No they don't pay for anything nor do you automatically get disability payments.. this country does not take care of its old or sick. Without medical coverage from your employer you are in real trouble when you get sick.

orry misunderstood talking from us side england pays it all we don't

So far i have not had to pay a penny witch is good becouse i hear it can all be very pricy.

Did you hear about the free clinic that was set up in LosAngeles? Thousands of people without insurance for mamograms, root canal, eyeglasses, etc... They did not say what happens if someone is diagnosed with cancer... Speaking financially, I believe, lower middle class (people with jobs but no coverage) and upper lower class, would have to become lower lower class to get help. In other words, they wouold have to be dirt poor,. So, In the good ole USofA, dirt poor and rich, do not have to worry. Everyone else has to sell or rid of all they have and become dirt poor to get proper help. So, if you are savig for your kid's college, forget it! People in those other "socialist" countries, might have to wait and jump through a lot of hoops, but at least they do not have to become dirt poor to get the help they need!

Here in Canada, we do not have to pay for testing or even to see the doctor, or to spend any time in the hospital for anything. For instance it cost me absolutely nothing to have my son, some of my sanity perhaps, but no money, he is now 14 :)

We do have to pay for our meds. In the case of expensive drugs you can apply for exceptional drug staus. If you are approved the government will pay a portion of the costs. They take our total yearly family income and calculate the #'s to determine how much comes out of your pocket. The more you make, the more you pay.

If you are lucky enough to have insurance through your employer many I know pay next to nothing.

In my 18 years with MS I have had 2 MRI's. My son requires an MRI yearly it is not an emergency and has to wait a few weeks after seeing the doc and he puts in a request. In emergency cases it can be immediate, therefore keeping those in line waiting.

If having an exacerbation I call the neuro and am seen almost immediately, he sets up the iv roids the next day. Here it is done as an outpatient in the hospital.

All in all it's not a bad system, but with the government footing all the bills when it comes to healthcare our doctor's earning potential is limited in the specific province that I reside in. So the end result is we lose our good doctors to other provinces and or states. Doctors are in it for the money, for the most part.

Our family doctor that we had for years and whom I liked very much up and moved one province over, there was more money to be made in Alberta than in Saskatchewan. Go figure!

PS: I think my neuro is a complete jackass and therefore rarley see him. Only if absolutely neccessary and to get my copaxone prescription refilled.

I am curious to see what people in other provinces have to say.

Cheers,
Sharon

I, for one, am an EMBARRASSED AMERICAN CITIZEN... That a free health clinic in Los Angeles for 8 days was so overwhelmed with attendance really makes me feel that America, Land of the FREE, needs to get it's ACT TOGETHER ON HEALTH CARE!!!

I'm on Medicare which is no panacea... I can't afford the co-pays and go without basics when I have to go to the doctor... I just don't go very much and my neuro writes for my high blood pressure script... Plus, a dentist and glasses are not covered at all. Let's just say you learn to floss and brush religiously...

I am in Ontario. Things are similar to Mooseyinn but for me, before I went on Ontario disability, I did have to pay a portion of my meds (10%). Now that I am on disability, I pay nothing for my meds. For certain ones though I have to get a letter from the gov't called a section 8 to get it covered

My neuro is a douche too, dont worry Moosey..you arent the only one

I'm in Ontario as well, and I haven't paid to see any specialists or have any diagnostic work done (except a celiac blood test, for some reason I had to pay for that one although our provincial health care covers almost every other blood work-up -- but I digress).

I do, however, have to pay for the meds I'll be starting. I'm working, and my insurance covers 80% of many drugs, Copaxone included. The 20% remaining would still leave me paying about $3600 per year, so I've applied to (and am waiting to hear back from) the Ontario Drug Benefit that should cover a great portion of that -- leaving me to pay under $800 per year instead. It's not perfect, but it's a damn sight better than the other numbers and I'm certainly glad I'm here instead of the US.

Wait times, though -- well, I'm in Toronto which is a large and busy city, and had I not happened to call the very minute there was an MRI cancellation at my hospital earlier this summer, I would still be waiting for a scan until October -- it would have been a four-month wait. Not ideal.

As it stands now, I just saw a specialist 5 weeks after my neuro referred me, and the specialist wants me to have more evoked potential tests (Tuesday), another MRI (TBD) and a follow-up visit with him when the results are in (ditto). We hope to have this accomplished by the winter holidays.

In the meantime, I should be on Copaxone in another three to four weeks. It's the funding application that is holding things up, as I've already done the preliminary chit-chat with the Shared Solutions nurse and they told me just to call back when I can get the shots.

MegJP--I'm insanely jealous of Canada's health care coverage!!! xo Cj

I agree that the US healthcare needs an overhaul, but for the majority of the country, there is nothing out there that would be worth trading for. My insurance is an employer based insurance and here is my experience.

My insurance for my entire family costs me (Dental included), $136 every two weeks, payroll deducted.

My youngest son was born 7 weeks early and spend 3 weeks in the NICU, my wife was 5 days in the hospital, Total out of pocket cost for both, $100.

In May of 2007 I went to the hospital ER because I thought I had a stroke, what ended up as my first real big exasperation led me down this path. ER did a cat scan and told me to go see my primary care doctor, all they said was that is was not a stroke.

The following day I saw my family doctor and he ordered a MRI, I had it done that evening at one of the several local imaging centers.

The next day he tells me to go see a neurologist and suggests one in town, I opted to go see one in Houston and had a one week wait to get in. He orders the following tests that I had done as an out patient the following two days

Blood Work
Evoked Potentials
EEG
Echocardiogram 2-D w Doppler
MRIs (4) Head Neck - Brain (no contrast) -Cervical Spine (no contrast)
24 hour EKG (I wore it home)
ENG (very weird tests)

Dr calls me the next day and orders a Spinal Tap and ultra sound on my thyroid; these are done the following day. He orders a 5 day iv steroid treatment that I do at home, it was delivered to my house that night and a nurse showed up the next day to start it.

He then refers me to the MS Clinic in Houston to see Dr. Victor Rivera; I had a two week wait to get in there.

Dr Rivera calls it Clinically Isolated Syndrome and sends me home with lots of information to decide my treatment, I am to come back in a week and let him know how I want to proceed. A week later I returned and had chosen Avonex as my treatment and on July 19th of 2007 had my first injection. In December of that year my diagnosis was changed to MS because of some new complications.

All my tests were paid for, ER cost me $50 and each of the Drs cost another $25 co-pay each, my Avonex is $40 for a 3 month supply.

Do we need a change here in the US, I dont want to see what I have change thats for sure, BUT the ones that fall through the crack need medical care as much as I do and we need to find a solution.

Peace, Love & Crabs

Here is a GREAT ARTICLE from the Wall Street Journal on Britain's National Health Care:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/16/AR2009081601802.html?referrer=facebook

Worth the read!!! What ever happened the FAITH not FEAR??? I thought we were an optimistic country!!!

Oh, sorry, Washington Post... Can you tell I read too much??? LOL

Thankyou every one for their replies just trying to educate self about the plus's and minus's of public health.
Trying not to make a political post just a informative one
So thanks for the answer everyone
Cheers and big hugs
Charlie

It is all free in the UK, but to see an Neurologist urgently takes up to 10 weeks... So to beat the system I paid to go privately which meant I was seen the next day. The MRI urgent apointment takes 8 weeks normally, and thats free too, and as it costs a LOT of money to have that done privately I had to wait on the waiting list. I had to go back to my private doctor to get a referral and pay again because I didn't see him on the NHS.
It is a lot of waiting around, but once you are diagnosed it's almost plain sailing, although getting a diagnosis is very hard, as Doctors are unwilling to diagnose people because its "Not cost effective". The treatments you receive after diagnosis are free, but not all of the MS drugs are available in this country, you have to apply for funding, and the medical health board must have approved and scientifically founded that the drug they have given you does work.
For example the drug tamoxifen for Breast Cancer in Wales, UK is based on a postcode lottery because the government won't fund such treatment that hasnt been around for a specific amount of time.
We pay for our health service through a compulsory tax, which is quite a lot of money, (about 2,500 a year if you earn the average of 14,000) so those who choose to take out private health insurance, must also pay this tax.
With the NHS, you can't pick and choose your own doctors either, and you are not always seen by the same specialist, so you have to re-explain everything every time you go.
The people it benefits in this country are the poor and jobless, as they don't pay the compulsory tax and still receive the same treatment as working people, as you are probably aware the UK has been hit severely by the credit crunch, so it has really helped these people, but there are a lot of people who just use the system for all its worth and purposely dont get jobs. Welfare is not such a stigma over here, many people are on it.
With claiming disability, you have to get a letter every fortnight for the first year, then its every six months for medicals. But disability here covers ludicrious things like acne (for real).
Not everyone is like me, they can be quite lucky with their treatment, but there are a lot of unlucky people out there...

Sorry, Charlie... I was not meaning to be political... I just think it is frustrating in the US if you don't have insurance... It completely affects my immediate family so that helps to fuel my outrage...

Peace, xo Cj