OMG what a horrific story. That should make certain people think twice what they wish for -- and that's how the glamourized "choice" pans out for real people. Fortunately people like 14Russian is in a very tiny minority.

He had been a loyal employee for 15 years but they cut him off because they did not want to pay for his insurance.
Capitalism showing it's REAL face. It's not whether or not he's an employee that says he should get healthcare. He's a human being and that's enough. Living in a rich country that can pay for endless wars, for space programs and and lord knows what else. So there are resources to cover the cost for his care.

Smiling faces of pretty nurses and re-assuring doctors in glossy insurance pamphlets is the propaganda; and they won't even talk to you, let alone smile, unless you have the insurance, or hundreds of thousands in the bank to pay up. Imagine having to prove you can pay, before they'll treat you - I understand this happens in the US.

Cost to you and your husband in the UK would have been £0. In most other European countries, 0-200 USD in TOTAL. Yes, the difference is tax sponsored, but it means that nobody will ever be denied treatment, and the treatment will be the same, regardless of who you are. There is no need to lose any sleep over hospital care; if you need it you'll get it, and you will never have to sell your house or anything else to pay for it.

All human lives are worth the same! One human life is not worth more than another, just because that person has more money in the bank. I had to spend a month in a hospital as a kid, and shared a room with the daughter of a very rich celebrity, and the daughter of an immigrant taxi driver. We had similar conditions and got exactly the same treatment.

The medicines your husband needs would have cost $10 per batch you collect at the pharmacy, in England (can be covering several months), or free in Scotland. In Sweden you pay the real cost up to $100 after that, whatever medicine you need, is free for you, for a year.

I think healthcare is more or less free in Russia, from what I've read here and elsewhere. Standard is OK, but could be improved. Don't know about Ukraine, but in Belarus it's essentially free, including the meds. Standard is not gold plated but acceptable.

The American view on healthcare is INCOMPREHENSIBLE to everyone this side of the pond.

I read an article in a Swedish Christian paper, trying to explain why Christians in the States hate "Obamacare". Apparently the idea is that if the state provides, then people become dependent on the state, rather than on God. So for that's reason they hate it. It makes no sense to me. What if God is using the State to provide the healthcare? Every other hospital is named for a Christian or biblical figure for goodness sake. And what about the Good Samaritan? Public healthcare is completely in the spirit of what he did - that's Jesus' own parable. Public healthcare is allowing us all to be like the Good Samaritan towards each other. What could be more Christlike on the health front? As with many other issues, these people appear to lose the plot.