this post was submitted on 03 May 2026
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As an American I'm curious what it's like if you need to go to the doctor and how much you pay from say a broken arm to general checkup. Also list what country please

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[–] cynar@lemmy.world 13 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

UK.

There were complications when my wife gave birth. 2 weeks in hospital, some surgery, and nurses and midwives on call 24/7. The biggest cost was me stress buying snacks for my wife (until she told me to stop!). Even parking was reduced to £11/week, since she was in for multiple nights.

Another occasion. I had a benign lump in an annoying place. It took 14 months to get through to get it removed. It's only when I went in I realised it was not a 5 minute snip. Around an hour for a plastic surgeon to properly remove and stitch it up.

The NHS has its problems. Mostly caused by previous governments trying to starve it (to let their mates sell us for profit healthcare). The system and staff are absolutely awesome.

If I'm asked to point out what makes me proud to be British, the NHS is the prize jewel in that particular crown.

Cost wise, we pay national insurance, a fixed percentage of income. ("Payment by ability, treatment by requirement.") Prescriptions are £9.90 each, or £120/year. They also wave the fee for a lot of groups who might have problems with it. It's massively more cost effective than the American system.

[–] AA5B@lemmy.world 3 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

we pay national insurance, a fixed percentage of income

With no limits? One of the many problems with the us system is we don’t do this.

[–] cynar@lemmy.world 1 points 14 minutes ago

There are some limits to it, and ways around it for the rich (as per usual ☹️).

The cost still mostly scales with your income, rather than how much care you need.