3 ms·

Hard to be human and get sick on $18k a year.

by darpa_escapee 8y ago

ams6110 8y ago
One good thing about university employment is that the health benefits are usually very good, even if the salary isn't.
- dominotw 8y ago
  Till you get laid off and get sick with no savings :)
- munin 8y ago
  Adjuncts aren’t employees.
- darpa_escapee 8y ago
  The new trend in university employment is hiring adjuncts at <$20k/yr without benefits.
Waterluvian 8y ago
Don't bin us all in together. Most of the modern world it's really not that expensive to go get real sick.
- sonnyblarney 8y ago
  It's expensive to get sick everywhere nowadays, it's just that the cost is spread out in most Western countries. Though socialized medicine countries have much less per-capita medical spending, it's still quite a lot. Or rather ... maybe getting sick is not so expensive. But getting sick and old is ...
  - roganartu 8y ago
    I see what you're saying, but I think it's safe to say they were suggesting it is expensive to the individual if they get sick, not to their entire society. The two are very different problems. Yes, the burden of healthcare costs in places with universal healthcare are spread across all taxpayers, but for that you get a society that can be reasonably confident that getting sick won't bankrupt them (especially if your socialised healthcare nation also has good welfare). It's easy to dismiss as a "won't happen to me" kind of thing, but in reality it can happen to anyone. A couple of years ago my wife was suddenly admitted to hospital for a couple of weeks and then physical therapy for 6+ months and it didn't cost us anything except her lost income. In the US that could've easily run us several hundred thousand dollars with bad or no insurance. There's a reason medical bills are the leading cause of bankruptcy in the USA.[0] [0] https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/05/01/this-is-the-no-1-reason-americans-file-for-bankrup.aspx https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/05/01/this-is-the-no-1-...

Hard to be human and get sick on $18k a year.

ams6110 8y ago

One good thing about university employment is that the health benefits are usually very good, even if the salary isn't.

dominotw 8y ago
Till you get laid off and get sick with no savings :)
munin 8y ago
Adjuncts aren’t employees.
darpa_escapee 8y ago
The new trend in university employment is hiring adjuncts at <$20k/yr without benefits.

Waterluvian 8y ago

Don't bin us all in together. Most of the modern world it's really not that expensive to go get real sick.

sonnyblarney 8y ago
It's expensive to get sick everywhere nowadays, it's just that the cost is spread out in most Western countries. Though socialized medicine countries have much less per-capita medical spending, it's still quite a lot. Or rather ... maybe getting sick is not so expensive. But getting sick and old is ...
- roganartu 8y ago
  I see what you're saying, but I think it's safe to say they were suggesting it is expensive to the individual if they get sick, not to their entire society. The two are very different problems. Yes, the burden of healthcare costs in places with universal healthcare are spread across all taxpayers, but for that you get a society that can be reasonably confident that getting sick won't bankrupt them (especially if your socialised healthcare nation also has good welfare). It's easy to dismiss as a "won't happen to me" kind of thing, but in reality it can happen to anyone. A couple of years ago my wife was suddenly admitted to hospital for a couple of weeks and then physical therapy for 6+ months and it didn't cost us anything except her lost income. In the US that could've easily run us several hundred thousand dollars with bad or no insurance. There's a reason medical bills are the leading cause of bankruptcy in the USA.[0] [0] https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/05/01/this-is-the-no-1-reason-americans-file-for-bankrup.aspx https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/05/01/this-is-the-no-1-...