4 ms·

Man, just imagine having to worry about how much going to the hospital will cost you.

lucidguppy 8y ago
Eventually everyone will have to worry. Prices will rise as far as people are willing to pay.
geodel 8y ago
Well nothing much to imagine. It's true in most of the world that decent hospital treatment for serious ailment can bankrupt people. Now it is different in some rich european countries. But people here somehow behave as if apart from US one can get top notch hospital care anywhere in world without severe financial consequences. I have seen here many who visit from US singing paeans for excellent healthcare in third world nation like India. It mainly works because 1) Whats very cheap for people in US is still very good amount of money there. 2) Local hospitals there would not dare ripping off Americans as it can cause great reputational harm if that incident ever covered by first world media. However for locals these hospitals behave in absolutely atrocious and corrupt manner. And anyone not in top 5% in wealth pyramid will be ruined financially by treatment expenses.
- jellicle 8y ago
  Meh, it's the norm in developed nations that medical care will not bankrupt you, period. You can fall off a cliff and break every bone in your body and in any of the green countries here, your out of pocket costs will be minimal: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/06/heres-a-map-of-the-countries-that-provide-universal-health-care-americas-still-not-on-it/259153/ https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/06/he... It's not the norm in the undeveloped countries, which admittedly have a lot of population, but is that really the standard the USA wants to compare itself to?
  - elliekelly 8y ago
    Even in Saudi Arabia. The government might chop your hand off for stealing but even they take you to the hospital immediately and you won't go broke when you get the bill.
- thatfrenchguy 8y ago
  Wikipedia says this is actually most of the world's population: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Universal_Health_Care_july_2018.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Universa...
  - kodablah 8y ago
    GP specifically said "decent" and gave an example of it being "present" but not "decent" for locals, and you countered with a picture only showing "present" which doesn't dispute what the parent said at all.
    - King-Aaron 8y ago
      Although which "first-world" nation, other than the United States, doesn't offer "decent" free public healthcare?
stephen_g 8y ago
This comment seems sarcastic, but it’s literally what it feels like reading this and similar stories about the US medical system from another developed country...
- King-Aaron 8y ago
  It was indeed sarcastic, and in hindsight I apologise to anyone irritated by it. But yeah, it seems that a lot of US-based comments like to point out how terrible the alternative to paid healthcare is in places like India etc, but completely ignore the fact that comparable nations (i.e. Australia, Canada, etc) all have functional socialist-esque healthcare and it's kind of fantastic. My personal opinion is that people are too selfish (I guess?) to even consider free healthcare as an option. At least, from the third person perspective, this is how it appears.
  - analog31 8y ago
    You might not be getting an accurate perspective of sentiment in the US. A lot of people in the US favor universal health care in some form or fashion. There are at least as many opinions on how to implement it, as there are countries with better systems. But the opposition is strong too. Consider that if health care costs us twice as much as in other countries, it means someone is making twice as much, and they aren't going to give up that money without a fight.
    - maxxxxx 8y ago
      Exactly. All the "waste" is someone's profit and they will for it tooth and nail.
  - maxxxxx 8y ago
    People in the US have been indoctrinated by a lot of propaganda and not many see how things are outside the country. They just have never seen anything else.
  - murph-almighty 8y ago
    I'm basically pro-universal healthcare at this point in some way, shape or form, but the one thing I don't understand is the role of private insurance companies in the aftermath. They can't really just... disappear. People have jobs there, and stockholders own investments in these companies. You'd have to answer to a significant amount of people. I feel like we've effectively enmeshed private interests so deeply into the US healthcare system that I don't know what it would look like without it. >My personal opinion is that people are too selfish (I guess?) to even consider free healthcare as an option. I believe that a significant amount of people in the US are too selfish to pay their taxes, let alone for universal healthcare, no matter what long-term figures you show them, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Eventually everyone will have to worry. Prices will rise as far as people are willing to pay.

Well nothing much to imagine. It's true in most of the world that decent hospital treatment for serious ailment can bankrupt people. Now it is different in some rich european countries. But people here somehow behave as if apart from US one can get top notch hospital care anywhere in world without severe financial consequences. I have seen here many who visit from US singing paeans for excellent healthcare in third world nation like India. It mainly works because 1) Whats very cheap for people in US is still very good amount of money there. 2) Local hospitals there would not dare ripping off Americans as it can cause great reputational harm if that incident ever covered by first world media. However for locals these hospitals behave in absolutely atrocious and corrupt manner. And anyone not in top 5% in wealth pyramid will be ruined financially by treatment expenses.

jellicle 8y ago
Meh, it's the norm in developed nations that medical care will not bankrupt you, period. You can fall off a cliff and break every bone in your body and in any of the green countries here, your out of pocket costs will be minimal: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/06/heres-a-map-of-the-countries-that-provide-universal-health-care-americas-still-not-on-it/259153/ https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/06/he... It's not the norm in the undeveloped countries, which admittedly have a lot of population, but is that really the standard the USA wants to compare itself to?
- elliekelly 8y ago
  Even in Saudi Arabia. The government might chop your hand off for stealing but even they take you to the hospital immediately and you won't go broke when you get the bill.
thatfrenchguy 8y ago
Wikipedia says this is actually most of the world's population: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Universal_Health_Care_july_2018.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Universa...
- kodablah 8y ago
  GP specifically said "decent" and gave an example of it being "present" but not "decent" for locals, and you countered with a picture only showing "present" which doesn't dispute what the parent said at all.
  - King-Aaron 8y ago
    Although which "first-world" nation, other than the United States, doesn't offer "decent" free public healthcare?

stephen_g 8y ago

This comment seems sarcastic, but it’s literally what it feels like reading this and similar stories about the US medical system from another developed country...

King-Aaron 8y ago
It was indeed sarcastic, and in hindsight I apologise to anyone irritated by it. But yeah, it seems that a lot of US-based comments like to point out how terrible the alternative to paid healthcare is in places like India etc, but completely ignore the fact that comparable nations (i.e. Australia, Canada, etc) all have functional socialist-esque healthcare and it's kind of fantastic. My personal opinion is that people are too selfish (I guess?) to even consider free healthcare as an option. At least, from the third person perspective, this is how it appears.
- analog31 8y ago
  You might not be getting an accurate perspective of sentiment in the US. A lot of people in the US favor universal health care in some form or fashion. There are at least as many opinions on how to implement it, as there are countries with better systems. But the opposition is strong too. Consider that if health care costs us twice as much as in other countries, it means someone is making twice as much, and they aren't going to give up that money without a fight.
  - maxxxxx 8y ago
    Exactly. All the "waste" is someone's profit and they will for it tooth and nail.
- maxxxxx 8y ago
  People in the US have been indoctrinated by a lot of propaganda and not many see how things are outside the country. They just have never seen anything else.
- murph-almighty 8y ago
  I'm basically pro-universal healthcare at this point in some way, shape or form, but the one thing I don't understand is the role of private insurance companies in the aftermath. They can't really just... disappear. People have jobs there, and stockholders own investments in these companies. You'd have to answer to a significant amount of people. I feel like we've effectively enmeshed private interests so deeply into the US healthcare system that I don't know what it would look like without it. >My personal opinion is that people are too selfish (I guess?) to even consider free healthcare as an option. I believe that a significant amount of people in the US are too selfish to pay their taxes, let alone for universal healthcare, no matter what long-term figures you show them, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯