Pat Hasler:
All you young people who regularly ask me about how do they get to live and work in the USA, think on this one before you are evn tempted to think of such a move.
Some of you already know I have cancer and that I still have to work because if I stop I will lose all my health care rights. About 6 months ago my wife got sick and has been going in and out of hospital since then, so far I have taken 7 weeks off, some full weeks or even fortnights with the odd few days back at work, I have to say my company have been remarkable, they leave my truck parked at my house and in no way expect me to let her cope on her own, so this is not in any way a slur on them, they are fantastic and keep checks on her daily, thus is a slur on how this country treat it’s citizens and residents. My wife gets nothing to help her, I do get half my average weekly pay from NY state but it only covers me for 8 weeks and I now have just 4 days of the funds left, my wife is now in intensive care and has been rushed to over 4 different hospitals, one of which is in New Hampshire and over 110 miles away, I have to driver 220 miles a day just to sit with her, each time an ambulance collects her I get a $1,000 bill or even higher, her treatment bill is now a staggering $160,000 just for hospital stays, if I don’t keep working at least 2 days a week I loose all health care or cover and so does she, by the way, my own health care bill is way over half a million, we have no possible way of paying these bills, each time she is taken to hospital or I take her to see her local doctor I am asked for my insurance card, if I can’t produce it there will be just basic pain killers and comfort treatment given to her and she will be sent home, the most recent 911 emergency call an ambulance had to come from a village in Vermont, I suspect because I now owe the local ambulance service over $7,000 and they probably refused to come. Don’t you guys even think life here is good because it’s not, don’t any of you complain about your wonderful NHSand if they want to put up your taxes to repair it, don’t complain, I have to pay $160 every week for health insurance but if ever I get so sick I have to stop work, I, my wife and my daughter will lose the [zb] cover we have.
I would love to be able to return home and live in the UK again but I can’t, my wife is not allowed to reside in the UK because she is not a UK citizen or a migrant, in any case she doesn’t want to leave the USA apart from on holiday.
I am just informing you dreamers what you can expect when or even if you actually did get a job here.
Just seeing this from a neutral position. I have a friend who has lived in the States for 30 odd years and married a US citizen (he is a dual citizen). She’s very sick and their bills for medical attention now run into tens of thousands of dollars - but tens of thousands of people owe as much if not more. My mate says he doesn’t even bother to open the bills any more - but he’s still there, living in the same house, doing the same job and so on.
You have the option - stay put or (I know your wife doesn’t want to move) - persuade her to come to the the UK and put yourselves at the mercy of the NHS. As a Brit I think that if you’re polite and persuasive enough (which I’m sure you could be) then she’ll get the attention she deserves. There are plenty of people here getting free medical care who don’t qualify for it. Good luck fella!