Well... got my first 'burn' with insurance :-(

Insurance over here in the US is great, isn't it?! :rolleyes:

My current insurance only covers dental emergencies. I had a tooth break recently and called the dentist...

ME: I broke a front tooth and it's sharp and I look like a hillbilly. HALP!

DENTIST: Does it hurt?

ME: Amazingly not.

DENTIST: Oh, well, then it's not an emergency I'm afraid.

ME: ........Ouch. It just started hurting! :rolleyes:

DENTIST:.....OK, we can get you in later today.

Also, a couple of years ago (when I had a good job) I had pretty much the best health insurance you could get. Cost me a large chunk of my pay packet, but with a wife and new baby I figured it was worth it.
Wife got bad stomach bug. She was throwing up for 7 hours straight, and then started going dizzy and her arms and legs started to go numb. Went to the ER. They did tests. Turned out she was dehydrated and dangerously low on potassium. Gave her a drip and some meds and she was released next day. Handed over the insurance card on the way out - all good.
Next week we get a letter from the hospital. "yeah, the insurance says that didn't count as an emergency and aren't paying out. So you owe us $10,000 please" :mad:
We appealed, there was a hearing, and thankfully they decided it was an emergency and paid out. :rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
Spunkey said:
Medical costs in America are an absolute joke.
Click to expand...

Yep.

I was in the states a month or two ago. I got into a discussion about the NHS with one guy, and he actually said to me "well, the UK probably has the second best healthcare system in the world".

No prizes for guessing who he thought had the best. They don't realise how badly they get ripped off.
 
Stretch said:
Yep.

I was in the states a month or two ago. I got into a discussion about the NHS with one guy, and he actually said to me "well, the UK probably has the second best healthcare system in the world".

No prizes for guessing who he thought had the best. They don't realise how badly they get ripped off.
Click to expand...

Canada?
 
Stretch said:
Yep.

I was in the states a month or two ago. I got into a discussion about the NHS with one guy, and he actually said to me "well, the UK probably has the second best healthcare system in the world".

No prizes for guessing who he thought had the best. They don't realise how badly they get ripped off.
Click to expand...

Last time I checked, the US was ranked 33rd in the world for quality of health care, according to the W.H.O. :rolleyes: Problem is, over here the quality of the facilities is amazing - each clinic is like a 5 star hotel. Money is no object....which is no surprise. It seems to cover the fact the actual quality of the care is pretty poor.
 
My kid just went to the dentists... 1 xray and a sealant treatment... $550. They charged $55 a tooth to wipe some fancy toothpaste on it lol. My bill $10 after insurance. Funny they never mentioned anything about sealants when I was paying cash out of pocket before I got dental insurance.
 
Never had any issues with insurance in the US.

Sure is funny looking at the hospital bills.
You start off with something like $2000. The total allowable expenses brings this down to $1200, what ever that mean, then in-network discount brings that down to $500, and then the co-pay ends up being something like $33. I then pay the co-pay from either my HSA or FSA accounts, if it is the former then total out of pocket costs is zero, if it is the former then at least I save 30% as it is tax deductible.



I understand dental insurance is far worse though.
 
Curio said:
Last time I checked, the US was ranked 33rd in the world for quality of health care, according to the W.H.O. :rolleyes: Problem is, over here the quality of the facilities is amazing - each clinic is like a 5 star hotel. Money is no object....which is no surprise. It seems to cover the fact the actual quality of the care is pretty poor.
Click to expand...

The care is actually quite good if you have insurance or are rich. What brings down the ranking is things like "equity", "access", "efficiency", etc. Basically the admin load of dealing with a mishmash of insurance companies and government programs. Access... poor people dont get as good access. Equity... the VA (veterens free medical) is poor compared to a regular hospital. Also the patients have worse outcomes because they are worse patients. "Nurse here's $10 could you go get me some mcdonalds thnx".

But when you are paying the biggest salaries in the world you attract talent.
 
D.P. said:
Never had any issues with insurance in the US.

Sure is funny looking at the hospital bills.
You start off with something like $2000. The total allowable expenses brings this down to $1200, what ever that mean, then in-network discount brings that down to $500, and then the co-pay ends up being something like $33. I then pay the co-pay from either my HSA or FSA accounts, if it is the former then total out of pocket costs is zero, if it is the former then at least I save 30% as it is tax deductible.



I understand dental insurance is far worse though.
Click to expand...

Thats usually the insurance they offer for Europeans coming to USA on contract jobs.

Average American Health Insurance is more like, untill you`ve coughed up 6 000 a year in deductible, we wont pay for anything.
 
dowie said:
850 for some scaling etc... OK I guess it is a bit more than a regular scale & polish but still...slightly longer session and some local anesthetic? I guess it shows why dentistry/medicine etc.. pays rather well over the pond
Click to expand...

I have few friends working as dentists, just recent grads...

800-1400$ a day is normal.

They usually work 6 days a week.

Their college debt is close to half a million though....
 
AndrewNR said:
Not too bad. Going by your later rate of $1400 a day they could pay that back within 18 months then retire 10 years after.
Click to expand...

Thats if you actually succeed and dont drop out........

Its not piece of cake graduating a Dental School or either getting into one.

If anything goes wrong, debt stays. It also gets hefty 6-7% APR per year... And that is government issued....

America is Credit heavy, Pay-as-you-go sims are still a novelty....

Plus the culture of whole health-care is extremely different... If you are a doctor you essentially have to have "People Skills" and treat clients as if you are a servant at Ritz, not always easy since to get to that level you were supposed to be a book nerd rather than a peoples person.

Otherwise you get bad reviewed and no one ever comes to you. Basically its not all that simple, but if you can pull it off, you get to be extremely well off.
 
Last edited:
kwerk said:
My kid just went to the dentists... 1 xray and a sealant treatment... $550. They charged $55 a tooth to wipe some fancy toothpaste on it lol. My bill $10 after insurance. Funny they never mentioned anything about sealants when I was paying cash out of pocket before I got dental insurance.
Click to expand...

Holy **** I am totally in the wrong continent!
At least in the wrong part of the Island and continent.
 
areksnumbr1sxylady said:
I have few friends working as dentists, just recent grads...

800-1400$ a day is normal.

They usually work 6 days a week.

Their college debt is close to half a million though....
Click to expand...

that debt is pretty irrelevant with those sorts of figures

areksnumbr1sxylady said:
Thats if you actually succeed and dont drop out........

Its not piece of cake graduating a Dental School or either getting into one.
Click to expand...

it isn't easy in the UK either... though in the US it is a post grad course where, like their medical courses, they award a doctorate at the end

still it is one of the more consistent ways of getting 'rich' (at least in the US)
 
Curio said:
Last time I checked, the US was ranked 33rd in the world for quality of health care, according to the W.H.O. :rolleyes: Problem is, over here the quality of the facilities is amazing - each clinic is like a 5 star hotel. Money is no object....which is no surprise. It seems to cover the fact the actual quality of the care is pretty poor.
Click to expand...

Anyone around the world has access to American health care providing the have the money. So while there maybe (debatably) good healthcare available in America, being American doesn't really give you any advantage, and as a system it pretty lousy and comparatively expensive.
 
Hikari Kisugi said:
Holy **** I am totally in the wrong continent!
At least in the wrong part of the Island and continent.
Click to expand...

well when medicine is for profit the guys bringing in the revenue need to be rewarded

my sister earns circa £80k as a consultant in the NHS, in the US she'd be on more like $200 - $300k by now
 
They like to tell you that you need work doing that you dont really need. I.e. the deep planing. When a normal scale and polish would be enough. Ive found the health care system over here is all about selling you things you dont really need.
 
doofski said:
They like to tell you that you need work doing that you dont really need. I.e. the deep planing. When a normal scale and polish would be enough. Ive found the health care system over here is all about selling you things you dont really need.
Click to expand...

If I took every med my doc told me to, I am sure my liver would`ve fallen off.

Amount of meds you get for a common Flu is insane... On other hand, went to GP in UK over the winter, checked lungs and said to take paracetamol, cough syrup if I want.

Done in 5 mins... Really prefer the NHS style.
 
I was going to say the same. I get the impression the American system is designed to just push and sell you "products" rather than actually just do what is needed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom