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Feb 1, 2018
5,083
america is a broken country

also, it's cheaper to just drive or uber to the ER, + it increases your survival chances if you're critically injured. Johns Hopkins proved it in a study IIRC
 

SwitchedOff

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,516
As an ignorant outsider, can anyone explain to me why the American healthcare system rips people off so badly? Is it due to corruption, greed, government incompetence - or all of those?
 
Feb 1, 2018
5,083
As an ignorant outsider, can anyone explain to me why the American healthcare system rips people off so badly? Is it due to corruption, greed, government incompetence - or all of those?

The system definitely wants you to have healthcare, but they also want you to pay as much as possible for it. Because capitalism.

Broken system. I know a lot of people that just drive down to Mexico for dirt cheap healthcare that's on par with the US.
 

Lakeside

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,257
My insurance once tried to charge me for an $15,000 ambulance ride.

Their reasoning, the ambulance was out of network...

Not sure it was worth the $375/minute ride.

I have a friend that got a $10,000 bill for an out of network ambulance. Her kid got hurt at soccer practice and the coach called for an ambulance.

I'm not even sure why out of network ambulances are a thing because it's not like you get to research and choose.


I mean ok, but it was badly broken long before Trump.
 

MrKlaw

Member
Oct 25, 2017
33,191
america is a broken country

also, it's cheaper to just drive or uber to the ER, + it increases your survival chances if you're critically injured. Johns Hopkins proved it in a study IIRC

do Uber's have the necessary insurance to carry an injured person? What if you died during the trip, or the journey caused additional injury due to not being strapped in or whatever? Aren't you making the Uber driver liable?
 

TrueSloth

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,069
I mean ok, but it was badly broken long before Trump.
Yeah, in 2015 I spent a lot of hours being really angry at our healthcare system since I was playing hundreds of dollars a month for shitty insurance. So, its been a problem for a long time.
The ACA was a step in the right direction since no one could be denied coverage, the fact that it wasn't affordable for everyone was the biggest flaw.
I think a lot of people forgot about all the news about people who couldn't get health coverage because of pre existing conditions.

 

Lakeside

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,257
Yeah, in 2015 I spent a lot of hours being really angry at our healthcare system since I was playing hundreds of dollars a month for shitty insurance. So, its been a problem for a long time.
The ACA was a step in the right direction since no one could be denied coverage, the fact that it wasn't affordable for everyone was the biggest flaw.

And even the ACA changes had all kinds of crazy repercussions. It's like squeezing a balloon, it just moved problems around.

That's actually how I got kicked off my wife's good insurance, when her company was trying to figure out how t manage the cost increases.
 

Conciliator

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,152
That shit weights on my mind man. Right now I'm going to school, I got some money saved up, working on my music, and it's all good but if I fuckin broke my femur or something it would all change. And I have insurance.
 

Squarehard

Member
Oct 27, 2017
26,074
I have a friend that got a $10,000 bill for an out of network ambulance. Her kid got hurt at soccer practice and the coach called for an ambulance.

I'm not even sure why out of network ambulances are a thing because it's not like you get to research and choose.

I mean ok, but it was badly broken long before Trump.
I mean, it's insane since when you call 911, you don't ask for which ambulance for them to send over, which is basically the argument I made to my insurance company, and complained to high heaven until they decided to just drop that part of the bill.

So shitty.

I mean, the system has been broken for awhile, but from my perspective, we were beginning to step in the right direction at least a bit with ACA.

Wasn't perfect, still had some flaws, but it certainly shouldn't just be dismantled without an actual alternative as Trump has done since he came upon us.

Sure, he wasn't the reason it's been this bad, but he is the reason it's starting to go backwards again with his approach to ACA.
Naah shit was broken long before he got in the picture. Our healthcare is just a scam. My family went from comfortably middle class to dirt poor because of bullshit medical bills.
Indeed, but as I noted above, I do feel we were at least headed in the right direction, even if it still need tinkering with, but it can't be tinkered with if we start from scratch again, as it'll just be something even worse.

A foundation is better than creating out of thin air.
 

hans_castorp

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,459
Earlier this year I was faced with potentially having cancer and needed an ultrasound to see if there was something wrong.

Thankfully there wasn't. Unfortunately I received a $1,070 bill in the mail.

Had I known ahead of time that the price would be that high, I'm honestly not sure I would have gone in.
That's mess up. You can literally buy a crappy Ultrasound machine for less than 2000€.
Heck, ultrasound is the first choice for the diagnosis of many conditions for how unexpensive and fast it is.
Asking 1000$ for an ultrasound exam is crazy.
 

Psittacus

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,953
America's obsession with negative liberty at the expense of positive liberty is fucking disgusting
 
Feb 6, 2018
794
Unfathomable that this can happen in a first world country.

Fuck it, first world, third world, it's insane that a person would be forced to risk bleeding out or losing a limb to infection rather than go to a fucking hospital.
 
Oct 27, 2017
2,902
Scotland
What? National Health Care in the USA? B-b-ut what about all the jobs in the Health Sector, the hard-working patriots.....what a sec...I mean who pay for their heathcare all the fat Health industry CEOs who can't cash in on people's misery and grief?
 

Psychotext

Member
Oct 30, 2017
16,763
I've see this first hand in America and it's massively, massively depressing.

It's also why any time I visit I'm insured to some sort of comically high value just in case. As a mountain biker I'm guaranteed to be hurt at some point, so I'd rather not end up with a bill I would spend the rest of my life paying.
 
Oct 27, 2017
978
Many developing countries have universal healthcare yet the USA continues to lag behind. America, stop voting in people (Republicans) who are actively trying to kill you (by resisting any concept of socialised healthcare).
 

Doctor_Thomas

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,735
What an absolute joke.

If you can afford a multi billion dollar military, you can afford healthcare for everyone.
 

shaneo632

Weekend Planner
Member
Oct 29, 2017
29,067
Wrexham, Wales
America, land of freedom...

giphy.gif
 

DarkwaterV2

Member
Oct 26, 2017
274
Nothing new here, but it's a sad, sad state of affairs. This would be a real problem if ever I were to consider moving to the US.
 
Oct 27, 2017
8,794
I went to my doctor for the first time on my new employer's insurance for a check up and a last minute breath/lung test. When asked about paying they said "you're fine". "Great! This new insurance is nice", I thought. Then I got a bill for nearly $200 in the mail. Granted, I'm supposed to have an HSA card but can I even pay with it after the fact? Canceled my physical and don't look forward to having to go when my prescription runs out.

Sucks.
 

LogicAirForce

Member
Oct 25, 2017
937
Yeah fuck this country. I've already had the discussion with my family that if I get really sick I won't be seeking treatment. I already have a ton of medical debt and adding more would make it impossible for me to pay it off. I'd rather be dead than have to continue with that stress for the rest of my life. I have insurance but somehow they get to pick and choose what they pay for and what they don't.
 

petran79

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
3,025
Greece
I got a $2000 bill a year ago for cutting the very tip of my finger while chopping bacon. I was uninsured at the time, if I had known it would cost that much to get a finger cauterized and have a bandaid put on it I would have done it myself with a stove. The healthcare system in America may as well be the mafia.

With that money you could travel abroad and have a surgery (god bless)
 

Deleted member 7051

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,254
Y'know, I wondered why Chadwick flew Bilbo to Africa for a gunshot wound he acquired in America but now I understand - Hobbits obviously can't get insurance in America.
 

Jakten

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,773
Devil World, Toronto
I live in Canada and have a friend who lives in the US. For awhile he's been suicidally depressed and I researched all sorts of ways to be able to get him help in a crisis situation from where I am. Awhile back he called a crisis centre himself and they sent an ambulance when he felt he didn't need one and they kept him in the hospital for a mandatory 72 hour stay. Cost his family $6000. Part of his depression comes from his families money problems. Now I fear the next time he's standing next to a train frantically messaging me I have to weigh whether I should try to save his life or financially cripple his family more and that is one hell of a situation. Obviously I'd send him help but I could never not feel insurmountably guilty about it.
 

Powdered Egg

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
17,070
US Health insurance is a nightmare. This story sums up a lot of things.

Between my family's insurance company and the Dept of Health, all the employees come off as first time computer users who are using a version of DOS with no save function.
 

Donos

Member
Nov 15, 2017
6,542
Thing is, universal health care is not cheap...then i look at the over ridiculous military budget the US has, and think that a couple of jets (from R&D to production) and i little less of other stuff would be enough to give US citizens healtcare....
I'm not from the US so these threads about the US health system a really baffling.
 

skeptem

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,758
That's mess up. You can literally buy a crappy Ultrasound machine for less than 2000€.
Heck, ultrasound is the first choice for the diagnosis of many conditions for how unexpensive and fast it is.
Asking 1000$ for an ultrasound exam is crazy.
And that is with me being on the higher tier plan at my employer which covered the other $3k of the ultrasound and the interpretation from the doctor.

I'm just fortunate that we can afford a bill that size on a whim, but my brain instantly went to all the people who can't.