Monday, September 22, 2008

Finally! Another Update!

Ok! Finally I have more information to pass along to you! there's a lot of it so please bare with me if you want to know!

Preparation
-Stacey and I had some interest this weekend from a lady about my cat. However, we didn't hear from her after the initial phone call so we're not sure what is happening now...
-I have two friends interested in my car. Both of which know they wont get it until I leave and fine with this agreement. I feel pretty confident that my car will be in good hands.
-I have begun gong through all that is in storage in Grandma's basement. It's a bigger job then I thought it would be... I'm glad I started early!
-Pat Noble and I talked on Thursday. She is having surgery in the month of january and is worried that my leaving will put her behind more then she already will be. We both decided that if I began training someone now (she already has someone in mind) then the both of us plus Pat will have her not only caught up but ahead enough for her to take some time off for her surgery. I should begin training my replacement soon!

Fund Raising
-Last Sunday, while at the ministry fair, I stopped by the missions board table. Sandra and Tom Matthews were there and were very interested when I told them about my plans. In the beginning I didn't think about going to the missions board to help with funds, but they both seemed very eager to help. Then on Thursday, at choir, Sandra told me that the missions board, even though it is for an academic program would be happy to help. Also that I should send out support letters. I'm not really sure which road to take, considering that I had decided against this but they seem to think because it is a missions related program that it is still acceptable. Any feedback on this one?


Emails!!!


First of all, I sent an email to Colin and Darin asking a few major questions... however the most important one was responded to this morning... regarding how to handle health insurance while overseas :-/

Hi Shelley,
Darin here again. I think you have a variety of people responding to your
questions, so I hope you are getting the ones answered that you are really
wondering about. If time goes by and you find one of us hasn't picked up on
a question, feel free to ask again!

So far, I think the only question you have raised that has been left
unanswered is the health insurance one.

The short answer is that if you receive a UK Visa, which you will have to
have in order to gain entry to the country, then you are eligible for free
health care
under the NHS (National Health Service).
So when you come, you register for a GP (General Practitioner...aka family
dr) and that is the first person you go to see when you get sick, etc, etc.
Usually you have to pay about $12 for a prescription, but other than that,
the visit is free. If you need any treatment, that as well is covered under
the NHS scheme.

So the upsides of socialized medicine are readily apparent! Apart from the
downside of living with 17% sales tax among lots of other taxes...some
people do carry private health insurance in addition to the free care they
receive. This is because at times people have to go on long waiting lists
for 'non-emergency' procedures. So if you needed a knee replacement or back
treatment or something, you could wait months. My wife and I have been here
5 years and have been more than happy with the NHS. I would say unless you
have some extensive medical history, I wouldn't even consider carrying
private insurance.

If however, you want to look into this more, I can dig up some more
information for you on this. We had a colleague who carried insurance from
the US that covered her over her...VERY expensive, though.

Hope this helps!
- darin

ps- Our plans are to be in the US from 2 October to 5 November. We're up in New York state and Ohio for the first week, and we'd be keen to connect then if possible.


This is great! I have been worrying about the health inssurance ever since I started thinking about it and I also finally got the dates to when they'll be in the US. Now we can set up our appointment and get things ready for the next step!

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