Why does the NHS cost so much?
Because the Aginoth family live in the UK!
Not only is Aggie costing far more than he's paying out in taxes, what with insulin, creams, sunbeds & the occasional stay in the beautiful, modern BRI, (ha ha) but Mstr A is still being sick fairly regularly, so we're off to the doctors this afternoon. I'll expect he'll prescribe something, even if it's just electrolytes, and I'll be able to go straight off to tesco's to get whatever it is, without a thought for the cost, as it's all totally free!
Of course, I've probably paid in much more than I've got out - one operation age 12, and a follow up at 14, three babies born, a couple of courses of antibiotics..... And thats the way it should be in any civilised society!
UPDATE 6.30pm - Mstr A is just fine, the little shit! he took himself off to bed at midday, I woke him up at 4pm to go to the dr's & he spent the whole time there running around, singing, playing & generally looking the picture of health!!! No tempreture, no cough, no bodily fluids!
LMB has got it now, but although she looks worse, and she is runnin a bit of a tempreture, I reckon she'll be over it in 48 hours.
They all refused th lovely shepherds pie I made for supper though - don't know why I even bother sometimes!
Oh yes, and it's loverley and warm here again:-)
Not only is Aggie costing far more than he's paying out in taxes, what with insulin, creams, sunbeds & the occasional stay in the beautiful, modern BRI, (ha ha) but Mstr A is still being sick fairly regularly, so we're off to the doctors this afternoon. I'll expect he'll prescribe something, even if it's just electrolytes, and I'll be able to go straight off to tesco's to get whatever it is, without a thought for the cost, as it's all totally free!
Of course, I've probably paid in much more than I've got out - one operation age 12, and a follow up at 14, three babies born, a couple of courses of antibiotics..... And thats the way it should be in any civilised society!
UPDATE 6.30pm - Mstr A is just fine, the little shit! he took himself off to bed at midday, I woke him up at 4pm to go to the dr's & he spent the whole time there running around, singing, playing & generally looking the picture of health!!! No tempreture, no cough, no bodily fluids!
LMB has got it now, but although she looks worse, and she is runnin a bit of a tempreture, I reckon she'll be over it in 48 hours.
They all refused th lovely shepherds pie I made for supper though - don't know why I even bother sometimes!
Oh yes, and it's loverley and warm here again:-)
posted by Juggling Mother @ 12:38 pm
4 Comments:
At Monday, March 13, 2006 10:50:00 pm,
craziequeen said…
The world looks better when there is heat! :-)
cq
At Tuesday, March 14, 2006 12:27:00 am,
JR said…
Taking sick children to the doctor is like taking a malfunctioning car to the mechanic, both shape up when the experts are going to look at them.
Also, I'm curious about your NHS. We have groups here in the US who want the same, and of course there are groups opposed. Have you ever lived with both types of systems, or know others who have? I'm wondering whether warts and all, it's much better to have an nhs or not. thanks.
At Tuesday, March 14, 2006 8:17:00 am,
Juggling Mother said…
The plus points to the NHS - everyone has access to high quality medical care regardless of any personal circumstances, and all hospitals & Dr's are trained to the same high standards.
The minus point - an exponential rise in costs as pople live longer, have more wrong with them & require more expensive treatment & care.
I have family in the US - the insurance system is fine provided you're mostly healthy and employed as far as I can tell. My aunt would like to retire, but is trapped in work because her health insurance is tied into it and my cousin needs full time care - no insurance company will take her on. Ditto for Aggie - if we went off to the US, the insurance would not cover most of Aggies costs n(pre-existing conditions) or the premiums would be so high as to make it pointless.
On one of the diabetes discussion forums Aggie went on when first diagnosed there was an ongoing thread as to how many times you can successfully re-use the same needle before it becomes too blunt/dangerous. Over here we just follow the manufacturers instructions which specifically say they are single use only, because he can get as many as he needs for free.
In January, one of my regular reads, Shelli, had a bad accident and hurt her arm. She said "I felt like I was going to pass out... I needed to sit down, but I was dripping blood all over the place ..... thought I broke my elbow and I for sure needed stitches....The soonest we could get in to see the doctor was 11:00 and man, was I in a lot of pain. But it cost too much to go to the ER"
Equally, we get loads of spam trying to sell well dodgy drugs. These will never succeed (to any great extent) in the UK as anyone can go to thir dr & get the proper stuff for (nearly) free.
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that state medical care is a pre-requisite of any civilised society, whatever the financial costs. Here in the UK, we have much higher taxes than the US (although much, much lower than say, Scandinavia), and I have never begrudged a single penny of it.
At Wednesday, March 15, 2006 5:53:00 am,
Kyahgirl said…
Hi Mrs A. Happy to see you're hanging in there ok. take care :-)
Laura
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