Brits Try To Guess How Much US Healthcare Costs, React With Great Surprise When They Hear The Real Prices

Thanks, I will. I think it's easy to be complacent. I'm aged 33, fit and healthy. I'm currently paying in more to our system than I take out in treatment. But things will change as I get older. I just hope when I reach my parents age there is still an NHS to provide for me. That is why I will NEVER vote for a Tory.

Happened to me Chris... got a bill for an ambulance after a car accident.

Chris without the surname... It is the Injury Costs Recovery Scheme which allows the NHS to recover the cost of treating an injured patient - it's usually used where the injured person is claiming compensation from an insurance policy after a RTA.

Fact is that going to a hospital for whiplash is pointless. Usually the worst of the injury isn't felt on the same day due to the damage to soft tissue and all you can do is ice, painkillers, neck brace if recommended (can cause problems so not a given) and a GP or doctor in your doctors office can tell you about that. Sadly something I am very, very familiar with. People keep driving into my car - beginning to wonder if it's invisible and I just haven't realised. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Google the treatment if you don't believe me but I went to a hospital after the first accident and left with nothing more than advice that is on the internet. After that I've just dealt with it myself. The first accident was a high speed impact one on a motorway and I was off work for weeks - still nothing that could be done to actually treat the injury.

Sorry to hear that Kim. Misfortune is exactly that- you can't predict it, you can't avoid it. It happens to you whether you like it or not and it doesn't care for your plans or whether you've had some big bills that month already. I am fit and healthy 33 year old, but something like what happened to you could happen to *tomorrow* through no fault of my own. And that is why we need our socialised healthcare system so much in the UK- Because good people get hurt through no fault of their own. I rest easily at night knowing that I have paid into a system that makes sure people less lucky than me will get the treatment they need when they need it, not only when they can afford it. I place my trust in a system that one day, through no fault of my own, I might have to call on. This requires a sort of faith. A faith in something called "society". I believe in it.

Yeah, it's sad. People here have gotten used to crowdsourcing funds to cover medical expenses, losing along the way. A lot of homeless here, especially out here in California, aren't drug users or "crazy people" like the media portrays. They are former working and middle class (sometimes higher tax brackets) who lost it all because of financial issues, mostly medical costs. If you get into any kind of accident (even if you're not driving or you're cautious) or come down with a major illness (cancer, heart attack, etc), you could be out of pocket for thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars. Even if you die, your family is left to cover those costs most of the time. I love my country, but there is so much wrong with it and either people here are aware and their hands are tied or they aren't aware until something happens to them or a family member. It's sad

Yes. I have sever asthma and have driven myself to the hospital on more than 1 occasion. The doctor yelled at me, but what else could I do at the time. It's crazy here.