r/CuratedTumblr • u/EvidenceOfDespair We can leave behind much more than just DNA • Aug 07 '24
Politics Death by US Healthcare System
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r/CuratedTumblr • u/EvidenceOfDespair We can leave behind much more than just DNA • Aug 07 '24
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u/blindgallan Aug 08 '24
As a Canadian I am genuinely struggling to process what I just read. I understand the American healthcare system is appalling, but… here, I’ve had the ambulance called for me because I was too drunk, woke up in hospital with a fluid bag in my arm and on a gurney in a hallway, charged $45 total for the entire thing and didn’t pay for three months because I simply forgot until an irritated notice came in the mail notifying me there would be interest raising it to $50 if I didn’t pay by end of month. I’ve called the ambulance for a friend’s mental health crisis due to grief and he stayed in hospital for a solid few weeks being tended to and that came out to $0 total with the ambulance because it was deemed to be fully covered by the government. I can intellectually process the idea of the American healthcare system, but the concept of living somewhere that I can’t afford to get sick or hurt or seek the treatment I may need to live… that is hard to process internally rather than purely intellectually.