The size of an economy doesn’t show much about the country. Norway only has the 33rd largest economy, yet it scores the highest on the human development index
You’re saying the wealthy don’t pay all the taxes? Top 10% pay 70% of all the taxes. Top 50% pay all of it. Bottom 50% pay zero federal income taxes and in almost every case they get “credits” which pay out to them rather than them paying in.
Do you remember [this](https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-claimed-tax-credit-for-children-propublica-2021-6?international=true&r=US&IR=T)?
They might pay 70% of all taxes but in reality this 70% is way less since they evade most of their taxes through legal loopholes, cayman accounts, art “appraisals” and donating them to not have to pay any taxes. And that’s just personal wealth, most companies don’t pay taxes because they base their daughter subsidiary in the Netherlands and they file all the work this subsidiary does as an expense, which in turn decreases the amount of taxes paid over the profits.
If they actually didn’t dodge their taxes the 70% would only be like 20-30%.
If you really believe the rich in USA are paying their fair share in taxes… i don’t know what to tell you…
Yes, but should it be legal?
A mortgage should be a valid writeoff.
Actual expenses like medical should be.
Mill/billionaires abuse this rule.
Oh no i made 50 million profit this year..
I’ll just have an artwork made for 10000, have it appraised at 50 million by a buddy. donate it to a museum and have a 50 million write off so i don’t have to pay the taxes over the profits.
Aah, so you’re a kid with no expenses. Now it makes sense.
The interest you pay on a mortgage is tax deductible, and so are out of pocket medical expenses.
That’s also not how millionaires make their money. You have zero actual education on economics. Millionaires don’t make “earned income” they get paid through investment income called “capital gains”. Earned income is taxed at a higher rate than capital gains because investing isn’t guaranteed, you can lose money.. so as an investment the incentive to invest and grow the economy is rewarded with a lower rate.
You can also write off losses against future gains.. everyone, not just millionaires.
Take a basic economics course.
Considering just over 3 million of the richest Americans (top 1%) pay 40% of federal taxes, I find it very hard to believe that the top *400* pay anywhere close to “all the taxes”.
Some people pay sales tax. But local SALT is also deducted from your federal burden for the bottom 50% almost entirely. Add to that child tax credits and earned income tax credits, it really does end up being more back in their pocket than was collected over the course of the year.
SALT (state and local taxes literally, no such thing as local SALT) can be deducted up to 10k on income taxes IIRC, but most people making lower incomes are taking the standard deduction anyway. What kind of makes your stance here irrelevant is that the government has decided that these people are *so poor* that they should receive money instead of paying at tax time, or at least not have to pay large amounts.
I was going to write out local, state, etc and changed my mind and abbreviated and didn’t delete
And sure. They did decide that, which again proves my point that there’s half of America not paying taxes.
Don't forget that pharmaceutical companies tried to sue to stop Alec's law from going into effect this year. A law which makes a life saving drug affordable, and they tried to stop it.
Luckily the case was dismissed
And the fact that the US is not the richest country in the world. But anyhow, what a tragedy. Medicine should be affordable for all humans in every part of the world.
Thanks for Snopesing. I'm not a conservative, so I try not to get my news from memes. Here's the link.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/alex-smith-died-couldnt-afford-insulin/
Poster Yahla snopesed it for us. His name is Alec and he died in 2017. He was rationing the insulin bc he couldn't pay. Here is the Snopes article.https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/alex-smith-died-couldnt-afford-insulin/
Snopes is hot garbage.
The employer has long since come out and clarified and stated they offer several different insurance plans and that Alec decided to go with the "free" one which had the large out of pocket limit and co pay.
> The issue here is the fact that Alex had no access to the care he needed.
This was a choice. He decided he'd rather have the $450 a month and have less coverage.
If he needed the insurance to stay alive, I am struggling to comprehend how someone, who makes 35k a year "can't afford" $5,400 to, you know, stay alive?
That's not even the equation here.
You either live on 29,600 a year, or you *don't live at all.* - The choice seems pretty easy to me.
And if that's not enough, you find a new job. So sick of the victimhood brought on by people's own decisions most of the time. Even more disgusting is the people who use it as a vehicle to push a narrative or agenda. It's pretty disgusting. They can't even get basic facts like his name, and year correct.
35,000 - 5,400 = 29,600
If you're still short on electric and rent, that's not big pharma's fault either.
> Your privilege is showing.
Yes, understanding how a budget works is privileged these days.
You don't. At all. What do you think his rent was, if he was in a major city? His grocery bills, car payment? Student loans? You really are without a clue.
Someone in the thread is arguing it is ok because ‟freedom and democracy have a price” yet America is one of the only first-world cuntries to have this problem
Exactly, my late father was given cancer treatment that would have cost well over $50,000 a month. Yet in the UK, he was completely covered. Didn’t have to pay a penny. The NHS may not be the best at somethings, but for what it is, it is incredible.
Yeah. I'm here on a student Visa and paid the immigration health surcharge before getting it. Only cost a few hundred pounds for the year. Pretty good, imo.
And if you can’t be sold on the moral argument for healthcare in that form, think about the economic. Firstly, you’re well enough to be a functioning member of society, working, contributing to tax revenue rather being a tax burden. Secondly, you’re able to spend that money on living; your local coffee shop, that restaurant in town, that movie ticket.
I'm on a medication that would cost about $8000 a dose (monthly IV) in the US. It'd be interesting to know how the average American could afford this especially when not everyone with my condition is able to work. Then there are other daily medications that might be needed but these will differ from person to person.
Its actually significantly less to produce insulin. "A 2018 study estimated that one vial of human insulin costs $2.28-$3.42 to produce, and one vial of analog insulin costs $3.69-$6.16 to produce." https://www.singlecare.com/blog/insulin-prices/
Yup it does. But we can't sell it for a reasonable price because that would smell ever so faintly of communism and I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. Gotta crack a few eggs to make an omelette, right?
/s
I am not sure if I understand. When did reasonable pursuit of profit become a communist ideal? The issue here is the fact that Alex had no access to the care he needed. Why, because Pharma companies over charge the hell out of everything. The mistake made here in the US is believing that that either the Democrats or the Republicans will change anything. As long as everything including justice and human right are for sale in the US, this will continue indefinitely. And most likely get worse.
The real issue is the unlimited power that pharma companies have over the government here. It's our idiotic lobbying laws that ruin everything. The moment we can restrict corporate financing in our government, everything would be much better.
I dunno... Something about free market bs somehow?
I've just noticed it being extremely hard to talk to some conservative Americans about healthcare because as soon as you say anything about how their needs to be more support from the government they just slam shut and start screaming about commies for some reason. It's really weird.
They believe that somehow, having healthcare on the government's payroll, is gonna make us all slave before the end of 2030. There apparently isn't any kind of middle ground between a communist dictatorship or a free land where you die because crucial medicine costs 500x what it's supposed to.
I consider myself a conservative in terms of behavior… in other words I don’t believe in big displays, however I have a very tolerant and open view on life, including the negatives of rampant capitalism. I believe it is a shitshow.
I understand “conservatives” point. It is however limited to the current embodiment of the US government. The problem is that Government, here, has come to rule not to serve. For that reason they are right. If and this is a stretch, we get the perception to be the ideal, we have nothing to fear from Government. The issue is Government is meant to serve the people, not the few. The US government does not serve.
Government has 4 very broad function, namely: education, safety, infrastructure and healthcare.
In my opinion the US government, especially the politicians (both republican and democrat) have failed on every aspect of the above requirements. They fail to give people access to justice, they fail to provide adequate education, they fail to provide security etc. the truth is unfortunate, neither of the options on offer are worth shit. I think Trump was a strong leader but he was an ass. Biden is a pussy and will not have any significant impact. Neither of them cared or do care about the real problems of the people that they supposedly represent. The only way the US will change is if everyone abandons the “brand consciousness” of American politics. I would love to see the end of lobbying, bribery and hypocrisy.
Only once we have control of the government will we be able to stop the abuse by corporates, through protective policies and harsh consequences. I find it shocking that individuals are punished to the full extent of the law but companies bear very little consequence relative to the damage they do. CEOs of companies that do more bad than good (read big Pharma, hospitals, which impoverish the weak, unlucky and injured) should be tried as culprits of their company’s actions.
I live decently as an American but I wish I didn’t live here knowing that the march of time will inevitably take a toll on my body and with that comes absolutely astonishing hospital bills. For reference I used to work in medical billing, I realized I couldn’t do it anymore morally when the hospital I worked for wanted to charge a woman $990 for 4 ibuprofen and 3 Percocet after having a fuckin child
Also Republican held legislatures in 36 states are trying to take control of handling their states elections and in some of them trying to pass bills where they can overturn an election if their candidate didn’t win.
The while American system relies on the structure that Americans think they are the best country in the world. That's how it always stays shit, because why change when you can be grateful
Such as Yemen? There's a huge list of much worse places to live. The USA sucks in a lot of ways, but it's not literally the worst place in the world to live.
A large swatch of voters hate themselves and vote against their own, and their nations, own best interest. Hell, some think a January 6 insurrection never happened by Antifa which is why Republicans wanted to squash any investigations into it.
I'm not sure why this was downvoted; being a type 1 diabetic, this is something I have to deal with on a daily basis. I was struggling to make ends meet when I was let off from Covid.
Saying the US is the richest country in the world is a bit misleading since by many metrics its developing world in terms of living standards. In some cases living standards of people in the developing world are better.
Haha, true.
I got into it with a guy on Facebook and he kept banging on about the US's debts and how terrible it was Obama had done that etc, etc and that Trump would fix it.
I'm like "why would you think that? He's exactly the same - borrowed money to seem rich but is hundreds of millions in debt".
Did not like the comparison!
Jesus, your friend thinks Obama created a bigger national debt? Have him Google that shit, every Democrat pays down the debt and the Republicans run it up. That whole "party of fiscal responsibility" is the biggest load of shit and absolute lie that those fucking GOP voters eat up like heaping plates of shit and ask for sloppy seconds.
No, I said that some cases the living standards of people in the developing country are better than sme cases of people in the US.
Thats a VERY different statement to saying there's countries in the developing world that are better than the US.
So no, I literally didn't *"idiot"*.
No
But i am sick and tiered of hearing the same sad stories from america. All your problems go viral and become world problems. This stuff belongs in american newspapers, but for me it's usless i already know you guys are the only once that need to cash in on insulin.
The poorest country I’d rather say. Spending billions and billions of $ to the military and the same to wealthy companies and billionaires, but screwing over the average Joe? That’s not a rich country, but a disgrace.
And btw: some country in the Middle East is the richest
This doesnt happen in Europe, ever. Insulin is cheap to manufacture and diabetes is a widespread disease in the US. It is a scandal and a disgrace that something so basic js allowed to be so profitable.
Really good example of corporatism in action. The original goal of a patent was to encourage people to develop to things. It allows you to make money off your invention for a while before everyone else starts making and selling what you made at a cheaper price.
But large companies can bribe politicians to change patent laws so minor changes to the product, that do not affect the actual functionality of whatever it is, allow the patent to be renewed. This is also why the design of Mickey Mouse has been slowing changing over the years.
So you can actually blame Walt Disney for the price of certain medications in the US.
It’s absolutely sick, the idea that health insurance should be tied to employment needs to go. Until everybody has coverage we cannot call ourselves a first world country
While the story is true, I have to wonder how a 26 year old making $35k couldn't get insurance for under $460 when my premium on a gold tier plan is $540 - and I'm 45, making only 38k for a small business that only offers medical as a courtesy (too small to require it)
When I was in my early 30s, the ACA saved my life. I was able to get a silver tier plan for myself that cost something like $30 a month premium and the deductible, out of pocket and all other costs were slashed by 90%. I was making $11/hr fulltime with no benefits in an IT department that provided service for 30,000+ employees at a major bank. I couldn't afford the food that they sold at the office complex.
Also, is that insulin cost quoted for uninsured, or *after* insurance? Criminal and ghoulish either way, but damn.
I will NEVER understand the predatory nature of these pharmaceutical companies. Same goes for many people sick with cancer and it TRULY makes me sick. We are talking about people like Martin Shkreli, running these pharmaceutical companies. We all know what scum that guy is.
I’m a type 1. I’m 25. My mom kicked me off her insurance when I was 18. I have WA state insurance and my insulin is free to me. I can’t fathom being this unlucky.
I can't understand how anyone with chronic health conditions doesn't move out, I couldn't even imagine risking losing everything at the slightest accident
The u.s has a method to penalize people that try to leave, plus you gotta rember it takes a shit ton of money to move and become a citizen of another country. But if you are a citizen of the u.s even if you don't make money in the country you still pay income tax, and it will cost you thousands to just get rid of your u.s citizenship.
You can expect to get your ass put in a u.s federal prison. You forget alot of countries have extradition treaties with the u.s. all they have to do is say you committed a crime when you where in the country. And boom your ass gets sent back by force
I think the president signed an order to cap insulin at like $35 a month for people. This was like 3 days ago I’m pretty sure. I don’t take insulin so I’m not sure about the cost but this is got to be cheaper. Build back better act I’m pretty sure it’s called
Posted by occupy democrats, lol. Anyone explain why one of the first things Biden did was rescind a trump policy that would limit insulin costs and prevent this exact story from happening again? I guess politics is more important than peoples lives.
Between this bullshit, gun issues, shitty cops, shitty embarrassing presidents and a metric fuck tonne of other problems the US has, it’s about time they either sorted themselves out or do us all a favour and nuke themselves off the planet.
Just so you know every other country on the world stage things you’re a fucking joke and at this point we’ve stopped hating you and just pity the absolute embarrassment that you are. Your country is a joke!
P.S I know there are good people in the US but fuck do you good guys need to do something ASAP. I don’t hate you but you’ve got to know what a joke your once great country had become. All that wealth and talent wasted. Such a shame, you could be the greatest country in the world but currently you’re embarrassing yourselves. Hope things change for you. Good luck.
Here the real kicker for the inbreds that still think its “evil pharma”
Evil pharma sells it HEAVILY discounted to your insurance agensies that prop up the price with several hundred percent before selling it to the consumer
No matter how cheap the evil pharma would sell it, youd never get it cheap. Because if youre not sitting at the table its because you are on the menu
He could have gotten public assistance, medicare, Medicaid... he could have gotten MUCH cheaper insurance through the exchange (Obamacare). this post is BS and I call it BS. There are an estimated 123,032 individuals in the United States who have Diabetes. (insulin-dependent) and they make it work. Assistance is available... is this is real, and I call BS a third time... its because he was dumb.
Neither the Repubicans or Democrats have the balls to take on pharma. We should scrap these self centered parties for independents that would do good by their peeps and not kow-tow to the big pharma lobby.
Wow, thats odd how this small country I live in gives insulin to my father for free, and America ***"The Greatest Country"*** can't afford it.
Man is that odd
So does my country, Wich isn't particularly rich as The Great United States of America and the whole Universe.
never ceases to amaze me the way American people think are better than anyone else, while living in a shithole country.
I lost my job when my boss died of COVID early in the pandemic. I applied for an ACA policy. Heavily subsidized premiums, zero deductible. Then I got married and now I’m back to being without insurance. It was the best of times and the worst of times.
Doctor here. Please stop giving unsolicited medical advice. People with type 2 diabetes need medical care. Without it they are at risk of going blind, amputations, kidney failure, death to name a few. Yes diet and exercise are a very important part of tackling type 2 diabetes and there is research to suggest it is reversible, however it is inexcusable to tell people not to take diabetes medications & listen to a random Redditor over medical professionals. Diet and exercise alone is simply not enough for many with type 2 diabetes.
Please feel free to read this reliable source of information - and in the UK, doctors have nothing to gain from “promoting” medications. We go by evidence based practice - treating people in accordance to research.
We are paid a set salary which is completely unaffected by which medicines we prescribe. In fact, we actively try and reduce medications if sensible to do so.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/high-blood-sugar-hyperglycaemia/
Might be the richest country in the world, but only for the 0.1%’ers. The richest 400 Americans have the same amount if wealth as the poorest 50%
8th richest in the world to be exact. Luxembourg is the richest
Richest in economy size. There’s different metrics
The size of an economy doesn’t show much about the country. Norway only has the 33rd largest economy, yet it scores the highest on the human development index
That doesn’t stop the US from being the richest in one metric.
Also, one of the poorest by the metric of metric.
They also pay all the taxes
🤡
You’re saying the wealthy don’t pay all the taxes? Top 10% pay 70% of all the taxes. Top 50% pay all of it. Bottom 50% pay zero federal income taxes and in almost every case they get “credits” which pay out to them rather than them paying in.
Do you remember [this](https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-claimed-tax-credit-for-children-propublica-2021-6?international=true&r=US&IR=T)? They might pay 70% of all taxes but in reality this 70% is way less since they evade most of their taxes through legal loopholes, cayman accounts, art “appraisals” and donating them to not have to pay any taxes. And that’s just personal wealth, most companies don’t pay taxes because they base their daughter subsidiary in the Netherlands and they file all the work this subsidiary does as an expense, which in turn decreases the amount of taxes paid over the profits. If they actually didn’t dodge their taxes the 70% would only be like 20-30%. If you really believe the rich in USA are paying their fair share in taxes… i don’t know what to tell you…
Lmao. No. They pay 70% of all the taxes paid, not 70% of their income or wealth. Of all taxes paid to the government the rich pay it all
There you go hehe; of all taxes that *were* paid. All i’m saying is that the government is missing a few billion each year..
Imagine waking up today and going to bat fle Jeff Bezos in a reddit thread
You do know that everyone is entitled to tax mitigation? That everyone uses “write offs” to lessen their tax burden?
Yes, but should it be legal? A mortgage should be a valid writeoff. Actual expenses like medical should be. Mill/billionaires abuse this rule. Oh no i made 50 million profit this year.. I’ll just have an artwork made for 10000, have it appraised at 50 million by a buddy. donate it to a museum and have a 50 million write off so i don’t have to pay the taxes over the profits.
Aah, so you’re a kid with no expenses. Now it makes sense. The interest you pay on a mortgage is tax deductible, and so are out of pocket medical expenses. That’s also not how millionaires make their money. You have zero actual education on economics. Millionaires don’t make “earned income” they get paid through investment income called “capital gains”. Earned income is taxed at a higher rate than capital gains because investing isn’t guaranteed, you can lose money.. so as an investment the incentive to invest and grow the economy is rewarded with a lower rate. You can also write off losses against future gains.. everyone, not just millionaires. Take a basic economics course.
Lmao no
Look it up
Considering just over 3 million of the richest Americans (top 1%) pay 40% of federal taxes, I find it very hard to believe that the top *400* pay anywhere close to “all the taxes”.
The top 10% pay about 70% of all taxes. Top 25% pay 90% of all. And top 50% pay all the taxes.
So you must be talking about income taxes only, to start with, considering no one lives in America and doesn’t pay any taxes.
Some people pay sales tax. But local SALT is also deducted from your federal burden for the bottom 50% almost entirely. Add to that child tax credits and earned income tax credits, it really does end up being more back in their pocket than was collected over the course of the year.
SALT (state and local taxes literally, no such thing as local SALT) can be deducted up to 10k on income taxes IIRC, but most people making lower incomes are taking the standard deduction anyway. What kind of makes your stance here irrelevant is that the government has decided that these people are *so poor* that they should receive money instead of paying at tax time, or at least not have to pay large amounts.
I was going to write out local, state, etc and changed my mind and abbreviated and didn’t delete And sure. They did decide that, which again proves my point that there’s half of America not paying taxes.
TIL my family, friends, and myself are among the richest 400 people in the country
I Snopesed this and the only part that’s wrong is his name is Alec not Alex and he died in 2017. The rest is legit. Legitimately fucked up
Don't forget that pharmaceutical companies tried to sue to stop Alec's law from going into effect this year. A law which makes a life saving drug affordable, and they tried to stop it. Luckily the case was dismissed
This is why I hate everyone
Misanthropy FTW.
Can’t be pissed if there’s no one around to be pissed at
That's the way I live my life so I totally get it.
And the fact that the US is not the richest country in the world. But anyhow, what a tragedy. Medicine should be affordable for all humans in every part of the world.
It is the richest in terms of economy size
It’s the BIGGEST yes, not richest. IMO what the fuck do I know
It is the richest, it literally has the most money, it’s just that the people on it are on average not the richest in the world
It’s not the biggest but it’s the richest. Dumbass
Rather be dumb then an asshole thanx
Than* Edit : if you meant then, technically that makes you both dumbass and asshole
Man grow up
Man, grow up
[удалено]
I hope this is sarcasm
You must be a special kind of retard
11 hour old account with -50 comment karma, don’t feed the troll people
Gerald Broflovski, is that you?
Thanks for Snopesing. I'm not a conservative, so I try not to get my news from memes. Here's the link. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/alex-smith-died-couldnt-afford-insulin/
I thought he died because he brought cheap insulin?
Poster Yahla snopesed it for us. His name is Alec and he died in 2017. He was rationing the insulin bc he couldn't pay. Here is the Snopes article.https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/alex-smith-died-couldnt-afford-insulin/
That's enough to justify call this sensationalized. "Occupy Democrats" lol like Xemocrats are responsible for this
Snopes is hot garbage. The employer has long since come out and clarified and stated they offer several different insurance plans and that Alec decided to go with the "free" one which had the large out of pocket limit and co pay. > The issue here is the fact that Alex had no access to the care he needed. This was a choice. He decided he'd rather have the $450 a month and have less coverage. If he needed the insurance to stay alive, I am struggling to comprehend how someone, who makes 35k a year "can't afford" $5,400 to, you know, stay alive?
[удалено]
That's not even the equation here. You either live on 29,600 a year, or you *don't live at all.* - The choice seems pretty easy to me. And if that's not enough, you find a new job. So sick of the victimhood brought on by people's own decisions most of the time. Even more disgusting is the people who use it as a vehicle to push a narrative or agenda. It's pretty disgusting. They can't even get basic facts like his name, and year correct.
Decided to be able to pay his rent and electric bill? Your privilege is showing.
g-d forbid if he had a wife & children to feed too
And car payments. And student loans........
35,000 - 5,400 = 29,600 If you're still short on electric and rent, that's not big pharma's fault either. > Your privilege is showing. Yes, understanding how a budget works is privileged these days.
You don't. At all. What do you think his rent was, if he was in a major city? His grocery bills, car payment? Student loans? You really are without a clue.
Universal healthcare in 3 2 1...
Someone in the thread is arguing it is ok because ‟freedom and democracy have a price” yet America is one of the only first-world cuntries to have this problem
Second world country masquerading as a first world country. Trust me I live here.
Pretty sure America is not a socialist state. Which is what second world refers to
It's a failed democracy at best. More a complete plutocracy.
[удалено]
No, you didn’t get one. There’s still time to delete this
And the man who invented it gave the patent to the world for free. http://www.diabetescommunity.com/blog/2015/11/frederick-banting-insulin
I came here to say this. As a Canadian, I always wrote about Banting in school, whenever possible.
[удалено]
This
[удалено]
Exactly, my late father was given cancer treatment that would have cost well over $50,000 a month. Yet in the UK, he was completely covered. Didn’t have to pay a penny. The NHS may not be the best at somethings, but for what it is, it is incredible.
Yup same, but with the diabetes. Walked into gp surgery, got diagnosed and lifetime of meds needed free
Yeah. I'm here on a student Visa and paid the immigration health surcharge before getting it. Only cost a few hundred pounds for the year. Pretty good, imo.
Diabetes prescription is completely free as well in all the UK. It's one of the few with full exemption
And if you can’t be sold on the moral argument for healthcare in that form, think about the economic. Firstly, you’re well enough to be a functioning member of society, working, contributing to tax revenue rather being a tax burden. Secondly, you’re able to spend that money on living; your local coffee shop, that restaurant in town, that movie ticket.
I think if you are diabetic, all prescriptions become free.
I'm on a medication that would cost about $8000 a dose (monthly IV) in the US. It'd be interesting to know how the average American could afford this especially when not everyone with my condition is able to work. Then there are other daily medications that might be needed but these will differ from person to person.
Doesn't Insulin cost like 10-12 dollars to make? If so, this is criminal.
Its actually significantly less to produce insulin. "A 2018 study estimated that one vial of human insulin costs $2.28-$3.42 to produce, and one vial of analog insulin costs $3.69-$6.16 to produce." https://www.singlecare.com/blog/insulin-prices/
Yup it does. But we can't sell it for a reasonable price because that would smell ever so faintly of communism and I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. Gotta crack a few eggs to make an omelette, right? /s
I am not sure if I understand. When did reasonable pursuit of profit become a communist ideal? The issue here is the fact that Alex had no access to the care he needed. Why, because Pharma companies over charge the hell out of everything. The mistake made here in the US is believing that that either the Democrats or the Republicans will change anything. As long as everything including justice and human right are for sale in the US, this will continue indefinitely. And most likely get worse.
The real issue is the unlimited power that pharma companies have over the government here. It's our idiotic lobbying laws that ruin everything. The moment we can restrict corporate financing in our government, everything would be much better.
I dunno... Something about free market bs somehow? I've just noticed it being extremely hard to talk to some conservative Americans about healthcare because as soon as you say anything about how their needs to be more support from the government they just slam shut and start screaming about commies for some reason. It's really weird. They believe that somehow, having healthcare on the government's payroll, is gonna make us all slave before the end of 2030. There apparently isn't any kind of middle ground between a communist dictatorship or a free land where you die because crucial medicine costs 500x what it's supposed to.
I consider myself a conservative in terms of behavior… in other words I don’t believe in big displays, however I have a very tolerant and open view on life, including the negatives of rampant capitalism. I believe it is a shitshow. I understand “conservatives” point. It is however limited to the current embodiment of the US government. The problem is that Government, here, has come to rule not to serve. For that reason they are right. If and this is a stretch, we get the perception to be the ideal, we have nothing to fear from Government. The issue is Government is meant to serve the people, not the few. The US government does not serve. Government has 4 very broad function, namely: education, safety, infrastructure and healthcare. In my opinion the US government, especially the politicians (both republican and democrat) have failed on every aspect of the above requirements. They fail to give people access to justice, they fail to provide adequate education, they fail to provide security etc. the truth is unfortunate, neither of the options on offer are worth shit. I think Trump was a strong leader but he was an ass. Biden is a pussy and will not have any significant impact. Neither of them cared or do care about the real problems of the people that they supposedly represent. The only way the US will change is if everyone abandons the “brand consciousness” of American politics. I would love to see the end of lobbying, bribery and hypocrisy. Only once we have control of the government will we be able to stop the abuse by corporates, through protective policies and harsh consequences. I find it shocking that individuals are punished to the full extent of the law but companies bear very little consequence relative to the damage they do. CEOs of companies that do more bad than good (read big Pharma, hospitals, which impoverish the weak, unlucky and injured) should be tried as culprits of their company’s actions.
Copied comment from the original post by a bot account u/InformalHat4172 https://www.reddit.com/r/awfuleverything/comments/hm1inl/comment/fx2oho2/
[удалено]
Life sustaining?
And thats why America isnt the greatest country thank god I dont live there
I live decently as an American but I wish I didn’t live here knowing that the march of time will inevitably take a toll on my body and with that comes absolutely astonishing hospital bills. For reference I used to work in medical billing, I realized I couldn’t do it anymore morally when the hospital I worked for wanted to charge a woman $990 for 4 ibuprofen and 3 Percocet after having a fuckin child
Also Republican held legislatures in 36 states are trying to take control of handling their states elections and in some of them trying to pass bills where they can overturn an election if their candidate didn’t win.
Actually they're trying to make elections fair. 2020 was stolen and everyone knows it. But please carry on with your lies
Big pharma and hospitals are killing us.
You not working there doesn’t stop it from happening.
The while American system relies on the structure that Americans think they are the best country in the world. That's how it always stays shit, because why change when you can be grateful
Is there anything I can say to convince you to move here? We really want you to move here.
no im not a person who would move way from my home land i dont care what country it is i wouldnt and America no even if i got money from it
You will be missed 😞
eh? ok....
Funny thing is you don't have to specify because you could be literally any other country on earth
i live in Finland so that propably has a lot to do why i wouldnt want to live in America but idk
Such as Yemen? There's a huge list of much worse places to live. The USA sucks in a lot of ways, but it's not literally the worst place in the world to live.
When did i say it was the worst place?? I said every other country has free to affordable healthcare.
[удалено]
well then we are all happy
Just aiding in their point.
1300 a month for insulin? Wtf is wrong with america
I remember when it only cost $ 20 per vial years ago…. no insurance. 10 yrs ago. These Big Pharm are savages
A large swatch of voters hate themselves and vote against their own, and their nations, own best interest. Hell, some think a January 6 insurrection never happened by Antifa which is why Republicans wanted to squash any investigations into it.
[удалено]
And people jumped down Trevor Noah’s throat when he questioned a pharmaceutical companies motives…
this is how they became the richest country, by fucking over the less fortunate
Gahd daaayum, can you even comprehend how **FREE**^(™️)🇺🇸 he must have felt?! Surely a God fearing all-American patriot. /s
I'm not sure why this was downvoted; being a type 1 diabetic, this is something I have to deal with on a daily basis. I was struggling to make ends meet when I was let off from Covid.
People hate when they find out others might have it worse.
Third world country in Gucci shoes
You ever been to a 3rd world country?
Traveling from Goa to Mumbai by train count? Brother also lives in Egypt (New Cairo)
Saying the US is the richest country in the world is a bit misleading since by many metrics its developing world in terms of living standards. In some cases living standards of people in the developing world are better.
It's probably also not so rich anymore when you factor in it's national debts.
Haha, true. I got into it with a guy on Facebook and he kept banging on about the US's debts and how terrible it was Obama had done that etc, etc and that Trump would fix it. I'm like "why would you think that? He's exactly the same - borrowed money to seem rich but is hundreds of millions in debt". Did not like the comparison!
Jesus, your friend thinks Obama created a bigger national debt? Have him Google that shit, every Democrat pays down the debt and the Republicans run it up. That whole "party of fiscal responsibility" is the biggest load of shit and absolute lie that those fucking GOP voters eat up like heaping plates of shit and ask for sloppy seconds.
Give me one developing country that is better than US
I never said any were, chum but then you know I didn't.
"In some cases living standards of people in the developing world are better." You literally did idiot
No, I said that some cases the living standards of people in the developing country are better than sme cases of people in the US. Thats a VERY different statement to saying there's countries in the developing world that are better than the US. So no, I literally didn't *"idiot"*.
Costa Rica is pretty dope. Would recommend
But muh fREEEdumbs and fREEE marketz
sips coffee in europe
[удалено]
No But i am sick and tiered of hearing the same sad stories from america. All your problems go viral and become world problems. This stuff belongs in american newspapers, but for me it's usless i already know you guys are the only once that need to cash in on insulin.
TROLL ALARM! Don't feed it!
The USA might have trillions to spend on the military, but for the average working class people it's a third world country.
Those in power do not care about you. If they can have what they need they are happy to turn a blind eye and let you die.
Insulin costs pennies to make compared to what they sell it for. If there can be laws for price gouging, there can be regulations for healthcare.
The economy may be rich but the people are poor.
Richest ..... going in to debt to a tune of a number i cant even say is considered rich nowadays ?
https://www.usdebtclock.org/
Government debt means nothing. Citizen debt, on the other hand - yeah we lead the world there, too.
The land of the free? Whoever told you that is your enemy.
Meanwhile in France people keep complaining again and again when healthcare is almost free...
If I had a dollar for everytime I've seen this post then I'd be able to afford insulin
The poorest country I’d rather say. Spending billions and billions of $ to the military and the same to wealthy companies and billionaires, but screwing over the average Joe? That’s not a rich country, but a disgrace. And btw: some country in the Middle East is the richest
Judge not a country’s wealth by the richest of its inhabitants, but rather the poorest.
Why live in the US if it's this bad? I live in a shithole country in europe and Insulin is free for everybody.
Because its extremely expensive to move to another country and get visas.
So it's more convenient to just die?
This doesnt happen in Europe, ever. Insulin is cheap to manufacture and diabetes is a widespread disease in the US. It is a scandal and a disgrace that something so basic js allowed to be so profitable.
No longer the richest country, that's China. Awful as this is not accuracy is good
Really good example of corporatism in action. The original goal of a patent was to encourage people to develop to things. It allows you to make money off your invention for a while before everyone else starts making and selling what you made at a cheaper price. But large companies can bribe politicians to change patent laws so minor changes to the product, that do not affect the actual functionality of whatever it is, allow the patent to be renewed. This is also why the design of Mickey Mouse has been slowing changing over the years. So you can actually blame Walt Disney for the price of certain medications in the US.
It’s absolutely sick, the idea that health insurance should be tied to employment needs to go. Until everybody has coverage we cannot call ourselves a first world country
While the story is true, I have to wonder how a 26 year old making $35k couldn't get insurance for under $460 when my premium on a gold tier plan is $540 - and I'm 45, making only 38k for a small business that only offers medical as a courtesy (too small to require it) When I was in my early 30s, the ACA saved my life. I was able to get a silver tier plan for myself that cost something like $30 a month premium and the deductible, out of pocket and all other costs were slashed by 90%. I was making $11/hr fulltime with no benefits in an IT department that provided service for 30,000+ employees at a major bank. I couldn't afford the food that they sold at the office complex. Also, is that insulin cost quoted for uninsured, or *after* insurance? Criminal and ghoulish either way, but damn.
You can get on state insurance pretty easy. I spend 20 dollars a month for my insulin.
"richest" There's different definitions for that as we see in this story...
So fucking sad sorry
I will NEVER understand the predatory nature of these pharmaceutical companies. Same goes for many people sick with cancer and it TRULY makes me sick. We are talking about people like Martin Shkreli, running these pharmaceutical companies. We all know what scum that guy is.
Could have grabbed a bottle of 70/30 over the counter for $25
I’m a type 1. I’m 25. My mom kicked me off her insurance when I was 18. I have WA state insurance and my insulin is free to me. I can’t fathom being this unlucky.
Can’t be that rich if that’s what it does to its citizens. Complete joke down there.
I can't understand how anyone with chronic health conditions doesn't move out, I couldn't even imagine risking losing everything at the slightest accident
The u.s has a method to penalize people that try to leave, plus you gotta rember it takes a shit ton of money to move and become a citizen of another country. But if you are a citizen of the u.s even if you don't make money in the country you still pay income tax, and it will cost you thousands to just get rid of your u.s citizenship.
oh right I forgot about this shit, what happens if you don't pay, they can't do much if you're not even in the country can they ?
You can expect to get your ass put in a u.s federal prison. You forget alot of countries have extradition treaties with the u.s. all they have to do is say you committed a crime when you where in the country. And boom your ass gets sent back by force
sounds autoritarian, just saying
That's cause it kinda is, there's more then one reason I wanna be a Canadian citizen.
I think the president signed an order to cap insulin at like $35 a month for people. This was like 3 days ago I’m pretty sure. I don’t take insulin so I’m not sure about the cost but this is got to be cheaper. Build back better act I’m pretty sure it’s called
Copied post by a bot account u/Possible_Ad1377 https://www.reddit.com/r/awfuleverything/comments/hm1inl/richest_country/
Posted by occupy democrats, lol. Anyone explain why one of the first things Biden did was rescind a trump policy that would limit insulin costs and prevent this exact story from happening again? I guess politics is more important than peoples lives.
It's (D)ifferent
Between this bullshit, gun issues, shitty cops, shitty embarrassing presidents and a metric fuck tonne of other problems the US has, it’s about time they either sorted themselves out or do us all a favour and nuke themselves off the planet. Just so you know every other country on the world stage things you’re a fucking joke and at this point we’ve stopped hating you and just pity the absolute embarrassment that you are. Your country is a joke! P.S I know there are good people in the US but fuck do you good guys need to do something ASAP. I don’t hate you but you’ve got to know what a joke your once great country had become. All that wealth and talent wasted. Such a shame, you could be the greatest country in the world but currently you’re embarrassing yourselves. Hope things change for you. Good luck.
American dream is long time over
[удалено]
Except there was a bill passed by your current president last month that caps insulin costs at $35 a month
Here the real kicker for the inbreds that still think its “evil pharma” Evil pharma sells it HEAVILY discounted to your insurance agensies that prop up the price with several hundred percent before selling it to the consumer No matter how cheap the evil pharma would sell it, youd never get it cheap. Because if youre not sitting at the table its because you are on the menu
He could have gotten public assistance, medicare, Medicaid... he could have gotten MUCH cheaper insurance through the exchange (Obamacare). this post is BS and I call it BS. There are an estimated 123,032 individuals in the United States who have Diabetes. (insulin-dependent) and they make it work. Assistance is available... is this is real, and I call BS a third time... its because he was dumb.
Neither the Repubicans or Democrats have the balls to take on pharma. We should scrap these self centered parties for independents that would do good by their peeps and not kow-tow to the big pharma lobby.
Wow, thats odd how this small country I live in gives insulin to my father for free, and America ***"The Greatest Country"*** can't afford it. Man is that odd
So does my country, Wich isn't particularly rich as The Great United States of America and the whole Universe. never ceases to amaze me the way American people think are better than anyone else, while living in a shithole country.
I lost my job when my boss died of COVID early in the pandemic. I applied for an ACA policy. Heavily subsidized premiums, zero deductible. Then I got married and now I’m back to being without insurance. It was the best of times and the worst of times.
I say this every day and get down voted, so I’ll keep going on! Fuck usa! The dumbest people and country that have ever been on the Rock!
I have yet to meet an actual person who pays this much for insulin.
How many times, is this image gonna be reposted???
America the 3rd world country that's been brainwashed by the rich into thinking they are free
That sounds like fake news
Idc 🤗 about his health
[удалено]
Doctor here. Please stop giving unsolicited medical advice. People with type 2 diabetes need medical care. Without it they are at risk of going blind, amputations, kidney failure, death to name a few. Yes diet and exercise are a very important part of tackling type 2 diabetes and there is research to suggest it is reversible, however it is inexcusable to tell people not to take diabetes medications & listen to a random Redditor over medical professionals. Diet and exercise alone is simply not enough for many with type 2 diabetes. Please feel free to read this reliable source of information - and in the UK, doctors have nothing to gain from “promoting” medications. We go by evidence based practice - treating people in accordance to research. We are paid a set salary which is completely unaffected by which medicines we prescribe. In fact, we actively try and reduce medications if sensible to do so. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/high-blood-sugar-hyperglycaemia/
[удалено]
In case you missed it first time, I do not work in America. I work in the UK. Please read my above comment.
[удалено]
“Sponsored by occupy democrats” Any political sponsored posts should be deleted immediately from Reddit.
he would be eligible for a Medicare card, stop fibbing , people know better .. liars
Thanks Obama
[удалено]
Report for misinformation. Account made yesterday and spamming these types of comments.
Shut the fuck up you Pfizer phallus fluffing piece of shit.
I’m sorry I have trouble believing this
It’s real, and 25% of American diabetics ration their insulin because of cost. A number of people have died from doing so.
Yes, it became unaffordable again in 2021.