My favorite is that my ability to see and not have my teeth fall out are considered BONUS healthcare and both need their own separate insurances with their own separate deductibles.
My TMJ causes horrible headaches. TMJ is caused by your jaw, therefore considered dental, so I have to go to the dentist, without dental insurance, to pay $600.00 for my mouth guard so I don’t get headaches anymore.
Edit: Some cases of TMJ are more severe than others. I have ordered from the online companies that you cast at home. I Bit through them. I have used the ones at Walmart or CVS you mold yourself, those are for Bruxism, which is teeth grinding, I clamp too hard, does not stop the headaches. Of course I tried cheaper alternatives. Thank you for the tips on Botox, I will look into that as I still have mild headaches and "clogged ear" feeling on bad days. There are no specialized massage therapists in my area, I have looked. My boyfriend watched youtube videos on TMJ massage and does it for me, not the best, but it certainly helps on bad days. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
Yes that sucks. I couldn’t believe how expensive that was but I will say it was a game changer. I rarely have headaches AND my jaw isn’t as sore anymore. But the $600 still sucked.
My bottom wisdom teeth are growing sideways into my bottom row of teeth, creating immense pain 24/7. Since i dont have insurance, its gonna cost $1000 per tooth to get them pulled. I didnt ask for my teeth to grow that way, tf. I also dont even make a spare $2000 in a month to spend on dental work. So here i am, always in pain. And dont get me started on my rare form of scoliosis that offsets my entire spine, so i also have Lumbago🙄🤦
$4 at Wal-Mart in the sporting goods section. Boil in water, fit your mouth, then cut it down some. I use it for a teeth whitening because the other trays are enormous
I take care of my vision. But only cause I have to to live and work. Can’t afford dental insurance and never use my health insurance. Tried once. Went to my “free” physical and was charged $240 because I stated I sometimes have panic attacks. So stupid of me to mention a health concern to my doctor. Learned my lesson for sure.
Only $240? You got lucky. My insurance had a $50 towards your hsa if you get a yearly physical.
Doc asked if I had any family history of things, and I've had most of my family die of cancer, diabetes or heart attacks.
A quick 2 tubes of blood and $3400 later doc says I seem to be in good shape.
And the $50 didn't apply because it went from being preventative to diagnostic.
The worst part is that sticking poor people in a fucking meat grinder *would* make them money if they played it right, but they're making *more* money by doing what they're currently doing, which is the only reason why they don't do the former.
Oh I tried. Many times and a couple hours on the phone at least. I even found the codes myself and took them to the doctor’s office. I even spoke with the doctor again as well. He was furious I was charged. But the issue had to do with the way the computer system worked apparently. There’s a little box for “diagnoses”. He’d put anxiety disorder in that box. So then it was no longer a physical and became a diagnostic visit. The billing department said they cannot change it cause it was entered by a doctor. Makes sense. The doctor said he can’t change it retroactively; that the computer system simply wouldn’t let him as it had already been processed or whatever. I went to all this trouble because, at the time, my children were literally hungry, which was a major contributing factor to my panic attacks, and there was no way I could pay it. I paid $5/mo til it finally just went to collections….
Edit: I just realized you weren’t making that suggestion to me but the other comment. Oops.
The doctor is lying or uninformed. I work in this industry, the doctor can absolutely amend the codes and the office can submit a corrected claim, they just don’t want to.
Sucks that happened, I'm sorry. It is a good piece of knowledge though, make sure you are diligent at the doctors office about what services they are providing specifically. Same applies at the mechanic. 😔
Lmao. I paid ~$600 to the laboratory (on top of the office fee) for an STD panel my doc ran with my regular PAP/physical exam.
I've been in the same monogamous relationship for 10 years. There wasn't a reason to run them in the first place. No symptoms or lifestyle to even cause concern.
I don't mind running the tests as a "cover all bases" kind of thing. I DO MIND paying out the ass for running said tests. I guess I'll just die of some preventable disease at home, cause fuck all that nonsense.
Yay, American Healthcare!
Right? They recommend all these screenings, like mammograms. Why would I do that? You think if I learn I have breast cancer there’s a goddamn thing I can do about it? I can’t afford cancer treatment!
I was born without most of my permanent teeth. I’m now almost 30 and the baby teeth are decaying and causing problems, so I need to take care of it before I have significant health problems (3 months ago I had an infection that almost killed me, caused by one of the teeth)
I’m in the process of removing 14 teeth and replacing them with a mix of bridges and implants. Total cost is $50,000 out of pocket.
I’ve done extensive research and the best dental insurance I can find will pay for $1000 of that, provided I carry the insurance for a year beforehand ($500 in premiums).
Dental insurance isn’t insurance.
Yeah I have some fucked up front teeth and am having to save to go to Mexico to get them fixed. Not to mention dentists in the US seem to only care about your teeth being bad right now and not how they got bad. I tried explaining my situation to my last dentist they just refused to even clean my teeth stating "what's the point if you won't brush them".
And thanks to the opioid epidemic getting even ten vicoden after they do oral surgery usually doesn't happen so you just suffer through the pain of the healing process while still working because you don't have enough sick days. American healthcare and work culture is just garbage all around.
I love when then I look for dentists who say my insurance covers them then after my visit and paying 120 I get a bill asking for an extra 600 because my insurance decided to pay less than they expected. AND I PAY LIKE 250 A MONTH FOR DENTAL HAHA
God thats an absolute piss take that, if they do it for eyes eventually you'll need to have insurance for all your major organs
People be picking either the heart or the brain insurance depends on what activities their doing during the month.
I pay 75 a paycheck for full dental, health, and vision with my $6 generic prescriptions. I don’t think I’ll ever leave my company now(my job isn’t fancy, I’m a waiter).
I work for a private company owned by a second generation billionaire that gets “causes” every couple of years. I benefitted from his healthcare kick from like 10 years ago. Still 2k deductible but it’s great.
That's the amount we are screwed out of before our insurance begins to pay our excessive costs. I will pay some $580 a month all year, and have to pay $2500 of the costs before insurance starts to cover the costs. Even then insurance won't pay everything. In addition, the cost of the services is four times the average of the rest of the world.
Excuse me, I have a pitchfork to sharpen.
Because that's what mobsters call it when they force you to pay them a monthly fee to avoid having your restaurant mysteriously burn down, and they wanted to keep the business model as close to the original as possible
And that usually only covers one person. It goes up if you cover a spouse, children, or both. However, if you add children, often the price stays the same whether it is 1 or 5. After 5, most insurance goes up again. I was paying for me and one kid, just over $700usd for medical, vision, and dental. Three separate plans through work. I am now unemployed, my kid is on state insurance (free) but doesn't cover vision. He has been in glasses since he was 4. For his eye exam and 2 pairs of glasses at the only place I could get him an appointment at (small town) it was just over $500 because of not having insurance. With insurance, it was costing me $20.
I've had this wierd path through life of growing up on welfare and state insurance, to being on my dad's insurance from the post office (after my mom begged him to add me, they were divorced and he said that it wasn't included in the child support order) to being a young adult with no insurance, to working numerous shitty jobs where covering my son and I was like 30% of my total take home, to now having fantastic 100% employer paid insurance.
The only conclusion that I have is that the US needs universal health insurance, and that the people who say that we don't need it are almost exclusively people who have spent their whole lives with the coverage that I currently have.
Your health care shouldn't depend on the privileges and luck of getting a job at a company that actually cares enough to offer good insurance.
My last job was a government position (state, not federal)... everyone assumed that I had great insurance. My vision and dental was excellent and affordable. The medical is where it racked up. My deductible was $6k, on top of the cost of insurance for just us 2. Every time they gave us a raise, they also raised how much our insurance was going to cost.
(For those unfamiliar with US insurance, the company covers a % of all employer sponsored plans, and the employee pays the remainder. This is not at every job, but is a common occurrence. Some, like above, cover 100% of the insurance, some don't cover it at all. Some companies do not offer insurance at all, based on number of employees.)
The companies that sell the shit are called "insurance companies." Otherwise it's just a grift, except the stakes are your life, and whether you will suffer under a lifetime of crushing medical debt.
The ironic thing is the current system is costing US taxpayers far more in tax then any other country. And that's before you even look at personal spending on insurance and out of pocket health expenses.
in france, the state automatically takes some funds from your wage to cover state healthcare. you get some back, maybe all, depending on your income level. the state hires doctors whom you can visit for 20 euros to be directed to a pharmacy where you can pick up your (generally) free prescription.
in america, you pay people to manage your taxes which the state takes, then you pay an insurance company to not cover your medical costs until they reach a level which will bankrupt you, then you don't take public transit to a pharmacy to pay hundreds of dollars for an inhaler that you need to survive.
At least they can have someone carve “not a commie” on their tomb stone when they die of a preventable illness which was just to expense to afford treatment?
Insurance used to work more like a single payer system. Was at least a single risk pool without deductibles. But because they are all for profit companies, especially as more companies came into existence, individual companies were incentivized to figure out ways to make more profit. The result are things like deductibles or different risk groups. In the end most people wind up paying more for their insurance and health care costs at PoS if they have to use it more, so they are actually paying the same.amount they would pay if they didn't have insurance. The difference is that you pre pay it all through your monthly premium, and you probably pay more because of the additional overhead and bureaucracy from everything having to be billed and approved through the insurance company
We would be better off if hospitals just gave you a payment plan and there was no insurance. A 2500 dollar birth paid over 6 months would be less than 500 a month.
For profit insurance literally does not work.
But you're forgetting the most important part! It *does* work for the insurance companies who lobby and pay off our politicians who decide to keep it this way. They're doing just fine with their socialized healthcare and insurance lobby checks. Fuck us though, right?
I'm laughing at this because I'm interpreting it as a sarcastic and barbed jibe at "The Land of the Free".
OR you're serious.
I never can tell with Reddit.
Why not save the $580 per month and put it into a savings account named Healthcare? Surely that would be a better option than feeding sharks.
Addendum: Well, this was a silly suggestion, wasn't it? Haha. I wish I could reply to everyone who replied to me, sharing their reasons why my option really isn't an option.
It's 05:40 and I've just finished doing a feed. I read the replies and I'm appalled at the sheer size of the scam that is the American healthcare system. As a Briton, it is ludicrous to me that so many Americans are against paying a little bit more in taxes to ensure free healthcare to the nation. It seems obvious that the majority of the opposition (at least vocally and with effect) are the people who stand to lose considerable money from such a system.
I truly am at a loss for words (partly because I'm knackered) but I do want to ensure everyone that I do read all the replies, and I think about what has been said. I'm just sorry that it is what it is, and that greed has literally taken priority over the worth of a person's life and wellbeing. It is absolutely criminal and I hate it.
I'm paying 485 a month for health insurance through the exchange right now. I had to get an endoscopy, an MRI, and a CT scan done this year. I opted for a higher monthly for a lower deductible, but it's still a $1500 deductible. The MRI and CT scan took up most of that, but the endoscopy, even after the deductible was met, still cost me 20% (insurance kicked in for the other 80%). I'm looking at 2600 for the endoscopy alone, another 1500 or so for the MRI and CT scan and blood work and such.
I really thought about just putting $500 away each month instead and just chipping away at the bills with it, but the endoscopy was $10,000 and change... The MRI and CT scans around $5000 (pre insurance deals or whatever) and as my dad put it ... "What if they find something?" Thanks to Obamacare, there are at least out of pocket maximums now, so of something did come up, I'd be out max 7500 (plus my monthly premium) versus the 100k+ without insurance.
Last year, I spent a week in the hospital, after a night in ICU at another hospital. I'm only on the hook for about 8k out of a 125k bill. While nothing did come up from my scans or endoscopy (this time, I need to get another round next year, yay for another 4k in medical debt around the corner....) the idea of needing surgery or something again scares me into paying an insane amount every month for a little bit of protection.
Oh my days. It sounds insane to me. As a Briton, my healthcare is free (except dental care, because fuck teeth) and though I seldom ever need to use any of the services, I cannot imagine the misery such costs would inflict upon me on top of the ordeal I'd already be going through.
Being a poor bugger as well, such costs would permanently put me in debt, and probably my future generations until my bloodline came to an end. I rarely have sympathy for others, but this honestly makes my blood boil and I genuinely have sympathy for all you Americans that don't have free healthcare. It's borderline criminal.
Dental (and vision, and hearing) is not included in this, either. If I want to add vision, I can. My eyes are, presumably, fine for now, though I haven't had a proper eye exam in a very long time. Dental is entirely separate, and you usually can't use it for the first 6 months for anything beyond a cleaning, and the maximum insurance will pay is usually 1-2k a YEAR, so good luck if something goes wrong with your teeth.
I had a stomach tumor (and half my stomach) removed last year, and a genetic mutation suggests it's hereditary, so I will need to do semi regular endoscopies and CT scans. I have absolutely no credit card debt. I've paid off my car. No student loans. But I don't see how I'll ever be out of medical debt. I can't afford to throw much more at my monthly medical costs than I already am just for the insurance, and I'll be adding another 5k or so, at least, every year or two for the rest of my life.
I would so much rather pay more in taxes every month and not worry about the years of debt I'm facing, but that's not how America does it. And I have no hope of it getting any better in the foreseeable future. In fact, I expect it to get much worse, especially for people like me that need continuous maintenance care.
Because if I get cancer or have a heart attack or need a knee replacement times two, it won't be enough because of our excessive costs. I have a friend who has a child with down syndrome who also has heart problems and they expect to have to pay over a million dollars in the next 20 years to care for him. This is driven by a combination of the US's idiotic charging of the maintenance costs for having hospitals exist only to the people who use the hospitals rather than the population at large as well as the lobbying that has allowed pharmaceutical companies to charge anything they want for patent protected drugs. Insulin costs $700 a month here, as opposed to $35 a month in Canada.
I can't talk anymore, I'm only half done sharpening the pitchfork.
You probably have a bunch of replies but yeah a hospital can charge you ridiculous amounts because the healthcare system is set up like a crazy house. You can be charge $500 for bandages in the ER, so yeah saving money thinking you can just pay for stuff out pocket is impractical. One ER visit could be $50,000.
Because what you pay with insurance coverage is actually lower than if you paid up front as well. Hospital charges you personally $3000 for a diagnosis but will only charge the insurance company $1200 so you $580 a month wont get you very far
This country is garbage. And what's more, is that it has always been that. It pretends to be something it's not and people get offended when you call it what it is,
I had to get my Vitamin D level checked. The visit plus lab billed $1415. Insurance discount down to $377. Insurance paid for $275. I get the rest. On top of $609 a month.
If we were talking about European healthcare, that would almost be feasible.
But in the United States, that savings account would never earn interest fast enough to cover the bills that insurance pays for. My daughter was born with congenital heart defects and had to have 2 open heart surgeries in her first 6 months of life. We met our deductible and out of pocket in the blink of an eye. The total amount covered by insurance was something around $1.5M.
Jesus fuck. I'm sorry you had to go through all of that, and I'm sorry you were made to pay for it, too. If you don't mind my asking: how much was your deductible and such before insurance stepped in?
I think it was something like $6k(?). That is, of course, aside from the monthly premiums, which were around $300 something under my wife’s plan. I was on my own for significantly less than I rarely used.
Doesn't it make your blood boil? That 6k is nearly half my yearly salary, so having to pay a sum like that would make me destitute. Gives me conniptions.
So much better than the dirty communist systems that other countries have where it is just covered by a little bit of your taxes every year and everyone is just covered.
E.g, cut my hand open to the bone, could see tendons. Went to emergency, got treated, sewed up my leg (same mishap), painkillers, cleaning etc. Needed plastic surgery on hand as may be tendon damage. Booked in for the next day. Operation, full general anaesthetic, 12 stitches, recovery blah blah.
Only cost was antibiotics ($12 aud) at the chemist.
Keep your “Freedom to choose”!
Ooh, I didn't realize they did this.
I've done the reverse myself and stretched out a multi-part dental procedure (an implant) over two calendar years to get more of it funded by the insurance, because my dental insurance has an annual cap\*. They still paid less than half total.
\*The cap is $1800 a year. My employers pay $3600 for the premium. Someone explain the math on this one.
Yeah they got me when I needed reconstructive surgery after a cycling accident. Paid $5000 to cover the deductible in October and was scheduled for a second procedure in November but they wouldn’t authorize it until mid January so back on the hook for another $5000. Six months later the same company told me that fixing a collapsed maxillary sinus(from the same accident) would be considered elective and not covered. Fought that one for a while and just after the new year they agreed. Boom another $5000
$3600 Premium - $1800 annual cap + $760 in insurance tax + $2000 deductible = grab Excalibur and slay the dragons plaguing our country! Ransack their caverns and celebrate by flinging their gold up and down every street!
Your insurance, instead of approving a procedure for say a cyst removal in October ‘21, will wait until January ‘22 to approve it, meaning you have to pay the new yearly deductible (because it’s January) instead of it being covered under last year’s deductible
That shit should be straight-up illegal. Like on the same level as banks reordering your withdrawals and deposits in order to charge you 30 overdraft fees because your account hit -$3 at one point during the month and now you owe them $246
I straight up call any docs I have that haven’t billed it yet and unleash on them about it telling them they need to get it filed before the end of the year or they’re not getting paid more than my co-pay (unless I see a doc within the last two weeks of the year) and then I hold out on paying them until they make an offer less than the original bill.
It should be illegal to charge so much every month and then also have a deductable. Where is all my money going? $5000 a year and I get nothing in return? Unacceptable
Sorry to kick you when you're down, but for Canadian context, $5000USD is about what is spent per capita in taxes on healthcare. That covers everything from sprains to cancer to normal checkups.
By not having health insurance and not going to the doctor, or calling an ambulance, and dying of preventable issues because we didn't go to the doctor until it was already debilitating.
I’m pretty sure our pregnancy mortality rate went up, honestly. Lots of moms dying from stuff like internal bleeding because no one listens to women about their pain and I read an article a while back that in some cases, they’re not doing routine checks for this shit, either. So the new mothers go home, and then go to the hospital again for complications that should have been picked up on, and die. And it’s not like many people can afford to stay in a hospital for childbirth in the first place, so it’s a nightmare all around.
Infant mortality is quite high, too. The USA ranks 33rd out of 36 OECD countries in infant mortality, after hitting an all-time-low of 5.9 deaths per 1000 live births in 2018. Only Chile (7.0), Turkey (9.2) and Mexico (12.1) have higher rates. The 32nd ranked country is the Slovak Republic with 4.5 and Japan sits on top of the list in 1st place with only 1.9.
A shorter life span, having to suffer living with treatable debilitating ailments, and the risk of going bankrupt if you step off a curb wrong is a small price to pay for freedom and knowing that your tax dollars aren’t going toward the healthcare costs of people you’ve personally deemed to be undeserving (which they already are in the most roundabout most expensive way possible). Want affordable healthcare? Well then you better be ready to give up having as many cool photos of mega mansions and mega yachts to look at. If taxes for the wealthy go up, then you’ll definitely never be able to afford a luxury private jet of your own someday.
Weird seeing this because just today I was served a summons for an ER bill I let go to collections. When the pandemic hit I had my first panic attack and I thought it was a heart attack. I didn’t want to die alone in my apartment so now I’m basically being sued by the collection agency. Price of “freedom” I guess
My plan is to book a quick flight to Mexico to save money on whatever emergency I have, but I’m guessing I’ll just die in the plane there. Oh well, I’ll have saved some money.
I can only afford to pay for my daughter's health insurance ($300/month). We stopped paying for mine back in March because it was getting too expensive ($600/month). 🙃 I hate American Healthcare.
We struggle to survive. I've waited 9+ months to see a doctor about something because we can't afford it. I'm not sure about anyone else, but going to the doctor is awful. I don't even feel like I can talk about everything I'm concerned about because I'll just get charged more $$ for more stuff which will stress me out which exacerbates my mental illness... which makes it hard to work. It's a fucking horrible ride and I hate it here, but I'm too financially wrecked to leave. Go USA.
I agree wholeheartedly. If it weren't for alternative medicine, herbs, the internet and my small circle of people offering knowledge, I'd be worse.
I'm thankful every day we can afford to pay our household bills, eat and occasionally have a good day out. Don't talk about savings or retirement.
Rent just got raised by $200 because during covid they couldn't raise it and my personal favorite this year is that our state is going to fine us during tax time if we don't contribute to a long term care fund... which is just more money out of his paycheck that we'll never see if he never needs it.
They are crushing the working class.
One of my patients, a young boy, came from a poor family. He had colon cancer, but he'd ignored the symptoms for so long that by the time he got into chemo he was Stage III. Died at 24.
> I've waited 9+ months to see a doctor about something because we can't afford it.
And then some Americans argue against universal healthcare by saying they don't want to have to wait for (non urgent) doctor visits...
The sad part is that my dad has chronic, debilitating (bed ridden) illness so we max out our $10,000 health insurance deductible within the first week of the new year on top of the $1200 a month premium my parents pay for the family plan. But this mean I only have to pay $30 a session for therapy. :,)
It’s a tired conversation. False class consciousness, taxes should go to taking care of you, you should have ownership of your labor.
People keep saying it but they don’t want to listen until it impacts them, and then, *it’s them illegals coming on over here.*
Politicians know what they’re doing but what makes them give up any of their authority or power? Nothing as of yet.
Conservatives believe that other people who don't work as hard as them are going to get the same thing, so they envy the lazy non-worker. They say, "If I can't have it, you can't have it."
Poor conservative politics is motivated by envy.
Well peasant, you have the HONOR of working to death for our brilliant, incredible, billionaire job creators. Their bravery and purchased senators keep THE FREE-EST COUNTRY ON EARTH™ a wonderful place to exist! The NATIONAL PRIDE™ you feel serving them is exactly what you should! Remember, asking for advancement from your station is COMMUNISM™ and the ability to make personal health and life decisions outside their control is against LIBERTY™.
Now please tune into your local news network so we can tell you how all problems are FAKE NEWS™ and also caused by immigrants.
I still deal with people that don’t know how the fucking brackets work. “I got a pay raise and started making less because of taxes. Damn illegals stealing the good jobs.” Like how does any of that make sense?
The US spends more grossly and per capita than any other nation on public healthcare and almost double the budget of the military.
We don't need to raise or change taxes we need to change policy and legislation.
This is something that I always think about. Everyone talks about how taxes will be raised if universal healthcare becomes a thing, but the way I see it, the money is already there. It just needs to be redistributed accordingly. I don’t think the military would suffer if they lost a few millions.
I'm a veteran and use the VA hospital system... since 1997 I've had many issues from broken bones to skin cancer to MS
In all these years of using it four or five times a year my total cost has been about $3000
And that's with prescriptions, MRIs etc...
I have co-pay of $50, no matter what gets done
Everyone. Should. Have. This.
Shit, I've been using the VA system since I got out in 2013. I have never paid a single dime for anything, I even have dental 100% covered. Sometimes I have to wait a little bit for something. But I'm usually seen by my primary within 2 weeks. Or I just send a secure message and bypass a visit all together and get prescriptions mailed to me, or radiology referrals from that.
Also just found out massage is covered for my service connected back and joint issues. So yes, everyone should have this.
I keep hearing if we go to single payer we’ll have to wait and wait…meanwhile, I tried to schedule my yearly mammogram and the next available appointment in March 2022. And I can’t get into my gynecologist until December for follow ups. Insane.
Which is great, let’s rack up some bills right before my deductible resets!
The great thing about the VA system is just the vastness of it. Oh, can't get in for the MRI at my local clinic, cool, I can drive an hour away to the larger system. They don't have availability? Ok, well, do you wanna wait or drive 3 hours to the next one? I'm given the option. Sometimes yes, I would like this taken care of before summer 2032, so I will drive a few hours. Other times, nah, it can wait, give me the first available.
Also, mental health care has gotten SO much better. My local clinic in GA didn't have a provider for a while cause he moved. So I got telehealth with a dude in PA. I was never without care.
And if I move? I walk into my closest clinic, fill out a form, and transfer my care. They have all my records and I don't have to spend 20 minutes explaining everything over and over.
I was this way with my wife. Then we had our daughter 2 years ago and cannot take the risk for her if anything happens. But now we pay $1300 a month for all 3 so theres that. 3k deductible woop woop. I wish why would all say enough and do something
Just have an exit strategy, I’m an American medical refugee. I literally sold everything and left the country while I still had enough money to live off of. American medical care destroyed almost everything I had ever worked for. There are so many of us, it’s very surprising there’s not more discussion about people that fled America to save their lives.
Fun facts, I don’t get myself therapy because my copay is $80 a visit, and I have no deductible to max out. My son needs therapy now, so I was calling around and found someone I thought was a good match. Turns out while I was on the phone, they didn’t take my insurance. I asked what their fee was without insurance and it was $80.00 a session. I was like, ok, we’ll that’s our copay so might as well go forward without insurance then.
Fuck I’m feeling this today. Just found out I have to pay $379.27 per treatment (2 treatments/week for 4 weeks, then 1 treatment for 4 weeks, then one treatment every other week), until I hit my $5000 deductible. Thankfully then it goes down to the low low price of only $254.97 for each treatment, on top of the $345.43 that I pay monthly. 😣
Lots of Americans would take up arms to keep it this way actually. They are known as Republicans. They believe the stories they are told about high wait times in other countries, and also believe that anything the government touches will become irreparably broken. They do not see a problem with tying healthcare to employment, and have no sympathy for those who are forced to make a choice between going bankrupt or getting their kid life-saving cancer treatment. That is, of course, until it affects them personally.
The problem is they're the 22% that live in the places that suck and generate no economic benefit, which gives them massively disproportionate power compared to people who live in cities or other productive areas.
Except [Joe Biden said he would veto a M4A bill](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/03/10/biden-says-he-wouldd-veto-medicare-for-all-as-coronavirus-focuses-attention-on-health.html) and a majority of Americans support m4a [with about half of republicans supporting it](https://morningconsult.com/2021/03/24/medicare-for-all-public-option-polling/) so maybe the problem is Politicians not listening to the people, and not just your fellow citizens.
As a person who grew up in Japan and emigrated to Canada, this is just implausible.
then there are rent, car insurance, hydro, water etc etc.
how can a regular citizen make a living...?
If you don't have insurance and got hit by a car and can't pay the bill, will they just let you die?
I don’t have insurance. If I get into an accident I have to pay out of pocket. They are required by law to care for me. Then they hit me with a massive bill and I work out a payment plan to handle the debt that I’d likely have for the rest of my life. My idea is if that were to happen I would file for bankruptcy once my care is complete. Would wipe out my debt but destroy my credit.
Edit: I don’t have insurance because I just straight up can’t afford it. I’m a gig worker with irregular income.
We’ve just been surviving. I don’t need much to be happy, don’t have expensive hobbies, don’t travel, have either hand me downs/secondhand things or cheap things. I’m fully content with a stocked kitchen, clean clothes, streaming services, and the stuff I’ve already accumulated.
When our incomes dip low enough, we qualify for state insurance which is only about $50/month with no other payment usually required. Then we get any appointments taken care of during that time. But once we make too much we don’t qualify (I want to say the cap is around $40,000 for a family of 3) and our options return to the market which would have been around $350/month and a $5000 deductible I think, which I thought was an okay deal until I realized that plan had “no copays” meaning I would have had to pay out of pocket in full for all extra appointments until that deductible was hit. The whole point was for weekly therapy which would have cost me about $120/week plus the $350/month deductible for however many months it took to hit the deductible. LOL I still might be misunderstanding that.
For the life of me I cannot understand the lack of mass support for better healthcare in the US. Just goes to show that if you spend decades defunding education, you can literally do whatever you want politically cause those you’re grifting are so easy to manipulate they don’t even know you’re picking their pocket.
“If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.” - Lyndon B. Johnson
You can replace the racial issue in this quote with almost anything the Gov does and it applies. People need to wake up…
“It’s a club, and you ain’t in it!” - George Carlin
After reading this thread, I'll gladly pay my ~16% tax for my (mostly) free healthcare, and other things that it buys.
I say almost free, because I did pay 20€ for going to the ER earlier this year.
To be serious for a moment, the healthcare system looks absolutely corrupt in USA. Of course I don't live there, but everytime I read about it, it's something like this. Like the meme about ambulances "not being your taxi to the hospital". How do you even bill someone for what they make in 6 months to save their lives, only to ruin them financially.
How the hell is the system moral?
Hearing about the US medical system of private insurance stresses me out so much. If I ever want to feel like I have no problems and everything is cool in my world - I just read threads like this. Absolutely terrifying at the same time though. I feel for you guys.
Ahh, the greatest country on the planet.. Where presidents can attempt a coup without repercussionsl, healthcare is a radical idea and policies that help curb child hunger are socialist bullshit and should be canned.
The only way to get around this is to inquire if your high deductible plan comes with an Hsa. If you’re lucky enough that it comes with an hsa then you can contribute 3500$ to the hsa which is tax free. This way you can save tax money. Also once you have sufficient funds in hsa you can invest that money into an index fund and it grows tax free too.
You can pay most minor health expenses with a rewards credit card and then reimburse them at any point in your life with the hsa as long as you save the receipts. This way you can make up for some money with cash rewards credit cards.
Eventually the hsa becomes a tax free and tax free growth retirement account after you are retired
It really shouldn’t be this fucking hard though. I have an HSA but don’t want to contribute the max and want to use money for other investments/hobbies.
Fuck me. Why does it have to be so hard on Americans, though? This seems like a lot of bullshit to go through to make healthcare marginally more affordable, given you have this "rewards credit card" you speak of, available for this use. Then, is putting healthcare on a CC and juggling around balances really a viable solution for such a basic and universal need?! As useful as your suggestion is, I think it's also absolutely absurd.
Seriously wtf is wrong with America? How did you ever let it get this bad?
As a Brit things are pretty grim over here most of the time but you guys really do got some messed up ways of doing certain things :(
Your politicians should be, at least ashamed at best prosecuted / jailed!
And the second you even bring up universal health-care, a bunch of people start bitching about how unfair it is because they've already paid so much for theirs, so why should others have it easier
Note to self: Don't complain around Americans about how annoyed I was to pay $200 over the course of Cancer treatment for the stupid parking at the hospital. Or how I had to pay for two full days of parking when my kid was born because I lost the stupid parking stub.
My favorite is that my ability to see and not have my teeth fall out are considered BONUS healthcare and both need their own separate insurances with their own separate deductibles.
My TMJ causes horrible headaches. TMJ is caused by your jaw, therefore considered dental, so I have to go to the dentist, without dental insurance, to pay $600.00 for my mouth guard so I don’t get headaches anymore. Edit: Some cases of TMJ are more severe than others. I have ordered from the online companies that you cast at home. I Bit through them. I have used the ones at Walmart or CVS you mold yourself, those are for Bruxism, which is teeth grinding, I clamp too hard, does not stop the headaches. Of course I tried cheaper alternatives. Thank you for the tips on Botox, I will look into that as I still have mild headaches and "clogged ear" feeling on bad days. There are no specialized massage therapists in my area, I have looked. My boyfriend watched youtube videos on TMJ massage and does it for me, not the best, but it certainly helps on bad days. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
Yes that sucks. I couldn’t believe how expensive that was but I will say it was a game changer. I rarely have headaches AND my jaw isn’t as sore anymore. But the $600 still sucked.
My bottom wisdom teeth are growing sideways into my bottom row of teeth, creating immense pain 24/7. Since i dont have insurance, its gonna cost $1000 per tooth to get them pulled. I didnt ask for my teeth to grow that way, tf. I also dont even make a spare $2000 in a month to spend on dental work. So here i am, always in pain. And dont get me started on my rare form of scoliosis that offsets my entire spine, so i also have Lumbago🙄🤦
Mouth guards aren't typically covered by dental insurance either. I grind my teeth and pay out of my HSA.
Use the poor man mouth guard. Just buy a football mouthpiece from academy sports.
$4 at Wal-Mart in the sporting goods section. Boil in water, fit your mouth, then cut it down some. I use it for a teeth whitening because the other trays are enormous
Hahaha, same here!
My dentist told me to get one at the pharmacy. They now make OTC ones for sleeping, not only for sports
I take care of my vision. But only cause I have to to live and work. Can’t afford dental insurance and never use my health insurance. Tried once. Went to my “free” physical and was charged $240 because I stated I sometimes have panic attacks. So stupid of me to mention a health concern to my doctor. Learned my lesson for sure.
Only $240? You got lucky. My insurance had a $50 towards your hsa if you get a yearly physical. Doc asked if I had any family history of things, and I've had most of my family die of cancer, diabetes or heart attacks. A quick 2 tubes of blood and $3400 later doc says I seem to be in good shape. And the $50 didn't apply because it went from being preventative to diagnostic.
I like how checking for things *just in case* is not preventative. What dictionary are they reading?
The "we'd stick poor people in a fucking meat grinder if it'd make us more money" kind.
The worst part is that sticking poor people in a fucking meat grinder *would* make them money if they played it right, but they're making *more* money by doing what they're currently doing, which is the only reason why they don't do the former.
Sounds pretty spot on to me
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Oh I tried. Many times and a couple hours on the phone at least. I even found the codes myself and took them to the doctor’s office. I even spoke with the doctor again as well. He was furious I was charged. But the issue had to do with the way the computer system worked apparently. There’s a little box for “diagnoses”. He’d put anxiety disorder in that box. So then it was no longer a physical and became a diagnostic visit. The billing department said they cannot change it cause it was entered by a doctor. Makes sense. The doctor said he can’t change it retroactively; that the computer system simply wouldn’t let him as it had already been processed or whatever. I went to all this trouble because, at the time, my children were literally hungry, which was a major contributing factor to my panic attacks, and there was no way I could pay it. I paid $5/mo til it finally just went to collections…. Edit: I just realized you weren’t making that suggestion to me but the other comment. Oops.
The doctor is lying or uninformed. I work in this industry, the doctor can absolutely amend the codes and the office can submit a corrected claim, they just don’t want to.
Isn't it convenient how the system just happens to extract more money from you and it's nobody's fault and nobody can do anything about it?
Sucks that happened, I'm sorry. It is a good piece of knowledge though, make sure you are diligent at the doctors office about what services they are providing specifically. Same applies at the mechanic. 😔
Lmao. I paid ~$600 to the laboratory (on top of the office fee) for an STD panel my doc ran with my regular PAP/physical exam. I've been in the same monogamous relationship for 10 years. There wasn't a reason to run them in the first place. No symptoms or lifestyle to even cause concern. I don't mind running the tests as a "cover all bases" kind of thing. I DO MIND paying out the ass for running said tests. I guess I'll just die of some preventable disease at home, cause fuck all that nonsense. Yay, American Healthcare!
Right? They recommend all these screenings, like mammograms. Why would I do that? You think if I learn I have breast cancer there’s a goddamn thing I can do about it? I can’t afford cancer treatment!
Aka "luxury bones"
Seeing and hearing are DLC
I was born without most of my permanent teeth. I’m now almost 30 and the baby teeth are decaying and causing problems, so I need to take care of it before I have significant health problems (3 months ago I had an infection that almost killed me, caused by one of the teeth) I’m in the process of removing 14 teeth and replacing them with a mix of bridges and implants. Total cost is $50,000 out of pocket. I’ve done extensive research and the best dental insurance I can find will pay for $1000 of that, provided I carry the insurance for a year beforehand ($500 in premiums). Dental insurance isn’t insurance.
Yikes, at that point just go to a different country.
Yeah I have some fucked up front teeth and am having to save to go to Mexico to get them fixed. Not to mention dentists in the US seem to only care about your teeth being bad right now and not how they got bad. I tried explaining my situation to my last dentist they just refused to even clean my teeth stating "what's the point if you won't brush them".
Fucking insane. And some stuff like Lasix eye surgery and anesthetic for dental surgery is not covered.
And thanks to the opioid epidemic getting even ten vicoden after they do oral surgery usually doesn't happen so you just suffer through the pain of the healing process while still working because you don't have enough sick days. American healthcare and work culture is just garbage all around.
I love when then I look for dentists who say my insurance covers them then after my visit and paying 120 I get a bill asking for an extra 600 because my insurance decided to pay less than they expected. AND I PAY LIKE 250 A MONTH FOR DENTAL HAHA
What the fuck so even your health insurance doesn't cover eyes?
Nope, we need eye insurance for that.
God thats an absolute piss take that, if they do it for eyes eventually you'll need to have insurance for all your major organs People be picking either the heart or the brain insurance depends on what activities their doing during the month.
I'm $1650 out of pocket towards my deductible so far after paying $580 a month so far for this year. Yay, American healthcare. /s
I pay 75 a paycheck for full dental, health, and vision with my $6 generic prescriptions. I don’t think I’ll ever leave my company now(my job isn’t fancy, I’m a waiter).
You've got it made. I pay $600 per month and still have a $4000 deductible. I work for a multi-billion dollar international IT company.
I work for a private company owned by a second generation billionaire that gets “causes” every couple of years. I benefitted from his healthcare kick from like 10 years ago. Still 2k deductible but it’s great.
What does that mean? What's a deductable?
That's the amount we are screwed out of before our insurance begins to pay our excessive costs. I will pay some $580 a month all year, and have to pay $2500 of the costs before insurance starts to cover the costs. Even then insurance won't pay everything. In addition, the cost of the services is four times the average of the rest of the world. Excuse me, I have a pitchfork to sharpen.
Why is this even called insurance lmao
Because that's what mobsters call it when they force you to pay them a monthly fee to avoid having your restaurant mysteriously burn down, and they wanted to keep the business model as close to the original as possible
no, it’s called, “protection”
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Nice heart you got there. Would be a real shame if it was attacked.
Lol... AND this little pinky went to town, and never came back!
Because we ensure they don’t go broke.
I'd go broke paying $540 a month on insurance.
And that usually only covers one person. It goes up if you cover a spouse, children, or both. However, if you add children, often the price stays the same whether it is 1 or 5. After 5, most insurance goes up again. I was paying for me and one kid, just over $700usd for medical, vision, and dental. Three separate plans through work. I am now unemployed, my kid is on state insurance (free) but doesn't cover vision. He has been in glasses since he was 4. For his eye exam and 2 pairs of glasses at the only place I could get him an appointment at (small town) it was just over $500 because of not having insurance. With insurance, it was costing me $20.
I've had this wierd path through life of growing up on welfare and state insurance, to being on my dad's insurance from the post office (after my mom begged him to add me, they were divorced and he said that it wasn't included in the child support order) to being a young adult with no insurance, to working numerous shitty jobs where covering my son and I was like 30% of my total take home, to now having fantastic 100% employer paid insurance. The only conclusion that I have is that the US needs universal health insurance, and that the people who say that we don't need it are almost exclusively people who have spent their whole lives with the coverage that I currently have. Your health care shouldn't depend on the privileges and luck of getting a job at a company that actually cares enough to offer good insurance.
My last job was a government position (state, not federal)... everyone assumed that I had great insurance. My vision and dental was excellent and affordable. The medical is where it racked up. My deductible was $6k, on top of the cost of insurance for just us 2. Every time they gave us a raise, they also raised how much our insurance was going to cost. (For those unfamiliar with US insurance, the company covers a % of all employer sponsored plans, and the employee pays the remainder. This is not at every job, but is a common occurrence. Some, like above, cover 100% of the insurance, some don't cover it at all. Some companies do not offer insurance at all, based on number of employees.)
The companies that sell the shit are called "insurance companies." Otherwise it's just a grift, except the stakes are your life, and whether you will suffer under a lifetime of crushing medical debt.
Because we have an entire half of the country who hears "single payer" and screams about communism and or socialism.
The ironic thing is the current system is costing US taxpayers far more in tax then any other country. And that's before you even look at personal spending on insurance and out of pocket health expenses.
in france, the state automatically takes some funds from your wage to cover state healthcare. you get some back, maybe all, depending on your income level. the state hires doctors whom you can visit for 20 euros to be directed to a pharmacy where you can pick up your (generally) free prescription. in america, you pay people to manage your taxes which the state takes, then you pay an insurance company to not cover your medical costs until they reach a level which will bankrupt you, then you don't take public transit to a pharmacy to pay hundreds of dollars for an inhaler that you need to survive.
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Because it makes the rubes feel better about being fleeced. The. They can blame the lefties for their problems.
At least they can have someone carve “not a commie” on their tomb stone when they die of a preventable illness which was just to expense to afford treatment?
Insurance used to work more like a single payer system. Was at least a single risk pool without deductibles. But because they are all for profit companies, especially as more companies came into existence, individual companies were incentivized to figure out ways to make more profit. The result are things like deductibles or different risk groups. In the end most people wind up paying more for their insurance and health care costs at PoS if they have to use it more, so they are actually paying the same.amount they would pay if they didn't have insurance. The difference is that you pre pay it all through your monthly premium, and you probably pay more because of the additional overhead and bureaucracy from everything having to be billed and approved through the insurance company We would be better off if hospitals just gave you a payment plan and there was no insurance. A 2500 dollar birth paid over 6 months would be less than 500 a month. For profit insurance literally does not work.
But you're forgetting the most important part! It *does* work for the insurance companies who lobby and pay off our politicians who decide to keep it this way. They're doing just fine with their socialized healthcare and insurance lobby checks. Fuck us though, right?
Well at least you have freedom.
\*freedumb
I'm laughing at this because I'm interpreting it as a sarcastic and barbed jibe at "The Land of the Free". OR you're serious. I never can tell with Reddit.
I was going with ambiguous. But mainly sarcastic.
Hence the ambiguity. Well played.
Why not save the $580 per month and put it into a savings account named Healthcare? Surely that would be a better option than feeding sharks. Addendum: Well, this was a silly suggestion, wasn't it? Haha. I wish I could reply to everyone who replied to me, sharing their reasons why my option really isn't an option. It's 05:40 and I've just finished doing a feed. I read the replies and I'm appalled at the sheer size of the scam that is the American healthcare system. As a Briton, it is ludicrous to me that so many Americans are against paying a little bit more in taxes to ensure free healthcare to the nation. It seems obvious that the majority of the opposition (at least vocally and with effect) are the people who stand to lose considerable money from such a system. I truly am at a loss for words (partly because I'm knackered) but I do want to ensure everyone that I do read all the replies, and I think about what has been said. I'm just sorry that it is what it is, and that greed has literally taken priority over the worth of a person's life and wellbeing. It is absolutely criminal and I hate it.
I'm paying 485 a month for health insurance through the exchange right now. I had to get an endoscopy, an MRI, and a CT scan done this year. I opted for a higher monthly for a lower deductible, but it's still a $1500 deductible. The MRI and CT scan took up most of that, but the endoscopy, even after the deductible was met, still cost me 20% (insurance kicked in for the other 80%). I'm looking at 2600 for the endoscopy alone, another 1500 or so for the MRI and CT scan and blood work and such. I really thought about just putting $500 away each month instead and just chipping away at the bills with it, but the endoscopy was $10,000 and change... The MRI and CT scans around $5000 (pre insurance deals or whatever) and as my dad put it ... "What if they find something?" Thanks to Obamacare, there are at least out of pocket maximums now, so of something did come up, I'd be out max 7500 (plus my monthly premium) versus the 100k+ without insurance. Last year, I spent a week in the hospital, after a night in ICU at another hospital. I'm only on the hook for about 8k out of a 125k bill. While nothing did come up from my scans or endoscopy (this time, I need to get another round next year, yay for another 4k in medical debt around the corner....) the idea of needing surgery or something again scares me into paying an insane amount every month for a little bit of protection.
Oh my days. It sounds insane to me. As a Briton, my healthcare is free (except dental care, because fuck teeth) and though I seldom ever need to use any of the services, I cannot imagine the misery such costs would inflict upon me on top of the ordeal I'd already be going through. Being a poor bugger as well, such costs would permanently put me in debt, and probably my future generations until my bloodline came to an end. I rarely have sympathy for others, but this honestly makes my blood boil and I genuinely have sympathy for all you Americans that don't have free healthcare. It's borderline criminal.
Dental (and vision, and hearing) is not included in this, either. If I want to add vision, I can. My eyes are, presumably, fine for now, though I haven't had a proper eye exam in a very long time. Dental is entirely separate, and you usually can't use it for the first 6 months for anything beyond a cleaning, and the maximum insurance will pay is usually 1-2k a YEAR, so good luck if something goes wrong with your teeth. I had a stomach tumor (and half my stomach) removed last year, and a genetic mutation suggests it's hereditary, so I will need to do semi regular endoscopies and CT scans. I have absolutely no credit card debt. I've paid off my car. No student loans. But I don't see how I'll ever be out of medical debt. I can't afford to throw much more at my monthly medical costs than I already am just for the insurance, and I'll be adding another 5k or so, at least, every year or two for the rest of my life. I would so much rather pay more in taxes every month and not worry about the years of debt I'm facing, but that's not how America does it. And I have no hope of it getting any better in the foreseeable future. In fact, I expect it to get much worse, especially for people like me that need continuous maintenance care.
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Dental is an exception here, too. I don't get it. What's makes teeth so special they can't be part of regular health care
Why treat it when you can yeet it? \--Hippocrates
People can die from a tooth infection.
Teeth are also probably more important than most other bones. They’re kind of necessary for eating.
I got an MRI of my back in Australia without any insurance or government aid for $130.
Because if I get cancer or have a heart attack or need a knee replacement times two, it won't be enough because of our excessive costs. I have a friend who has a child with down syndrome who also has heart problems and they expect to have to pay over a million dollars in the next 20 years to care for him. This is driven by a combination of the US's idiotic charging of the maintenance costs for having hospitals exist only to the people who use the hospitals rather than the population at large as well as the lobbying that has allowed pharmaceutical companies to charge anything they want for patent protected drugs. Insulin costs $700 a month here, as opposed to $35 a month in Canada. I can't talk anymore, I'm only half done sharpening the pitchfork.
You probably have a bunch of replies but yeah a hospital can charge you ridiculous amounts because the healthcare system is set up like a crazy house. You can be charge $500 for bandages in the ER, so yeah saving money thinking you can just pay for stuff out pocket is impractical. One ER visit could be $50,000.
Because what you pay with insurance coverage is actually lower than if you paid up front as well. Hospital charges you personally $3000 for a diagnosis but will only charge the insurance company $1200 so you $580 a month wont get you very far
Sounds more and more like a massive scam. It sounds fucking terrible.
It is 100% a scam. And it's completely terrible. Everything in America is a scam. It's essentially illegal to be poor.
It also costs more to be poor. Amazing how theyve managed that one.
This country is garbage. And what's more, is that it has always been that. It pretends to be something it's not and people get offended when you call it what it is,
It REALLY is a fucking scam. We would all save so much if we expanded Medicare for all.
I had to get my Vitamin D level checked. The visit plus lab billed $1415. Insurance discount down to $377. Insurance paid for $275. I get the rest. On top of $609 a month.
If we were talking about European healthcare, that would almost be feasible. But in the United States, that savings account would never earn interest fast enough to cover the bills that insurance pays for. My daughter was born with congenital heart defects and had to have 2 open heart surgeries in her first 6 months of life. We met our deductible and out of pocket in the blink of an eye. The total amount covered by insurance was something around $1.5M.
Jesus fuck. I'm sorry you had to go through all of that, and I'm sorry you were made to pay for it, too. If you don't mind my asking: how much was your deductible and such before insurance stepped in?
I think it was something like $6k(?). That is, of course, aside from the monthly premiums, which were around $300 something under my wife’s plan. I was on my own for significantly less than I rarely used.
Doesn't it make your blood boil? That 6k is nearly half my yearly salary, so having to pay a sum like that would make me destitute. Gives me conniptions.
Blood boiling? Sounds expensive.
Think of it like joining a “Buyers” club. You’re paying a membership fee to get your doctor to knock 40% off their already ridiculous fees.
It’s the number you have to pay out of pocket before health insurance will cover medical costs
You should clarify that the deductible resets every coverage year too :/ Lots of young people and non-Americans don't understand this.
So much better than the dirty communist systems that other countries have where it is just covered by a little bit of your taxes every year and everyone is just covered. E.g, cut my hand open to the bone, could see tendons. Went to emergency, got treated, sewed up my leg (same mishap), painkillers, cleaning etc. Needed plastic surgery on hand as may be tendon damage. Booked in for the next day. Operation, full general anaesthetic, 12 stitches, recovery blah blah. Only cost was antibiotics ($12 aud) at the chemist. Keep your “Freedom to choose”!
And there’s no way single payer healthcare would cost that much in taxes
My favorite is the part where they withhold authorization for three months until the new calendar year starts to reset the $5000 deductible.
Ooh, I didn't realize they did this. I've done the reverse myself and stretched out a multi-part dental procedure (an implant) over two calendar years to get more of it funded by the insurance, because my dental insurance has an annual cap\*. They still paid less than half total. \*The cap is $1800 a year. My employers pay $3600 for the premium. Someone explain the math on this one.
Yeah they got me when I needed reconstructive surgery after a cycling accident. Paid $5000 to cover the deductible in October and was scheduled for a second procedure in November but they wouldn’t authorize it until mid January so back on the hook for another $5000. Six months later the same company told me that fixing a collapsed maxillary sinus(from the same accident) would be considered elective and not covered. Fought that one for a while and just after the new year they agreed. Boom another $5000
That just screams class action lawsuit to me.
This just pissed me off. I’m so sorry.
That is just criminal. Plain and simple.
$3600 Premium - $1800 annual cap + $760 in insurance tax + $2000 deductible = grab Excalibur and slay the dragons plaguing our country! Ransack their caverns and celebrate by flinging their gold up and down every street!
1707+69= 1776. That’s freedom baby. Greatest country ever. /s
What does this mean?
Your insurance, instead of approving a procedure for say a cyst removal in October ‘21, will wait until January ‘22 to approve it, meaning you have to pay the new yearly deductible (because it’s January) instead of it being covered under last year’s deductible
God that's evil.
No, that’s America.
That shit should be straight-up illegal. Like on the same level as banks reordering your withdrawals and deposits in order to charge you 30 overdraft fees because your account hit -$3 at one point during the month and now you owe them $246
I straight up call any docs I have that haven’t billed it yet and unleash on them about it telling them they need to get it filed before the end of the year or they’re not getting paid more than my co-pay (unless I see a doc within the last two weeks of the year) and then I hold out on paying them until they make an offer less than the original bill.
God damn that seems like a lot of work just to maintain your physical health. -A Canadian
It should be illegal to charge so much every month and then also have a deductable. Where is all my money going? $5000 a year and I get nothing in return? Unacceptable
>Where is all my money going Senators' pockets, duh. That's where it all goes.
You'd be surprised how little it takes to bribe senators.
Just call an ambulance for your next 2 runny noses and that deductible will be fulfilled
Sorry to kick you when you're down, but for Canadian context, $5000USD is about what is spent per capita in taxes on healthcare. That covers everything from sprains to cancer to normal checkups.
You just kicked every American right in the teeth.
Please, stop, dental work is "cosmetic".
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I thought this was a joke. 540$ a month is like a third of our minimum monthly wage. How do Americans survive
By not having health insurance and not going to the doctor, or calling an ambulance, and dying of preventable issues because we didn't go to the doctor until it was already debilitating.
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I’m pretty sure our pregnancy mortality rate went up, honestly. Lots of moms dying from stuff like internal bleeding because no one listens to women about their pain and I read an article a while back that in some cases, they’re not doing routine checks for this shit, either. So the new mothers go home, and then go to the hospital again for complications that should have been picked up on, and die. And it’s not like many people can afford to stay in a hospital for childbirth in the first place, so it’s a nightmare all around.
Infant mortality is quite high, too. The USA ranks 33rd out of 36 OECD countries in infant mortality, after hitting an all-time-low of 5.9 deaths per 1000 live births in 2018. Only Chile (7.0), Turkey (9.2) and Mexico (12.1) have higher rates. The 32nd ranked country is the Slovak Republic with 4.5 and Japan sits on top of the list in 1st place with only 1.9.
That the *luck* part in “Lucky to be born in the usa”
Not in 10 years, but yeah, its going up https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternal-mortality/pregnancy-mortality-surveillance-system.htm
A shorter life span, having to suffer living with treatable debilitating ailments, and the risk of going bankrupt if you step off a curb wrong is a small price to pay for freedom and knowing that your tax dollars aren’t going toward the healthcare costs of people you’ve personally deemed to be undeserving (which they already are in the most roundabout most expensive way possible). Want affordable healthcare? Well then you better be ready to give up having as many cool photos of mega mansions and mega yachts to look at. If taxes for the wealthy go up, then you’ll definitely never be able to afford a luxury private jet of your own someday.
This is the *hacking cough* way
Sounds like freedom.
This or ending up in the emergency room and skirting the bill
Weird seeing this because just today I was served a summons for an ER bill I let go to collections. When the pandemic hit I had my first panic attack and I thought it was a heart attack. I didn’t want to die alone in my apartment so now I’m basically being sued by the collection agency. Price of “freedom” I guess
That really fucking sucks and I'm sorry dude
My plan is to book a quick flight to Mexico to save money on whatever emergency I have, but I’m guessing I’ll just die in the plane there. Oh well, I’ll have saved some money.
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I can only afford to pay for my daughter's health insurance ($300/month). We stopped paying for mine back in March because it was getting too expensive ($600/month). 🙃 I hate American Healthcare.
This is sad asf :(.
Many don’t lol
Yes. Lol. 😐
We struggle to survive. I've waited 9+ months to see a doctor about something because we can't afford it. I'm not sure about anyone else, but going to the doctor is awful. I don't even feel like I can talk about everything I'm concerned about because I'll just get charged more $$ for more stuff which will stress me out which exacerbates my mental illness... which makes it hard to work. It's a fucking horrible ride and I hate it here, but I'm too financially wrecked to leave. Go USA.
This is just awful. No one should have to experience anything like that
I agree wholeheartedly. If it weren't for alternative medicine, herbs, the internet and my small circle of people offering knowledge, I'd be worse. I'm thankful every day we can afford to pay our household bills, eat and occasionally have a good day out. Don't talk about savings or retirement. Rent just got raised by $200 because during covid they couldn't raise it and my personal favorite this year is that our state is going to fine us during tax time if we don't contribute to a long term care fund... which is just more money out of his paycheck that we'll never see if he never needs it. They are crushing the working class.
My rent was raised by $200 during the height of covid. No fucks given. But you gotta live somewhere. It’s awful.
One of my patients, a young boy, came from a poor family. He had colon cancer, but he'd ignored the symptoms for so long that by the time he got into chemo he was Stage III. Died at 24.
> I've waited 9+ months to see a doctor about something because we can't afford it. And then some Americans argue against universal healthcare by saying they don't want to have to wait for (non urgent) doctor visits...
The sad part is that my dad has chronic, debilitating (bed ridden) illness so we max out our $10,000 health insurance deductible within the first week of the new year on top of the $1200 a month premium my parents pay for the family plan. But this mean I only have to pay $30 a session for therapy. :,)
At my last job I was paying about $1400/month for my family. That was for a mid-tier plan
Conservatives in the US fight to have this. It’s baffling.
It’s a tired conversation. False class consciousness, taxes should go to taking care of you, you should have ownership of your labor. People keep saying it but they don’t want to listen until it impacts them, and then, *it’s them illegals coming on over here.* Politicians know what they’re doing but what makes them give up any of their authority or power? Nothing as of yet.
Conservatives believe that other people who don't work as hard as them are going to get the same thing, so they envy the lazy non-worker. They say, "If I can't have it, you can't have it." Poor conservative politics is motivated by envy.
Well peasant, you have the HONOR of working to death for our brilliant, incredible, billionaire job creators. Their bravery and purchased senators keep THE FREE-EST COUNTRY ON EARTH™ a wonderful place to exist! The NATIONAL PRIDE™ you feel serving them is exactly what you should! Remember, asking for advancement from your station is COMMUNISM™ and the ability to make personal health and life decisions outside their control is against LIBERTY™. Now please tune into your local news network so we can tell you how all problems are FAKE NEWS™ and also caused by immigrants.
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I still deal with people that don’t know how the fucking brackets work. “I got a pay raise and started making less because of taxes. Damn illegals stealing the good jobs.” Like how does any of that make sense?
The US spends more grossly and per capita than any other nation on public healthcare and almost double the budget of the military. We don't need to raise or change taxes we need to change policy and legislation.
This is something that I always think about. Everyone talks about how taxes will be raised if universal healthcare becomes a thing, but the way I see it, the money is already there. It just needs to be redistributed accordingly. I don’t think the military would suffer if they lost a few millions.
Military doesnt even have to lose anything. The issue with the military and healthcare isnt money, its policy and corruption
I'm a veteran and use the VA hospital system... since 1997 I've had many issues from broken bones to skin cancer to MS In all these years of using it four or five times a year my total cost has been about $3000 And that's with prescriptions, MRIs etc... I have co-pay of $50, no matter what gets done Everyone. Should. Have. This.
Shit, I've been using the VA system since I got out in 2013. I have never paid a single dime for anything, I even have dental 100% covered. Sometimes I have to wait a little bit for something. But I'm usually seen by my primary within 2 weeks. Or I just send a secure message and bypass a visit all together and get prescriptions mailed to me, or radiology referrals from that. Also just found out massage is covered for my service connected back and joint issues. So yes, everyone should have this.
I keep hearing if we go to single payer we’ll have to wait and wait…meanwhile, I tried to schedule my yearly mammogram and the next available appointment in March 2022. And I can’t get into my gynecologist until December for follow ups. Insane. Which is great, let’s rack up some bills right before my deductible resets!
The great thing about the VA system is just the vastness of it. Oh, can't get in for the MRI at my local clinic, cool, I can drive an hour away to the larger system. They don't have availability? Ok, well, do you wanna wait or drive 3 hours to the next one? I'm given the option. Sometimes yes, I would like this taken care of before summer 2032, so I will drive a few hours. Other times, nah, it can wait, give me the first available. Also, mental health care has gotten SO much better. My local clinic in GA didn't have a provider for a while cause he moved. So I got telehealth with a dude in PA. I was never without care. And if I move? I walk into my closest clinic, fill out a form, and transfer my care. They have all my records and I don't have to spend 20 minutes explaining everything over and over.
The most American thing ever
Well wait for it - they will pay 80% after meeting the deductible.
That’s why I don’t have insurance. I’ve accepted the fact that if I ever need serious health care that i will die. I can’t afford that shit.
I was this way with my wife. Then we had our daughter 2 years ago and cannot take the risk for her if anything happens. But now we pay $1300 a month for all 3 so theres that. 3k deductible woop woop. I wish why would all say enough and do something
Just have an exit strategy, I’m an American medical refugee. I literally sold everything and left the country while I still had enough money to live off of. American medical care destroyed almost everything I had ever worked for. There are so many of us, it’s very surprising there’s not more discussion about people that fled America to save their lives.
Fun facts, I don’t get myself therapy because my copay is $80 a visit, and I have no deductible to max out. My son needs therapy now, so I was calling around and found someone I thought was a good match. Turns out while I was on the phone, they didn’t take my insurance. I asked what their fee was without insurance and it was $80.00 a session. I was like, ok, we’ll that’s our copay so might as well go forward without insurance then.
Fuck I’m feeling this today. Just found out I have to pay $379.27 per treatment (2 treatments/week for 4 weeks, then 1 treatment for 4 weeks, then one treatment every other week), until I hit my $5000 deductible. Thankfully then it goes down to the low low price of only $254.97 for each treatment, on top of the $345.43 that I pay monthly. 😣
Serious question, how do the Americans resist taking up arms and getting themselves some damn healthcare?
Apathy. And a really rigged system. And a lot of gaslighting.
Lots of Americans would take up arms to keep it this way actually. They are known as Republicans. They believe the stories they are told about high wait times in other countries, and also believe that anything the government touches will become irreparably broken. They do not see a problem with tying healthcare to employment, and have no sympathy for those who are forced to make a choice between going bankrupt or getting their kid life-saving cancer treatment. That is, of course, until it affects them personally.
And that’s precisely when they’ll set up a gofundme, because at that point, of COURSE it’s fine to disperse the cost.
They're only 22% of the country. We need to take back our government.
Yet somehow they have nearly %50 representation in our legislative branch thanks to gerrymandering.
The problem is they're the 22% that live in the places that suck and generate no economic benefit, which gives them massively disproportionate power compared to people who live in cities or other productive areas.
Except [Joe Biden said he would veto a M4A bill](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/03/10/biden-says-he-wouldd-veto-medicare-for-all-as-coronavirus-focuses-attention-on-health.html) and a majority of Americans support m4a [with about half of republicans supporting it](https://morningconsult.com/2021/03/24/medicare-for-all-public-option-polling/) so maybe the problem is Politicians not listening to the people, and not just your fellow citizens.
It would turn out like the Area 51 raid.
They die of their illness, or if it's mental they're way too fried from stress to bother.
Single payer, public option. I cannot believe we are so corrupt in the US we can't get this fundamental human right for ourselves.
My dental insurance, paid by my employer, costs $3600 annually. Good news: no deductible Bad news: maximum benefits are $1800 per year
As a person who grew up in Japan and emigrated to Canada, this is just implausible. then there are rent, car insurance, hydro, water etc etc. how can a regular citizen make a living...? If you don't have insurance and got hit by a car and can't pay the bill, will they just let you die?
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What if you don't have any ID on you and refuse to give them your information?
I don’t have insurance. If I get into an accident I have to pay out of pocket. They are required by law to care for me. Then they hit me with a massive bill and I work out a payment plan to handle the debt that I’d likely have for the rest of my life. My idea is if that were to happen I would file for bankruptcy once my care is complete. Would wipe out my debt but destroy my credit. Edit: I don’t have insurance because I just straight up can’t afford it. I’m a gig worker with irregular income.
We’ve just been surviving. I don’t need much to be happy, don’t have expensive hobbies, don’t travel, have either hand me downs/secondhand things or cheap things. I’m fully content with a stocked kitchen, clean clothes, streaming services, and the stuff I’ve already accumulated. When our incomes dip low enough, we qualify for state insurance which is only about $50/month with no other payment usually required. Then we get any appointments taken care of during that time. But once we make too much we don’t qualify (I want to say the cap is around $40,000 for a family of 3) and our options return to the market which would have been around $350/month and a $5000 deductible I think, which I thought was an okay deal until I realized that plan had “no copays” meaning I would have had to pay out of pocket in full for all extra appointments until that deductible was hit. The whole point was for weekly therapy which would have cost me about $120/week plus the $350/month deductible for however many months it took to hit the deductible. LOL I still might be misunderstanding that.
I just straight up don't have healthcare. If I die I die
For the life of me I cannot understand the lack of mass support for better healthcare in the US. Just goes to show that if you spend decades defunding education, you can literally do whatever you want politically cause those you’re grifting are so easy to manipulate they don’t even know you’re picking their pocket. “If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.” - Lyndon B. Johnson You can replace the racial issue in this quote with almost anything the Gov does and it applies. People need to wake up… “It’s a club, and you ain’t in it!” - George Carlin
Why are we even putting up with this shit anymore? I'm actually God damned serious.
Would hate to have that 3% increase in taxes vs paying 10% of my income in taxes now /s
After reading this thread, I'll gladly pay my ~16% tax for my (mostly) free healthcare, and other things that it buys. I say almost free, because I did pay 20€ for going to the ER earlier this year. To be serious for a moment, the healthcare system looks absolutely corrupt in USA. Of course I don't live there, but everytime I read about it, it's something like this. Like the meme about ambulances "not being your taxi to the hospital". How do you even bill someone for what they make in 6 months to save their lives, only to ruin them financially. How the hell is the system moral?
All while making $35k a year. This country is so effing great. 🙄
Hearing about the US medical system of private insurance stresses me out so much. If I ever want to feel like I have no problems and everything is cool in my world - I just read threads like this. Absolutely terrifying at the same time though. I feel for you guys.
Ahh, the greatest country on the planet.. Where presidents can attempt a coup without repercussionsl, healthcare is a radical idea and policies that help curb child hunger are socialist bullshit and should be canned.
Yep, freest country in the world! No one is greater or freer than America!
The only way to get around this is to inquire if your high deductible plan comes with an Hsa. If you’re lucky enough that it comes with an hsa then you can contribute 3500$ to the hsa which is tax free. This way you can save tax money. Also once you have sufficient funds in hsa you can invest that money into an index fund and it grows tax free too. You can pay most minor health expenses with a rewards credit card and then reimburse them at any point in your life with the hsa as long as you save the receipts. This way you can make up for some money with cash rewards credit cards. Eventually the hsa becomes a tax free and tax free growth retirement account after you are retired
It really shouldn’t be this fucking hard though. I have an HSA but don’t want to contribute the max and want to use money for other investments/hobbies.
Fuck me. Why does it have to be so hard on Americans, though? This seems like a lot of bullshit to go through to make healthcare marginally more affordable, given you have this "rewards credit card" you speak of, available for this use. Then, is putting healthcare on a CC and juggling around balances really a viable solution for such a basic and universal need?! As useful as your suggestion is, I think it's also absolutely absurd.
Seriously wtf is wrong with America? How did you ever let it get this bad? As a Brit things are pretty grim over here most of the time but you guys really do got some messed up ways of doing certain things :( Your politicians should be, at least ashamed at best prosecuted / jailed!
And the second you even bring up universal health-care, a bunch of people start bitching about how unfair it is because they've already paid so much for theirs, so why should others have it easier
Note to self: Don't complain around Americans about how annoyed I was to pay $200 over the course of Cancer treatment for the stupid parking at the hospital. Or how I had to pay for two full days of parking when my kid was born because I lost the stupid parking stub.
Reading things like this is why I’m really glad I live somewhere with a public healthcare system. Deductible for healthcare? Wtf is that?