@lupine correct. Anyone who lives in Northern Ireland, Wales or Scotland gets free inhalers as far as I'm aware.

NHS England tends to be a little more stingy!

https://www.asthma.org.uk/advice/inhalers-medicines-treatments/cost/

@iona it also depends on whether they have insurance or not.

An American without insurance has to pay full hospital prices. This means a short bout of ill health can bankrupt them.

If they do have insurance then the amount they'll pay will vary depending on how generous it is and whether the plan has an excess.

Of course in the UK we use a combination of employee income and employer contributions to fund most healthcare for everyone.

@iona that being said I wouldn't call us a health utopia.

My step-dad was told he'd have to wait weeks for his gall bladder to be removed. After he mentioned he had a Bupa membership he had it done within days by the same doctor in the same hospital.

So, we kind of have a two-tier system. Those who can afford to top-up their care with private insurance get a better service.

@bobstechsite My sister's a midwife - she works in the same rooms in the same hospital using the same equipment, but some days she's working for the NHS and other days she's working for a private provider.

@bobstechsite From the point of view of the internals of the English NHS, little distinction is now made between NHS and private providers. The CCGs are the ones with the budget, and they 'commission' services from whoever. NHS Trusts are in competition with private outfits for contracts.

It's a deliberate mess, designed to confuse people, extract public money and put it into the pockets of private companies.

@iona the awkward situation I guess the government has is that for decades it's resisted raising taxes to pay for the NHS to be funded properly.

It doesn't surprise me that we're now getting this hybrid provisioning of healthcare. If they mess with "free at the point of care" though they'll have a riot on their hands.

@bobstechsite They could help a lot by getting rid of some of the layers. The CCGs are pointless, they're a money grab by GPs, many of whom are doing very nicely thank you out of the arrangement by being both commissioners and providers.

@priryo @bobstechsite We're English, we prefer to spend our healthcare budget on the things that matter, like private profits.