Damn!!! Thats exactly my case!!! Im freaking scared it might happen to me. Where did it happen and they refused an MRI? Lebanon also?

By the way always wanted to visit Lebanon

You can get private care in UK as well you know, NHS isn't perfect but its better than most and does a good job despite the problems it has, never had an issue with it personally as they did a great job when my dad battled cancer before he passed.

I have no idea how it works in other cou tries, but at least in Brazil a good insurance should never give you troible unless some specific exams andbthe most expensive, like a pet scan or a very long series or fisio, or cancer treatment. An MRI would never be a problem.

Definetely. Im pretty sure if my case was life treatening I would be receiving treatment right away. And it gives you a much better peace of mind during your life, knowing that when old you will get treatment. 

Keep in mind its my first experience with public health. Back in Brazil I always worked for big american companies and always had good private insurance. Maybe I just need to get used to it.

But damn... the thing of waiting weeks for my gp only write a freaking letter so I could use my private insurance in UK is nonsense. The same goes for two times they refuse to see me in person amd just recommend home exercises...

I still get health insurance through my mother. In the USA children can be covered by their parent's plan until they are 26 (Thanks Obama!). I turn 26 in a few months hence why I will be changing to the private health insurance provided by my job, which means more money taken out of my paycheck.

My mother had great health insurance coverage because she has been at her job longer than I have been alive and works in the health industry. I could call and schedule any procedure I want and usually the only problem is interference with my normal schedule to go to an appointment.

I have had a couple MRIs and X rays without much hassle but insurance does not cover everything and we get a bill for the remainder. I recently had to pay $34 for a minor skin procedure but my mom had to pay $600 for another medical procedure for her which is a lot of money. I actually should be making appointments and using my mom's health insurance as much as I can before it expires but I am lazy and as I said it's hard to fiy things in around my schedule.

I live in the USA. Definitely, private health insurance, and private healthcare are expensive. Most of us get coverage and care privately. So, it is a significant financial burden on many Americans. But, in the USA, if you seriously injure your knee, you'll have that worked out in a matter of several hours. For a less severe injury, you may have a couple days of back and forth, as the OP describes in the private market in Brazil.

IMO, we'd be better off in the USA if government would get out of the way, allow insurers and doctors to provide various levels and types of service, and we'd likely see affordability like we do in every industry that government doesn't ruin. I certainly do not support single payer insurance programs, or anything close to a "public health system." Those things seem to fall somewhere on the scale of mediocre to terrible. And, of course, you still have to pay for government healthcare.

I live in the U.S., so no public healthcare. I am originally from Mexico though, which does have both public and private healthcare. I have mixed feelings about the public healthcare in Mexico because the only time I ever needed to use it I had to wait 30 minutes to be taken to surgery, even when my appendix was about to burst. I also discovered the positive side of having such a system though, since all my grandparents were in constant need of medical services, and my family comes from humble roots so we didn't have the money to go the private route, had we lived in the U.S at the time they all would've died long ago.

During my almost nine years in the U.S., I thankfully have never really needed to go to a hospital, and honestly, if it wasn't for the Obamacare penalty tax I would've never gotten insurance during my single life. From what I've seen of the service with my father I'd say that it is excellent. When he broke his am he was immediately checked, and even during the follow-ups and just regular check-ups, he was promptly seen too. Which takes us to the only negative aspect of the American healthcare system, the exorbitant price. When I was still single I was paying around $2500 a year for myself which is not much but, considering that I only ever used it for the flu one time, I feel like I was throwing money away. The penalty for not having insurance would have been much worse though, during my last tax return as single, I think I would've paid a $10,000 penalty if I hadn't had insurance. Right now I am paying close to $350 per month, per person in my family in a full coverage plan, which my growing family has been using a lot recently. Still, I can't shake the feeling I'm throwing money away, once the uninsured penalty is gone next year I might cancel my plan and just start paying out of pocket to see how much I save.

I think it's absurd for the government to just let you die if you don't have enough money to pay for medical care. Everyone should have access to health care for free.

Just  curious... what if you have a turnaround in your life and cant pay insurance, or one of your close relatives like parents etc? What if you get a disease that requires requires higes amount of money every month which in theory would not be covered by the insurance? 

Btw Im a capitalist pig, if the government was out of the equation I believe costs would be lower. At the same time I think heath and safety (like police) are too delicated themes to be in hands of private companies only. 

Curious, what is that 10k penalty if you do not jave insurance???