For my high wage, my NHS fee would be just under £7k for the year, my taxes just about at 30%.
Granted here in the US, my taxes are ONLY 25%, but my healthcare costs are close to $30k/year.
That $20k difference is ridiculous ($11k more than in the UK when comparing tax+health), and I HAVEN'T gone to the hospital for a heart attack or premature baby or hemophilia, but if my wife did have a baby, it would cost us out of pocket around $8k (according to the likely VERY skewed numbers in my insurance packet).
A colleague I know is 54, he is single, has only catastrophic coverage and pays $1200/mo. Nothing is covered except 40% of any emergency hospitalizations. The bronze plan was $2000 and had a $15k deductible, and also was basically only co-insurance with $30 generics.
The way we are doing this here in the US is literally killing people. Medical debt is increasing.
My little sister-in-law was on vacation and walking along a path on a jetty with handrails, and benches, and dozens of other people. A rogue wave came and hit her and her friend. She was taken under, knocked unconscious and drowned (and died), until a random stranger who was standing near her finally found her and resuscitated her. She was medivaced to a hospital by helicopter that insurance only covered 10% of because she was out of network, she was then treated by a dozen or so doctors for multiple days as she got pneumonia and broken bones, and head trauma, all out of network. She ended up owing close to $100k with her insurance only covering the first $25k. In any other first-world country, she'd be out of pocket maybe a few hundred bucks. Not in collections for being unable to pay $75k for a freak accident.
Interesting that your NHS fees are at £7k for the year. That's about the amount I pay for my family's annual insurance premiums + deductible.
I'm no fan of insurance/hospital bureaucracy, but at least I can go to any specialist doctor I want without having to see a GP first. And I pick the job and insurance provider I want to reduce the amount my family pays each year.
Emergency situations like the last one you mentioned, if they are out of network, are still covered at in network rates, thanks to my insurance plan specifically stating that in their plan documentation. I feel bad for your sister-in-law and am glad she survived, but she did have a not so great insurance plan. I would strongly consider getting a different job or lobbying hard with my workplace HR if I had a plan that would only pay 10% in true emergency situations.
> That's about the amount I pay for my family's annual insurance premiums + deductible.
Look at what it would cost to cover you and your family on the individual market without government or employer subsidies. As a contractor, I pay double what you do on the individual market, and that is only coverage for myself.
Your employer must be paying for a portion of your health insurance premiums, so you have to include that if you’re going to compare to the $7k GBP figure.
And everyone would get a different job with nice health insurance offerings, if they could.
Not to disprove my original point about how affordable the NHS is compared to my Made in America insurance, but the £7k is only the employee side, the employers also pay a bit (though much less), but a common benefit of most employers is private insurance on top of national insurance.
If my math is correct, employer + employee national health fee for £140k salaried employee is a few quid short of £10k which is still half of my annual health care expense, so my original point still stands.
For my high wage, my NHS fee would be just under £7k for the year, my taxes just about at 30%.
Granted here in the US, my taxes are ONLY 25%, but my healthcare costs are close to $30k/year.
That $20k difference is ridiculous ($11k more than in the UK when comparing tax+health), and I HAVEN'T gone to the hospital for a heart attack or premature baby or hemophilia, but if my wife did have a baby, it would cost us out of pocket around $8k (according to the likely VERY skewed numbers in my insurance packet).
A colleague I know is 54, he is single, has only catastrophic coverage and pays $1200/mo. Nothing is covered except 40% of any emergency hospitalizations. The bronze plan was $2000 and had a $15k deductible, and also was basically only co-insurance with $30 generics.
The way we are doing this here in the US is literally killing people. Medical debt is increasing.
My little sister-in-law was on vacation and walking along a path on a jetty with handrails, and benches, and dozens of other people. A rogue wave came and hit her and her friend. She was taken under, knocked unconscious and drowned (and died), until a random stranger who was standing near her finally found her and resuscitated her. She was medivaced to a hospital by helicopter that insurance only covered 10% of because she was out of network, she was then treated by a dozen or so doctors for multiple days as she got pneumonia and broken bones, and head trauma, all out of network. She ended up owing close to $100k with her insurance only covering the first $25k. In any other first-world country, she'd be out of pocket maybe a few hundred bucks. Not in collections for being unable to pay $75k for a freak accident.