I had this experience a couple of months ago and I feel I should share.
I had a boil in my left ear which left me unable to eat cos the left side of my face was paralyzed with pain. I couldn't work my jaw hence I couldn't eat! So I took myself to the ER. The hospital staff were all over me - talk about quality healthcare! I was attended to by no less than seven different people (doctors, nurses, attendants, lab specialists etc).
I had a primary insurance cover which I paid for but had not received my ID card/number (this was supposed to be for everyday/minor medical needs) and I had a secondary insurance for which I had my ID (I was told this was for special medical emergencies) . They took down my details for the secondary insurance.
My blood/urine work was done and at the end they gave me an ear drop and prescribed pain killers. I wasn't asked to co-pay any amount.
About two weeks later I got a call from the hospital requesting for my insurance ( I was half-expecting this because like I mentioned earlier the secondary insurance was for special cases) by this time I'd gotten my primary insurance ID. I gave them the details they requested.
A couple of weeks later I got a mail from my primary insurance provider and I logged in to see they had received a bill for a little over $400 (about 70k Naira ) for ear boil...na wa o.
If I thought that was expensive I had a ruder shock about a month later when I received a mail from my secondary insurance provider...I logged in and discovered they had paid a whopping sum of...wait for it... $2800 plus to cover me! Implying that they couldn't cover the whole bill hence the request from the hospital for another insurance cover.
This meant that my visit to the ER costed well over $3000 (almost half a million Naira) what the @$!%^&! just for ear boil that back home I would treat for less than 500Naira (300 bucks for ear drops or oral amoxycillin, 100 bucks for panadol and 20 bucks for B-co and all without probably having to see a doctor!)
To my Yankee bros and sis
Is this what is obtainable everywhere across the US? Do you guys ever fall sick? How do you pay for healthcare? What if your provider reneges and refuses to pay? What would have happened to me if I didn't have cover? Would I have been in jail serving time now ?
Please you guys should respond because I wasn't myself for the remainder of that day and then some.

Enjoy the American dream!!!

That experience is replicated every day and all day at ERs across the US. The cost of healthcare in the US is just nuts. Healthcare consumes over 16% of the US GDP and even at that not everyone is covered. It is the shame of the US and it is just a manifestation of what putting greed (private insurers; NMA putting up irrational barriers to entry into the medical profession; pharmacies charging a lot more for the same drugs than they do in other countries; a run-away medical malpractise lottery etc)) ahead of the common good will produce.
Cost of health care will surely destroy the US

Nigeria is still not so bad.

soundtruth: Nigeria is still not so bad.

Actually Nigeria has no healthcare! US healthcare system is too expensive and not nearly ideal, Nigeria has no healthcare system!!

How can you say Nigeria has no health care system. Are you saying there are no doctors, nurses, hospitals or what?

otokx: How can you say Nigeria has no health care system. Are you saying there are no doctors, nurses, hospitals or what?

What we have are something a little above dispensaries , not hospitals.

I don't ever fall sick in the US excerpt for maybe a toothache or when I tore my ACL.
If you prove you can't afford your bill, they slice it down and charge the govt

Uyi Iredia:

What we have are something a little above dispensaries , not hospitals.

please we have world class hospitals. The university teaching hospital in Port Harcourt is a center of excellence and is affordable for the middle class.

otokx: How can you say Nigeria has no health care system. Are you saying there are no doctors, nurses, hospitals or what?

You wont understand. Just ask a Nigerian doctor that has also practised in the US.
And actually it is not even hospitals alone that I am talking about. Talking about the entire healthcare delivery system. The US system is broke and an embarrasment for a major industralised Nation. Nigeria has not even started to address its healthcare problems.

otokx: How can you say Nigeria has no health care system. Are you saying there are no doctors, nurses, hospitals or what?

Ask your politicians and rich folks how many of them patronise those hospitals and clinics?

Nigeria has addressed its health care issues, even in that your US of A, people still fall ill and die in their thousands. We get medical care at affordale rates here. The same Nigerian doctors traines here still go and excel in the US system so don`t tell us otherwise.

We rebuke the spirit of colonial mentality.

adconline:

Ask your politicians and rich folks how many of them patronise those hospitals and clinics?

They are suffering from colonial mentality.

otokx:

please we have world class hospitals. The university teaching hospital in Port Harcourt is a center of excellence and is affordable for the middle class.

What's a world class when you have not crossed Seme border to compare? Whose world class standard are u using?

lobell: I had this experience a couple of months ago and I feel I should share.
I had a boil in my left ear which left me unable to eat cos the left side of my face was paralyzed with pain. I couldn't work my jaw hence I couldn't eat! So I took myself to the ER. The hospital staff were all over me - talk about quality healthcare! I was attended to by no less than seven different people (doctors, nurses, attendants, lab specialists etc).
I had a primary insurance cover which I paid for but had not received my ID card/number (this was supposed to be for everyday/minor medical needs) and I had a secondary insurance for which I had my ID (I was told this was for special medical emergencies) . They took down my details for the secondary insurance.
My blood/urine work was done and at the end they gave me an ear drop and prescribed pain killers. I wasn't asked to co-pay any amount.
About two weeks later I got a call from the hospital requesting for my insurance ( I was half-expecting this because like I mentioned earlier the secondary insurance was for special cases) by this time I'd gotten my primary insurance ID. I gave them the details they requested.
A couple of weeks later I got a mail from my primary insurance provider and I logged in to see they had received a bill for a little over $400 (about 70k Naira ) for ear boil...na wa o.
If I thought that was expensive I had a ruder shock about a month later when I received a mail from my secondary insurance provider...I logged in and discovered they had paid a whopping sum of...wait for it... $2800 plus to cover me! Implying that they couldn't cover the whole bill hence the request from the hospital for another insurance cover.
This meant that my visit to the ER costed well over $3000 (almost half a million Naira) what the @$!%^&! just for ear boil that back home I would treat for less than 500Naira (300 bucks for ear drops or oral amoxycillin, 100 bucks for panadol and 20 bucks for B-co and all without probably having to see a doctor!)
To my Yankee bros and sis
Is this what is obtainable everywhere across the US? Do you guys ever fall sick? How do you pay for healthcare? What if your provider reneges and refuses to pay? What would have happened to me if I didn't have cover? Would I have been in jail serving time now ?
Please you guys should respond because I wasn't myself for the remainder of that day and then some.

Healthcare in US is the most expensive because it's for profit business unlike Canada and Western Europe .i had an episode 5 years ago and was hospitalized for about 7 weeks and extensive therapy. My total bill was almost $350.000. I only paid $7.000 for my deductible . I didn't even think about my deductible . I was just glad God and the good medical team saved my life. I was inebriated for about 6 weeks. It depends on the kind of insurance you have too. That's why all this politicians and wealthy people come to US for their medical needs.i know a minister who will come to Chicago simply because of stomach ache . There is no good medical facilities in Nigeria. Real Admiral Akhigbe just died in New York couple weeks ago and Marriam Babaginda died at a hospital in Los Angeles. Tinubu just had his knee surgery at University of Chicago hospital. They do this because they know there is no medical facilities in Nigeria worthy of entrusting their lives on. Patience Jonathan knows better, that's why she went for treatment in Germany . As much as I come to Nigeria, if I ever fall sick, I will take the next available flight back to Chicago not minding the cost. I guess you pay for the quality you get. Hope the leaders in Nigeria improves the health facilities so people wouldn't be dying unnecessarily . Our people deserves better.

otokx: Nigeria has addressed its health care issues, even in that your US of A, people still fall ill and die in their thousands. We get medical care at affordale rates here. The same Nigerian doctors traines here still go and excel in the US system so don`t tell us otherwise.

We rebuke the spirit of colonial mentality.

No place for dreamers like you!

Healthcare in US is too expensive to worth the name. It should, really, be called "debtscare".

adconline:

No place for dreamers like you!

actually, he is not a dreamer. For the cost of healthcare in USA, if hospitals can charge half of that amount and get paid in nigeria, we will be performing miracles. It is not an exaggeration. For the 70K the guy used in treating boil, many hospitals will use it to do two caesarian sections in nigeria and patient will still owe you.

helpee: actually, he is not a dreamer. For the cost of healthcare in USA, if hospitals can charge half of that amount and get paid in nigeria, we will be performing miracles. It is not an exaggeration. For the 70K the guy used in treating boil, many hospitals will use it to do two caesarian sections in nigeria and patient will still owe you.

You are dreamer because u used the word "if" which means that it's a conditional statement and you are hoping/dreaming that it would happen.
Back to the point. Stella OBJ died in Spain, Ya'radu in Saudi. Maryann IB in USA, Patience JEG had her surgery in German. So why are politicians and rich folks not patronising Naija hospitals and doctors? Why are Nigerians spending over N200bn on medical tourism annually?

adconline:
You are dreamer because u used the word "if" which means that it's a conditional statement and you are hoping/dreaming that it would happen.
Back to the point. Stella OBJ died in Spain, Ya'radu in Saudi. Maryann IB in USA, Patience JEG had her surgery in German. So why are politicians and rich folks not patronising Naija hospitals and doctors? Why are Nigerians spending over N200bn on medical tourism annually?

my friend u are spewing rubbish. Healthcare is very expensive. U get what u paid for. If the american system is that fantastic...why did they all die there? So u mean with all the billions of dollars americans invest on healthcare they couldn't save maryam babangida and u want nigerian doctors to perform miracle with nothing. It is not a dream. It is reality. Inject money in2 healthcare and doctors become miracle workers.

adconline:
You are dreamer because u used the word "if" which means that it's a conditional statement and you are hoping/dreaming that it would happen.
Back to the point. Stella OBJ died in Spain, Ya'radu in Saudi. Maryann IB in USA, Patience JEG had her surgery in German. So why are politicians and rich folks not patronising Naija hospitals and doctors? Why are Nigerians spending over N200bn on medical tourism annually?

Guy, you are contradicting yourself.

BekeeBuAgbara: Guy, you are contradicting yourself. Learn how to argue.

Explaining logic 101 to u. Why did all those names mentioned travel abroad to get medical care since Nigeria has good health system? It's freaking expensive in the US with top notch care, but in Naija, it's non-existent. Got it? Get it? Still need it to sink in?

helpee: my friend u are spewing rubbish. Healthcare is very expensive. U get what u paid for. If the american system is that fantastic...why did they all die there? So u mean with all the billions of dollars americans invest on healthcare they couldn't save maryam babangida and u want nigerian doctors to perform miracle with nothing. It is not a dream. It is reality. Inject money in2 healthcare and doctors become miracle workers.

" Become" = hoping/dreaming, but for now , let's look it the way IT IS not the way it could have become. Got it? Get it? IBB chose where world class care is available unlike in Naija.. Cost is nothing to IBB; he can afford any hospital in this world, why dint he choose Naija hospitals?

See this people arguing over who has d best medical care in the world, for now its obviously US but we all know d major reason our politicians go there is to waste their ill gotten wealth after all Nigeria isn't the only developing country, u don't hear of Ghanaian politicians going abroad for every small thing



P.S: Nigerians need to know nothing good comes cheap, if u want better healthcare start paying health insurance and compel ur government to fund it better or else we'll keep getting the shitty healthcare you're getting now and our best doctors will keep emigrating leaving u to d mercy of the average to quack docs running around. PEACE

Lucasbalo: Healthcare in US is the most expensive because it's for profit business unlike Canada and Western Europe .i had an episode 5 years ago and was hospitalized for about 7 weeks and extensive therapy. My total bill was almost $350.000. I only paid $7.000 for my deductible . I didn't even think about my deductible . I was just glad God and the good medical team saved my life. I was inebriated for about 6 weeks. It depends on the kind of insurance you have too. That's why all this politicians and wealthy people come to US for their medical needs.i know a minister who will come to Chicago simply because of stomach ache . There is no good medical facilities in Nigeria. Real Admiral Akhigbe just died in New York couple weeks ago and Marriam Babaginda died at a hospital in Los Angeles. Tinubu just had his knee surgery at University of Chicago hospital. They do this because they know there is no medical facilities in Nigeria worthy of entrusting their lives on. Patience Jonathan knows better, that's why she went for treatment in Germany . As much as I come to Nigeria, if I ever fall sick, I will take the next available flight back to Chicago not minding the cost. I guess you pay for the quality you get. Hope the leaders in Nigeria improves the health facilities so people wouldn't be dying unnecessarily . Our people deserves better.

Is that what Obamacare is trying to address or is it worsening it?

Lucasbalo: Healthcare in US is the most expensive because it's for profit business unlike Canada and Western Europe . That's why all this politicians and wealthy people come to US for their medical needs.i know a minister who will come to Chicago simply because of stomach ache . There is no good medical facilities in Nigeria. Real Admiral Akhigbe just died in New York couple weeks ago and Marriam Babaginda died at a hospital in Los Angeles. Tinubu just had his knee surgery at University of Chicago hospital. They do this because they know there is no medical facilities in Nigeria worthy of entrusting their lives on. Patience Jonathan knows better, that's why she went for treatment in Germany . As much as I come to Nigeria, if I ever fall sick, I will take the next available flight back to Chicago not minding the cost. I guess you pay for the quality you get.

wow, you have so much trust in the US health care system.

hope it works out for you, personally i would say the same thing you said but when i remember my grandparents who never set foot in a western country throughout their lives, i just hesitate.

lord have mercy.

Tobbie9: See this people arguing over who has d best medical care in the world, for now its obviously US but we all know d major reason our politicians go there is to waste their ill gotten wealth after all Nigeria isn't the only developing country, u don't hear of Ghanaian politicians going abroad for every small thing



P.S: Nigerians need to know nothing good comes cheap, if u want better healthcare start paying health insurance and compel ur government to fund it better

good points.

interesting

God bless UK.Health care is FREE,it doesn't matter what the problem is.

America is a wild wild west and that is why the vampires hate Obama so much for trying to introduce some humane reforms that cares for the vulnerable.

NHS forever!!!

I cant believe some people were so against this obamacare or whatever they call it

lobell...do the typical americana thing

Sue them!! how can they charge $3000 just for boil!!

next time, just get someone from naija to send/bring those over the counter antibiotics, ear drop and panadol extra

Dis Guy: lobell...do the typical americana thing

Sue them!! how can they charge $3000 just for boil!!

next time, just get someone from naija to send/bring those over the counter antibiotics, ear drop and panadol extra

I swear! I'm already on it...Expecting my cargo by december