scans, CT scans, ultrasounds and endoscopies.
In the last year, the number of patients waiting longer than the recommended six weeks has risen from 9,000 to almost 29,000 in England. One in seven patients has waiting for a scan for more than three months."

In the UK she'd still be waiting. And
waiting. Thanks, you can keep your
suck ass medical system, we're doing
just fine.

Absolute nonsense. A 93YO falling and being taken to A&E would be triaged within about 15 minutes. xrayed within the hour. MRI might not be administered till next day if it happened late, but she would be admitted and observed immediately. For urgent need, she'd be taken to a bigger hospital within hours for intensive care..

I speak from experience. Last year 90YO MIL fell and tore a lump of skin off her shin. Clinic treated her within the hour. OK, she didn't warrant MRI, but if she had, she'd have got it. Again. If she could afford it, there's certainly be no issue getting prompt extra care.

Now.... what if your 93 YO example had no insurance?

Quote: DRich

Peridontal disease leads to higher occureences of heart disease.

Heart, pneumonia, dementia and alzheimers..

Oh... another example....

30 something year old buddy. No previous medical issues twisted his hip a bit while out walking on Sunday.
Self admitted to A&E Monday AM with crippling pain. MRI scan on the same afternoon. That actually surprised me as MRI's are a precious resource here. Sent home with pain killers and a referral for further diagnosis/physio later in the week.

Quote: Evenbob

My wife's 93 year old mom fell
last week and needed an MRI.
Know how long she waited?
2 hours. A little different in the
UK:

Apparently a little different in the US, as well...

My uncle fell ill in winter. Made an appt. They wanted to "run some tests". Despite the presumed emergency, those tests didn't come until August. Just in time to tell him he had two months. He died ten days later. Planted him 2 days ago.

Or my shoulders. One done under 100% full coverage of workman's comp, which is the cat's ass because now there is financial incentive to get me back up. Was 1 month before even an appt, another before any scan, and 3 more until surgery. 4wks after that I had already run out of rehab credits. 10 months after the injury the injury has been replaced with disability - frozen shoulder. Currently waiting for the doc request to make its way through the dregs of bureaucracy so I can get back at it. Or my dominant shoulder which I tore with no coverage in NINETEEN NINETY NINE and STILL haven't fixed because I don't have the tens of thousands of dollars lying around that I'd need for deductible and year off work.

Shall I recount the tale of the $700 q-tip? STILL ain't paid that bill, and I never will. They're lucky they got the first $1,500.

Or maybe we can drop anecdotal nonsense and just get to facts. 29,000,000 people in America have no insurance. How many in the UK go without insurance, OD? 66% of ALL BANCRUPCIES are due to medical bills. How many medical bankruptcies in the UK, OD? The vast majority of our population is one accident away from permanent financial annihilation. OD? Any words?

A Morris Marina is no Bentley, but it beats walkin'. And I'm pretty f#$%ing tired of doing my own excisions, setting my own bones, and stealing my dog's meds.