Reply #88: My scenario is a unique one and relates to both countries as well as Canada.

[go west young man]

I am an Englishman and a former US marine who lives in Georgia and spent 3 years living in Canada.

In the UK I was treated for a sore tooth instantly upon returning after having been out of the country for 6 years. In Canada I had a cyst removed for free with a wait of less than an hour after I disclosed I needed treatment. The doctor took it out right then and there. I was in Canada illegally and no questions were asked. He just went ahead and performed the quick removal.

In the US I had a slight hernia. I was working at a hospital and had an insurance plan. I had paid in for 3 years. The doctor in my HMO misdiagnosed me twice so I went to another doctor. He wasn't included in my HMO. They refused to pay even though their guy had misdiagnosed me twice. I paid $2500 out of my own pocket and suffered a lot of pain.

I had dental surgery. My allowed amout of surgery was $1500 or less. I paid an additional $1000 out of pocket.

My wife and I had a baby. The cost was $15,000. We had insurance. It paid $9,000. In the UK we would have paid nothing.

We have a friend who had a baby which she brought home from the hospital after 1 day so as to avoid the high costs. Her baby whose name was "Rose" had a lung defect which wasn't caught and she died. Had she been in a hospital she would have probably lived. Russia keeps all newborns in hospital for the first two weeks for monitoring. American's run home with em fast to avoid the cost of a night in a hospital. Hence the high infant mortality rate.

My uncle who is 54 was dropped by his US insurance company and now can't get reinsured because he has had two heart attacks.

The system is broken. It just hasn't broken for you yet. Yet.