4 ms·

People tend to be irrational about things and this is a good illustration. As broken and expensive as US healthcare is, you’re making 3x the money here, and out

People tend to be irrational about things and this is a good illustration. As broken and expensive as US healthcare is, you’re making 3x the money here, and out of pocket maximums do kick in eventually. And the US is not the top country by far, even among developed ones, in number of mass murder victims per 100000 population. You’re vastly more likely to drown in your backyard pool than be a victim of a mass shooting in the US. Majority of firearm deaths are suicides. Majority of homicides are concentrated in crime / gang activity hubs like Detroit, Chicago, and a few others. Firearm homicide has been trending downward for decades, even if you take the crime hubs into account. IOW if you don’t live in one of the well known “bad” places, your chance of dying from a firearm wound is very low indeed.

fwdpropaganda 9y ago
> As broken and expensive as US healthcare is, you’re making 3x the money here It's not a matter of the expected values, it's a matter of their distribution. The fact that you're making 3x as much doesn't change the fact that if you're unlucky for whatever reason you'll be in debt for the rest of your life.
- ThrustVectoring 9y ago
  No you won't. Bankruptcy is a thing. You have a put option to pay for medical care at the price of "all your non-creditor-protected assets". If you're in a reasonable place like Texas and you're maxing out IRA/401k and paying down your mortgage on your primary residence, you're going to be fine financially as long as you can either work or have good disability insurance.
  - fwdpropaganda 9y ago
    Oh, so you just go bankrupt. That's a good system then.
pranjalv123 9y ago
Out of pocket maximums kick in eventually, unless you accidentally go to an out-of network provider, unless you lose your job and therefore your insurance, unless your insurance decides that a drug you need isn't covered, etc., etc., etc.
- throwaway84742 9y ago
  You don’t lose your insurance anymore if you lose your job. You are required by law to have insurance whether you have a job or not.
  - projektir 9y ago
    Your formulation makes it sound like the government will make sure you have insurance. This is not the case. You have to make sure you have insurance or the government will fine you. But if you were unable to get insurance for whatever reason, you still don't have insurance. And Obamacare premiums are not small and the insurance is not very good.
    - throwaway84742 9y ago
      Yes. So rather than putting a gun to my head to make me pay for your insurance they put the gun to the head of the purportedly responsible adult who should be paying, and provide steep discounts if you can’t afford it. Government can merely redistribute its tax earnings, often in extremely corrupt and wasteful ways. It does not create wealth on its own.
    - Cyph0n 9y ago
      To follow up on this, you will be fined by the IRS for every month of the year in which you have no insurance...
      - maxerickson 9y ago
        Not anymore though, the 2017 tax bill repealed that part of the law.
ilovecars2 9y ago
Sure, he is making 3x now, but there are a lot of people in the U.S who do not have healthcare or fall into real debt financing it. On a side note, the NHS crisis worries me a lot, but I’m thinking it must be better than no public health care at all, right?
- Bombthecat 9y ago
  You make three times.. until you don't.a big accident,six months out of job? Never heard working out in America. In Germany no problem...
  - throwaway84742 9y ago
    You make it sound like Germany doesn’t have poor people. That is most certainly not the case. In fact if you consider percentages, more Germans than Americans live below poverty level.
    - Bombthecat 9y ago
      The state pop ups your income to 800€. Which allows you to live in a small Appartement outside the city and still have like 400€. If you are not an alcoholic or smoke you can live a good live. And. Have free and good health insurance. Source: my mom is in exactly that situation. Pension is only 600, state ups it to 800. She needs to move to a smaller appointment to live now. But she is now some without kids and stuff. No need for a big two or three room apartment. I know it is sad for old people to move. ( I see it with my mom) But in live you grow and later you shrink ( home size, income etc etc) it's normal circle of life. I bet I will be sad when I need to move out of my three room Appartement.
  - ThrustVectoring 9y ago
    You have own-occupation disability insurance for that. These downside risks are rather easily hedge-able. I don't quite have things set up yet, but my long-term plan involves moving to Texas, storing most of my wealth in IRAs/401(k) plans and my primary residence, and taking out own-occupation disability insurance for the time I'm still dependent on my income to make ends meet. If something happens, my medical insurance pays for most, and then past that I spend down my emergency fund from taxable employment income and start drawing un-garnishable private disability insurance.
lemming 9y ago
And the US is not the top country by far, even among developed ones, in number of mass murder victims per 100000 population. Snopes describes the report you're probably talking about as "extremely misleading": https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/united-states-lower-death-shootings/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/united-states-lower-death-...

fwdpropaganda 9y ago

> As broken and expensive as US healthcare is, you’re making 3x the money here It's not a matter of the expected values, it's a matter of their distribution. The fact that you're making 3x as much doesn't change the fact that if you're unlucky for whatever reason you'll be in debt for the rest of your life.

ThrustVectoring 9y ago
No you won't. Bankruptcy is a thing. You have a put option to pay for medical care at the price of "all your non-creditor-protected assets". If you're in a reasonable place like Texas and you're maxing out IRA/401k and paying down your mortgage on your primary residence, you're going to be fine financially as long as you can either work or have good disability insurance.
- fwdpropaganda 9y ago
  Oh, so you just go bankrupt. That's a good system then.

pranjalv123 9y ago

Out of pocket maximums kick in eventually, unless you accidentally go to an out-of network provider, unless you lose your job and therefore your insurance, unless your insurance decides that a drug you need isn't covered, etc., etc., etc.

throwaway84742 9y ago
You don’t lose your insurance anymore if you lose your job. You are required by law to have insurance whether you have a job or not.
- projektir 9y ago
  Your formulation makes it sound like the government will make sure you have insurance. This is not the case. You have to make sure you have insurance or the government will fine you. But if you were unable to get insurance for whatever reason, you still don't have insurance. And Obamacare premiums are not small and the insurance is not very good.
  - throwaway84742 9y ago
    Yes. So rather than putting a gun to my head to make me pay for your insurance they put the gun to the head of the purportedly responsible adult who should be paying, and provide steep discounts if you can’t afford it. Government can merely redistribute its tax earnings, often in extremely corrupt and wasteful ways. It does not create wealth on its own.
  - Cyph0n 9y ago
    To follow up on this, you will be fined by the IRS for every month of the year in which you have no insurance...
    - maxerickson 9y ago
      Not anymore though, the 2017 tax bill repealed that part of the law.

ilovecars2 9y ago

Sure, he is making 3x now, but there are a lot of people in the U.S who do not have healthcare or fall into real debt financing it. On a side note, the NHS crisis worries me a lot, but I’m thinking it must be better than no public health care at all, right?

Bombthecat 9y ago
You make three times.. until you don't.a big accident,six months out of job? Never heard working out in America. In Germany no problem...
- throwaway84742 9y ago
  You make it sound like Germany doesn’t have poor people. That is most certainly not the case. In fact if you consider percentages, more Germans than Americans live below poverty level.
  - Bombthecat 9y ago
    The state pop ups your income to 800€. Which allows you to live in a small Appartement outside the city and still have like 400€. If you are not an alcoholic or smoke you can live a good live. And. Have free and good health insurance. Source: my mom is in exactly that situation. Pension is only 600, state ups it to 800. She needs to move to a smaller appointment to live now. But she is now some without kids and stuff. No need for a big two or three room apartment. I know it is sad for old people to move. ( I see it with my mom) But in live you grow and later you shrink ( home size, income etc etc) it's normal circle of life. I bet I will be sad when I need to move out of my three room Appartement.
- ThrustVectoring 9y ago
  You have own-occupation disability insurance for that. These downside risks are rather easily hedge-able. I don't quite have things set up yet, but my long-term plan involves moving to Texas, storing most of my wealth in IRAs/401(k) plans and my primary residence, and taking out own-occupation disability insurance for the time I'm still dependent on my income to make ends meet. If something happens, my medical insurance pays for most, and then past that I spend down my emergency fund from taxable employment income and start drawing un-garnishable private disability insurance.

lemming 9y ago

And the US is not the top country by far, even among developed ones, in number of mass murder victims per 100000 population. Snopes describes the report you're probably talking about as "extremely misleading": https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/united-states-lower-death-shootings/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/united-states-lower-death-...