$500k US Green Card

[OwlHoot]

1,000,000 sq feet of office space to let for 1$

Couldn't one just rent this and have the mother of all open plan studio flats, with room for a couple of indoor tennis courts?

As that baddie British officer said in The Patriot, "Tell Me about Iowa"

(There must be a catch though.)

[TheFaQQer]

(There must be a catch though.)

$1.5million a year in costs that need to be paid

[AtW]

How did you get in then?

FTV work permit of course - no recruitment agents involved!

[yasockie]

is the US contractor friendly ? from an overall money making perspective i thought that it was better to have a job over there due to healthcare costs, 401k pensions etc

i would be interested to know if this wasnt the case

Hence my asking. As I understand as a single person you may indeed be better off by skipping on insurance etc
Also opens up the whole US market which isn't tiny.

[BlasterBates]

Hence my asking. As I understand as a single person you may indeed be better off by skipping on insurance etc
Also opens up the whole US market which isn't tiny.

If you skip on the insurance and you did end up in hospital you could end up bankrupt. My sister is in the US, she told me of a couple who's daughter ended up in hospital for two weeks and they got a 1 million dollar bill; now they're bankrupt. The thing is they don't ask questions they'll just treat you and sort it out afterwards.

[SimonMac]

If you skip on the insurance and you did end up in hospital you could end up bankrupt. My sister is in the US, she told me of a couple who's daughter ended up in hospital for two weeks and they got a 1 million dollar bill; now they're bankrupt. The thing is they don't ask questions they'll just treat you and sort it out afterwards.

And so they should

[fullyautomatix]

If you skip on the insurance and you did end up in hospital you could end up bankrupt. My sister is in the US, she told me of a couple who's daughter ended up in hospital for two weeks and they got a 1 million dollar bill; now they're bankrupt. The thing is they don't ask questions they'll just treat you and sort it out afterwards.

The way it works is, if you have insurance, the hospital sends the bill to the insurance company. The insurance company have well trained operatives who will eventually get the bill down to 20% of the original bill.

If you have no insurance and if you dont query the bill you will get fleeced. I have heard stories of someone admitted for one day for a minor operation and billed 150K. The bill had lots of items for doctor visits that never happened. Upon querying all the items the bill got reduced to 25K ( which in itself is pretty big but that is another matter )

[BlasterBates]

Always have medical insurance in the US

don’t try your luck by going to the U.S. without adequate hospital insurance. If you don’t have insurance and suddenly need treatment, be prepared for a very bad experience.

[AtW]

So, is US medical insurance cheaper than around 26% NI tax in UK?

[DimPrawn]

So, is US medical insurance cheaper than around 26% NI tax in UK?

NI has nothing to do with funding the NHS.

NI and income tax go into the same pot and are spent on paying for gold plated public sector pensions. The NHS is paid for by borrowing and printing money.