The BBC Have Your Say page

I read all 21 pages and lifted some of the anecdotes. I do admit to selecting the ones critical of your system, for the reason that they were frequent enough to warrant serious attention. I avoided the polemical and demagogic ones and chose the ones which related actual experiences, with numbers where possible. Sounds like the insurance industry is part of the problem too. Maybe your problems with illegal immigration have something to do with it too. I'm not too familiar with the US experience so am being careful not to sound too authorative. Let these excerpts speak for themselves.

Added: Sunday, 1 July, 2007, 10:27 GMT 11:27 UK

We were born in the UK, worked all our lives in the UK and paid all our taxes and National Insurance etc, yet my husband waited more than 12 years, in vain - trying to get his back operated on.
We moved to spain and it was done within 2 weeks!The UK could learn a lot from the Spanish healthcare system.
As for the US - I had an emergency gallbladder operation, we didnt realise our medical insurance would not cover this and ended up paying over 22,000 dollars!It practically bankrupted us!

[br1texpat]

Added: Sunday, 1 July, 2007, 09:31 GMT 10:31 UK

I had individual insurance when my wife first got pregnant. I found out our insurance did not cover maternity and now that she was already pregnant, there was no plan we could get that would cover her. They said that I'd have to get a job in a big company that has a group policy for her to be covered. In the end she had a miscarriage and I ended up paying thousands of dollars for the couple of hours she spent in ER. The health care system in the US is cruel, inhuman and totally money-minded.

Victimized, Ohio

Added: Sunday, 1 July, 2007, 07:58 GMT 08:58 UK

Free market principles do not apply to health care. You cannot "shop" for the best price when you break your leg and need it set. You cannot put off your cancer until there is a sale at the hospital on treatments. In the last 10 years my monthly health insurance costs have gone from $50 a month to almost $500 a month, and my coverage has gotten worse. The systems needs to be fixed but sadly Americans are really afraid of two things, thier government and being wrong. Nothing will change.

SickAndTired, Indiana

Added: Sunday, 1 July, 2007, 06:43 GMT 07:43 UK

Even though I only lived in England as a kid, I can remember how much better the health care system was than in the U.S. where I've lived since I was 10. At college this year, I had to go to the emergency room because of breathing problems relating to asthma and bronchitis. The bill was about $230, reduced from $460 because of my school's health insurance plan, which costs about $1,400 a year. This was for a 30 minute visit, a prescription, and a short treatment. Nothing they did was worth $460.

Rebecca, St. Louis

Added: Sunday, 1 July, 2007, 06:01 GMT 07:01 UK

Quality healthcare is available in the USA for those who can afford it. I have worked in haelthcare (drug manufacture/distribution) for 8 years, and it is a shock to know what some of these drugs cost to make vs. what the patient is ultimately charged (even with insurance). Three thousand percent mark-up is not uncommon. I am not in favor of Goverment-run healthcare, but this industry borders on racketeering. More oversight and an equitable pricing structure is needed.

BLM, Florida, USA

Added: Sunday, 1 July, 2007, 05:08 GMT 06:08 UK

I vote Republican, but I can't stand the US health care system. My mother was Welsh and as a boy I spent about 2 months in the UK hospitals. The care was great and having had a cousin and my mother go through it, while it may not be perfect it's better than the US's. I pay $760 a month, plus with all our other medical costs such as prescriptions and deductables, I avg. over $2,000 a month. More than my mortgage payment and car payment put together. Good, that I'm not a 1 issue voter.

Philip Rockefeller, San Antonio, United States

Added: Saturday, 30 June, 2007, 20:58 GMT 21:58 UK

I am American and lost my insurance when my employer went out of business after 9/11. Because of a pre-existing condition (genetic, but causing no current health issues), I am unable to obtain private insurance and have been declined coverage from many different companies. I decided the only option was to move overseas and I now have private insurance from a UK company valid everywhere in the world except the USA. Today I am effectively locked out of my own country. Yes, the US system is broken.

Trygve, Dubai, UAE

Added: Saturday, 30 June, 2007, 17:14 GMT 18:14 UK

I live in the U.S. but have used health care for minor ills of myself and companion in the UK, Australia, Greece, Indonesia and Italy.
If in the U.S. you have a job with an employer that pays for your health care, you are OK. But if you get ill enough to lose your job, there goes your health care. No private insurer will take a sick person. Some states have a high-risk pool at very high cost, but if you don't have a job to pay the premiums, too bad. What's left? Emergency rooms. Barbaric.

Gail Heineman, Anchorage, Alaska

Added: Friday, 29 June, 2007, 17:53 GMT 18:53 UK

Those singing the praises of the US healthcare system will be keen to ignore the fact that in terms of life expectancy the US comes 44th, below (among others and in descending order) Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Germany and the UK. It does come above Cuba (55th) but the latter does better than any other Latin American country except Puerto Rico and Costa Rica. My source is that well-known fount of socialist propaganda, the CIA World Fact Book for 2007.

Nick Gotts, Aberdeen, Scotland

Added: Friday, 29 June, 2007, 17:50 GMT 18:50 UK

As an American citizen, I would prefer some alternative to what we have now! 35% of every dollar we spend on healthcare goes into administration. In Canada that figure is 15%. If I were sick and become unemployed, my monthly cost to keep my healthcare would be over $400. as a single person. That is with no unemployment pay in the state I live in. That would end after a few months and I would have no insurace. What would you prefer?

Peter Przekop, Columbia, United States

Added: Friday, 29 June, 2007, 17:43 GMT 18:43 UK

I live in the US, make good money, but I have a chronic condition. It costs me more than some people's car payemnts each month even with insurance. I live in constant fear that if I were to become unemployed I would lose everything...insurance, assets, savings. Private insurance is much too expensive or I could become uninsurable. Insurance companies only want to insure the healthy....and they refuse or penalize those that need their services. That is wrong. Insurance policies need to be changed.

Mark, Los Angeles, CA

I am a 57 year old scottish woman living in Florida for 23 years. I rarely went to the Doctor in Scotland, but when I did I received excellent care and paid my national health stamps and taxes, Now in Florida I rarely visit the Doctor when I do it cost $20 copayment and my health insurance cost me $6656 per year. I had a vacination 2 months ago that cost me $150.00 and a toothache the previous month that cost me $2135,and I pay taxes - Doctors are just business men "The almighty dollar rules"

carol roberts, hollywood florida

Added: Friday, 29 June, 2007, 17:34 GMT 18:34 UK

When I was in the process of becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer, I had to go to the doctors office many times to get medically cleared. I had recently purchased temporary insurance and my insurance would not cover my visits or any of the blood tests and other laboratory screenings because it said I was not sick. I had saved up some money after college, but I spent 3/4 of it on medical bills. The Insurance companies need to be monitored and evaluated. They are the reason the cost is so great.

mbali mbingo, Denver, United States

Added: Friday, 29 June, 2007, 16:51 GMT 17:51 UK

US health care is a joke. It is a business and as such it is the sole purpose of health care providers to MAKE MONEY. I had been insured for a long time without problems, but upon being diagnosed with a genetic primary immune deficiency which requires costly care I was dropped like a brick. Nobody will now even touch my case. I've basically been told that it's not cost effective for me to continue to live, at age 26. To anyone who thinks the US system is fine, I call you ignorant.

Steve, Chicago

Added: Friday, 29 June, 2007, 16:10 GMT 17:10 UK

I miss the Canadian healthcare system! I've been in the US nearly 10 years, married to a US citizen. I was a waitress with no health insurance when I got sick. It was awful. I was diagnosed with lymphoma through a walk in clinic. It took months to find a doctor who would biopsy me w/o insurance. I received treatment thanks to charitable programs, but I can't get insurance now. I have problems getting in to see doctors, and I can hardly pay for them.

Stephanie, Canadian expat in U.S.

Added: Friday, 29 June, 2007, 14:59 GMT 15:59 UK

As a Canadian who moved to America, I have first hand experience in both systems. In Canada, it's such a relief to know that whatever happens, if I break my leg, it's gonna get fixed for free. However, ppl always take advantage of free health care and that's why the overall quality might not be as good. In the US, I find it's hard to get good coverage. My last medical bill from strep throat was almost $800 US. However, I got seen by lots of medical staff and I hardly had to wait. Take your pick

Amanda McILveen, Roselle Park, NJ, United States