How much does a trip to the ER cost?

[ladypeartree]

We all pay NI contributions via our salary/wage and so do the employers throughout our working lives  ( known as National insurance stamp ) It is a set percentage of our salary or if you are self employed you get to buy your own "stamp "   If you are not in work then it is paid for you and all medical treatment is free at point of need. It used to be that all prescriptions were also free then the government introduced a £6 charge per prescription ( if you needed 4 items a month or more you could buy a pre paid card that covered all prescriptions and worked out cheaper ) Now although I believe Scotland and England still apply the charge here in Wales we are back to free prescriptions. Just as well as we would be bankrupt with the amount of treatment and medication my mother has needed for the past 20 years or so.   Just a couple of months ago she fell in the shower ( she is 86 )  It took three ambulance crews to lift her out as she was in such an awkward position Then she has scans and ex rays , plastic surgeons to see to the leg injury the fall caused followed by surgery to pin and plate her leg, 5 weeks in hospital with physio every day as well as the 28 tablets she has to take each day ( and blood tests every day as she is on warfarin and steroids )  She had an ambulance to bring  her home as she couldn't get into a car, a hospital bed is left for her until she no longer needs it as well as a " pulpit " walking frame and a district nurse visits at least twice a week to take her blood for testing.  I would hate to imagine how much that would cost in the USA

[other one]

Other than the cost of the drugs, I think my insurance would cover the rest...   maybe not the bed, but if it was prescribed by the physician it might.     And at her age it would cost about $400 to $475 a month for medicare and supplemental insurance.   We do have prescription co-pays, but my wife and I get our prescriptions through her Indian heritage and we don't have to pay for those co-pays.

[missmuffet]

After my insurance paid I had to pay $75.00 of that bill that was over $4,000.00.

[ayin jade]

A couple of differences between the uk and the us. 

You have a much smaller population. 

You are not spending all that money on illegal immigrants too for their medical care. (Case in point, arizona got sued and lost a lawsuit that az had to pay for the full cost of a kidney transplant for an illegal mexican. US citizens do not get that paid for.)

Because your country is smaller than my state, hospitals are not as spread out. So that your overhead costs are significantly smaller.

[ladypeartree]

Oh but we do have a huge influx of illegal /legal immigrants that have not contributed a penny yet still demand more than our own citizens get  including surprise surprise the right to chose female doctors have special food brought in ( not for health reasons ) amongst lots of other demands. We also suffer from " health tourists "  ...people who come here on holiday just to get medical treatment they cant get or cant afford at home

[OakWood]

On 11/08/2016 at 7:50 PM, ayin jade said:

A couple of differences between the uk and the us. 

You have a much smaller population. 

You are not spending all that money on illegal immigrants too for their medical care. (Case in point, arizona got sued and lost a lawsuit that az had to pay for the full cost of a kidney transplant for an illegal mexican. US citizens do not get that paid for.)

Because your country is smaller than my state, hospitals are not as spread out. So that your overhead costs are significantly smaller.

Actually Jade, that's not true. But even though I'm disagreeing with you, we're both on the same page, so please bear with me.

The UK may be smaller than the U.S.A. (about 32 times in area) but we're not that much smaller in population. We have as many people as California and Texas combined.

We ARE spending a lot of money on illegal immigrants. Don't forget that although we voted to leave the EU, at the moment we are still in it, and have been for decades. There are tons of immigrants in this country and they are claiming free health care.

Our national health service (once the envy of the World) has been struggling for years. We have long waiting lists for routine operations and our free dental care is almost non-existent (probably where the jokes about bad British teeth come from). My own teeth are needing treatment and the only way I can get that treatment now is to part with around £4,000 (5,200 U.s. dollars) and I don't have insurance. I can afford it but wow... it's a lot of money to pay for something that used to be free.

The only difference between our health care and yours is that you pay insurance (voluntarily) and we pay tax (involuntarily). I actually believe that your system is better as if gives a wider choice.... (or maybe your system used to be better... but I'm ignoring the consequences of Obamacare).

We are suffering from the same problems that you have with regard to lawsuits. I personally know of a case where an Arab immigrant who could not speak a word of English was pushed to the front of the queue (line) for a surgical operation, and a working British tax-paying citizen who needed the same operation was pushed out of the queue because of him. Political Correctness rules here and illegal immigrants are often prioritised over legal native-born citizens.

Don't forget that as the World around us deteriorates we are all in the same sinking ship!

 

[mikefromwichita]

On 8/8/2016 at 1:07 PM, missmuffet said:

I had a recent 5 hour stay at the ER. They did not do anything elaborate. The bill? Over $4,000.00.

http://health.costhelper.com/emergency-room.html

Not at all atypical. OTOH...............chest pains and not going can be a show stopper.

[woundeddog]

Veterinary Costs~~~~~~~~~

A lady brought her limp pet duck to the Vet and laid him on the examining table-- Vet looked at it and said " Its dead"-- lady said HOw can you say the you didnt even do any tests or anything"--- Vet said "Okay"-- called in his Labrador retriever and the dog went over sniffed the duck up and down looked sadly at the Vet shook his head and Left. then the Vets cat came in and with her paw poked the duck a couple of times-- shook her head and left. The Vet said " See, it dead" and gave the lady a bill for $1050.00 the lady freaked out "SO MUCH???????"

Vet said, well my regular fee if $50.00, but you wanted a cat scan and lab report"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Guest]

$800 for a case of pink eye.

[Omegaman 3.0]

On 8/11/2016 at 0:12 AM, ladypeartree said:

Praise God that we can go to the ER as many times as we need and not have to pay a penny as it is all covered in National Insurance

Really? No one paid a penny in taxes to make that possible? Cool! Here in the states, doctors and hospitals expect to get paid, and so do insurance companies and pharmaceutical and equipment manufacturers - so many greedy people!