> when it comes down to the uncommon cancer your mom has, she will have a much higher chance of survival in the US. A few years back my Mum in Australia was di

> when it comes down to the uncommon cancer your mom has, she will have a much higher chance of survival in the US. A few years back my Mum in Australia was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, given 12 months to live. For just shy of 3 years she had radiation, chemo, trial drugs worth nearly a million a pop all in a brand new cancer Center. Because she lived a couple of hours away she got free transport to and from and free hotel. Not pay and claim it back, fully free. She was on an enormous cocktail of drugs that dad would get at the pharmacy that raised a lot of eyebrows for the strength of the opiates among other things. For three years they never paid a cent. They never paid a cent of health insurance, never had private cover, never had a deductible. That would all be the same if they had never worked or took a decade off to pursue some hobby. Trust me when I say it was stressful and emotional enough without adding money or paperwork or insurance into the equation The comparison to my friends in the US who couldn’t get a separated shoulder fixed because it was “out of network” or had to move hospitals the day after a C section because the insurance didn’t want to pay anymore is downright disgusting. For real people living their lives the two systems are vastly different.