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Because 92% of Americans have health insurance, and 22% have totally free everything covered health insurance. Of the uninsured, most either are eligible but do

Because 92% of Americans have health insurance, and 22% have totally free everything covered health insurance. Of the uninsured, most either are eligible but don't apply, have insurance through work but forgo it, or are not US citizens. All said and done, you end up with a very small sliver of people who are legitimately uninsured, which means the problem mostly exists as scary stories rather than people actually experiencing it.

lawn 1y ago
Except if you have health insurance and the medics choose the "wrong" medicine which isn't covered by your particular insurance. Or when an ambulance from the wrong company shows up. Or as in OP when the hospital makes up the charge. And add the 8% of uninsured Americans, which is still almost 30 million people! Only in America will this all add up to "scary stories" and they will shrug and defend the system.
snovymgodym 1y ago
Even if you're insured it sucks. The American healthcare system creates an immense amount of waste and is a parasite on society. You go to the doctor and then the provider comes up with some reason why the service isn't covered by insurance. Then your insurance comes up with some reason why they don't need to cover you. Sometimes you contest it and the bill is removed or lowered. But regardless, at every step in American healthcare, people are being paid full time salaries to overbill or missbill you for services, to invent arbitrary reasons to deny coverage, and to do everything possible so that people who pay thousands a year for a healthcare plan get as little out of it as possible. The only silver lining is that medical debt is legally hard to collect, so non-payment is a real option for those who don't mind trashing their credit. It's awful and the only hope for change is either a left-wing populist who guts the whole system, collective action where people withhold paymet, or an increased rate of Luigi-esque incidents that motivate the industry to self-reform. But these all seem unrealistic and liable to worsen the situation.
franktankbank 1y ago
Having insurance you still wind up paying 30k+ a year for that privilege whether you use it or not.
t0mas88 1y ago
Sure 92% of Americans have insurance, but they pay 5-10x the monthly premium compared to most Europeans and then on top of that the co-pay is thousands of dollars more than the small (or zero) amounts Europeans have. And insurance is not guaranteed, it's all linked to your employer. It's bad for nearly everyone, but enough people accept it so it doesn't change.
- Workaccount2 1y ago
  Americans still have higher take home pay and lower cost of living than Europeans. You also need to understand that the 22% who have full free coverage pay nothing, and because of their income also don't pay taxes. There are also subsidies for middle-low earners, and most full time jobs offer insurance (which people foolishly wave to save a few bucks, but end up being another horror story). The situation is not nearly as dire as the young American crowd that dominates social media makes it out to be. It could be much better, but as I alluded to in my other comment, don't let stories of car crashes scare you from getting a license.
Capricorn2481 1y ago
Wildly false. This thread is full of people sharing stories of being supposedly "insured" and getting fucked anyway. The complete lack of transparency around what your insurance covers, something you can't be expected to verify while in the middle of a dire medical crisis, can lead to a life destroying bill. Nobody should have to be wondering what company an ambulance works for. It's crazy. The whole world thinks it's crazy.
- timeon 1y ago
  > Nobody should have to be wondering what company an ambulance works for. Is this real?!
  - inerte 1y ago
    The latest advice is to call an Uber instead of an ambulance.
  - dboreham 1y ago
    Absolutely. General advice is to never ever get in an ambulance since they charge $$ and may not be covered by insurance. Drive yourself if able or get a taxi.
- Workaccount2 1y ago
  I don't know what I said that is wildly false. Or even false for that matter. People getting surprise bills that their insurance will not cover is rare, because being in a situation where it's a possibly is rare. Insurance pre-approves or denies care before it is done, so you really need to be in the ER and getting odd-ball care that falls outside standard procedure. I'm also not defending them system, it is a mess (even I posted a story in this thread), but the fact of the matter is that the system largely works for most people, so things like inflation, wages, housing which have daily reminders of shittyness for huge swaths of people gets political priority. A better way to think of this is like bad car accidents. They are horrific and most people know someone who knows someone with a story, but we don't put a lot of political capital into improving vehicle safety. Most people go their whole lives with no accident.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
LawnGnome 1y ago
As a non-American, I think the thing I'm hung up on in what you said is that I don't understand why a developed country should allow anyone to be "uninsured".

lawn 1y ago

Except if you have health insurance and the medics choose the "wrong" medicine which isn't covered by your particular insurance. Or when an ambulance from the wrong company shows up. Or as in OP when the hospital makes up the charge. And add the 8% of uninsured Americans, which is still almost 30 million people! Only in America will this all add up to "scary stories" and they will shrug and defend the system.

snovymgodym 1y ago

Even if you're insured it sucks. The American healthcare system creates an immense amount of waste and is a parasite on society. You go to the doctor and then the provider comes up with some reason why the service isn't covered by insurance. Then your insurance comes up with some reason why they don't need to cover you. Sometimes you contest it and the bill is removed or lowered. But regardless, at every step in American healthcare, people are being paid full time salaries to overbill or missbill you for services, to invent arbitrary reasons to deny coverage, and to do everything possible so that people who pay thousands a year for a healthcare plan get as little out of it as possible. The only silver lining is that medical debt is legally hard to collect, so non-payment is a real option for those who don't mind trashing their credit. It's awful and the only hope for change is either a left-wing populist who guts the whole system, collective action where people withhold paymet, or an increased rate of Luigi-esque incidents that motivate the industry to self-reform. But these all seem unrealistic and liable to worsen the situation.

franktankbank 1y ago

Having insurance you still wind up paying 30k+ a year for that privilege whether you use it or not.

t0mas88 1y ago

Sure 92% of Americans have insurance, but they pay 5-10x the monthly premium compared to most Europeans and then on top of that the co-pay is thousands of dollars more than the small (or zero) amounts Europeans have. And insurance is not guaranteed, it's all linked to your employer. It's bad for nearly everyone, but enough people accept it so it doesn't change.

Workaccount2 1y ago
Americans still have higher take home pay and lower cost of living than Europeans. You also need to understand that the 22% who have full free coverage pay nothing, and because of their income also don't pay taxes. There are also subsidies for middle-low earners, and most full time jobs offer insurance (which people foolishly wave to save a few bucks, but end up being another horror story). The situation is not nearly as dire as the young American crowd that dominates social media makes it out to be. It could be much better, but as I alluded to in my other comment, don't let stories of car crashes scare you from getting a license.

Capricorn2481 1y ago

Wildly false. This thread is full of people sharing stories of being supposedly "insured" and getting fucked anyway. The complete lack of transparency around what your insurance covers, something you can't be expected to verify while in the middle of a dire medical crisis, can lead to a life destroying bill. Nobody should have to be wondering what company an ambulance works for. It's crazy. The whole world thinks it's crazy.

timeon 1y ago
> Nobody should have to be wondering what company an ambulance works for. Is this real?!
- inerte 1y ago
  The latest advice is to call an Uber instead of an ambulance.
- dboreham 1y ago
  Absolutely. General advice is to never ever get in an ambulance since they charge $$ and may not be covered by insurance. Drive yourself if able or get a taxi.
Workaccount2 1y ago
I don't know what I said that is wildly false. Or even false for that matter. People getting surprise bills that their insurance will not cover is rare, because being in a situation where it's a possibly is rare. Insurance pre-approves or denies care before it is done, so you really need to be in the ER and getting odd-ball care that falls outside standard procedure. I'm also not defending them system, it is a mess (even I posted a story in this thread), but the fact of the matter is that the system largely works for most people, so things like inflation, wages, housing which have daily reminders of shittyness for huge swaths of people gets political priority. A better way to think of this is like bad car accidents. They are horrific and most people know someone who knows someone with a story, but we don't put a lot of political capital into improving vehicle safety. Most people go their whole lives with no accident.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

LawnGnome 1y ago

As a non-American, I think the thing I'm hung up on in what you said is that I don't understand why a developed country should allow anyone to be "uninsured".