THE NATIONAL HEALTH.

Alot of the cost is on efficiency - or lack thereof. When my daughter was in special care she had so many tests done on her I lost count. she then got transferred to the Birmingham childrens hospital and they didn't accept the tests the local hospital had done so repeated them all. Some of them were expensive ones.

A similar thing happened during my recent stay there were a few things, like photographs, ok not hideously expensive but still unnecessary to repeat, that were done at two different sites.

Ok, that's not particularly cost efficient but it's probably necessary - if the children's hospital didn't accept the local hospitals test results, there was probably a good reason for it.

Quote :

Not as long as people get stung for NI.

You say about people being stung for National Insurance. I still pay it and have not lived in the UK for 17 years, but I do not begrudge those people that cannot afford treatment having it, and indeed having better treatment because I chose to pay an insurance based medical cover. Here its a bit different because the insurance based medical cover is a normal thing. We pay for our treatment and get a percentage of it back from the state. The rest we get back by taking out a top up insurance. It works well.

So you still pay NI?

Would that be the minimum NI to allow you to have a UK pension by any chance?

I have no idea. It's all sorted by an accountant.

I know exaclty what you have rachel, same as all the other ex-pats.

You pay the minimum NI you can so that yopu get the pension still and can come back to the UK for medical treatment if neccesary so that you wont have to fork out for a major expense when your insurance wont cover the operation.

it is the same for most ex-pats.

I think you are misleading here as I have no intention whatsoever of ever coming back to the UK. I am fluent french and am covered under the French system so why would I ?

Why would you pay UK NI unless there was a benefit for you?

There is a benefit in that I protect the pension that I worked for all my life, I guess, but apart from that I take nothing from the British health system. I am a UK tax payer and as such have an obligation to pay it. I was merely suggesting things I thought about what I hear about the health system compared to what we have here.

Just how much NI do you pay per year rachel?

If i told you I pay about £7500 NI, then you can see why I am against paying that and also paying Insurance you see.

If I had the choice, I know which one I would like to pay.

Good grief that is rather a lot. I have no idea what current rates are as mine are taken direct but its nothing like that.

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Good grief that is rather a lot. I have no idea what current rates are as mine are taken direct but its nothing like that.

Word to the wise, take control of your finances.

Angus wrote:

If i told you I pay about £7500 NI, then you can see why I am against paying that and also paying Insurance you see.

If I had the choice, I know which one I would like to pay.

£7500 personally (i.e. not company liability) ? NI used to be capped at a fixed amount, you could earn what you want over that and dont pay a penny more. It's changed now but you'd still have to be earning squillions to pay £7500/12 a month in NI.

But if I had a choice between a good insurance and NI I would pick the insurance (providing I didnt have to pay the NI). TRouble is, then there's the pension, not just the health service.

I wish I did earn squillions but with my other business interests I get stung a few ways.


I paid £4000 tax one month last year.

Angus wrote:

I wish I did earn squillions but with my other business interests I get stung a few ways.


I paid £4000 tax one month last year.

I'll do your return

I charge £495/day

I once knew a girl who charged that.

I know I have said this before and I know I will get a right backlash for saying this, but I still think the NHS is going to have to be scrapped down the road and follow the USA by going private.

I agree

wow, thank god, someone to hide behind, lol

ha, got you.

I'm not sure if the NHS will ever go private though - too many people depend on it, and for the majority of governments it's a focal point - somewhere they can point to and say 'look where we're pouring money into' for popular support.
Also, (although Labour probably aren't gonna be in power in 10 years time) for now it's pretty safe.

I hope we never go down the American route and end up with private healthcare. You think we do unnecessary tests here? Watch some of those late night American ER programmes and see people sent off and charged for a completely unnecessart CAT scan for a broken leg!

1000's of people end up having to go without medical care because they cant afford it, and yes I do know about Medicare and all that, but its those earning just to much to get it, but not earning enough to pay out 1000's of dollars in medical treatment. (Did anyone see the Morgan Spurlock programme about living on the minimum wage?)

I belong to a couple of rheumatoid and arthritis chat boards and its amazing how many people have to go without vital medication because they just cant afford it, in supposedly the most developed nation on Earth! At least when I have problems I can just go and see my GP or consultant without getting stung for the cost!

But if they had to pay 10% NI they would have no choice about affording it or not.

But I agree, if it is voluntary then people will have higher priorities, and people will then go without medical care.

My company gave the staff in my lil call centre BUPA as a benefit(after they had all joined, we all got it). (very unusual for call centre staff) They all kicked off as they would be taxed something like £2 a week, and some opted out. Unbelievable. Now one had an op within a week of a diagnosis the others are perhaps kicking themselves.

Yeah I also have that Bupa care, and it is so cheap I dont even notice it missing from my wages- and I am not rich, just an average earner.
And I do think that following America is the ONLY way to go now, or else we just sit back and watch millions...no billions go down the drain on the NHS.
No offence Emma, but I used to live in america and my parents still do, and it is not difficult to get health insurence and it is not expencive.
And if a doctor suggests you go for a test that you think pathetic etc, then you can do the same over there as you can do here...say NO!!
I think that there quality of care is 100% times better there too. When my mum moved there, she had to go for all sorts of tests- and it wasnt just to get money, they really seem to care about your health.
The figures that show how many people in the UK are now going private speak for themselves I think.

yep, if I took my NI contributions over the years and made my own pension and healthcare fund I am sure I would be a lot better off.

That said, everyone's approach to these things is different.

I had medibank private in Australia, although the normal scheme there is medibank, and it was extremely flexible, compared to UK.

I hear one of the latest NHS schemes is to link all doctors surgeries together....will cost millions, and the only people who gain are the business consultants, not the marginal few who might feel the benefit from shared records!