A couple of points about me...

This blog is personal, not political

This is a place, as I said, to share my own personal experiences of the health care systems in the UK and US.  I am not going to use this space to express any political opinions I might have - its just personal.  I have had good and bad experiences with doctors and hospitals in both countries.

I rarely use doctors in either country

I also want to point out that I rarely use either system for treatment.  I am very much a believer in alternative therapies and 9 times out of 10, whether I have an orthodox diagnosis or not, that's the way I go for the treatment.  So if my back or limbs hurt I go to the osteopath or massage therapist.  If I have any long standing chronic issues or acutes I will use acupuncture or homeopathy or herbal medicine.  Where I choose to spend my health care dollars is to give them to these practitioners and so far, they have kept me healthy and I haven't needed more expensive options.

I am very choosy about the practitioners I use and I'm sure that's why I've also had very good results with myself and my family.  I'm not averse in any way to using allopathic medicine when its needed - especially for diagnosis.

The fear that I had, living in the US without insurance, was that I'd get appendicitis, or a burst ovarian cyst, or a broken leg or hip, and I'd be stuck - really stuck.  

Why wasn't I insured?

How did an educated, middle class, sensible, intelligent woman end up without insurance?  Simple, I became self employed and then divorced, and no longer could afford coverage.  

My husband had a job with health insurance which only covered himself and me.  Our children were on Child Health Plus in NY State.  This worked for about 18 mos and then he left the country in April 2001.  On leaving his job he was offered COBRA* for me.  The COBRA, which I then had to take over and pay for myself was over $1200 a month.  He sold a valuable guitar amp from the early 1960s and this covered two a couple months of COBRA - then the money ran out.  So I had two months of coverage (which I never used) and then nothing.

The children remained on the Child Health Plus until renewal time.  My income dropped significantly after 9/11 and when I went to renew I was sent to an office in Spring Valley New York.  A translator was brought in to speak English to me.  I was informed that my income was now too low for CHP and that the kids would have to go on Medicaid.  But what about me?  According to their income calculations I earned $100 too much in that year to be considered for any state coverage.  Yes - $100 over for the year. So again, I was left with no coverage in case of a catastrophe or any other health crisis.

A year or two later, my income rose - by $10,000 in a year (gross).  This lifted me up out of the Medicaid threshold but then into another no man's land where I couldn't afford any other kind of coverage.  There was a period in this time where none of us were covered.  Again, because I was using mostly alternative practitioners, I was paying out of pocket for everything anyway - but there were still some emergencies.  More on that next time. 

*Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) allows Americans the right to privately purchase their employee provided healthcare once they leave a job - for a limited amount of time. This can be up to 102% of the cost of the plan.