9 Mnth Wait For Arthritis Treatment In Uk

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='jkaands' post='1920742' date='Jul 15 2009, 01:36 PM']If your mother lives in the USA, she is eligible for Medicare, our federal 'socialized medicine', which I have found to be completely satisfactory. My mother had emphysema from smoking for 60 years, was well-treated under Medicare, and lived until she was 90.[/quote]
My mother and father worked hard throughout out their lives and prepared for their retirement. Moreover, before my father passed away from pancreatic cancer he had arranged his retirement income so that 2/3 of it would continue to go to my mother after his death. She lives on her own small retirement and what comes to her from my fathers plan, and she has a good insurance policy, but sadly that could all change if Obama-care comes into being.

At present her concerns are twofold: (1) the federal government will take over health care and she will be screwed over, making all that she and my dad did throughout their lives to have a good retirement come to an end; and (2) that the Democratic controlled legislature in California will revoke Proposition 13, which will mean that she will lose her house, because she will be unable to pay the increased property taxes that will result from that legislative decision.

[homeschoolmom]

[Noel's angel]

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' post='1921726' date='Jul 16 2009, 08:40 PM']I think it also depends on what part of the USA you live in and who is running the joint. We are extremely lucky here in the Pittsburgh area to have access to several major trauma centers and specialty hospitals. The bigger systems have taken over some of the smaller hospitals and the care has greatly improved. Some of the strain has been taken off the emergency rooms by the existance of urgent care centers in local communities - they take the major insurances and treat the sprains, runny noses and flu which frees up the ERs for the true emergencies. Rural communities do not have the same level of care or the access to specialists.[/quote]

Wow, people went to a+e with the flu?! What did the GPs do? Sit and twiddle their thumbs?

[Sojourner]

[quote name='BG45' post='1921368' date='Jul 16 2009, 01:24 AM']Yeah Terra, I don't necessarily think things will move faster, I just think it's not really fair to label it as intensely slower as many have here. I have misgivings about any one entity handling anything, but in some areas of the country, it can't be too much worse.[/quote]
I think you're right that there are some places in the U.S. that are much slower than others, but as others have said I don't know that socialized anything will change that much. After hearing about my FIL's experience, though, along with other anecdotal evidence, I am less than convinced that normal medical care will get better. My thought is that there is where we will see the most change.

[quote name='Archaeology cat' post='1921440' date='Jul 16 2009, 02:39 AM']I really think it helps that there is a private sector, as it keeps the NHS competitive.[/quote]
I think that is important, and one thing that I am less-than-a-fan of with a Canadian-style system, where private medicine is technically illegal (although clinics have popped up). Government has a tendency to become cumbersome and unwieldy when left to its own devices because people have no incentive to do better (other than the few people who are internally motivated to excel). Keeping things competitive is good when it comes to continuing to provide high-quality care and better treatments.

[quote name='homeschoolmom' post='1921487' date='Jul 16 2009, 06:56 AM']Of course, the whole situation could have been avoided had you not been breaking and entering. [/quote]


[quote name='homeschoolmom' post='1921487' date='Jul 16 2009, 06:56 AM']Our healthcare experiences have been good. No problems getting in. No problems in the ER (the few times we've been there, we've gotten in in about 10-15 minutes.)

Currently we have major medical and a health savings account. So, unless it's an emergency, we are paying for our own expenses. Of course this means we have to budget our expenses by priority. HSdad's root canal trumped my TMJ. And what doesn't get used up with regular medical expenses gets used up at the dentist (you know how expensive it is to take five people to the dentist all at the same time?) and orthodontist.[/quote]
We are planning to do something similar with major medical/HSA after the baby comes. Until then I can't start any new insurance. Grrr.

One thing I have been thinking about is why medical services become slower in countries where socialized medicine is instituted. Presumably there are not fewer doctors ... but maybe there are? Perhaps without the prospect of lucrative employment, people who would otherwise enter the medical profession go in different directions.

Another thought I had was that more people would avail themselves of medical treatment than otherwise would do so. While on one hand this is a good thing -- people shouldn't have to choose between a root canal and treatment for TMJ -- on the other hand perhaps part of it is people are more likely to seek medical help for things that otherwise they'd be able to handle on their own.

[homeschoolmom]

I just don't want any birds flying around in my hospital room! Is that too much to ask?

[cmotherofpirl]

[quote name='Noel's angel' post='1921854' date='Jul 16 2009, 06:39 PM']Wow, people went to a+e with the flu?! What did the GPs do? Sit and twiddle their thumbs?[/quote]
????

[Sojourner]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' post='1921939' date='Jul 16 2009, 06:48 PM']I just don't want any birds flying around in my hospital room! Is that too much to ask?[/quote]
My advice: Don't have a heart attack in Slovakia.

I don't think I mentioned earlier that they were there for my sister-in-law's wedding (she married a Slovakian). He had the attack on the plane on the way over so he missed the wedding entirely. They showed up afterward in their wedding garb, with hospital gowns over them. He got moved to a different hospital a few days later, but they ended up staying a month until he was stable enough to move.

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' post='1921940' date='Jul 16 2009, 06:49 PM']????[/quote]
Yeah, that was my reaction. I think she asks if people went to the ER with flu rather than their GPs?

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='Terra Firma' post='1921941' date='Jul 16 2009, 06:50 PM']My advice: Don't have a heart attack in Slovakia.

I don't think I mentioned earlier that they were there for my sister-in-law's wedding (she married a Slovakian). He had the attack on the plane on the way over so he missed the wedding entirely. They showed up afterward in their wedding garb, with hospital gowns over them. He got moved to a different hospital a few days later, but they ended up staying a month until he was stable enough to move.[/quote]
Wow...

[cmotherofpirl]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' post='1921942' date='Jul 16 2009, 07:50 PM']Yeah, that was my reaction. I think she asks if people went to the ER with flu rather than their GPs?[/quote]
I just wanted to be sure I was translating corrrectly. Lots of people go to the ER when they have severe flu-like symptoms. Sudden violent vomiting and diarrhea can be many things other than the flu, and many people require IVs.

[BG45]

AC, I agree. When people can get private care, it does keep a bit of an edge maintained. Sort of like the United States Postal Service versus private shipping companies. And it sounds decent enough, because it often does depend on the hospital one goes to.

The best Emergency Room visit I ever had was in the middle of Lancastre, PA in Amish country. I had second degree burns from a sunburn of all things, massive blisters, and they moved me through the paperwork quickly and I was having my skin peeled off with tweezers on painkillers within ten minutes. (Unfortunately the painkillers wore off while I was waiting for Walgreens in that town to fill my prescription...but that wasn't the ER's fault.)

[quote name='Winchester' post='1921515' date='Jul 16 2009, 09:15 AM']Not if you're there for an actual emergency.[/quote]

I'm glad you live (and work) in an ideal world Winnie. I know people whose relatives have been given bags to puke in as they spasmed in pain and people who have had heart attacks and not been seen right away.

Now for some links:

[url="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25475759/"]Caught on tape: 49 year old woman dies in NYC emergency room after 24 hour wait.[/url]

[url="http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=2458644"]Woman has heart attack in Emergency Room, forced to go wait and dies in Illinois.[/url]

Now to give time to socialized health care:
[url="http://www.nowpublic.com/world/man-dies-winnipeg-emergency-room-after-waiting-34-hours"]Man dies after 34 hour wait in Emergency Room in Manitoba, Canada.[/url]

And now for the topic of reasons to hate socialized health care proposals:
[url="http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE56F6GT20090716"]Congressional Budget Office gives some hard truths about proposed health care reform that Democrats didn't want to hear.[/url]