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> ...including the money to buy the home I now live in and even the health insurance responsible for the birth of my son... Interesting example. Being grateful

> ...including the money to buy the home I now live in and even the health insurance responsible for the birth of my son... Interesting example. Being grateful to your country for giving you the opportunity to work to pay insurance bills to have a child, because there's no universal healthcare? I'm assuming this is sarcasm?

visarga 5y ago
or conditioning
roenxi 5y ago
Software engineers working at Google are pretty wealthy and are probably pushing into the salary levels that pay for most of societies upkeep. They're going to be paying less under a private health system than a universal one and getting very similar levels of care.
- jakecopp 5y ago
  Good point. I still do find the original sentiment odd and confusing.
- oblio 5y ago
  So, in short: screw you, got mine? :-)
  - roenxi 5y ago
    In short, whether or not the US has universal healthcare, he would feel the same feelings towards the same entities and it would have cost him about the same amount of labour to get assistance for the birth of his son.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
alias_neo 5y ago
If I'm not mistaken, isn't America the same country which makes it illegal to give birth at home or without some sort of doctor/medical involvement? Yeah I'd be really grateful too. /s As a Brit though, I'll give credit to my wife for the birth of our child[ren].
- detaro 5y ago
  You are mistaken.
  - alias_neo 5y ago
    Thanks for confirming. I'm certain I saw something in a documentary recently so is it entirely incorrect or is there some technicality?
    - detaro 5y ago
      The closest I can think of is that some states do not give out licensing for midwifes/home birth assistance, so if you want to have a home birth with a professional present in those states that's difficult.
- vl 5y ago
  America is many states, laws like this are state-level, so there are 50 different laws in this regard and my guess is that most states don’t have a law covering this scenario due to it’s rarity.
arthurcolle 5y ago
Ignorance is strength
vinay427 5y ago
First of all, this applies to nearly half of the developed world where people work and pay insurance premiums, and the systems in most non-US countries still seem to function relatively equitably. Implying that one can't be grateful in the US because of the existence of insurance premiums feels like yet another example of American exceptionalism because many other countries have figured it out. Second, it's not that difficult for me to picture a scenario in which someone is grateful for the access to healthcare and health insurance that a typical Googler in the US has. Particularly if you've ever traveled to poorer countries (or just been exposed to more disadvantaged environments) where a lot less is taken for granted, it's often easy to find things in your life for which you are grateful. Besides, they're likely not paying additional insurance premiums on top of Google's contributions, so the insurance bills are usually copays that aren't ludicrously high.
- jakecopp 5y ago
  > Implying that one can't be grateful in the US because of the existence of insurance premiums feels like yet another example of American exceptionalism because many other countries have figured it out. I agree with the sentiment of being grateful for access to good healthcare, however being grateful to the US for the privilege to pay for their private healthcare (when less fortunate US citizens are dying because they can't afford treatment [1]) is a strange sentiment from the perspective of a non-US citizen. The U.S. is almost entirely alone among developed nations in lacking universal healthcare [2], and on a per capita basis, spends more than double the average of all OECD countries [3]. > Second, it's not that difficult for me to picture a scenario in which someone is grateful for the access to healthcare and health insurance that a typical Googler in the US has. > Particularly if you've ever traveled to poorer countries (or just been exposed to more disadvantaged environments) where a lot less is taken for granted, it's often easy to find things in your life for which you are grateful. I agree wholeheartedly with both of these points. [1]: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/07/americans-healthcare-medical-costs https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/07/americans-he... [2]: https://www.dpeaflcio.org/factsheets/the-us-health-care-system-an-international-perspective https://www.dpeaflcio.org/factsheets/the-us-health-care-syst... [3]: https://www.dpeaflcio.org/factsheets/the-us-health-care-system-an-international-perspective https://www.dpeaflcio.org/factsheets/the-us-health-care-syst...
Rebelgecko 5y ago
Google's health insurance is pretty good (although not the very best out there). I can't speak to everyone's situation, but at other companies where I've worked I normally had to pay around $1,000/year in mostly pretax dollars for health costs (employee portion of premiums + copays). With my current health insurance at Google, my health plan is typically a net gain financially as long as I have <$10k in medical costs per year (no premiums + employer HSA contribution + HSA tax benefits).
- Cyph0n 5y ago
  Well, no premiums only if you’re single. The premiums are quite standard with a spouse/child/family (relative to other companies).
jozvolskyef 5y ago
You are probably misreading it as referring to a standard medical expense while it probably refers to some advanced treatment that is only available in private healthcare, anywhere in the world.
- jakecopp 5y ago
  Possibly, that would make sense. Thanks.
closeparen 5y ago
Under universal healthcare, a Google employee surely pays many more people’s insurance bills than his own. These people, with professional jobs at famous companies in California and New York, are the 1% who are meant to pay for all new social spending.
cowsandmilk 5y ago
He isn’t saying he’s grateful to his country, he’s saying he’s grateful to Google…
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

visarga 5y ago

or conditioning

roenxi 5y ago

Software engineers working at Google are pretty wealthy and are probably pushing into the salary levels that pay for most of societies upkeep. They're going to be paying less under a private health system than a universal one and getting very similar levels of care.

jakecopp 5y ago
Good point. I still do find the original sentiment odd and confusing.
oblio 5y ago
So, in short: screw you, got mine? :-)
- roenxi 5y ago
  In short, whether or not the US has universal healthcare, he would feel the same feelings towards the same entities and it would have cost him about the same amount of labour to get assistance for the birth of his son.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

alias_neo 5y ago

If I'm not mistaken, isn't America the same country which makes it illegal to give birth at home or without some sort of doctor/medical involvement? Yeah I'd be really grateful too. /s As a Brit though, I'll give credit to my wife for the birth of our child[ren].

detaro 5y ago
You are mistaken.
- alias_neo 5y ago
  Thanks for confirming. I'm certain I saw something in a documentary recently so is it entirely incorrect or is there some technicality?
  - detaro 5y ago
    The closest I can think of is that some states do not give out licensing for midwifes/home birth assistance, so if you want to have a home birth with a professional present in those states that's difficult.
vl 5y ago
America is many states, laws like this are state-level, so there are 50 different laws in this regard and my guess is that most states don’t have a law covering this scenario due to it’s rarity.

arthurcolle 5y ago

Ignorance is strength

vinay427 5y ago

First of all, this applies to nearly half of the developed world where people work and pay insurance premiums, and the systems in most non-US countries still seem to function relatively equitably. Implying that one can't be grateful in the US because of the existence of insurance premiums feels like yet another example of American exceptionalism because many other countries have figured it out. Second, it's not that difficult for me to picture a scenario in which someone is grateful for the access to healthcare and health insurance that a typical Googler in the US has. Particularly if you've ever traveled to poorer countries (or just been exposed to more disadvantaged environments) where a lot less is taken for granted, it's often easy to find things in your life for which you are grateful. Besides, they're likely not paying additional insurance premiums on top of Google's contributions, so the insurance bills are usually copays that aren't ludicrously high.

jakecopp 5y ago
> Implying that one can't be grateful in the US because of the existence of insurance premiums feels like yet another example of American exceptionalism because many other countries have figured it out. I agree with the sentiment of being grateful for access to good healthcare, however being grateful to the US for the privilege to pay for their private healthcare (when less fortunate US citizens are dying because they can't afford treatment [1]) is a strange sentiment from the perspective of a non-US citizen. The U.S. is almost entirely alone among developed nations in lacking universal healthcare [2], and on a per capita basis, spends more than double the average of all OECD countries [3]. > Second, it's not that difficult for me to picture a scenario in which someone is grateful for the access to healthcare and health insurance that a typical Googler in the US has. > Particularly if you've ever traveled to poorer countries (or just been exposed to more disadvantaged environments) where a lot less is taken for granted, it's often easy to find things in your life for which you are grateful. I agree wholeheartedly with both of these points. [1]: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/07/americans-healthcare-medical-costs https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/07/americans-he... [2]: https://www.dpeaflcio.org/factsheets/the-us-health-care-system-an-international-perspective https://www.dpeaflcio.org/factsheets/the-us-health-care-syst... [3]: https://www.dpeaflcio.org/factsheets/the-us-health-care-system-an-international-perspective https://www.dpeaflcio.org/factsheets/the-us-health-care-syst...

Rebelgecko 5y ago

Google's health insurance is pretty good (although not the very best out there). I can't speak to everyone's situation, but at other companies where I've worked I normally had to pay around $1,000/year in mostly pretax dollars for health costs (employee portion of premiums + copays). With my current health insurance at Google, my health plan is typically a net gain financially as long as I have <$10k in medical costs per year (no premiums + employer HSA contribution + HSA tax benefits).

Cyph0n 5y ago
Well, no premiums only if you’re single. The premiums are quite standard with a spouse/child/family (relative to other companies).

jozvolskyef 5y ago

You are probably misreading it as referring to a standard medical expense while it probably refers to some advanced treatment that is only available in private healthcare, anywhere in the world.

jakecopp 5y ago
Possibly, that would make sense. Thanks.

closeparen 5y ago

Under universal healthcare, a Google employee surely pays many more people’s insurance bills than his own. These people, with professional jobs at famous companies in California and New York, are the 1% who are meant to pay for all new social spending.

cowsandmilk 5y ago

He isn’t saying he’s grateful to his country, he’s saying he’s grateful to Google…

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]