I'm so happy toady I've weighed myself and managed to lose more weight than I expected in such a short time.

Before the surgery I had heared that you lose so much weight but till you don't have the surgery yourself in the back of your head you have doubts if it is going to work or not. As you have done so many diets and failed and gained more weight after the diets.

I'm from the UK and had my sleeve in Czech Republic through Cosmetic Bliss on the 24/03/2009 since then I have dropped 2 dress sizes and lost over 2 stones in weight and I'm jumping with JOY.

I can't tell you how terrified that they are actually going to pass this universal health care here now. It will damage us forever and we will never be able to take it back.

Totally agree.

I can't tell you how terrified that they are actually going to pass this universal health care here now. It will damage us forever and we will never be able to take it back.

I agree with you -- it's very scary and if you aren't rich and something goes wrong, you may die before your number comes up ...people think it will be the best thing; however, they don't truly know how the whole system will work ... hopefully there will be enough in the government to see how wrong it is and VETO it.

I take exception to the insuation that you feel you're being bullied and policed because you're from the UK. It's insulting to the people who post here. If you have a personal issue with someone, it's advisable to use the private message option.

Thank you,

If I presumed to tell you what the situation is in your own country would you not find that odd? I do feel bullied and policed by one person that you supported and I notice that one of the other UK & NI people felt the same.

I do not wish to insult the people on this board, I have so much in common with most of them as I have battled weight issues and prejudice against fat people all my life.

I do not want to use the private message option because I want to leave a public trail for other UK people if they are interested in what other UK people have done.

Is that OK? Is that allowed?

I agree with you -- it's very scary and if you aren't rich and something goes wrong, you may die before your number comes up ...people think it will be the best thing; however, they don't truly know how the whole system will work ... hopefully there will be enough in the government to see how wrong it is and VETO it.

In the UK the NHS is smashing for children and then it seems to go downhill rapidly. When you are old its really pants.

I don't know enogh about your system. What happens to people with no health insurance or inadequate health insurance?

Cheers,

People without medical insurance usually go without health care. There are many people in this country in this situation.

I have to pay $500 a month for insurance and it's not very good insurance. It hardly covers anything, but I am afraid to not have any medical coverage in case I were to come down with something like cancer. It could financially ruin me.

People without medical insurance usually go without health care. There are many people in this country in this situation.

I have to pay $500 a month for insurance and it's not very good insurance. It hardly covers anything, but I am afraid to not have any medical coverage in case I were to come down with something like cancer. It could financially ruin me.

Blimy, does that mean you would just be left to die if you had no money?

What happens if you get run over in the street and have no insurance or money?

If I presumed to tell you what the situation is in your own country would you not find that odd? I do feel bullied and policed by one person that you supported and I notice that one of the other UK & NI people felt the same.

If you'll read back, you'll see that I supported the idea. It was you who made the leap that I supported the person.

I do not wish to insult the people on this board, I have so much in common with most of them as I have battled weight issues and prejudice against fat people all my life.

I do not want to use the private message option because I want to leave a public trail for other UK people if they are interested in what other UK people have done.

Is that OK? Is that allowed?

Yes it is allowed.

Blimy, does that mean you would just be left to die if you had no money?

What happens if you get run over in the street and have no insurance or money?

People over the age of 65 automatically get something called medicare. People who are not 65 and are disabled or had a parent die, etc., are covered under the medicaid system. The money for these programs comes from the taxes working people pay. Additionally, people 62 or over collect social security which affords them money sent in the form of a check (or direct deposit) monthly.

No hospital is allowed to turn a person away for inability to pay. Most working people have to pay into their health benefits plan through payroll deduction and the better the insurance plan, the more you pay.

I believe in the UK people have the option of carrying their own insurance in addition to the universal health care... I do one person in Ireland who does.

People over the age of 65 automatically get something called medicare. People who are not 65 and are disabled or had a parent die, etc., are covered under the medicaid system. The money for these programs comes from the taxes working people pay. Additionally, people 62 or over collect social security which affords them money sent in the form of a check (or direct deposit) monthly.

No hospital is allowed to turn a person away for inability to pay. Most working people have to pay into their health benefits plan through payroll deduction and the better the insurance plan, the more you pay.

I believe in the UK people have the option of carrying their own insurance in addition to the universal health care... I do one person in Ireland who does.

There is also medicare for people with low to no income through the welfare system. There are county hospitals where those who have no insurance can seek medical care (at least in the states in which I have lived) and no hospital can turn away anyone who is in medical distress -- they have to at least stabilze the person and then can have them transferred to the county hospital.

It seems the individuals who are in the worst shape are those who do not yet qualify for medicaid or social security and make too much (by government standards) to qualify for medicare and who are self-employed and can't afford insurance - those individuals are generally the ones who suffer the most and pay the highest cost for insurance -- like OregonDaisy. I am EXTREMELY lucky in that my employer picks up the cost of my insurance and my co-pays are low.

It's not a perfect system; however, I do believe it's better than a united health care program.

No one is left to die. The poor do get coverage from the state.

The number of uninsured is tainted. Many people CHOOSE to not have insurance. Many young people feel they don't need it and would rather have the bigger truck or skidoo. I owned a business and offered insurance. I paid half. It was reasonable to get coverage. The young people felt they were never going to get sick and would opt out so they could have better toys.

The numbers also include the 20 million people who are in the country illegally, but even they get medical care by going to our Emergency Rooms where they cannot be turned away.

I have paid heavy premiums for our health insurance for years because I refused to be in an HMO which would probably mirror your national health care. I didn't want some clerk deciding what health care was best for me or which doctors I could or could not see.

We have a new term for those people who are not poor enough to get everything for free and even though they work hard are not rich enough to afford fancy accountants to avoid crippling taxes. We call them the Coping Class, and they are really feeling it as this recession rolls on. In fact they are getting pretty angry which is very unusual. Not angry in the way the French do, like blockading ports, setting fire to things and striking, but more than the usual tutting

We can buy private education and health care here but the current administration absolutely hates this as someone may have more opportunities than others. Vis a vis healthcare they would rather all died from an illness rather than a few paid to be cured of it. Recently they withdrew all NHS cancer treatment from patients who topped up their treatment privately with newer drugs that the

bureaucracy had not yet approved. (Of course it takes ages for them to approve a drug as they are staffed mostly with incompetant political placement, we call them Quangos).

At that point I decided I would like our Health Minister to be hung, drawn and quartered!

I believe in Sweden they use a publically funded private system, people get a voucher they can spend with the provider of their choice. That might be a good system but we would need to hear from a Swede to get the real low down.

Is anyone here impressed with the V.A. health care system? That is an example of our government handling health care.

Is anyone here impressed with ANY program run by our government? DMV anyone?

There are a lot of working poor people who just barely get by, and their employers do not offer medical insurance.

while it's true that they could go to the hospital and not be turned away, sometimes they are sick but don't feel it's an emergency situation where they need to go to the hospital. Here, if you need to see a doctor but have no insurance, the doctor's office makes them pay cash before they can be seen. I know quite a few people in this situation. They don't have the cash, so they just hope that what ever illness they have will just go away, or use over the counter medications.

That's the reason why so many hospital emergency departments are crowded. Private MD offices can turn the patient away but EMTALA laws prohibit hospitals from doing the same. Many people use emergency departments as their primary mode of health care.

The only government health care program I would get behind is for catastropic medical needs. If someone exceeds their policy limits due to something like cancer, they should not be forced into bankruptcy. But this should be a supplemental thing to existing policies.