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I don't think you'll care to read or think about this reply, but others might, and HN is for me also about open-minded discussion. I don't pay through my nose
by fdw 8y ago
I don't think you'll care to read or think about this reply, but others might, and HN is for me also about open-minded discussion.
I don't pay through my nose for healthcare. According to a quick Google search, it seems to be about what the average US resident pays (while I'm above average in income for my country). For that price, I don't ever have to worry about going to a doctor or hospital. I'm feeling sick - I go to the doctor. I have a toothache - I go to the doctor. I think I broke my finger - I go to the hospital, wait a few hours, and learn that everything is alright. I can't imagine having to wonder if the visit is really necessary, because I need the money. I don't want to have to choose between health and money. For me, this is comfort.
Additionally, I have friends with chronic diseases. They cannot emigrate to the USA, because they couldn't pay the medicine. That doesn't sound like a first-world country to me, where you cannot afford to treat your sickness, even though you've got skills and a paying job. That sounds like a bad dystopian movie.
- throwaway84742 8y agoI go to the doctor when I’m sick too, imagine that! And I too have a chronic disease for which I pay a princely sum of $10/mo as a co-pay for medication. It is true that Americans pay quite a bit more for healthcare. But our doctors make quite a bit more than European ones, too. I do like it when the person treating me is well off, and their income is largely decoupled from the whims of a random unelected government bureaucrat. It’s also true that the health insurance system badly needs an overhaul. But I’d very much like to keep it private, because our government is a money black hole.