CF Care in England

[Guest guest]

My husband has an opportunity to work in England (not sure of the

EXACT location) but I am hesitant to support this opportunity due to

not know ANYTHING about social medicine. (By the way, if I did not

have CF to deal with there would be NO question that I support the

move in a heart beat)

Are US citizens eligible for the same social medicine coverage as

regular citizens? and how is the care? I love the system here. If I

do not agree or like my doctor I can pick and choose as I please (PPO

benefits.) Again, being completely in the dark about social medicine

I do not even know what questions to ask. (Is it even social

medicine in England - this is how CLUELESS I am on the subject!)

Any insight and/or thoughts on the subject would be most appreciated.

Thanks

Christen

mom to 4 wcf, Peyton 3 months no cf

[Guest guest]

Christen:

Hi I'm a parent living in the US, but was born and raised in the UK

and left back in 1990. I think the opportunity to live in a different

country is an excellent one!

To try to answer you questions:

> Are US citizens eligible for the same social medicine coverage as

> regular citizens?

I don't know -I would be surprized if you weren't simply because you

are going to be paying taxes. I'd take this up with the British

Embassy, Washington DC (you can look that up online).

>and how is the care?

Now that's a good question..... alas I can't answer it! The problem

is that it depends upon the area you are in. Not really a different

issue from what we have here. In one area it can be really really

good, and in another it can be really really bad. The only advice I

can offer is to try to get feedback from the area you are intending to

possibly move to. There are certainly some places there that are at

the forefront of medical research. You've got to start off with where

you might end up living.

> do not agree or like my doctor I can pick and choose as I please

>(PPO benefits.)

As I recall back in 1990, you were stuck with what you got. But this

could very well have changed since then. Again, I'd check this out

with the British Embassy.

>Again, being completely in the dark about social medicine

> I do not even know what questions to ask. (Is it even social

> medicine in England - this is how CLUELESS I am on the subject!)

I think it's really covering the questions you asked earlier with the

British Embassy.

> Any insight and/or thoughts on the subject would be most >appreciated.

I think I can say I've experienced both sides of healthcare on the

atlantic, and a nice summary is to say the answer to which is better

is still unclear to me. Each has its good points and bad ones too.

FYI here: there are private health providers in the UK (e.g. BUPA),

but I wonder if they would offer anything better than the state

healthcare CF centres.

As a parent with a son with CF, I'd not hesitate to stay put where I

am if I'm unsure of health care -it's obviously top priority. If I

were moving back to the UK, I'd do my homework first and find out the

best centre available and base my living around that.

Finally, I've got to say that the UK is certainly no backward country

(yes, I have had people imply that to me ;^) and it's a country I'd

certainly feel safe raising kids in (usually very good schools,

especially at 5-11 years old in my opinion) -with of course the caveat

of if they needed specialist care I'd want to know an adequate

facility (adequate here = excelling for me). Not to sound wishy

washy, but you're going to have to find out yourself for your own

situation.

Hope this helps, good luck if you decide to go! Oh and one last point

-the UK is a nation of SMOKERS. You'll find people lighting up

particularly in pubs -just something to be aware of. Smoking is more

prevalent there.

Best wishes, let me know how it turns out and if I can help you

further (not that I feel like I've helped you here!)

Nige

> Thanks

> Christen