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I can speak to the situation you mentioned, as it happened twice. However almost no money had to be thrown at the problem, and the outcome was the best that co
by MrDresden 2y ago
I can speak to the situation you mentioned, as it happened twice.
However almost no money had to be thrown at the problem, and the outcome was the best that could have been wished for.
I live in Europe where we generally have universal healthcare.
Perhaps the author you responded to is also living in a similar situation?
I for one would take the same view as them. Work to live, and try only to do meaningful work. Life really is too short and fragile not to.
- self_awareness 2y agoI guess "universal healthcare" works in your country. But generally "universal healthcare" has treated my grandmother for sleep problems, but later when she died they figured out that the reason was intestine cancer. No doctor gave a sh*t that day. With money and private healthcare this could be avoided. My mother when visiting a "universal healthcare" doctor (queues are several months long) for digestion problems AND having a genetic history of cancer was given Xanax for depression. She fortunately tossed out the receipt for it after leaving the doctor office, because she's not stupid, certainly not depressed. So I think mentioning a mythical "universal healthcare" in my direction doesn't have the outcome you'd like it to have. Even more, it kind of proves my point, that you don't need money if everything goes well. You need it when things go to sh*t.
- hhjinks 2y agoWhy do you think private healthcare would give you a better answer? You accepted the first answer the jniversal healthcare system gave you. Do you have any reason to believe you wouldn't accept that answer if given by a private clinic?
- self_awareness 2y agoMoney + private healthcare gives you options. You can go to different doctors several times a week to get a possibly different diagnosis. It costs money, so having it is a prerequisite. But giving money acts as a motivator here, because doctors want money. In "universal healthcare", you can only go to a doctor once, or two times a year. Because the waiting queues are so long sometimes. And even if you change the doctor, the previous diagnosis will be in the same system, so if the doctor will get lazy, they'll just repeat the diagnosis. There's no motivator here (well, during communist times, a popular form of motivator was a "present" for doctor, so people found ways to motivate doctors).
- ido 2y agoI live in Germany, and had cancer, and my experience with the public health system is completely different from yours. I got prompt treatment and asked for second and third opinions (which I also got at short notice, from different doctors at different hospitals) before treatment. I know from friends there are places where the public health system is so underfunded (e.g. Bulgaria) that they basically had to get private health insurance to get good treatment. In other words YMMV.
- self_awareness 2y agoGood for you I guess. But people who live in better environment shouldn't impose a world view for people who live in worse environments. They should at least have a decency of understanding what is their privilege, and that there are people who don't have it. Meanwhile, on HN, the only reaction I can count for is a downvote for telling my life experience. That's why I love HN, you often disappoint, correcting my life expectations closer to reality :heart: !
- ryandrake 2y agoI don't think you are getting downvoted for sharing your life experience. You're getting it for projecting that single experience onto an entire institution, without evidence that your single experience is representative.
- self_awareness 2y agoEveryone in my whole country has similar experience.
- ido 2y agoI’m not imposing anything, I’m suggesting you’re (probably) suffering from a specific shitty healthcare system rather than your implied conclusion that universal health care systems are inherently shitty. In fact I immigrated to Germany from a country with shittier (underfunded) health care system myself so I can very much relate.