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I know you Brits have FREE? Health Coverage, so this is really a question for my Yank friends.

I am not complaining about my own costs and am quite happy with the costs and benefits. First, my wife and I are on the Government Medicare and pay $208 monthly for both of us. In addition, we pay $558 monthly for Supplemental Medical Coverage and $58 monthly for Dental. We have the Supplemental because Medicare will not pay for everything. This makes a total monthly cost for both my wife and I of $824 monthly or $9,998 yearly. In addition to these costs we have some co-pays and deductibles, and there is a co-pay for Prescription Drugs. We also have Long Term Care which I purchased 24 years ago and pay only $28 monthly for both of us because the major portion is subsidized by a former employer.

In view of the new Medical Schemes in the U.S., I thought this might be an interesting discussion. My total Medical cost for 2012 including co-pays, deductibles, premiums was in excess of $16,000.

That's probably a lot for most people. In 2012 my partner and I had out of pocket medical expenses of around $3,000.00.

Ahso!;1428042 wrote: That's probably a lot for most people. In 2012 my partner and I had out of pocket medical expenses of around $3,000.00.


Well I am 78 and my wife 68, so we are at that age where medical needs of one kind or another crop up, and amongst my peer group, probably typical.

Blooming heck that's more than half the basic state pension in the UK. Septuagenarians in this country will have paid National Insurance all their working lives. Any treatment they now receive will be free to them at the point of use. I've paid national insurance for almost 40 years and can count on the fingers on one hand the number of time I have used it as an adult. In my seventies it s not a cost I will need to worry about except right now I am worried about the tory bastards trying to privatise it.

gmc;1428113 wrote: Blooming heck that's more than half the basic state pension in the UK. Septuagenarians in this country will have paid National Insurance all their working lives. Any treatment they now receive will be free to them at the point of use. I've paid national insurance for almost 40 years and can count on the fingers on one hand the number of time I have used it as an adult. In my seventies it s not a cost I will need to worry about except right now I am worried about the tory bastards trying to privatise it.


I live in a Age Restricted Active Adult Retirement Community with 3,100 individual homes of varying size, two golf courses, tennis courts, swimming pools, fitness center.The average age of the community is now 71. If you went door to door and inquired, you would find every possible medical condition and procedure written up in medical texts. What I pay for health insurance would not be unique in this community, some pay more, some less.

Sun City Roseville - Contact

Lon;1428116 wrote: I live in a Age Restricted Active Adult Retirement Community with 3,100 individual homes of varying size, two golf courses, tennis courts, swimming pools, fitness center.The average age of the community is now 71. If you went door to door and inquired, you would find every possible medical condition and procedure written up in medical texts. What I pay for health insurance would not be unique in this community, some pay more, some less.

Sun City Roseville - Contact


I suppose our equivalent would be sheltered housing, they are usually state funded but you also get private retirement homes/communities. We also have both state funded and private nursing homes for the elderly - or granny farms as they are known. You can pay for private medical care if you want but most people use the NHS.

Doesnt sound to me like Lon is describing any type of sheltered housing I've ever heard of. If I'd paid in what Lon had over the years,I'd want what Lons describing. Our NHS doesnt allow our provide, understandably, for that kind of well presented luxury. I suspect its quite rare to opt to pay for private health in the UK, to the receive what Lon has

I pay around 400/month for our insurance through work.

It is very good coverage.

When I had the DVT and Pulmonary Thrombosis, the total out of pocket for me was around 500.

when I fell off the horse and was unconscious for three days, my total out of pocket was around 750.

I think the extra 250 was for the mountain rescue crew to come retrieve me.

LarsMac;1428203 wrote: I pay around 400/month for our insurance through work.

It is very good coverage.

When I had the DVT and Pulmonary Thrombosis, the total out of pocket for me was around 500.

when I fell off the horse and was unconscious for three days, my total out of pocket was around 750.

I think the extra 250 was for the mountain rescue crew to come retrieve me.


What happens if you can't afford insurance?

Our mountain rescue service is made up entirely of volunteers, the helicopters used up till now have been RAF or navy ones they've recently privatised them. You couldn't actually pay anyone enough to do what these guys do. Happily never needed to use them.

Mountain Rescue Committee of Scotland

The english ones are volunteers as well.

Your medical costs seem incredibly high.

gmc;1428209 wrote: What happens if you can't afford insurance?

Our mountain rescue service is made up entirely of volunteers, the helicopters used up till now have been RAF or navy ones they've recently privatised them. You couldn't actually pay anyone enough to do what these guys do. Happily never needed to use them.

Mountain Rescue Committee of Scotland

The english ones are volunteers as well.

Your medical costs seem incredibly high.


Compared to what they would have been without insurance, I assure you, they are very reasonable.

The DVT incident would have cost me a couple of years' wages, I am sure.

I'm self-employed and buy health insurance through my one person company. It costs me about $750 per month, but it is a deductible expense as long as I show a profit.

LarsMac;1428203 wrote: I pay around 400/month for our insurance through work.

It is very good coverage.

When I had the DVT and Pulmonary Thrombosis, the total out of pocket for me was around 500.

when I fell off the horse and was unconscious for three days, my total out of pocket was around 750.

I think the extra 250 was for the mountain rescue crew to come retrieve me.


I would suspect that your employer pays something in addition to the $400 monthly that you pay.

Not so?

Lon;1428271 wrote: I would suspect that your employer pays something in addition to the $400 monthly that you pay.

Not so?


Yes, they do.

Snowfire;1428181 wrote: Doesnt sound to me like Lon is describing any type of sheltered housing I've ever heard of. If I'd paid in what Lon had over the years,I'd want what Lons describing. Our NHS doesnt allow our provide, understandably, for that kind of well presented luxury. I suspect its quite rare to opt to pay for private health in the UK, to the receive what Lon has


Definitely not sheltered housing. We own our homes (majority without a mortgage) and operate more like a Country Club. There are no medical facilities on site, but within close proximity to our facility there are two hospitals, doctors, dentists, nursing homes.

This is my home in the over 55 Retirement Community in which I live.

Attached files

I am a Canadian citizen living in the province of Ontario. I do not pay for my OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance Plan).

I had cataracts removed from my eyes three years ago. I figured the cost of the operations was about $6000, from what I learned from Google. My out of pocket cost was about $100, for a regimen of three different eye drops I had to use for about a month after the surgeries.

I know your question was directed at US citizens, but I thought I'd report my situation, FWIW.

(btw, I'm 55 and my vision has NEVER been as good as it is now. I no longer have a corrective lens restriction on my driver's license, and I can read most fine print without reading glasses.)

Snowfire;1428181 wrote: Doesnt sound to me like Lon is describing any type of sheltered housing I've ever heard of. If I'd paid in what Lon had over the years,I'd want what Lons describing. Our NHS doesnt allow our provide, understandably, for that kind of well presented luxury. I suspect its quite rare to opt to pay for private health in the UK, to the receive what Lon has


No it's not it was simply the closest I could think of. You do get private retirement complexes where people actually own the houses but they are pretty expensive.

My wife had an artificial lens after cataract removal as well the other one will need done as well. turns out she has a family history - her mother has had both cataracts removed and replaced.

What happens if you don't have any insurance? Do you really just get left to suffer? That is the impression you get from most american TV programmes.

With the best will in the world you can find yourself unemployed and struggling financially in no time flat. Most people in this country are within three months of being unable to meet mortgage/rent payments if they lose their jobs or if you're self employed business takes a nosedive. The number of repossessions has rocketed and there is not enough social housing to house them all. People who are long term sick have usually lost their jobs as a result. One thing you don't have to worry about is medical costs.

How about this?

Annual family health care costs rise above $22,000 | BenefitsPro