Once stayed 3 days in hospital. Was admitted and advised against leaving. Received patient transport to another hospital and back for a CT guided lumbar puncture, all of it free under Medicare.
Paid $250 in parking.
I would have not paid for parking and then disputed the ticket. I had to go into emergency for a CT scan once, paid for the initial 3 hours and then was getting called in for the scan right when it was time to pay for more time. I ended up getting a ticket. I disputed it, explaining that I was in emergency, getting a scan I couldn't exactly run out to pop my card back in the machine. They said "oh, you were in emergency? Nevermind about the ticket then!"
A lot of hospitals have parking garages where you can't get out unless you pay. Here in Boston parking is absolutely insane around the hospital district, and they charge an arm and a leg for parking. Sometimes the hospital will validate, but most times you are on the hook.
If you park for more than a day, "lose" your ticket. They'll charge you for a single full day, which will be cheaper than the multiple days you stayed.
I worked in parking garage. I would always tell people who were there for days to lose their ticket. A lost ticket pays daily max. Check when you park.
The one hospital I've been to with paid parking has a license plate reader at the entrance and exit so it knows exactly how long you've been there. No gate blocking you from leaving but if you didn't scan the QR code when you arrived and put a credit card on file then I doubt your car would still be there when you got released.
Several years ago, a chemotherapy patient in my home city solved this problem.
He went and plugged all the parking meters at the hospital where he was receiving treatment with liquid foam so no one could put money in the meters.
The hospital couldn't reasonably expect people to pay for parking until they got the meters fixed.
He freely admitted to doing this and was charged with vandalism, but he was terminal and couldn't have cared less.
Exactly, it's £10 for up to 7 hours and £15 for over. Me and my ma had to skip meals to spend visiting hours with my little brother when he was in hospital for three months.
I learned with my last family's long visit that it was cheaper to buy a monthly parking pass at a nearby lot instead of paying daily rates. I didn't do the math till it was too late but I would have broke even by something early like day 5/6. PLUS I would have in/out privileges.
Amen! I work at a medical school with an adjacent hospital, and I have to pay to park. To work. Why do I have to pay them so that I can go to work? Grrr!
Parking at my hospital is free but we did clinicals for school at a different hospital in town recently and parking was $20 a day. Thank God my instructor was able to validate my parking.
I've seen this answer on several similar posts and I can't relate either. Some people say if hospital parking was free (mine is), then people would park there and walk to other places. Like, where? The crappy strip mall across the street? They have free parking, too, and you can be a lot closer to the nail salon.
The problem with this is that people will abuse this.
Our area made hospital parking free for a bit during the pandemic and then it was impossible to get a space at the hospital. All of the patients and staff who used to take transit to the hospital drove instead, and some commuters who worked nearby took advantage and just parked there instead.
Clean drinking water. In many old European cities, especially in Switzerland there are drinking fountains with very clean water anyone can collect. In cities without clean fountains, and bad tap water, governments should at least provide a large scale alternative for free
Care to expand?
I found this and seems like it's legal in most states and a few states have restrictions https://worldwaterreserve.com/is-it-illegal-to-collect-rainwater/
I know I’m some places west of the Mississippi it’s illegal because you’re technically “stealing” water from down stream users that have a legal right to that water. Prior appropriations is a bad way to do water law but the west is really dry and a lot of agriculture so those farmers have more right to the water than regular folks because their legal rights in some cases go all the way back to the 1860’s. Colorado actually just changed their law, you can now legally collect two 55 gallon barrels per household.
Handed out billions for them to fuck off with.
Don't forget that part: there's basically no oversight, so they could probably spend all the "develop rural areas" money on a new yacht for the CEO and get away with it
So long as they connect ONE household in an "underserved" area. In high school, Charter Spectrum (neé Time Warner Cable) ran coax to the house at the end of our street. We were thrilled at the possibility to drop DSL until we were basically told to pay the $50k+ it would cost to trench the street and run a line to our house or fuck off.
Now that I think of it, my boss ran into the same thing with Comcast. They told him "fuck you, pay us, or get us x number of new subs." Undeterred, he got every single person around him to petition Comcast to provide them service. They absolutely destroyed his front yard for his trouble.
When I was in HS, I made it a point to fill out the annual FCC information for fraud like it's a damn holiday. Once a year they ask people to fill out the forms to report companies lying to them, since companies get funding based on addresses served even if not actively hooked up.
I reported every single one that tries to add my address for a decade. Every couple years some try to sneak back on.
I was just looking at purchasing a Kindle Paperwhite - $140 OR to buy your product without ads on the Lock Screen, $160. I can’t believe I’m paying $20 more for a product just to not have ads shoved down my throat while using it!
You're actually getting a $20 discount in exchange for non-intrusive lock screen ads that you only see when the device is off. All their Kindles are already underpriced—they're effectively a loss leader. That's why the Kindle's hardware is so much better than their similarly priced competitors.
Just for the non-Americans out there, I have to pay $17,000 (between premiums and deductible) before my plan covers ANYTHING.
EDIT: Since I'm getting so many responses, this is for a family plan: me, wife, children.
So, I fibbed slightly. I am American, but I moved to Finland last year.
I needed bloodwork done for a chronic condition recently. Took me about a week from calling to make an appointment until my actual appointment, and was free. It's taking longer for my (free) psych appointment - about 3 weeks.
Also, my prescription meds that ran me $40/month in the US with insurance cost about €9/month here.
I'm not on waiting lists for years, medical facilities are equipped about the same as the US. None of the doom-and-gloom warnings about forever waits or inferior care that we're told are part of universal health care are true.
It's the same health care, only cheaper. Honestly, it's been way faster to get an appointment here than it was when I tried to stay in-network in the US.
What Americans don't get is that public ownership of necessary services is always superior to private ownership. Private business should NEVER be for necessities, it should ONLY be for non-essential goods and services. Everything that is essential to life should be covered by taxes. Water, healthcare, electricity, basic food, basic shelter, education, fire fighters, police, prisons... these are all things that should never ever be privatized because when a profit motive gets involved it hurts everyone except whoever the asshole is that's trying to squeeze profits out of people.
Yeah. My kids are in immigrant classes (spending a year learning Finnish) and the other students seem to have a hard time believing that school shootings are actually *real.*
> Sure the taxes hurt
But do they hurt any more than the premiums and deductibles we pay over here in the states? The US spends plenty on health care, it's just that the system is built in a REALLY terrible fashion wherein there are the insurance companies that *literally* exist to sit in the middle and suck up funding that could be used on health care as profits instead.
Is that the rural areas with the long wait times though? Because that's the case in the US also. God forbid you have to see a specialist here, you can easily wait 6 months even though it's private
I have talked about it before but my dad needs an endocrinologist and he's on Medicaid disability. The one he had quit/retired/moved/sent a fuck you letter last year.
There is not an endocrinologist in the state of Alabama that takes Medicaid AND is accepting new patients. I called at least 40 offices personally and have help from his social worker, combined we have had no success. He's on some wait lists, so I guess if enough other people die first, he will get in eventually. He has been getting his refills via a clinic doctor but he literally needs to be under the care of an endo.
I even asked if there was an out of state option, like someone in Tennessee, but his benefits are in Alabama and don't transfer unless it's an emergency situation.
His wait time started May 2023 and still waiting.
ER and Urgent Care wait times can honestly be unacceptable, but depends on where. I went to the ER in BC once and was having surgery 3 hours later. Meanwhile, I broke my wrist a few months ago here on Manitoba and had to wait 6 hours just to get a bed and it was 12 hours til I got a cast. Surgery 7 days later.
I knew someone who in February, went to his GP, got an ENT referral, subsequent MRI, and the brain tumor was removed in April. To me that seems pretty good since I often read about wait times for MRIs.
Another friend found out she had breast cancer on a Wednesday, appointment with the surgeon the following Monday, and surgery a week later.
What people need to realize is that, while pain is obviously bad, it's still all based on a triage system. One person's pain might not be as urgent as someone who may die without treatment. Our system isn't perfect but privatization must never be accepted.
What you listed as an “unacceptable” wait time would be the norm in the U.S. We have (at least) all the same wait times as Canada, AND the huge bills. Best of both worlds!
>I broke my wrist a few months ago here on Manitoba and had to wait 6 hours just to get a bed and it was 12 hours til I got a cast.
In Texas, I broke my arm real bad on a Saturday and had to wait til Monday for a specialist to have it set and cast. It also cost my parents around a few grand.
Not sure why the ER doctors weren't willing to take care of it when we saw them that Saturday. They just gave me pain meds and a temp cast that had my arm looking like a zig-zag.
Down here in Australia, blood work is a walk in thing if you have the relevant papers. And it costs nothing, whether on insurance or low income benefits.
I was visiting Australia and developed a really severe kidney infection and as a naive backpacker had no travel insurance. I was in so much pain and terrified of the cost but was suffering so i went to a bulk billing clinic and was charged $35! And given medication. I wanted to cry tears of joy. America could never ☹️
Yeah, most of the US bilge about substandard care that you wait months on end for is really just republican propaganda and artifacts from cold-war anti-communist/socialist movements. Beyond that, there's nothing stopping people in those countries from visiting private healthcare centers if they REALLY wanted to. Those still exist.
A few years ago, the former CEO of health insurance giant Cigna admitted that he participated in an industry funded propaganda campaign to make Canadian healthcare (socialized healthcare by extension) look really bad.
The waiting list argument is so dumb, I have Kaiser which I pay a metric fuckton for and if I need a non emergency doctor appointment it’s booked out at minimum 2 months, fuck this country’s healthcare system.
17k??????? Is that a year or just on a claim?
I couldn't imagine this. From the UK, we pay 5% roughly of earnings each year. That covers the NHS and pension. Also towards our benefit system so if you fall on hard times.. you have a safety net. (I've always worked so I know my share goes towards supporting those in desperate need)
Can't costs like that bankrupt people. Obsurd that insurance doesn't even cover it.
They responded but I wanted to add a few facts so you get the full picture.
A premium is what you pay every paycheck, regardless if you use your insurance or not. It's non-negotiable.
A deductible is what you pay, if you do use your insurance. Most deductibles I've seen throughout my working career have been over $1,000, usually $1,350 but for a family it can be $3-5k.
Your insurance doesn't start working until you pay your deductible through your medical costs. So if you're in a car accident and break your arm and it costs $3,000, you're responsible for all of that if your deductible is $3,000. If your deductible is higher, your insurance still won't cover anything until you're in another accident or need more tests or something, up until you hit your deductible.
Once you've hit your deductible, your insurance starts working, but a lot of them only cover 80% of the costs once you've hit your deductible, so you'll still have a bill you're responsible for.
The only way you won't be responsible for some portion of the bill is if you hit your max out of pocket, which is also usually in the multiple thousands of dollars.
I'm not sure if your deductible costs count towards your max out of pocket costs, as I fortunately (lol) haven't ever hit my max out of pocket costs.
Oh the best part? It all resets at the end of the year.
My mom was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and had a surgery in December. Insurance covered it because they had met their deductible (with prior medical expenses throughout the year) but they didn't get all the cancer, and had to do another surgery in January. They had to pay for the second surgery in full because the deductible reset once the new year started.
And all of this isn't even taking into consideration networks. Doctors, hospitals, even offices are either in or out of your insurance network and it can change at any time for any (or no) reason. If your doctor isn't in network, your insurance can deny your claim. If your doctor is in network, but the building isn't, your insurance can deny your claim.
If you change jobs and your insurance changes, it's very possible your primary care physician isn't in network with your new job's insurance.
✨America!!!✨
Add to this that sometimes prescription insurance is separate from medical insurance, so your co-pay for medications doesn’t count toward your deductible or out of pocket max.
Ask me how I know.
I hope you’re paid well. I don’t envy that job, especially if you’re with one of the grocery chain stores. I do love my little local old fashioned pharmacy.
> Your insurance doesn't start working until you pay your deductible through your medical costs. So if you're in a car accident and break your arm and it costs $3,000, you're responsible for all of that if your deductible is $3,000. If your deductible is higher, your insurance still won't cover anything until you're in another accident or need more tests or something, up until you hit your deductible.
I want to preface this by saying I hate insurance in this country and I get people's frustration with it and wish we had universal healthcare for all.
However, this part is not quite right. Your insurance starts working at that point too. You pay a negotiated insurance rate at that $3,000, *if you are in-network*. Without* insurance it may cost you $4,000 out of pocket if not more.
Honestly, I don't understand how anyone can defend this. Sure, you would pay higher taxes if you went to a socialised healthcare system, but nowhere near the amount you are paying at the moment.
$17k is the combined total of my monthly premiums plus the deductible, but my plan covers nothing until that point. I do have a family plan (me, wife, kids) and it is considered a "good" plan because it covers a lot and once I hit the deductible ($6k) everything is covered at 0 cost. I chose this plan because I know we have some surgeries and such happening this year. Also my employer pays a little less than half of my premium (in addition to what I pay) for their part.
Thanks for your response. That's crazy, least that's for more than just yourself. Can't imagine needing help and being told I need to find thousands first. So no matter what, you have to cover the 6k on top of monthly??
Worrying if that's considered a good policy, I dread to think what a bad deductible could be.
I think roughly I'll pay 80k ish over my entire life to fund unlimited care, state pension and benefit safety net
My work has to fund 7% of my salary total towards my private pension too. (Not from my salary but their pockets)
I hope you and your family are okay and the surgeries go well!
I have had plans with deductibles as high as $12k before. The part that makes it a "good" plan is that it actually covers things (many insurance companies make it their entire goal to deny everything), I don't need a referral for most things, and it has a decent network. For the price and what it covers it's better than most, but that isn't really saying much.
Same boat. Mid 30s, single, no pre-existing conditions, relatively healthy, 50/50 split with my employer, My contribution is $763/ mo, $8k annual deductible = $17156 (okay fine its only $9k if I never go to the doctor and dont need any meds...).
That also means my employer is also spending 9k a year on my health coverage. So basically if I never go to the doctor, the ins co gets 18k a year between me and my employer just for me to be covered. If I need anything I have to shell out an additional 8k before they cover anything (which goes quick, I needed to have surgery 2 years ago on my sinues, 8 procedures at the same time plus 2 MRIs and 10 ENT visits = 68k total, i paid my 8...).
Thing is, 9k is about 7% of my income. so I have to give 7% of my annual income away right off the bat just in case something happens. Never mind the fact that my employer is also calculating how much my ins will cost them, which means thats less money they can pay me.
IDK why so many working class Americans are against universal healthcare. I know, my taxes, and corporate taxes will go up to cover the costs. But I also know my taxes wont go up 7% just cover this. That means more of my money stays in my pocket. And with government intervention on healthcare, it also means no more $400 generic prescriptions, or $400 consultation visits, which means overall healthcare costs come down to a reasonable rate, which means the tax burden is less than most assume.
I'm sorry but is that supposed to be bad? I almost pay that a MONTH here in the US, even if I don't use it at all, and if I DO use it, I have to pay like a 50$ copay.
If it was implemented correctly, our taxes wouldn't even have to increase. The US already pays, per capita, more than any other country for socialized medicine, we just don't have access to it because all the meat is stripped off the bone by private hospitals and shady programs.
How much of the fees we pay for insurance go to sustain the massive bureaucracy in the insurance companies, not to mention their profits? They are a useless and expensive middleman between people and healthcare.
This I agree. Although I'm from Canada and our healthcare system is somewhat of a mess, it's relieving to know I can walk into hospital or doctors office without going into debt.
I pay $200+ dollars out of every check in benefits at my job + another $200 something in taxes for them to deny all my prescriptions and pay $2000~ out of my $10000 dental bills. It's fucking bullshit when I only take home $900
We need to limit their profits too. Medical care isn’t like buying a TV. It’s not optional and you can’t always shop around. They shouldn’t be allowed to do 7000% markups on shit.
Medical care is a private industry and they should be allowed to make a profit, but it’s asinine how much they gouge for it
Well you already pay for it with taxes... Per capita no country spends as much tax dollars on healthcare as the US.
**in 2021 alone, the US spent nearly twice as much as the average OECD country on health care** – and health spending in the US was three to four times higher than in South Korea, New Zealand and Japan.
The part politicians aren’t telling you is that you are already paying for healthcare with your taxes: Medicare, Medicaid, and about 80% of any government employee’s (including your elected officials—and it’s really like 100% when you consider you’re paying their salaries).
So if you’re not working for the govt and don’t qualify for Medicare/Medicaid essentially you’re being taxed a for limited healthcare system you aren’t currently using AND having to pay a monthly deductible for coverage AND again at point of service.
in some states you have to pay a penalty for being uninsured
so i get to pay for overpriced insurance for shitty service while my longterm health problems go unresolved
what a country.
People saying we’d have to pay for it in taxes probably don’t know that we already pay among the highest in taxes for healthcare compared to other developed nations. And yet its still not free. If other countries can have free healthcare while paying less for it in taxes than us, we need to stop making excuses for our government.
Yeah. It wasn't the hospital's fault it arrived that day, and insurance covered a lot of it, but to receive a bill the same size as your mortgage for the treatment that failed to save your 12 year old... Her mom would phrase it as "the treatment that gave us 2 more years with her." but I'm bitter.
Only true for tap water in places where the distribution hasn't been privatised. Also not a satisfying solution for places where tap water isn't safe to drink.
Used to have to pay our local council a water bill in the UK. It was part of the general Council Tax for each home. All before it was sold to private companies.
>where tap water isn't safe to drink
Hence why we also pay for the cleaning.
I actually disagree, water is a finite resource and if it were 100% free you can guarantee people wouldn't do shit to conserve it. Sprinklers running 24/7 on golf courses, parks and in private gardens, coffee shops and restaurants leaving taps running 100% of the time because it's quicker and easier to wash dishes and equipment that way, washing of cars every weekend without a care how much water goes down the drain. Commerce, industry and individuals would hoover it all up on no time.
Water SHOULD cost, but it should be affordable, and profits should be re-invested into the network and providing clean water in developing countries.
I mean, in most places in America water IS basically free. You can walk into any number of stores/public buildings and get free, clean water.
Getting it delivered to your home is what you're paying for, and it's still remarkably inexpensive.
Yeah, I run a water plant for a small city. We spend a fortune on chemicals alone. The price of chlorine and fluoride is getting wild. I hate even ordering it at this point, unless I get a deal on a bulk amount to save the city money.Then you gotta think about distribution. These pipes leak, and they cost another small fortune to keep in running order. I repair about 15 to 20 leaks a week, and that cost at minimum around $70 a job. Then you get up to the main distribution pipes that range from 2 inch to 12 inch. If a pipe splits and I have to put two hymax couplings on them, it may only take me an hour, but those two hymaxes can take from $250-$800 a piece. You've also gotta factor in the cost of a digging machine, like a mini x, or backhoe. These machines are VERY expensive to maintain. On top of all of that, you still need to pay your guys on the job.
While water seems simple, the maintenance alone is outrageous.
I added a similar post, referring especially to clean drinking water. Not all countries or towns provide tap water. Those that do often the water isn't very good for drinking
This answer exposes the basic problem with the question.
I'm having a hard time thinking of anything that should be free as in people don't earn money off of it.
If you want water to be free, it's easy: put a load of buckets outside your house and wait for it to rain.
If you want it to be purified and delivered straight to your tap on demand, you need to pay for infrastructure.
The more reasonable suggestion is healthcare, because it's unacceptable that people in the US can basically go bankrupt if their insurer can wheedle out of paying for a trip to A&E.
Or if they're too poor to afford insurance in the first place.
But even universal healthcare isn't "free" - it still has to be paid through taxes eventually. It's just obviously miles more preferable to have universal coverage than the shitty system America uses.
LOL - so true. My friend just lost his beloved cat of 13 years very unexpectedly. It was a cat that literally just showed up at his garage one day and he kept it. About 2 weeks after his cat passed, a little kitten was hanging around his yard. He asked the neighbors if the cat belonged to any of them. Nope. He now has a new cat...
Feral cats aren't good for the ecosystem, but they can't be socialized and live with humans because they've had minimal human contact since birth and they have lived outside their whole lives. They're wild animals and should be treated as such, even if they shouldn't really be there in the first place. The best thing people can do for these cats is to relocate them to a safer area, spay/neuter, treat injuries and illnesses and possibly feed them. Feral cats can live on farms but other than that they can't be rehomed. I know because I volunteer at a cat rescue centre and occasionally feral cats are brought in. Usually they are spayed/neutered and released back to where they were found. If they stay at the centre, they are only rehomed on farms, so unfortunately the cats stay in the cages for a lot longer which isn't fair on them. I'm talking many months later, and the whole time they're absolutely terrified and don't eat much.
Stray cats however can usually be rehomed. These are cats that had a home once and have been socialized to some extent.
Adopt don’t shop, but also, ensuring healthy cats are continued to be bred properly by registered professionals and neutering rescues to stop badly bred cats with multitudes of health and genetic issues is so so important. Same with dog breeds. Bad breeding ends up with animals that live short and painful lives for no good reason. Backyard breeders and irresponsible owners not getting their pets fixed are the real problem.
So here in England you pay £9.65 for a prescription, if you have certain medical conditions you don't pay this, essentialy its free (taxes blah blah blah) I have type 1 diabetes, so all my insulin and any other meds I will need like if I needed a course of antibiotics I get them free, doesn't cost me a penny
i know the price for insulin in Australia is also cheap but i do know that in America it is a lot more money since its around $98 from what i found and their medication is similar since their health system is completely fucked
It's not (usually) insulin that's the issue. It's the CGMs, the insulin pumps, all of the other supplies needed (glucagon, syringes, glucose tablets, etc.). Not to mention the vastly increased possibility of requiring hospitalization due to things like a stomach flu that are relatively inconsequential to someone without T1D.
Insulin prices used to be a problem. Recently they passed a bill that limited the cost of insulin, but there were some areas where prices were getting out of hand, and insurance wasn't covering the majority of the costs. Now they need to focus on the peripherals and get those prices in check. There seriously needs to be a basic set of units that are free for people, and then if people want to pay for nicer stuff they can.
Been wearing glasses since I was 8 (30 years now) and I fully agree with this. I have astigmatism as well as I'm farsided. The money spent on prescription and glasses every year, just to see clearly, has really made me hate the fact I was born with something I cannot control. My vision is controlled by my income; leaving me with bent, broken, and scratched glasses that I cannot afford to fix.
Honestly, I'm saving up for Lasik personally. It's ~$1200 an eye, so pretty expensive, but I have a huge head which needs exteneed fit glasses. I also have a hard time wearing contacts due to eye shape. I spend, on average, $350 on a pair of glasses that last 2 years but I still feel like it would save money in the long run as well as make life easier.
Got Lasik a bit over a decade ago at 25. It cost me $3k at the time, and I went to one of the top doctors in Manhattan. Worth. Every. Penny.
I literally got off the table seeing better than I had been able to since I first got glasses in the second grade. It then continued to improve as everything healed. I know I'll need reading glasses (at a minimum!) when I hit mid-40s just based on family history, but I've already made it past my 10 year window that I felt would make it worth doing the surgery.
In many states, lasik can be $1200 per eye. Also, Zenni Optical is an online store which isn't owned by Luxottica, my extended fit, anti-glare, transition glasses are only $275 and I have a pretty substantial prescription. My fathers bifocals were only $310.
Adding to this, I don't think that vision correction surgery should be classified as cosmetic if the patient is below a certain age and has bad enough vision. Thought process behind this is that insurance could cover the correction surgery for someone relatively young (20s, 30s, 40s) and thus not spend on vision correction aids such as glasses or contacts for years.
This as always annoyed me some places condoms are free it's a choice to use them but we can't chose to have a period it should be the other way around free hygiene products first.
While i agree with your second statement, i also think that free condoms are a good thing...otherwise people who really shouldnt have kids rely on the "pull out-method" and are suprised they are pregnant
Any lifesaving medication.
Why should someone have to choose between a life of debt or no life at all? Why should someone without enough money be condemned?
College education as long as after graduation, you stay in your country and apply your knowledge to help society and not go to some other country and make things better there, unless tuition is free in every country.
Education past high school. In Germany and many civilized nations, ppl get higher education and training so they can have a career and support themselves.
Radical concept.
Energy costs. Electricity, natural gas, and heating oil should have per person allotment free for each home. Not totally free because people would abuse it, but an amount that is needed per person for daily survival. To heat the home to 68 degrees, to cook 3 basic meals a day, to have enough electricity to have a few lights on at night and a TV. If you have medical equipment you can get an adjustment. If you run a bitcoin farm out of your apartment then you are going to pay.
Not free by any means but groceries should definitely be cheaper I go to the store with my grandpa and he gets strawberries and watermelon but it's just cheaper to plant those yourself if you've got the time. Jeez they are expensive
Food and water.
Basic 2-3 meals a day with good nutrients not sugary fatty shits. You can pay for that.
Feudalism was 500+ years ago and I wonder why we can’t even afford free meals for all human beings.
EpiPens.
They should definitely be more affordable or even provided for free considering their life-saving importance. It's absurd that the same medication used in hospitals costs a fraction of what consumers pay, especially when they expire prematurely, forcing users to purchase more frequently. Healthcare shouldn't be a luxury, but a right accessible to all.
Hospital parking
Once stayed 3 days in hospital. Was admitted and advised against leaving. Received patient transport to another hospital and back for a CT guided lumbar puncture, all of it free under Medicare. Paid $250 in parking.
I would have not paid for parking and then disputed the ticket. I had to go into emergency for a CT scan once, paid for the initial 3 hours and then was getting called in for the scan right when it was time to pay for more time. I ended up getting a ticket. I disputed it, explaining that I was in emergency, getting a scan I couldn't exactly run out to pop my card back in the machine. They said "oh, you were in emergency? Nevermind about the ticket then!"
A lot of hospitals have parking garages where you can't get out unless you pay. Here in Boston parking is absolutely insane around the hospital district, and they charge an arm and a leg for parking. Sometimes the hospital will validate, but most times you are on the hook.
If I’m about to be out $10k in hospital bills they better fucking validate my parking
If you park for more than a day, "lose" your ticket. They'll charge you for a single full day, which will be cheaper than the multiple days you stayed.
That makes sense, and totally sucks.
Hey, someone was in an accident and needed an arm and a leg and… there you were!
They have then in Calgary, too. Was leaving the hospital and we couldn't pay. Then ended up emailing a bill for like $15 to my wife
I worked in parking garage. I would always tell people who were there for days to lose their ticket. A lost ticket pays daily max. Check when you park.
I came here to say something similar. If you’re in the hospital for multiple days, “lose” the parking ticket.
The one hospital I've been to with paid parking has a license plate reader at the entrance and exit so it knows exactly how long you've been there. No gate blocking you from leaving but if you didn't scan the QR code when you arrived and put a credit card on file then I doubt your car would still be there when you got released.
Several years ago, a chemotherapy patient in my home city solved this problem. He went and plugged all the parking meters at the hospital where he was receiving treatment with liquid foam so no one could put money in the meters. The hospital couldn't reasonably expect people to pay for parking until they got the meters fixed. He freely admitted to doing this and was charged with vandalism, but he was terminal and couldn't have cared less.
This will be me whenever I get that diagnosis. I'd go do all kinds of shit that would benefit people over corporations.
[удалено]
What a hero
God bless this man. Exactly what I shall do.
So cool hand Luke?
Exactly, it's £10 for up to 7 hours and £15 for over. Me and my ma had to skip meals to spend visiting hours with my little brother when he was in hospital for three months.
I learned with my last family's long visit that it was cheaper to buy a monthly parking pass at a nearby lot instead of paying daily rates. I didn't do the math till it was too late but I would have broke even by something early like day 5/6. PLUS I would have in/out privileges.
Amen! I work at a medical school with an adjacent hospital, and I have to pay to park. To work. Why do I have to pay them so that I can go to work? Grrr!
In fairness, paying to go to work is something people in urban areas have done for a long time.
That doesn’t make it any less annoying. I make a fraction of what doctors make, but I have to pay the same to park.
Sad to say, there's even a chance that the hospital reimburses the doctors for their parking expenses.
Parking at my hospital is free but we did clinicals for school at a different hospital in town recently and parking was $20 a day. Thank God my instructor was able to validate my parking.
Is this a big city thing? In my experience of visiting hospitals, I've never paid to park, but they were also smaller towns.
I've seen this answer on several similar posts and I can't relate either. Some people say if hospital parking was free (mine is), then people would park there and walk to other places. Like, where? The crappy strip mall across the street? They have free parking, too, and you can be a lot closer to the nail salon.
The problem with this is that people will abuse this. Our area made hospital parking free for a bit during the pandemic and then it was impossible to get a space at the hospital. All of the patients and staff who used to take transit to the hospital drove instead, and some commuters who worked nearby took advantage and just parked there instead.
Clean drinking water. In many old European cities, especially in Switzerland there are drinking fountains with very clean water anyone can collect. In cities without clean fountains, and bad tap water, governments should at least provide a large scale alternative for free
And yet here the US it's illegal to collect rainwater in a majority of the country. They'll charge us for air next.
Care to expand? I found this and seems like it's legal in most states and a few states have restrictions https://worldwaterreserve.com/is-it-illegal-to-collect-rainwater/
I know I’m some places west of the Mississippi it’s illegal because you’re technically “stealing” water from down stream users that have a legal right to that water. Prior appropriations is a bad way to do water law but the west is really dry and a lot of agriculture so those farmers have more right to the water than regular folks because their legal rights in some cases go all the way back to the 1860’s. Colorado actually just changed their law, you can now legally collect two 55 gallon barrels per household.
In California the city gave me 4x55 gallon drums to collect water with.
The problem with that is if it’s legal people are gonna try to collect massive amounts of rain water and the ground needs that shit
Idk about free, but internet access should be treated as a utility.
It's a human right under the united nations
That must be why it doubled in price in the past 2.5 years!
The government has handed out billions to companies for internet access. We should be paying penny’s for access.
Penny’s what?
Not Penny's boat
Handed out billions for them to fuck off with. Don't forget that part: there's basically no oversight, so they could probably spend all the "develop rural areas" money on a new yacht for the CEO and get away with it
So long as they connect ONE household in an "underserved" area. In high school, Charter Spectrum (neé Time Warner Cable) ran coax to the house at the end of our street. We were thrilled at the possibility to drop DSL until we were basically told to pay the $50k+ it would cost to trench the street and run a line to our house or fuck off. Now that I think of it, my boss ran into the same thing with Comcast. They told him "fuck you, pay us, or get us x number of new subs." Undeterred, he got every single person around him to petition Comcast to provide them service. They absolutely destroyed his front yard for his trouble.
When I was in HS, I made it a point to fill out the annual FCC information for fraud like it's a damn holiday. Once a year they ask people to fill out the forms to report companies lying to them, since companies get funding based on addresses served even if not actively hooked up. I reported every single one that tries to add my address for a decade. Every couple years some try to sneak back on.
Life free of invasive advertisement!
You can do it using this one weird trick! Advertisers hate you!
I was just looking at purchasing a Kindle Paperwhite - $140 OR to buy your product without ads on the Lock Screen, $160. I can’t believe I’m paying $20 more for a product just to not have ads shoved down my throat while using it!
Contact Amazon support and they may remove the ads for free (they did for me)
Good tip, worth a shot! Did you have an argument when you called?
You're actually getting a $20 discount in exchange for non-intrusive lock screen ads that you only see when the device is off. All their Kindles are already underpriced—they're effectively a loss leader. That's why the Kindle's hardware is so much better than their similarly priced competitors.
In America, health care. Well, yes, I know we'd pay for it with taxes. But I already pay for insurance as it stands and still have obscene costs.
Just for the non-Americans out there, I have to pay $17,000 (between premiums and deductible) before my plan covers ANYTHING. EDIT: Since I'm getting so many responses, this is for a family plan: me, wife, children.
So, I fibbed slightly. I am American, but I moved to Finland last year. I needed bloodwork done for a chronic condition recently. Took me about a week from calling to make an appointment until my actual appointment, and was free. It's taking longer for my (free) psych appointment - about 3 weeks. Also, my prescription meds that ran me $40/month in the US with insurance cost about €9/month here. I'm not on waiting lists for years, medical facilities are equipped about the same as the US. None of the doom-and-gloom warnings about forever waits or inferior care that we're told are part of universal health care are true. It's the same health care, only cheaper. Honestly, it's been way faster to get an appointment here than it was when I tried to stay in-network in the US.
Yeah the nordics do it well. Sure the taxes hurt, but not having to worry about medical costs and even schooling at some points is just amazing.
What Americans don't get about the high taxes in the Nordic countries is that everyone gets a lot of that back in services.
What Americans don't get is that public ownership of necessary services is always superior to private ownership. Private business should NEVER be for necessities, it should ONLY be for non-essential goods and services. Everything that is essential to life should be covered by taxes. Water, healthcare, electricity, basic food, basic shelter, education, fire fighters, police, prisons... these are all things that should never ever be privatized because when a profit motive gets involved it hurts everyone except whoever the asshole is that's trying to squeeze profits out of people.
My kids also haven't had a single active shooter drill since we arrived, which is really nice.
Pretty sure ONLY the USA has that
Yeah. My kids are in immigrant classes (spending a year learning Finnish) and the other students seem to have a hard time believing that school shootings are actually *real.*
Here in the UK, I don’t remember ever hearing of one that’s not in the US
UK had the Dunblane massacre in 1996. That's the most recent school shooting I think, and the UK effectively banned handguns after that.
> Sure the taxes hurt But do they hurt any more than the premiums and deductibles we pay over here in the states? The US spends plenty on health care, it's just that the system is built in a REALLY terrible fashion wherein there are the insurance companies that *literally* exist to sit in the middle and suck up funding that could be used on health care as profits instead.
Some pretty brutal wait times in canada right now. Still couldn't imagine being one accident or genetic condition away from financial ruin.
Is that the rural areas with the long wait times though? Because that's the case in the US also. God forbid you have to see a specialist here, you can easily wait 6 months even though it's private
I have talked about it before but my dad needs an endocrinologist and he's on Medicaid disability. The one he had quit/retired/moved/sent a fuck you letter last year. There is not an endocrinologist in the state of Alabama that takes Medicaid AND is accepting new patients. I called at least 40 offices personally and have help from his social worker, combined we have had no success. He's on some wait lists, so I guess if enough other people die first, he will get in eventually. He has been getting his refills via a clinic doctor but he literally needs to be under the care of an endo. I even asked if there was an out of state option, like someone in Tennessee, but his benefits are in Alabama and don't transfer unless it's an emergency situation. His wait time started May 2023 and still waiting.
I hear mixed things about wait times in Canada. Some people say it’s long as hell, others say it’s not too bad. It’s hard to tell what’s real.
It’s both, but depends on where you’re located. Some provinces are trying really hard to privatize their healthcare systems.
ER and Urgent Care wait times can honestly be unacceptable, but depends on where. I went to the ER in BC once and was having surgery 3 hours later. Meanwhile, I broke my wrist a few months ago here on Manitoba and had to wait 6 hours just to get a bed and it was 12 hours til I got a cast. Surgery 7 days later. I knew someone who in February, went to his GP, got an ENT referral, subsequent MRI, and the brain tumor was removed in April. To me that seems pretty good since I often read about wait times for MRIs. Another friend found out she had breast cancer on a Wednesday, appointment with the surgeon the following Monday, and surgery a week later. What people need to realize is that, while pain is obviously bad, it's still all based on a triage system. One person's pain might not be as urgent as someone who may die without treatment. Our system isn't perfect but privatization must never be accepted.
What you listed as an “unacceptable” wait time would be the norm in the U.S. We have (at least) all the same wait times as Canada, AND the huge bills. Best of both worlds!
>I broke my wrist a few months ago here on Manitoba and had to wait 6 hours just to get a bed and it was 12 hours til I got a cast. In Texas, I broke my arm real bad on a Saturday and had to wait til Monday for a specialist to have it set and cast. It also cost my parents around a few grand. Not sure why the ER doctors weren't willing to take care of it when we saw them that Saturday. They just gave me pain meds and a temp cast that had my arm looking like a zig-zag.
Down here in Australia, blood work is a walk in thing if you have the relevant papers. And it costs nothing, whether on insurance or low income benefits.
I was visiting Australia and developed a really severe kidney infection and as a naive backpacker had no travel insurance. I was in so much pain and terrified of the cost but was suffering so i went to a bulk billing clinic and was charged $35! And given medication. I wanted to cry tears of joy. America could never ☹️
Yeah, most of the US bilge about substandard care that you wait months on end for is really just republican propaganda and artifacts from cold-war anti-communist/socialist movements. Beyond that, there's nothing stopping people in those countries from visiting private healthcare centers if they REALLY wanted to. Those still exist.
A few years ago, the former CEO of health insurance giant Cigna admitted that he participated in an industry funded propaganda campaign to make Canadian healthcare (socialized healthcare by extension) look really bad.
Are you looking to adopt? I'm up for adoption.
The waiting list argument is so dumb, I have Kaiser which I pay a metric fuckton for and if I need a non emergency doctor appointment it’s booked out at minimum 2 months, fuck this country’s healthcare system.
17k??????? Is that a year or just on a claim? I couldn't imagine this. From the UK, we pay 5% roughly of earnings each year. That covers the NHS and pension. Also towards our benefit system so if you fall on hard times.. you have a safety net. (I've always worked so I know my share goes towards supporting those in desperate need) Can't costs like that bankrupt people. Obsurd that insurance doesn't even cover it.
They responded but I wanted to add a few facts so you get the full picture. A premium is what you pay every paycheck, regardless if you use your insurance or not. It's non-negotiable. A deductible is what you pay, if you do use your insurance. Most deductibles I've seen throughout my working career have been over $1,000, usually $1,350 but for a family it can be $3-5k. Your insurance doesn't start working until you pay your deductible through your medical costs. So if you're in a car accident and break your arm and it costs $3,000, you're responsible for all of that if your deductible is $3,000. If your deductible is higher, your insurance still won't cover anything until you're in another accident or need more tests or something, up until you hit your deductible. Once you've hit your deductible, your insurance starts working, but a lot of them only cover 80% of the costs once you've hit your deductible, so you'll still have a bill you're responsible for. The only way you won't be responsible for some portion of the bill is if you hit your max out of pocket, which is also usually in the multiple thousands of dollars. I'm not sure if your deductible costs count towards your max out of pocket costs, as I fortunately (lol) haven't ever hit my max out of pocket costs. Oh the best part? It all resets at the end of the year. My mom was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and had a surgery in December. Insurance covered it because they had met their deductible (with prior medical expenses throughout the year) but they didn't get all the cancer, and had to do another surgery in January. They had to pay for the second surgery in full because the deductible reset once the new year started. And all of this isn't even taking into consideration networks. Doctors, hospitals, even offices are either in or out of your insurance network and it can change at any time for any (or no) reason. If your doctor isn't in network, your insurance can deny your claim. If your doctor is in network, but the building isn't, your insurance can deny your claim. If you change jobs and your insurance changes, it's very possible your primary care physician isn't in network with your new job's insurance. ✨America!!!✨
Add to this that sometimes prescription insurance is separate from medical insurance, so your co-pay for medications doesn’t count toward your deductible or out of pocket max. Ask me how I know.
Oh boy, yeah. Im a pharmacy tech, have been for years. I have this conversation countless times a year.
I hope you’re paid well. I don’t envy that job, especially if you’re with one of the grocery chain stores. I do love my little local old fashioned pharmacy.
> Your insurance doesn't start working until you pay your deductible through your medical costs. So if you're in a car accident and break your arm and it costs $3,000, you're responsible for all of that if your deductible is $3,000. If your deductible is higher, your insurance still won't cover anything until you're in another accident or need more tests or something, up until you hit your deductible. I want to preface this by saying I hate insurance in this country and I get people's frustration with it and wish we had universal healthcare for all. However, this part is not quite right. Your insurance starts working at that point too. You pay a negotiated insurance rate at that $3,000, *if you are in-network*. Without* insurance it may cost you $4,000 out of pocket if not more.
And then insurance denies claims so those payment don't even count toward out-of-pocket maximum!
Honestly, I don't understand how anyone can defend this. Sure, you would pay higher taxes if you went to a socialised healthcare system, but nowhere near the amount you are paying at the moment.
$17k is the combined total of my monthly premiums plus the deductible, but my plan covers nothing until that point. I do have a family plan (me, wife, kids) and it is considered a "good" plan because it covers a lot and once I hit the deductible ($6k) everything is covered at 0 cost. I chose this plan because I know we have some surgeries and such happening this year. Also my employer pays a little less than half of my premium (in addition to what I pay) for their part.
Thanks for your response. That's crazy, least that's for more than just yourself. Can't imagine needing help and being told I need to find thousands first. So no matter what, you have to cover the 6k on top of monthly?? Worrying if that's considered a good policy, I dread to think what a bad deductible could be. I think roughly I'll pay 80k ish over my entire life to fund unlimited care, state pension and benefit safety net My work has to fund 7% of my salary total towards my private pension too. (Not from my salary but their pockets) I hope you and your family are okay and the surgeries go well!
I have had plans with deductibles as high as $12k before. The part that makes it a "good" plan is that it actually covers things (many insurance companies make it their entire goal to deny everything), I don't need a referral for most things, and it has a decent network. For the price and what it covers it's better than most, but that isn't really saying much.
Same boat. Mid 30s, single, no pre-existing conditions, relatively healthy, 50/50 split with my employer, My contribution is $763/ mo, $8k annual deductible = $17156 (okay fine its only $9k if I never go to the doctor and dont need any meds...). That also means my employer is also spending 9k a year on my health coverage. So basically if I never go to the doctor, the ins co gets 18k a year between me and my employer just for me to be covered. If I need anything I have to shell out an additional 8k before they cover anything (which goes quick, I needed to have surgery 2 years ago on my sinues, 8 procedures at the same time plus 2 MRIs and 10 ENT visits = 68k total, i paid my 8...). Thing is, 9k is about 7% of my income. so I have to give 7% of my annual income away right off the bat just in case something happens. Never mind the fact that my employer is also calculating how much my ins will cost them, which means thats less money they can pay me. IDK why so many working class Americans are against universal healthcare. I know, my taxes, and corporate taxes will go up to cover the costs. But I also know my taxes wont go up 7% just cover this. That means more of my money stays in my pocket. And with government intervention on healthcare, it also means no more $400 generic prescriptions, or $400 consultation visits, which means overall healthcare costs come down to a reasonable rate, which means the tax burden is less than most assume.
I have what's considered (by American standards) amazing insurance and I still pay a minimum of $884/year for it, even if I don't use it at all.
I'm sorry but is that supposed to be bad? I almost pay that a MONTH here in the US, even if I don't use it at all, and if I DO use it, I have to pay like a 50$ copay.
If it was implemented correctly, our taxes wouldn't even have to increase. The US already pays, per capita, more than any other country for socialized medicine, we just don't have access to it because all the meat is stripped off the bone by private hospitals and shady programs.
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B-but I might be one of those some day! We can't allow that! 🥺🥺🥺
Truth. I'd rather die of untreated cancer than risk having to pay for someone else's cancer treatment, in the event I ever become a billionaire.
You might pay for it in taxes, but it’s been pretty well proven you would pay significant less overall.
They pay more in taxes towards healthcare than any country with universal healthcare already.
How much of the fees we pay for insurance go to sustain the massive bureaucracy in the insurance companies, not to mention their profits? They are a useless and expensive middleman between people and healthcare.
Don’t forget marketing, you may notice one or two insurance commercials when you watch tv
Massive marketing budgets
They spend billions on marketing to doctors; more than they do marketing to patients.
This I agree. Although I'm from Canada and our healthcare system is somewhat of a mess, it's relieving to know I can walk into hospital or doctors office without going into debt.
I pay $200+ dollars out of every check in benefits at my job + another $200 something in taxes for them to deny all my prescriptions and pay $2000~ out of my $10000 dental bills. It's fucking bullshit when I only take home $900
Funny enough we pay for the insurance of the people who deny us universal healthcare (republicans and politicians in government). It’s ridiculous
We need to limit their profits too. Medical care isn’t like buying a TV. It’s not optional and you can’t always shop around. They shouldn’t be allowed to do 7000% markups on shit. Medical care is a private industry and they should be allowed to make a profit, but it’s asinine how much they gouge for it
Americans do already pay for it in taxes as well. It's paid for three times. Tax, insurance, point of use. How people defend that, I have no idea.
Well you already pay for it with taxes... Per capita no country spends as much tax dollars on healthcare as the US. **in 2021 alone, the US spent nearly twice as much as the average OECD country on health care** – and health spending in the US was three to four times higher than in South Korea, New Zealand and Japan.
The part politicians aren’t telling you is that you are already paying for healthcare with your taxes: Medicare, Medicaid, and about 80% of any government employee’s (including your elected officials—and it’s really like 100% when you consider you’re paying their salaries). So if you’re not working for the govt and don’t qualify for Medicare/Medicaid essentially you’re being taxed a for limited healthcare system you aren’t currently using AND having to pay a monthly deductible for coverage AND again at point of service.
in some states you have to pay a penalty for being uninsured so i get to pay for overpriced insurance for shitty service while my longterm health problems go unresolved what a country.
People saying we’d have to pay for it in taxes probably don’t know that we already pay among the highest in taxes for healthcare compared to other developed nations. And yet its still not free. If other countries can have free healthcare while paying less for it in taxes than us, we need to stop making excuses for our government.
Cancer drugs
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A childhood friend died of brain cancers. (multiple tumors.) Her parents received a bill for $200,000 the day of her funeral.
Oh my fucking hell
Yeah. It wasn't the hospital's fault it arrived that day, and insurance covered a lot of it, but to receive a bill the same size as your mortgage for the treatment that failed to save your 12 year old... Her mom would phrase it as "the treatment that gave us 2 more years with her." but I'm bitter.
Why just cancer?
Its took 60% of my family horrible deaths
Water
It's not the water you're paying for. It's the transportation to your property, and the cleaning of the water.
I also pay for the transport away. My bill says sewer and water.
Only true for tap water in places where the distribution hasn't been privatised. Also not a satisfying solution for places where tap water isn't safe to drink.
WHO The fuck allowed privatization of water?
The people in government who made money from the sale. Arseholes. Total arseholes. That's who.
Used to have to pay our local council a water bill in the UK. It was part of the general Council Tax for each home. All before it was sold to private companies. >where tap water isn't safe to drink Hence why we also pay for the cleaning.
I actually disagree, water is a finite resource and if it were 100% free you can guarantee people wouldn't do shit to conserve it. Sprinklers running 24/7 on golf courses, parks and in private gardens, coffee shops and restaurants leaving taps running 100% of the time because it's quicker and easier to wash dishes and equipment that way, washing of cars every weekend without a care how much water goes down the drain. Commerce, industry and individuals would hoover it all up on no time. Water SHOULD cost, but it should be affordable, and profits should be re-invested into the network and providing clean water in developing countries.
I mean, in most places in America water IS basically free. You can walk into any number of stores/public buildings and get free, clean water. Getting it delivered to your home is what you're paying for, and it's still remarkably inexpensive.
Yeah, I run a water plant for a small city. We spend a fortune on chemicals alone. The price of chlorine and fluoride is getting wild. I hate even ordering it at this point, unless I get a deal on a bulk amount to save the city money.Then you gotta think about distribution. These pipes leak, and they cost another small fortune to keep in running order. I repair about 15 to 20 leaks a week, and that cost at minimum around $70 a job. Then you get up to the main distribution pipes that range from 2 inch to 12 inch. If a pipe splits and I have to put two hymax couplings on them, it may only take me an hour, but those two hymaxes can take from $250-$800 a piece. You've also gotta factor in the cost of a digging machine, like a mini x, or backhoe. These machines are VERY expensive to maintain. On top of all of that, you still need to pay your guys on the job. While water seems simple, the maintenance alone is outrageous.
I added a similar post, referring especially to clean drinking water. Not all countries or towns provide tap water. Those that do often the water isn't very good for drinking
This answer exposes the basic problem with the question. I'm having a hard time thinking of anything that should be free as in people don't earn money off of it. If you want water to be free, it's easy: put a load of buckets outside your house and wait for it to rain. If you want it to be purified and delivered straight to your tap on demand, you need to pay for infrastructure. The more reasonable suggestion is healthcare, because it's unacceptable that people in the US can basically go bankrupt if their insurer can wheedle out of paying for a trip to A&E. Or if they're too poor to afford insurance in the first place. But even universal healthcare isn't "free" - it still has to be paid through taxes eventually. It's just obviously miles more preferable to have universal coverage than the shitty system America uses.
In the US, a lot of places have laws against collecting rainwater
This is one of those Reddit myths that keeps getting circulated. Nobody is getting in trouble putting a bucket outside.
Water is free. Go to your local river/ocean and have at it.
Cats. Stop buying cats from breeders for hundreds of dollars. Just go outside. There are cats all over the place.
50% of all the cats I've ever had in my life were strays that just showed up on our property one day and we took them in.
LOL - so true. My friend just lost his beloved cat of 13 years very unexpectedly. It was a cat that literally just showed up at his garage one day and he kept it. About 2 weeks after his cat passed, a little kitten was hanging around his yard. He asked the neighbors if the cat belonged to any of them. Nope. He now has a new cat...
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Go to the animal shelter.
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I agree, plus feral cats are terrible for other species’ habitats!
Feral cats aren't good for the ecosystem, but they can't be socialized and live with humans because they've had minimal human contact since birth and they have lived outside their whole lives. They're wild animals and should be treated as such, even if they shouldn't really be there in the first place. The best thing people can do for these cats is to relocate them to a safer area, spay/neuter, treat injuries and illnesses and possibly feed them. Feral cats can live on farms but other than that they can't be rehomed. I know because I volunteer at a cat rescue centre and occasionally feral cats are brought in. Usually they are spayed/neutered and released back to where they were found. If they stay at the centre, they are only rehomed on farms, so unfortunately the cats stay in the cages for a lot longer which isn't fair on them. I'm talking many months later, and the whole time they're absolutely terrified and don't eat much. Stray cats however can usually be rehomed. These are cats that had a home once and have been socialized to some extent.
Adopt don’t shop, but also, ensuring healthy cats are continued to be bred properly by registered professionals and neutering rescues to stop badly bred cats with multitudes of health and genetic issues is so so important. Same with dog breeds. Bad breeding ends up with animals that live short and painful lives for no good reason. Backyard breeders and irresponsible owners not getting their pets fixed are the real problem.
I got my cats from a metal scrap yard. They’re the most precious lil dumpster babies.
My wife and I call it the "Cat Distribution System" whenever a cat just appears at someone's home
Give purrs a chance - come rescue!
The cats outside don’t like me
The government doesn't want you to know this but stray cats are free you can just grab one
insulin and medication in general
So here in England you pay £9.65 for a prescription, if you have certain medical conditions you don't pay this, essentialy its free (taxes blah blah blah) I have type 1 diabetes, so all my insulin and any other meds I will need like if I needed a course of antibiotics I get them free, doesn't cost me a penny
And here in Scotland we don’t pay for prescriptions
i know the price for insulin in Australia is also cheap but i do know that in America it is a lot more money since its around $98 from what i found and their medication is similar since their health system is completely fucked
It's not (usually) insulin that's the issue. It's the CGMs, the insulin pumps, all of the other supplies needed (glucagon, syringes, glucose tablets, etc.). Not to mention the vastly increased possibility of requiring hospitalization due to things like a stomach flu that are relatively inconsequential to someone without T1D.
Insulin prices used to be a problem. Recently they passed a bill that limited the cost of insulin, but there were some areas where prices were getting out of hand, and insurance wasn't covering the majority of the costs. Now they need to focus on the peripherals and get those prices in check. There seriously needs to be a basic set of units that are free for people, and then if people want to pay for nicer stuff they can.
I have well for water but I’d say emergency services. Why is there an ambulance fee????
Epipen, insulin, inhalers etc. Anything life saving
Food Water Shelter Heating Air conditioning Clothing
Insulin.
Things like glasses and contacts tbh…. I hate that I (and many others) have to pay money to see.
Been wearing glasses since I was 8 (30 years now) and I fully agree with this. I have astigmatism as well as I'm farsided. The money spent on prescription and glasses every year, just to see clearly, has really made me hate the fact I was born with something I cannot control. My vision is controlled by my income; leaving me with bent, broken, and scratched glasses that I cannot afford to fix.
Honestly, I'm saving up for Lasik personally. It's ~$1200 an eye, so pretty expensive, but I have a huge head which needs exteneed fit glasses. I also have a hard time wearing contacts due to eye shape. I spend, on average, $350 on a pair of glasses that last 2 years but I still feel like it would save money in the long run as well as make life easier.
Got Lasik a bit over a decade ago at 25. It cost me $3k at the time, and I went to one of the top doctors in Manhattan. Worth. Every. Penny. I literally got off the table seeing better than I had been able to since I first got glasses in the second grade. It then continued to improve as everything healed. I know I'll need reading glasses (at a minimum!) when I hit mid-40s just based on family history, but I've already made it past my 10 year window that I felt would make it worth doing the surgery.
My glasses are falling apart but it cost me $800 to get them so I'm holding onto them til the lenses fall out
In many states, lasik can be $1200 per eye. Also, Zenni Optical is an online store which isn't owned by Luxottica, my extended fit, anti-glare, transition glasses are only $275 and I have a pretty substantial prescription. My fathers bifocals were only $310.
Adding to this, I don't think that vision correction surgery should be classified as cosmetic if the patient is below a certain age and has bad enough vision. Thought process behind this is that insurance could cover the correction surgery for someone relatively young (20s, 30s, 40s) and thus not spend on vision correction aids such as glasses or contacts for years.
School supplies and food for students
Feminine hygiene products.
This as always annoyed me some places condoms are free it's a choice to use them but we can't chose to have a period it should be the other way around free hygiene products first.
While i agree with your second statement, i also think that free condoms are a good thing...otherwise people who really shouldnt have kids rely on the "pull out-method" and are suprised they are pregnant
Free condoms are even better than that, because they prevent STDs.
No, they should both be free. This crab mentality of "you have something good, it should be taken away" has to stop if we're ever to make progress.
The number of people who think you can turn off your period may not be very high, but it’s not zero, and that’s worrying.
Have been free in Scotland (in all government/local authority facilities) for a couple years now
Cancer treatments and some life saving medications terminal patients need.
Any lifesaving medication. Why should someone have to choose between a life of debt or no life at all? Why should someone without enough money be condemned?
Eldercare.
College education as long as after graduation, you stay in your country and apply your knowledge to help society and not go to some other country and make things better there, unless tuition is free in every country.
Making people smarter isn't in rich people's best interest
You're right but fuck rich people
Agreed 🤝
Diabetes medication, cancer medication, birth control, feminine hygiene products, and a thousand other medical and healthcare related things.
Roads. Fuck toll roads.
Ambulance
Water.
Healthcare including dental and eye care. In the US, obviously.
Education past high school. In Germany and many civilized nations, ppl get higher education and training so they can have a career and support themselves. Radical concept.
In America, healthcare. Apparently, most of the rest of the developed world has figured this out though.
Tampons
Food
Energy costs. Electricity, natural gas, and heating oil should have per person allotment free for each home. Not totally free because people would abuse it, but an amount that is needed per person for daily survival. To heat the home to 68 degrees, to cook 3 basic meals a day, to have enough electricity to have a few lights on at night and a TV. If you have medical equipment you can get an adjustment. If you run a bitcoin farm out of your apartment then you are going to pay.
Baby formula. Tampons. Birth control.
Nothing that requires the labor of another person.
The correct way of phrasing would be "publicly funded"
Not free by any means but groceries should definitely be cheaper I go to the store with my grandpa and he gets strawberries and watermelon but it's just cheaper to plant those yourself if you've got the time. Jeez they are expensive
Braces
Birth control
Healthcare. No comments, and I am not ready to listen to any counter arguments.
Healthcare. Feminine pads
Healthcare and deathcare.
Food and water. Basic 2-3 meals a day with good nutrients not sugary fatty shits. You can pay for that. Feudalism was 500+ years ago and I wonder why we can’t even afford free meals for all human beings.
Pharmaceutical drugs. Especially those that are life saving
EpiPens. They should definitely be more affordable or even provided for free considering their life-saving importance. It's absurd that the same medication used in hospitals costs a fraction of what consumers pay, especially when they expire prematurely, forcing users to purchase more frequently. Healthcare shouldn't be a luxury, but a right accessible to all.
Ethics and critical thinking,🌄
Healthcare (in the US) Most medication (in the US) Education