Japanese React to USA HEALTHCARE SYSTEM !!

[@Choppylovechoppy]

Guys I have Patreon where I post mostly travel blogs in Japan and updates on what i'm up to in real time, and I just want to make more friends from the US so when I get to visit USA I could meet many of you ! I will appreciate it from the bottom of my heart ! www.patreon.com/timothyjamestravels

[@epicmatter3512]

I want to let you know that these ridiculous costs in the video are not normal. I was very sick, had every test done, and stayed in the hospital for a while. and it cost something around 1,000 dollars. Outside of that, it is usually 100 dollars for urgent care, doctor's visits, and all of that, and you can get vaccinated for free. Not just covid but all general vaccines. Also, generic drugs make up 90 percent of all prescriptions and are very cheap. Also if you are disabled, or a child in a poor family, or in the military, or a veteran, you are covered. Don't let some of these ridiculous stories scare you aware from coming to the US.

[@annep.1905]

You should watch PragerU videos on American Healthcare. This video tells a skewed version of the story.

[@cadiza315]

As a US citizen, I have so much rage around this issue. 1). To clarify, even if you have a “good“ insurance paid for by your employer, you still have to shoulder up to 20 or 30% of your already exorbitant medical bills. ( sometimes less) 2) As a lowish middle income person, I have absolutely delayed medical care because I couldn’t afford it. I knew I was going to have to pay out of pocket a for a potion of all the testing, radiology and medication. I once had to pay a $400 co-pay on an MRI. 3) Yes when you have a surgery each professional bills you separately. The doctor. The anesthesiologist. The pain specialist. Etc. And then just a basic hospital charge. So when you go to the hospital you actually get multiple bills from separate billing centers that bills for each of the above mentioned professionals. It sure makes things confusing 4). I believe the basic problem with the US healthcare system is the businesspeople are in the middle and at the top of it. It’s run by capitalism. People that are focused on how to get more money out of it. Are doctors paid well? Sure some are. But the people who really are making bank in the medical world are the medical business people.... the pharmaceutical companies, the insurance companies , the administrators etc. I recently learned that the bonus of the non-doctor CEO of the hospital I used to work at was over $2 million a year. That was on top of a very generous salary. This is during a time that no one else is hospital got even a basic routine pay raise 5). Other issue, as the video states, Is the lack of visibility. How can you have true capitalism if consumers cannot compare prices? Generally speaking you do not get to know what you’re going to be charged until after the procedure/ care happens. 6). Because I was laid off for Covid, I went on Medicare this year. The program that’s usually reserved for the disabled and the elderly, but Medicare was offered as an emergency measure during the Covid crisis to people like me. I was astonished, astonished at how easy it was all the sudden. No co-pays. I get what I need. Piece of cake. However, I do know when something complicated and non routine happens, Medicare can be difficult. But even with that, I am sad I have to give up my Medicare soon because I am now re-employed and will soon qualify for my employers purchased insurance plan. So I will go back to expensive co-pays and only going to the doctor when I absolutely must at the end of the year. Believe you me, I am seeing every MD I can while I still can.

[@Choppylovechoppy]

Wooow sounds crazy, I thank you for your time to give me these information…

[@pamb440]

The very same thing happened to me with my employer of 13 years. Shortly after the Covid crisis started taking it's toll, my employer started "cleaning house" and fired a slew of people, me included. I was as devastated as all of us this happened to. So many people that were very close to retiring were "let go". I've been using Medicare since January, but will soon be starting a new job (so grateful) but also sad that I'll be giving up the Medicare for my companies private insurance and with everything that entails. The one silver lining is it's a better job, better company and I'll get to work from home.

[@aliciacorvina3111]

You had a great experience with Medicare then. I had nothing but issues with Medicaid when I was on it. No one takes it in my area. It is nearly impossible to find a doctor, dentist, optometrist, or anyone else who will take Medicaid. The optemetrists that DO take Medicaid only offer 10 options for glasses frames. That is it. The dentist... don't even get me started on how bad the experience of going to the dentist on Medicaid is. No anesthesia unless you are getting more than 4 teeth pulled, and they only cover a small dose of noviaine. I could literally feel them extracting my tooth... they held me down while I screamed. It was one of the worst experiences of my life. I refused to go back until I had 4 more teeth go bad, that way I could be put under. I have acid reflux, but my insurance won't cover medication for it, so it didnt take long for my teeth to go bad. This is what happens when healthcare is run for profit. Your life doesn't matter, only your wallet. That's why our food is junk too, because it makes us need constant healthcare. America doesn't care about the people at all. That's the honest truth.

[@cadiza315]

@@aliciacorvina3111 I did not even qualify for dental, but fortunately I never get cavities. But I do need to see dentist. I live in a medium large city, and I’ve had no problems finding providers. I guess I am very lucky

[@arisvideodrop3595]

i feel this hard i have epilepsy and have been on disability for a while I keep trying to get off but everytime I do the overwhelming cost of my medical care cripples me in a whole new way. I can only work a little bit or I lose my Medicaid and then I cant afford my medicine my epilepsy comes back and I cant work at all ...then I lose my job go back on Medicaid get meds...put epilepsy back into remission and start over.

[@jenniferhelgerson5947]

My husband is self employed so he has to get his own insurance. For two people - him and our son - to be covered we pay slightly under $1000 per month. That's just for the insurance. We pay that even if we never go to see a doctor. That's about $12,000 per year if we NEVER see a doctor. Then if we DO go see the doctor, we pay the co-pay and then a deductible on top of that if we get something done.

[@IzzieIslandheart]

"It's called RIP OFF. PERIOD."

[@Choppylovechoppy]

😂😭🙏🏻

[@carkawalakhatulistiwa]

@@Choppylovechoppy Universal healthcare first existed in the Soviet Union in 1918. In 1948, Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) stipulates that health is a human right that cannot be capitalized or given a price tag. And after 100 years, healthcare is in 194 countries out of 195 countries in the world, including North Korea. except the USA which still puts a price tag on health. for the reason that this is Universal healthcare is a crime of communism

[@exocq]

@karl joshua Gabriel it would probably be cheaper in the US if you have insurance

[@alipanda9809]

Im pretty sure I tore something in my knee when I fell roller skating the other day, but I can’t go to the doctor because my insurance isn’t in effect yet and I can’t even bring up specific issues I have, like head or stomach pain because it then turns into a specialist visit and insurance won’t cover that.

[@Choppylovechoppy]

That’s sad

[@alexachipman]

I went for 2 weeks almost unable to walk, on a makeshift crutch I DIYed from umbrellas because I couldn't afford treatment. The struggle is real!

[@deborahasher176]

@@alexachipman I don't know which state in which you live, but in NE Ohio, we have clinics who's fees are based on your income and it includes dental and pharmacy. Find one in your area.

[@Hollylivengood]

@@deborahasher176 It is state by state. We had a whole hospital in Missouri that was like that. It was good care, too. But in Tennessee there is none. There's a clinic that works on a sliding scale, but it only sees to certain problems. Like the dentist only does extractions.

[@Piccylo]

There's travel insurance for medical bills when visiting the US, and it's recommended to get even if you only plan for being here for a few days. By my understanding, it can get somewhat expensive, but it's far better than the alternative if something does happen. And, yes, the system is exactly like that, here. I'd recently gone to the hospital for $700 for six stitches (which is cheap compared to a lot of places) and opted to take out the stitches at home instead of going to the doctor to keep from getting more charges.

[@Choppylovechoppy]

Good that there’s insurance…

[@yokoemy]

Exactly! I visited the US for a couple of nights and purchased insurance that covered up to 1 million medical bill and air transport if necessary back to Canada.

[@Hollylivengood]

A guy I used to work with at a sail shop once had an accident with a sewing machine - happened all the time, we had machines that could drive a needle through your hand - he needed stitches, so he washed it up, and stitched it up himself on his break time. He sprinkled a little, er, substance on it to numb the pain while he did it.

[@petereese5370]

I live in the US, I haven't had heath insurance in a decade if I get hurt I take a day or two off work and hope for the best.

[@Bnor]

I broke my leg this summer and literally one of the first things I told my friends was, "Don't call an ambulance!" I lucked out because it was a work accident so my work has had to pay all my bills (including an ambulance I had no choice but to take); otherwise I'd be almost $100,000 in debt. The bills aren't even all of it though. Once I got to the ER, someone mischarted me as having overdosed attempting suicide when literally I just slid down a hill and broke my leg. It resulted in me lying on the bed with a broken leg (bone almost sticking out) screaming and begging for pain medicine because they wouldn't give me any based on my wrong chart... 'Merica.

[@steventambon2588]

A few weeks ago I broke my leg in an accident and refused an ambulance because of the cost. I had to pay $2000 to meet my deductible for surgery and now have $15 co-pay every time I go to physical therapy. In total my bills would have been $25,000 if I did not have my work insurance... needless to say, theres always an anxiety that comes along with getting injured here.

[@Choppylovechoppy]

I’m sorry 😞

[@steventambon2588]

@@Choppylovechoppy im just lucky i have insurance so its not bankrupting me (yet haha)

[@mandlerparr1]

my physical therapy was $50 copay and $118 per half hour. That was the portion I had to pay. $8000 deductible. See, this person is anxious about their insurance that is seemingly way better than mine and there are people out there that pay more than I do and get less coverage.

[@bwsinfonia13]

It’s horrible. Got sued by hospital because insurance refused to pay for covered injuries. Lost all my savings. Also have done surgery on myself.

[@yugioht42]

Actually under law you can technically ask for a full itemized list of charges you got on the hospital bill. By doing this usually you can get cheaper things because it’s your right to do so. It’s something not everyone knows about yet. Usually if you itemize the bill the hospital tend to see where the issues are and charge you a more reasonable amount like the Claritin someone got was reduced from $35 to $3 because of a clerical mistake. Each item has an amount you are supposed to charge Nationally but hospitals sometimes forget about it and end up getting full errors. The bill usually comes down about 35% or more because of massive errors on the paperwork. Always do the itemized list as you exactly know what it is supposed to be the charges not the actual amount.

[@Choppylovechoppy]

Interesting…

[@WizardJace]

thats a super recent thing, and most hospitals refuse to comply

[@mandlerparr1]

They happen way too often to be mistakes.

[@kaelynnbartee5540]

I’ve heard of people doing this.

[@Floridamangaming729]

Mistakes my ass. they do it on purpose.

[@cherriegetison6093]

Medical tourism- the concept that going down the street to have surgery is more expensive than taking unpaid time off work, buying a roundtrip plane ticket to another country, booking a hotel room, getting that surgery, and paying any fees related to not being a citizen of that country.

[@kalebbacchetti3109]

As a US citizen now living is Australia for the last 2 years, I can promise you everything in this video is 100% true, and it definitely gets worse depending on the state. Ive witnessed people back in high school talking about how their grandparents were literally choosing to die rather than fight a treatable illness purely because they didn't want to put their families in debt. My grandfather had a double lung transplant, and there were many months where he would have to ration and split his anti-rejection pills and blood thinners because he couldn't afford the cost of the prescriptions, even on Medicare. I grew up on the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and I was forced to only use doctors that are known as "in network", meaning I couldn't see any doctor of my choice, I could only see a doctor approved by my insurance. I also wear glasses and can't see past my own hand without them, but even though its something that I need in my daily life to live, vision and glasses have never been covered on any plan I've ever had. My mother growing up would have to wait till there was a 2 for 1 sale on glasses to get me a new pair, even if my prescription changed before that and I couldn't see, because our family could only afford glasses when they were on sale (my eyes get worse every 2 to 3 years). Last year my uncle fell off a roof while doing construction, breaking his back and neck in multiple places. He told his coworker not to call an ambulance and instead helped him into his truck, where his coworker drove him to the hospital. Havin been sick in Australia now 3 or 4 times, even not being a citizen here I can see any doctor I want, and my visits have been cheaper than any visit ive ever had in the US, even with insurance. I tell other Americans what its like here with the national healthcare system, and they don't believe its real. They honestly have had such bad healthcare for so long, they have honestly believe that a better system isn't possible. Alot of this comes from big money influences at the highest forms of government, which is a whole problem in and of itself. Lobbying groups in the US spend millions if not billions a year to keep drug prices high so that the companies making these drugs continue to inflate their already massive profits. I think American culture is so hard for people to understand because I don't think the rest of the world truly understands how corrupt the whole system is at every level. Its built into the culture of the society, and its a massive problem. Younger people like myself (26) don't buy into this culture as easily, which is why you see so many angry young Americans who are tired of being ripped off and lied to by the government at large. Hope that helps a bit in understanding the situation. Your videos are pretty fun to watch, and i promise you, the people in the States can be some of the most welcoming and nicest people you can meet, despite our many flaws (and i highly recommend visiting Oregon, but venture out a bit away from Portland to get a more full, rich experience. Bend is a beautiful town to visit, as is Ashland which contains Lithia Park, one of the most beautiful town parks ive ever seen anywhere, plus the have the Elizabethan Shakespeare Theatre there that is one of the most gorgeous places ive even been, and they put on amazing shows there all the time)

[@verablack3137]

There really isn't anyone in the US who likes the healthcare system, but there is an aggressive vocal minority who will resist any fixing it. In fact, you can't really even have a discussion about healthcare in the US without them getting super offended and saying crazy things like other developed countries take so long for you to see a doctor that people just die in the waiting room so the US system is the best in the world. When they believe things like that, it doesn't seem likely that the system will meaningfully change anytime soon despite it being universally hated.

[@Choppylovechoppy]

There’s people think it’s the best … wow

[@seanroy3241]

@@Choppylovechoppy America has the best healthcare money can buy (literally). Rich people get fast efficient and effective healthcare because they can afford it. The other 90% of the country has to live with the fact that any day something can happen that will bankrupt them for life.

[@trentgay3437]

I absolutely love the Healthcare. It's the insurance industry that's messed up.

[@popmybubblegum]

@@Choppylovechoppy Americans aren't taught about the outside world unless it's sh-t talk. For example, my school never mentions Japan unless they're talking about WW2 and Pearl Harbor. (Nope, not even anime or sushi...well the students talk about that but none of the adults.) Instead we're fed nationalism, and have the idea that America's a "perfect, flawless country and that the rest of the world is just a dystopia" hammered into our heads since we're born. That's the main reason why so many Americans think we have the best healthcare even with how horrible it is.

[@hunterstinson6954]

@@popmybubblegum yikes what state do you live in that doesn’t teach world geography and cultures

[@MackenzieJEvans]

I had a seizure in highschool (no preexisting problem) while home alone. It terrified me and I didn't know if I'd wake up in the morning because I didn't know what had happened. Still, I didn't tell my mom, because I knew we wouldn't go to the hospital.

[@Choppylovechoppy]

wooow

[@NovelistVampireGirl]

This is very true. I live in the US, I have a preexisting condition, so I had to be sure there was coverage for the doctors I needed to see and what I needed to have done. I did that, and because of the deductible I still might have to skip my cardiology appointment this year. I had a kidney stone 6 months ago. I went to the ER to get painkillers you can’t buy in the store, because I’m allergic to most that you can buy that could help at all. The bill for wasting 6 hours of my time and giving me a prescription for pain killers? $7,800

[@andrewruddy962]

We should hold our politicians accountable.

[@mocahbutterfly]

Have you ever heard of Adam ruins everything? There is one episode that covers the reason hospitals are so expensive.

[@sqigegleclips9878]

Good show

[@smallbrain9782]

I remember when I on a family Disneyworld and on the 3rd day I was in Florida, my twin sister started to have seizures. It was truly heart-shattering, since I'm really close to her; we have to share everything because we're twins. She could feel them just before they happened, and she'd start screaming. Of course, my dad, thinking of medical bills, delayed calling the hospital. My grandma convinced him to call the hospital. It was sad, because they were EPILEPTIC SEIZURES and the doctors just gave her an IV and said she was dehydrated and shouldn't walk. It is a problem with her legs, so they thought it was muscle spasms, but clearly they it wasn't and it wasn't dehydration problems. She had 4 cups of water that day. For the passing year I had to hear my sister's screams and cries as I tried to go to bed. My dad just said "drink more water," until my aunt called a specialist to see what was going on. Guess what? They diagnosed her with epilepsy. My dad wasn't neglectful, but he didn't have the money to pay the medical bills. I swear, doctors in America.

[@HaleThePanda]

As a medical biller from the US myself, I can attest to the fact that mental Healthcare fits into this same issue. Especially when the world went on lockdown in March of last year, therapists and psychiatrists switched to seeing patients online and insurance companies were creating new rules and nuances about how to bill visits, without telling anyone about it so they could deny payment.

[@mandlerparr1]

My son needs a $4000 genetic test to determine what, if any, medication should be used to help him. Insurance will not cover any of it, though they said the cost would go to our $8000 deductible. Our insurances premiums are $146 per week for the best plan. Which is actually pretty low compared to what some other people pay. You also have to watch out when dealing with medical bills, because they will overbill you and double bill you and you should always check if they ran it through your insurance before you start paying on it. It doesn't add just extra costs, but there is also a lot of paperwork and phone calls and letter writing, etc to make sure that all your bills are being properly paid and that they(the hospitals) are not ripping you off.

[@ScarletTsubasa]

Went to the ER because I collapsed at work. They ran an EKG to check my heart. They quickly found out I was most likely just super dehydrated and put three bags of IV fluid in me and sent me home. The ambulance my employer forced me to take was over $1000. My ER visit was $1400. My employer should have taken care of it, but they obviously didn't. I never received anything in the mail from the hospital. Instead, it just recently went to collections along side the ambulance bill and randomly popped up on my credit report. The incident happened all the way back in 2015. I don't even have the paperwork anymore and no longer work for that company. I have no way to prove I was working when it happened, so I will likely have to contact the collection company and pay it off myself to fix my credit. I suppose I got lucky, as such a bill would have been much higher at a different hospital

[@candysmith8724]

I would think that would be covered under worker's comp

[@philiprobinson7666]

There was an older couple who lived in my neighborhood when I was growing up. My sister was classmates with one of their grandsons, and my parents knew them through the local golf club. The husband was almost old enough to qualify for Medicare and the wife wanted to retire early, so they decided to go without health insurance for a year. He got colon cancer. They burned through all of their savings, they put their house up for sale, and in the end, the doctors couldn't save him. His widow was left destitute, no money, no house. I think she moved in with her kids. They were not a poor family.

[@LetsgoVegas]

This was even worse prior to Obamacare. Growing up my mom was a diabetic, had she ever lost health insurance she never would have been able to get new health insurance due to a "preexisting condition". I've been fighting with my insurance for almost a year after going to rehab for alcoholism, which is "covered". I "owe" 9150440.00 japanese yen. I make about 2973893.00 japanese yen a year. It's almost caused me to relapse twice. I've basically stopped worrying about it for my health, I have a few more costlier medical needs to address, and then I'll likely declare bankruptcy.

[@brooke9798]

We Americans are confusion as well. It is incredibly complex. Even health care professionals who have to deal with insurance often struggle to learn it. And it’s always changing.

[@devlinmorin7615]

An extra layer not mentioned in this video is the part the education system plays. Medical colleges in the US operate in a way best described as a guild. Basically the various institutions work together to keep the cost of education for doctors very high. So high that many of those doctors not imported from overseas are in debt for the first 20-30 years of their practice. This encourages the doctors to support the robbery of patients in order to pay off their own debts.

[@jaelynn7575]

My friend's dog bit my leg with a deep puncture and crush injury. I went to urgent care. The doctor put some anti-biotic ointment on it, a band-aid and a tetanus booster. Cost $350.

[@andrewruddy962]

Was this your cost with insurance ?

[@attilathehungryy]

It's both ridiculously expensive *and* ridiculously complicated 🙃 ugh I'm lucky to have government insurance. Everyone should have access to the same insurance I do.

[@konankan]

Here's an interesting statistic for you Timothy. In the US, the price of 3 months supply of insulin for one patient is around $3,700 and can be even more than that. In MEXICO, the price for the same amount of insulin is only around $600. The hospital and pharmaceutical industries in the US have so much power and are VERY corrupt. For example, 'Johnson & Johnson' has a sunscreen product that has a chemical in it reported to cause cancer in some who use it. 'Johnson & Johnson' ALSO has a medicine that treats that exact type of cancer. Not to say the doctors and nurses are all bad, most are very skilled, but the healthcare system only serves to take more money from citizens, and the worst part is that many of our politicians receive big donations from these companies and speak on their behalf, causing a never ending cycle of arguing about healthcare in legislation, but never having a solution. That way, politicians have more issues to campaign on, because of course if they start solving them, citizens wouldn't feel the need to rely on them so much and they would lose power. The politics here seep into everything - and in 2021, you can't talk about politics in a public place without a crazy swarm of angry people screaming at you about how evil you are, no matter what you're opinion is. No one wants to discuss anymore, and it's really really sad and frustrating. In my opinion, I'd much rather live in Japan.

[@wenderajade]

Well, I just paid $115 earlier today for a follow up appointment where the doctor came in, looked at my thumb and left

[@Choppylovechoppy]

🥺😂😭

[@Goldun-nah]

Please protest in solidarity. We are begging our international community at this point. Pressure your governments to put pressure on ours. This is no way to live. We are one the richest country in the world but all the money is being used for the self interests of corrupt people in power and corrupt systems and institutions.

[@GAVIN7697]

I got really really sick in Scotland. Was told by the hospital I would have to pay $400-$500 out of pocket because I was a foreigner. Waited till I got back to the states. Ended up making payments on a $1200 bill for doctor office visits. I had insurance at the time. Still haven’t had a tonsillectomy due to coverage issues. $1200 out of my pocket to treat the symptoms, not the cause.

[@godlygoatea7388]

most the time we just sleep it off when we're sick. i know people that have gone into labor (with a baby) and drove 20 minutes to a hospital because they couldnt afford the ambulance.

[@mandlerparr1]

I walked, but, it is not as metal as it sounds. The hospital was only 3 blocks away.

[@kayfritos0587]

as a healthcare worker myself, I completely agree with this, even with my insurance from the hospital itself I will delay any injury or sickness for weeks or months because I know I won't be able to afford it. even my superiors who make a good amount of money do the exact same even though we walk into work every day seeing horrible diseases caused by neglecting proper treatment.

[@Hollylivengood]

Yes it's that bad. I still have a jaw that clicks every time I eat, because it was broken by my ex long ago. Whole side of my face turned purple at the time. Had a job interview the next day. No one said anything, because they all knew...I couldn't see a doctor about the broken jaw. Had a Chinese friend who was here on a work visa, and he broke a finger playing basketball. He was shocked at being told , in the emergency room that the price to see a doctor would be in the thousands, so he came back to tell us about the hospital that wanted to extort money from him "because they hate Chinese people." We told him it's like that for everybody, and we just don't go to a doctor. And we showed him how to make a splint with pieces of a soda bottle and buddy tape his broken finger.

[@accuset]

For me, what you learned wasn't false, but it was a worst-case scenario. Normally, yes you check your insurance plan. They will tell you how much it costs to go to the ER, they tell you what doctors are covered, etc. So if you plan for things ahead of time, you can pick a plan that works decently. For me, because my income is pretty low, I chose a "middle-of-the-road" government sponsored plan. I have decently expensive premiums, not super expensive, but not the cheap type either. My ER visits, I have no deductible (what you pay before you get treated), and it's usually about $150 that I have to pay once they have an idea what's wrong with me and have me in stable condition. Ambulances are usually seen as an "optional" cost, meaning that if you or someone near you (coworker, friend, etc) can drive to the ER, do it. People will happily help each other to the ER even if you're a complete stranger, just to avoid the cost. But if you've been shot, or had a bad car accident, or have a heart attack/stroke, and you literally cannot drive and are alone, then call an ambulance. Basically only do it if you have to. It can be $50 or more in cheap places, and even that is just stupid to pay if you don't need to. But if you're having trouble with your heart, passing out, not enough oxygen, or stuff like that, an ambulance has emergency workers who can keep you alive until you get to the hospital, and your family may not be able to. So it's all about having some idea about how bad your situation is. I've never heard of insurance covering an ambulance. Many insurances don't cover things that they consider optional, like plastic surgery. Each plan will cover different amounts, and each company will have different opinions as far as what exactly is an "optional" procedure, so you have to ask your specific company about what they do and don't cover. Some plans make you pay a percentage of the cost, some make you just pay a flat rate, and some are a mixture of both, depending on what you're getting done to you. But anything done in an ER is typically non-optional, like if you've been stabbed, shot, organ problems like "hey, my intestines don't work anymore", or something like that, and therefore will be covered, at least in part, by insurance. I had panic attacks and went to the ER for what I felt like was my heart going crazy. I got charged $150 for being there (AFTER they did all the testing and talking to me about what we needed to do), and about a month later I got the bill for the Xray and CT scan that they did. Xray was about $30, and the CT was something like $10, or maybe I have that backwards... They also did a blood test and a urine test, but that was probably covered in the original $150. Anyway, it wasn't a whole lot, with my plan, but those are also cheaper tests than an MRI or something. Now having said that, I got insurance that was good for ER visits. They cover minor medical centers, like if you have a cold or something, but they don't cover it quite as much. So I have relatively expensive (let's say a total of $200 for all the tests and the visit) minor treatments. Bbut if it's just a cold, I can just stay home and get well on my own, more than likely. Meanwhile I have relatively cheap emergency costs, and the bigger of an emergency it is, the more important that fact gets. An Xray and CT scan aren't that expensive (let's say a 2 or 3 hundred dollars each), but if I need an MRI, that's gonna be in the thousands. And I get a fixed rate on that, not a percentage of the cost, so I get off easy. There are two downsides to my plan - they don't cover a lot of long term medication. They cover whatever I get in the hospital pretty well, but after I leave the hospital, that's where things go up. Luckily there are discount cards (basically coupons) through companies like GoodRx or the actual drug manufacturer, and those can help lower drug costs. The other problem with my plan is that, if I need to see any specialist for problems that I have - psychiatrist for depression or anxiety, a gastroenterologist for stomach issues, a hormone doctor for hormone imbalances, etc - if I need any specialized doctors outside of a hospital for long term treatment, then my primary care doctor (my family doctor) has to send a referral to the insurance before the specialist is covered. And obviously anything that isn't covered or isn't paid for by some other means (like a discount card for drugs), those are always going to be hundreds of dollars for anything. You have to make sure you get stuff covered by your insurance. And in my case, the one thing I can't control (emergencies) is covered, and anything outside of that is something I will have time to GET covered. It's all about knowing and planning, I think.

[@523bean]

I was in a car accident at the beginning of this year and was transported by ambulance to the hospital. I was in the hospital for 2 hours, they did a CT scan to check for head, neck, or spinal issues and an X-ray of my arm. The total bill that I received before it was sent to my insurance was $26k. I don’t even know the breakdown of costs for the hospital.

[@andrewruddy962]

Bastard politicians should be held responsible for this mess. They work for lobbyists, bought and paid for by the medical industrial complex.

[@asiasmith9332]

As an educator in the US my insurance was a joke. Out of pocket I owed $700+ for my daughter to get three fillings at the dentist, and this is after the insurance paid a bulk of the bill, but it didn’t cover the gas they used during the procedure. Ridiculous. Also i had a surgery while I was one month away from my insurance expiring, and it was easily $10,000 dollars to get my gallbladder removed, I was lucky I had their insurance or it would have been out of pocket. These expensive medical bills aren’t justified, it’s just a system where few can profit and many suffer.

[@Choppylovechoppy]

Insanity !

[@sweariefaerie9621]

Downsizing expenses sounds smart in theory, but consider how many 1 bedroom apartments cost at least $900 a month, and federal minimum wage is still $7.25 an hour. Many states have higher minimums, but usually they have a higher cost of living. There's a lot about this country that makes keeping our heads above water next to impossible. Most of us live paycheck to paycheck regardless of how many jobs a household has. It's horrific.

[@alexachipman]

In this area studio apartments are more like 2k / month. Nobody is able to "downsize"!

[@blackjuel]

In my area, it is cheaper to call an Uber, get a speeding ticket, and fully pay for cleaning out their car than it is to use an ambulance. I would be all for free health care if our government could be trusted. Too many polititions have put in too many faulty systems.

[@matthewcarter744]

The reason it's so expensive is insurance. You get something done that should cost $200, and insurance tells hospitals "We aren't paying that much, we will only pay 10% of the cost, if you don't like it, we will take our customers elsewhere and refuse to pay for services at your hospital, they will be forced to go to another hospital". So the hospital changes the price to $2,000. Insurance says "We're only going to pay 10%, here's your $200" and the hospital accepts the reduced payment, Insurance gets to tell it's costumers "we saved you $1800" (By the way, the customer probably payed that $200 because a $5000 deductible means the insurance doesn't pay till the first $5000 in a calendar year) . If you don't have insurance, but you have a spare $500, you're still charged $2,000, and have to beg and plead that the hospital might reduce your bill to the $500.

[@kaylapalmer2819]

So I have one of the "top" heath insurance companies in the US. Recently they found I had a bleeding ulcer but I wasn't taking the medication because it was extremely expensive. Well I ended up in the ugent care clinic with abdominal pain and they sent an ambulance. While laying in the ER the woman checking me in asked how I was paying today... before I had even been seen. I had to get out of the hospital bed to get my wallet and pay my $300 USD deductible. I had a CT scan and the insurance company paid 80% so I owe the hospital around $2,000 USD out of pocket. That's US Healthcare in a nut shell.

[@Hollylivengood]

Oh yeah. Bring the paper work right to the bedside to make sure they get the gelt. So considerate of them.

[@Sunset553]

Hi, I’m disabled and on the socialized system. This piece of the medical system still has some areas of confusion, but once you understand a few parts of it, it’s pretty good. 1 The monthly charge is reasonable 2. Doctors tell me it’s great insurance (I think that means they get paid) 3. My bill was $500 when the hospital charge was $150,000. 4. During Covid19, there was no patient payment for mh therapy. Still, if we are treated by facetime, there is still no patient payment, but the therapist gets paid. win win situation. For you, as a traveler, all I know is you get travelers insurance before you get here.

[@BidwellRunner]

The US healthcare system is terrible and needs to be fixed, but to clarify a bit, the hospitals aren't just ripping people off with their prices. Firstly, nobody knows the true cost of healthcare in America since prices are controlled by market speculation, so hospitals just wildly overcharge under the expectation that the patient's insurance will negotiate down the charge. Secondly hospitals essentially provide free services every time they treat someone who doesn't have insurance/medicare/money and can't pay for their treatment, so they need to collect more money from those who can pay to make up the difference.

[@P-nutBD]

the insurance companies and the pharmaceuticals collude with each other which spikes the prices almost anything medical, plus the industry is extremely lucrative.

[@livvydunham]

thankfully nothing major has happened to me (fingers crossed lol), but there are still things that cost me money or my health. my old insurance stopped covering the hospital closest to me so i had to tell people if there was an emergency to take me to a hospital 20 minutes away (that is, twenty with no traffic. with traffic, it could be 45+ minutes) because i wouldn't be able to afford out of network costs. i had some off-and-on knee issues that i refused to go to the doctor about because i knew (at the time) if i were able to get a job with insurance i could be denied coverage for anything to do with my knee if it was already documented. there was another time i had excruciating ear pain in the middle of the night. i'm talking some of the worst pain i've ever experienced in my life. i still don't know what it was. but i held off because no matter how bad it got, i knew if i went to my doctor's office or an urgent care, it would cost less than an emergency room visit. thankfully it went away. without insurance it was $115 just for a "15 minute" appointment with my doctor (these usually lasted less than ten minutes), and did not cover any labs and/or blood work that might have gotten done during that visit. without insurance my monthly prescriptions had cost around $300+ dollars a month. with my previous insurance, i spent so much money on them, that i got to the point where all of them were free (all my Rx copays are sort of like a deductible in that way, where i have to pay so much before they cover everything). my current insurance's limit for that is higher, but my copay on Rxes are also SEVENTY FIVE % CHEAPER. you have to base where you go for healthcare on whether or not they're in your network, and they can drop your doctor, clinic, or hospital, at any time. shortly after i got my previous insurance they first dropped my local hospital as mentioned above, but they also eventually dropped one of my doctors. i had a $250 deductible before they'd cover anything "out of network" which is an extremely reduced cost. so instead of paying $20 for a visit with insurance covering the rest, once i reached $250 i was paying anywhere between $100-200 a visit, with 1-3 visits a month. nothing major has happened, and yet, so much of my money still goes to health care. and that's after the $350/mo i pay through my employer! (with my previous insurance it was even worse - over $400/mo.) and i fully understand the thing about ambulances. there are people who are epileptic who, once they come out of it, if no one has called 911 yet, they'll ask you not to (if they can). because even if someone else calls the ambulance, YOU still have to pay.

[@AngelicGuardian]

I fractured my toe just under a year ago and since it was only a toe, I decided I'd much rather deal with the pain then get charged hundreds of dollars, so I made my own custom splint using paperclips and bandaids and it healed back just fine. Who needs medical attention when you can whip up a home made remedy. XD Thankfully I've only ever had to go to the doctor twice in my life.

[@sarahsandstrom4853]

It is as bad as they said in the video and worse. The other day my husband was having symptoms of a heart attack, and after 2 hour discussion we decided not to go to the hospital because not only would the medical bills be too high but he did not have the time to take off work. Fortunately he is fine, but this is not the first or the last time that we will take this risk. The most American conversation we have ever had.

[@devlinmorin7615]

Also the US may not have universal healthcare but it does have universal bathroom access. You never have to pay for a toilet. So you know. Pros and cons.

[@sageinit]

The Japanese health care system has an incredible amount of discrimination against overweight people. My Canadian friend died in Japan because doctors would completely ignore all his health issues and just tell him to lose weight. Even when he had a severe bacteria lung infection, which ended up killing him. And overweight people aren't the only people suffering from severe discrimination in the Japanese health care system. On the other hand, Japan (similar to Russia in that way) has many medications not available ANYWHERE else in the world, many of them ABSURDLY effective-but /also/ many of them complete bullshit snake oil. And the American health care system is still worse.

[@candysmith8724]

I had Canadian friends come to the US for cancer treatment because Canada's system sucks.

[@ermixonscraziesttheories]

In your case, in the event of an emergency just take the treatment, go home and never pay the bill. It's very hard for debt to follow someone to another country, so all you really need to do is make sure that the contact info you share is limited. It may feel like being a deadbeat but it's a lot better than the alternative of either paying the bill out of pocket or getting expensive traveler's insurance and still likely paying a lot on the bill.

[@seanabsher5577]

In California, there are quite a lot of hospitals where if you talk to their financial department , they will write off the bills for your visit based on not having enough money to pay the bills, and may even help you get on insurance plans covered by the government in order to pay your expenses for you (medically) , if your needs are valid and your income is low enough.

[@LordCullBot]

"What if I get sick" Pro tip: Don't.

[@MasterJennaMcLain]

I am in the process of figuring out whether I have a mental disorder or not. This process is a little ridiculous but can apply for a lot of different stuff. There's this thing called primary care doctors. They're the one to go to for all basic routine care, like physicals (medical doctors), dental cleanings (dentists), and eye care (optometrists). Then there are specialists. They are the psychiatrists, neurologists, oncologists, orthodontists, etc. who need a referral from the primary care doctor to see. These referrals need to clear insurance before any appointments can be made. Why? I guess for coverage purposes, but I'm not too sure. For me, I needed to convince my primary care doctor that there is a real possibility that I have this mental disorder. I laid out my symptoms, both obvious and not, and she submitted a referral for me. This referral took about a week to clear my insurance. When It went through, I got a call from the specialist's office to make an appointment. My appointment day came and the person I was referred to didn't even work with the disorder that I think I have! So I needed a new referral for a person who does work with the disorder and now I'm waiting for that to clear insurance so that I can wait another 2 months for my appointment to come.

[@samg.9370]

One of the things that pisses me off is that I have to pay for my doctor to use his work phone to talk to me for our telephone appointments (we're in different states) on top of the charge of the appointment which ends up somewhere in the $200-$300+ range.

[@meganofsherwood3665]

To be fair, part of the reason healthcare is so expensive (and confusing) in the US is because there are so many players. It's not just the doctors, nurses, and other medical staff. If they work for a Hospital Network, the network wants a cut, has their own policies, etc. If the patient has insurance, the insurance is ultimately out to make a profit. And one way they seem to do that is by being as difficult to work with as possible. Which means lots and lots of finicky rules that give both patients and medical providers headaches. Then you have the pharmaceutical industry, which also wants to make a buck. And that's not even getting into the nuances of each local area. It's a headache, it's expensive, and it's bad, but at this point it's painful even to look at, much less fix, which I think is part of why it's been like this for so long. Also, each person has Deep, Strong Feelings about healthcare, which makes looking at things calmly, rationally, and justly, very, VERY difficult.

[@thomasmenard1799]

To give you a cost estimate on something simple this is my recent experience as an uninsured person. I broke two toes. My boot and appointment cost me $250. The X-rays cost about $900. But if you pay in cash you often get discounts. In total i only paid $500 out of pocket. The $650 dollar difference is the extra they would charge your insurance. At my previous job where i had insurance it cost $75 a week and you have a $2000 deductible. So if i had insurance i would lose $75 out of my paycheck every week and have to pay $1150 out of pocket. This situation is a minor problem but if you have a major health issue that goes over your deductible it starts to become worth it. Or if you take prescription drugs regularly it is also worth it.

[@fenn7]

So I have my health insurance through the "health insurance marketplace" through my state (New Mexico), since I don't have an employer who provides it. I don't make a lot of money (especially as a performing musician during covid!), which means I get a tax credit to help with my monthly premium. It ends up costing me about $20 per month (I think it would be about $270 without the credit). I don't have to pay anything to go to my primary care doctor or physical therapy, it's about $10 or $15 for a specialist, and I think my out-of-pocket maximum is $750. I know my experience is probably not typical - it's definitely been a good experience!! But I noticed another commenter saying that it varies from state-to-state. So maybe New Mexico is just better at the health insurance thing?? But as a state, we do have worse healthcare. There has been a doctor shortage for years, and one reason why our covid lockdowns were so restrictive was to not overload our heathcare system - our hospitals have one of the lowest beds-per-capita numbers in the US.

[@jimflagg4009]

I was having a stomach pain and went to the hospital and they took my temperature and blood pressure and said it looks like the flue and sent me home. The bill was $1200. Insurance covered except for the I think it was $100 co-pay. If you don't have insurance then yes it is a pain.

[@JCResDoc94]

*richest country in the history of the world.* ive had ppl tell me not to put electrodes on them, bc theyd rather die so thr children can inherit something. & it's true: 10 grand just to get that first reading. ive seen ppl fall down w heart attacks in hospital, & asked me to call an ambulance to be taken to an "in network" insurance covered doctor. idk if they lived. they were visiting thr spouse, also in hospital. -JC

[@jonsinclair7210]

If you have good insurance through your employer you don't have a problem. Having said that medical care is a business.

[@deborahasher176]

This past February, I broke my leg, ankle and foot. At the end of the day, the total cost of my bills were $23,000. Because I had excellent insurance, I ended up paying $450.00 out if pocket for co-pays. You must be a smart consumer and shop around.

[@askmslynnllc5363]

One thing the video did not talk about is the people that do not have insurance and of low or no income. Our children had to go to the emergency room after they aged out of our insurance but had no insurance of their own. They also had little or no income of their own. They payed nothing for the emergency room visit. The cost of those that can't or don't pay is passed on to everyone else that can pay. The medical staff here in America have to pay for all their education which usually require taking out large loans. The medical staff needs to make enough to pay for all the education loans and still live a reasonable life. Also, to many people in America are not respectful of the medical buildings and equipment. My husband who is an maintenance tech at a major hospital has to spend to much time unclogging stopped up toilets because people put things down the toilet that shouldn't go down toilets.

[@DLOFT002]

I work for a hospital. My insurance is owned by my hospital. My deductible is more than a paycheck. My family deductible is almost 2 months worth of pay. I lose almost 200 per paycheck just to have this insurance for just 2 people, it would have been more if I had kids. I have several conditions I will not have looked at because I so not have the money.

[@chloemarcum3627]

When I was pregnant and had full coverage through the state, I went to so many doctors appointments to use it as much as I could, I went and got my wisdom teeth out and got a bunch of general checkups because the insurance is only active for while you are pregnant and the first 6 weeks after birth until your post birth checkup then it just stops. Then I had no insurance at all. When I was in college I had insurance through the military because of my dad, but it was only active during the semester, so over summer break and Christmas break I had no insurance at all. My doctor's would prescribe me 3 months supply at a time of my meds to get me through the summer, and if I didn't fill it fast enough I had to pay for it all out of pocket ($500 for 3 months of my meds at the time) it's fucking nuts here. My ex husband got a better job that would have actually helped lift us out of poverty and moving up in life, he had to quit because he made to much to stay on state insurance and because of the cost of the insurance through the job we would have ended up only getting an extra $1000 or so a year in income. He was type 1 diabetic. Healthcare is ridiculous here.

[@KaylaTC]

Healthcare is so messed up here, my Grandmother had insurance when she got cancer but they didn't approve her treatments and we had no money to pay... she died a few months later.

[@andrewruddy962]

Kayla, my sympathy. Sadly , we have a rotten medical industrial complex. With a few exceptions, lobbyists own our politicians. Shame on our politicians.

[@CaptMortifyd]

Travel insurance is well worth the expense if you come here, it's too expensive not to have it. You can get it for a short visit or a longer one, just depends on what you need, Americans have to get travel insurance to go to a most countries because our insurance doesn't cover outside the US system.

[@michaelharden7063]

The insurance I have is great, it’s a HRA, which means anything the insurance does not pay is automatically paid with the HRA, so far I have not had to pay anything. But some insurance plans are not only expensive but does not pay anything much.

[@nikkiunderwood4650]

My family has pretty "good" insurance through my husband's job and we STILL pay a crazy amount. Once, my daughter swallowed a dollar coin and they had to go in to remove it. We ended up paying almost $2000 after insurance! The other crazy thing - my doctor found a lump and ordered a mammogram for me. Insurance didn't pay for it because I'm younger than 40! I ended up paying an exorbitant amount for a mammogram and biopsy to make sure I didn't have breast cancer🤦🏾‍♀️ You're right, it's a rip off!

[@Choppylovechoppy]

crazy...

[@jimflagg4009]

The medical companies have lobbyist in the US that make sure there is very little regulation on medicine. Also because of the Insurance systems you need to make sure the hospital you go to is in network. We carry Insurance cards and sometime the Ambulance will ask you which hospital you want to go to so that you are going to the right one. It is so messed up but politicians do not want to mess with the medical system in the US because they are so powerful.

[@jimflagg4009]

There is only one industry in the US that is more powerful then the medical one and it is the Energy Companies. It is like a cancer that will one day spell the end to the US.

[@ashleighnichole8197]

Our healthcare system is sickening. I am a respiratory therapist and my insurance through my employer (which is obviously a healthcare institution) is awful. I still have to pay out of pocket for almost everything. And to beable to add my children to my insurance I would have to pay 50% of my paycheck to it. And it still hardly covers anything. It's so, so broken.

[@johnfrench6564]

Shockingly 80% of hospitals are public and not for profit

[@suzannaruiz2386]

Yeah I one time cut my leg bad on a old piece of rusty medal I knew just looking at it that I needed stitches and I didn't even have a tetanus shot but I didn't have insurance luckily I lived with my mom at the time so my mom took care of it I just kept my leg elevated she changed my bandages and kept my cut clean and she put aloe vera on it kept a ice pack on it to keep the swelling down it hurt all the time and just touching near it made the pain 10 times worse but it eventually healed years later I only have a light scar where I cut my leg I was lucky because I could of got really sick I knew I should of went to the doctors but I knew we couldn't afford it

[@StephenZerne]

To preface, I’m fortunate to came from a family with many doctors and nurses so I have input from medical professionals without having to pay a hospital bill. That being said, I have been in several major accidents that caused broken bones, including a fractured femur and forth lumbar. Two things worked in my favor in these cases. One, I was hit by a negligent driver, so I was able to get their auto insurance to pay the basic bills. Two, I showed the hospital that I didn’t have enough income to pay. In this case the hospital will apply for compensation through social programs. The second requires proof of income and what not and may not work the same if you are from another country. That being said the hospital does (or should) follow the Hippocratic oath and would have trouble getting money from you and would rely on your word to get payment because it would cost a lot to get you back to court after you leave the country. That being said, if you show intent on leaving the country without payment you could be held and the issue could be brought to trial, keeping you in the USA until the end of the trial. Best of luck in your travels . Hope that helps.

[@taschaanderson1553]

Also a family plan is often around 2000$ a. Month. Just FYI

[@DaintyMacroHobbit]

Hey Timothy, I'm a swede that lived in the US for 7 years. We were insured through my husband's work and it was considered good insurance. We paid about $400 a month for the premium. When I sprained my ankle and needed it x-rayed we got a bill for $500 and the insurance paid very little. That was on top of having to pay another $300 for having the doctor look at it and send me home with a bandage. I also had to buy my own crutches. I do feel fortunate to be back in the swedish health care system.

[@ambersky2294]

It really is crazy... Shopping around for the 'right' insurance is extremely important. When my husband was still working, we went through his work for insurance. Everyone kept saying we were being screwed because we were paying $140 every 2 weeks. When he would go for a normal doctor visit, we had to pay a co-pay upfront of $25 and still had to pay some for any blood work, scans, etc. Medicines we usually paid around 50% of the cost. But I kept it because of the hospital coverage. Because it covered 75% of hospital bills or if the bill was over $5,000 we had to pay the $5,000 and they'd pay the rest. Well, a couple years ago my husband had a heart attack and other complications while in the hospital. We ended up paying $5,000 but the total bill was over $900,000. We would never have been able to pay that. Ever. That's why picking the 'right' one is so important. You basically gotta figure out if you can pay more for some things, to help cover the cost of other things. It's really crazy you have to think that way... My Dad's on Medicare (government insurance) and even has a supplemental insurance to help cover what Medicare doesn't. He's older and has a lot of health issues. His medicines after insurance usually run around $100 a month. (Which isn't bad for the medicine he's on.) Doctor visits he doesn't get charged for. Some medical supplies are covered as well. But when it comes to anything major like being in the hospital - he's covered for 3 days. That's it. After 3 days, he's responsible for the bulk of the bill. It doesn't take long for it to add up quick. That's with paying for 2 insurances. Medicare isn't free. Right now it's $75 a month. Plus the supplemental is about $40 a month. He made a payment arrangement with the hospital to where he pays $50 a month to work on paying off that bill. So that means he's paying on average about $265 a month just for is medical stuff. The average income an American that receives Social Security after retiring is about $1500 a month. Average rent around here is about $600 a month (we're cheaper, some places are a lot, lot, more). The bare minimum basic utilities (gas, water, electric, and a phone as older people really have to have a phone, especially if they live alone) average around $475 (if you're lucky). So if you take those main bills, and add an average of at least $150 for basic insurance, that's already $1225. That leaves a whopping $275 a month for someone on SSA to have food, necessities, and any 'luxuries'. If you get an unexpected hospital bill... It doesn't take long at all before some people to go bankrupt. One of the craziest things is… those with Medicare and drawing money from the government via things like SSA are actually usually the 'lucky' ones. Unless, of course, you're rich.

[@keepervannya581]

Sadly it is a very unreasonable system. I haven't gone to a doctor in over 10 years. I am not offended insurance at work, however I make to much to qualify for government assistance, and can not afford private.

[@TZheng-ue1mp]

This is not the worst part. You think you walk out of the hospital with a bill? No, the bill is send by mail and mailed from different department of the hospital and other medical centers. I still have bills coming 4 months after my surgery, it's like never ending piles of bills with abbreviations and medical terms like you have no idea what you are paying for.

[@OutcastYBJ]

I saw on the new this man had Covid an had to put in a facility for 2 months and his bill came out to be 1million dollars he said he almost had a heart attack I would go I would fake my own death because there ain’t no way I could ever make than much money unless I robbed a bank or won the lottery like I hope I never get sick because I’m gonna end up in so much debt😭

[@arah9761]

As a type 1 diabetic that has disability related medical insurance i can attest to the fact that it doesn't cover everything. I am on a fixed income since i am no longer able to work. the testing supplies alone take up 1/3 of my monthly income. If I didn't have a third party, The lily foundation, help me by covering the cost of my insulin i wouldn't even have an income as the cost of the insulin i take would cost me 600 usd , 66564.90 yen, a month. My last hospital bill was for $16000 usd, 1775064.00 yen.

[@Choppylovechoppy]

Oh my goodness…

[@cielonehellofaservicedog4648]

As an American on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), and i am under 65..i am not even 30 years old yet.... For the exchange of welfare, that let's me live on 10k/yr, some help paying for my monthly food, electric, gas, and internet...and my insurance being paid in full, i have no premiums, no co-insurance, no deductible, no copay AND my coverage comes with things considered extra or not usual to come with most insurances like dental, hearing, emergency services 100% covered, durable medical equipment covered mostly, drug coverage where i don't pay more than 6$ a prescription (within a very long list of approved drugs they will pay for, called a formulary), and even transportation...oh gym membership paid for as well. For all that, i just can't marry, ever work again or try, and must accept living well below the poverty line. What they pay does not cover housing...i am just lucky enough to have someone that has a place for me to live in rent free. And why i can't marry is cause if i do, their income, their assets, their retirement, etc. gets counted as if I also made that...they would say "well we paid you $10k in benefit last year and your spouse made $15k last year..sorry no more extra welfare" and you get kicked off all the help, the medical, everything! all you have is a monthly payment after that... and then you gotta pay taxes on what they give you, since you're married. Your spouse's income and tax liability is formulated into your own tax liability... Hence joint filing in the USA..Plus being disabled means i do not have a right to the minimum wage anyways...The usa has a special clause in the law that allows corporations to pay you what they like, even 1 cent and hour if they can deem you are disabled enough to count under that category of worker...Hence why goodwill has an average hourly wage for their disabled staff, of $2.50/hr...

[@trentoncrew3985]

I have 500,000 in medical bills and my medical issues have not changed in 7 years I'm still unable to work or receive any assistance with food, income or medical care I will die from a completely treatable condition within the next few years

[@trentoncrew3985]

our medical system and justice system are designed to absorb as much of our income as possible, in most cases more than we will make in several years and both are designed to make sure you come back as often as possible

[@angelrose6213]

my medicine was $500 for pills for a few weeks. It's $120 in canada. Also there was a high likelihood it wouldn't even work. Ended up using a different, cheaper, more effective treatment, but it's still insane that they can charge so much money when across the border there's a country with a much cheaper cost.

[@riggs3281]

It cost me 70$ to talk to a doctor on the phone for a minute and a half for an asthma inhaler prescription

[@Choppylovechoppy]

lol 😂

[@marvelous7465]

Well I I have free healthcare from the government because I’m a kid and doesn’t make a lot of money but my mom and my mom don’t have it and I can’t get certain medicines if they cost too much

[@chrisb6363]

Never, ever travel there without travelers insurance. I had a medical emergency there when I was young, we had insurance though. Saved me thousands.

[@Choppylovechoppy]

👍🏻

[@rosemarymorgan336]

I still owe about $2000 for an ambulance ride I didn't want but felt I had to take to keep a job.

[@Choppylovechoppy]

Why to keep a job? a bit confused here ….

[@rosemarymorgan336]

@@Choppylovechoppy they called it for me.

[@SamanthaPuchlerz]

This situation is very, very serious. The US healthcare system lets people down in grievous ways every single day, from denial of payment causing severe financial strife, to death. Take myself, for example. My situation was so bad about 10 years ago that I had to drop out of high school and was laid up on my dad's couch for 13 months, unable to even stand, and I spent days on end screaming in agony. I couldn't do anything but scream and drool on myself. It was degrading, beyond debilitating, and terrifying. Everyone thought I was going to die. All of this completely derailed my life- I lost absolutely everything I had worked so hard for. And I couldn't get help. Why couldn't I get help? At first, my doctors were interested in the problem, but after trying to pursue it with necessary tests, imaging, etc. my insurance company said they would not cover the bills. My doctors could tell just from a look that we had no money, so they just started refusing care that wasn't "maintenance" care. In this context, maintenance care was the bare minimum of care needed to keep me alive, but not to find out what was wrong or cure me. Their refusal was two-fold. They were trying to get between me, a newly minted legal adult with absolutely no money and an incoming group of bills that would negatively alter my life forever, and they were also trying to do their jobs without consequence from insurance companies. I did manage to get better with very little intervention, which was extremely lucky for me. Cut to present day, and I still suffer some long-term health issues since that event. I have recently changed jobs and have "okay" insurance right now, but I still have to pay more than $3,000 from my own wallet BEFORE my insurance will even consider covering my healthcare. And they will only cover up to a certain amount, depending on the medical issue- often less than the cost of a single test in radiology (like an MRI or CT scan). I need quite a few tests run, and I'm very worried that we're going to lose the apartment over it. If we did, we'd have absolutely nowhere to go, we would lose our pets, probably lose our jobs because they are permanent work from home positions, and would be stuck on the streets or in shelters for a very long time. If you can believe it, I'm one of the lucky ones. I have insurance. I don't yet need coverage of a life-saving medication just to function in my day-to-day life. I can see a doctor and probably could afford an ambulance if I had a truly dire emergency (but usually I get someone to drive me to the emergency room instead). So you can imagine just how bad it is for people who don't have as much. No one is treated equally, and the doctors' hands are tied by the system. They want to do good for people, but the insurance companies tell them what they can and can't do, and there are consequences for going outside those boundaries. The system needs to change, but people are resistant to change because they're afraid that they wouldn't have as much autonomy over their personal choices. But when you're dying senselessly because you didn't have the right to healthcare in the first place...seems like that change has to happen regardless of groups of public opinion.

[@SamanthaPuchlerz]

Oh, just as a note to the "downgrade your lifestyle" thing. It is true that there are some people in America who "live above their means." i.e., they live lavishly when they really can't afford to. That said, it feels like our media- especially outbound media that the rest of the world sees- makes it look like all Americans are really well off financially and we all go around in expensive cars and with designer clothes and buy meals every day that cost $50 or more, etc. It's not true. America may be a wealthy country, but an ENORMOUS group of the population here lives in abject poverty. These people suffer a lack of access to basic human rights and dignities like food, clean water, shelter, transportation, health care, dental care (many Americans have no teeth or have their teeth rotting from their heads and causing severe health problems because dental care is considered a luxury in this country and is not covered under health care), and so much more. Every age (yes, even babies), and every sex, gender, race, color, and creed (though it adversely affects groups that are not straight white men much more than it affects straight white men) can be affected by this level of poverty, right here in the US. The homeless population in Chicago alone is estimated at over 58,000 people- now consider that is ONE city in a country with thousands of cities, and every town, village, city, big city, and small rural area has poverty and homelessness present. Then there's the other group, that isn't quite so bad off that we're living on the streets, but who live in constant terror of loss of means. When we do something for ourselves that is a luxury- for example, buy a new pair of shoes when the old pair still had soles or get a fancy coffee from a coffee shop once or twice a year- many of us panic, living in crippling fear that spending just $5 on something has ruined us and we are going to end up on the streets. We do occasionally go without food, we can't take time off from work, we can't replace broken furniture or buy things that will last a while, like nice clothes or a new appliance, because the up-front costs are exorbitant and we don't make enough money. Rent itself is often more than half of what someone gets paid every month, and add to that groceries, gasoline, car insurance, health insurance, electricity, water, and many other bills, and you have someone who can't really save or make many adjustments without tipping the scales. So when experts tell us to downgrade our lifestyles to afford emergencies, we have to try to figure out how to reduce spend even further without willingly giving up what little we have, and what's the point in doing any of this if you just end up homeless with nothing anyway?

[@jaysonbunnell8097]

in the video you watched, the iv bag and tissues were switched!!

[@meganofsherwood3665]

"I am confusion" To be fair, I'm from the US and our healthcare system gives me a headache. Actually, "Healthcare Confusion" might be a better term XD

[@Jerma985here]

I don’t think you should worry about getting sick in Alaska. When I get sick I just don’t go out and have soup and sleep a lot and then in 2 days I feel better :)

[@kriskeleigh6956]

ive had pneumonia 17 times in 2 1/2 years. (not even joking or exaggerating) its a disease i have to where i have chronic pneumonia, ive been hospitalized 13 out of 17. i refuse to be admitted for a week or more for them to do the same thing i do at home all i need is antibiotics from them. they charge around 4,000 just for xray or ct scans.

[@AbjectOyster38]

I have adrenaline deficiency and I have doctors visits every 3-6 months, copay being 100$ alone. Prescriptions prices are unreasonable. Going from 5 dollars one day to 120$ another day. I have to try to avoid getting sick because my Austin immune disease. I’ve almost died a couple times due to my deficiency but the debt I owe every time I have to go to the hospital is just as scary, and the debt I would leave for my family if I were to die

[@jacobmcclain5617]

Yeah it sucks. That’s why if you have average insurance you should always get a check up and your vaccines. Most insurance will cover preventative things like those. And getting those means potentially avoiding the costly expense of treatment and drugs in the future.

[@obieldenook1142]

Other people across the world: Americans are rich! Americans: I'll have to either die or have my life ruined by the healthcare system. I'm part of the poverty class because of aspects of our system like this. Just so I could even get help just going to the doctors, I had to take advantage of one loophole...if you are taking care of a child under18 years old, healthcare is covered if under a certain pay bracket. It is cheaper to have a child and get insurance than it is not to in America. This is no joke. My advice: get a medical kit, hot/cold compress, learn to treat wounds, breaks, and illnesses yourself, go to urgent or immediate care places if you have to go, get a friend to drive you or use an Uber to prevent using an ambulance, and learn what over the counter medicines there are along with herbal supplements. Anything else you can learn is important. Use the hospitals and ambulances if you have no other choice. Honestly, it should be illegal for the healthcare system to be set up like this. That is why I would love to move to Japan but I can't afford it. I would love (and give just about anything) to go and become an English teacher or something in Japan. Japan could teach America a lot.

[@richardyett3985]

Emergency Care is never denied for any person in the U.S.A. They may try to charge you but you do not have to pay.

[@Hollylivengood]

I don't know who told you that, but yes you have to pay. If you don't pay it fast enough it goes to a collection agency, and they garnish your wages.

[@richardyett3985]

@@Hollylivengood Not true. Just because it goes to collections doesn't mean your wages are garnished, they have to go to court first and get a judgement and then have to enforce that judgement and at that point the person can file for bankruptcy it they choose to. There are numerous ways to avoid paying.

[@Hollylivengood]

@@richardyett3985 Never found them. Hospitals are ass holes. I once finally paied up, had my confirmation number written on the bill, and still got calls for the next two years harassing me to pay the hospital bill I had finally paied. They took my tax return, I called and said I paied, gave them the confirmation number. They appologised and said they would take my name off the list. Never got my tax return back. Then they garnished my wages. This was still two years after the fact, so I called again and they said it wasn't them it was the collection agency. Not their problem. I called the agency, they said I wasn't on their list and they were sorry. Never got my money back. I'm sure what you're saying is the thing, but it never happens that way.

[@seanpieces155]

Fun fact the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota is the number 1. Hospital in the world

[@Choppylovechoppy]

in a good way right ?

[@seanpieces155]

@@Choppylovechoppy Minnesota health care is sum what more cheep

[@mattzukowski1207]

Our system is beyond not okay. I don't have exact numbers BUT I have a friend who depends on a wheel chair. It takes decades to get a custom motorized wheel chair though Medicare even with a condition diagnosed at birth. For Medicare it's like $15,000 or so. But if you save your money and pay cash it's only $3,000. And yes, things cost more if you have insurance just so they can discount it. There is almost ALWAYS a huge discount. But you have to fill out the right form.

[@Choppylovechoppy]

Right

[@benhauge3441]

Yeah i got a $257,000.00 bill from my Spinal Surgery of which I owe $41,000.00. And i dont have income right (got let go from job of 25yrs) now I’m waiting for Social Security Disability to get approved

[@Choppylovechoppy]

😨

[@aliciacorvina3111]

We spend about 1/4 of net pay on health insurance for our family, have a $1500 deductible, $35 copays for regular visits, $45 for eye doctor copays, $55 for specialists, $300 copay just to walk into an emergency room, can only pick out certain glasses frames, and they only pay $80 towards a pair of glasses (yes, that means $80 towards frames and lenses combined) so you have to pay the remainder PLUS the copay, dental isn't covered other than a cleaning, but there is a $45 copay for that too, and if your doctor uses the wrong billing code, they won't cover the visit period. You have to get preauthorization for basically EVERYTHING, regardless of whether or not your doctor referred you or prescribed something to you. Even if your doctor wants you on a certain medication, your insurance can refuse to pay and demand you try AND FAIL another cheaper kind of medication first, and THEY define what it means to "fail" the medication. And you have to make SURE that the doctor is "in-network" which it is REALLY hard to find doctors/specialists that take your insurance. It was even WORSE with Medicaid! NO ONE takes government-issued Medicaid! Especially dentists! That's why so many Americans have bad teeth. All the sugar in our food and no covered dental work. I can't even get anesthesia for dental work unless I am getting 6 or more teeth pulled... it's 4 or more if you have Medicaid, and they can still decide to refuse coverage. They also only cover so much numbing medication. I could feel my tooth being extracted, was being held down, and screamed the entire time... I am literally terrified of dentists now. That was when I was on Medicaid. That's why we pay for insurance now, even though we can't afford it, because I'm tired of going to places like that. We call the Medicaid offices "chop shops" for a reason. That's life here in America when you are Middle Class. It sucks.