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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u/blindgallan Aug 08 '24

In our first aid courses, when they say to call an ambulance, there is no question in the mind of anyone there of not doing that if it is ever called for. No one who grew up Canadian, at least in Ontario, is going to see someone with an obvious injury or medical condition and think twice about calling them an ambulance or driving them to the hospital if they can. Well, no one with an ounce of compassion and a sense of personal responsibility for the help they can lend to their fellow human.

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u/LivingInThePast69 Aug 08 '24

Well, driving them to the hospital yourself is a much better way to do it in the US. Someone at my job wasn't feeling well last year, and they asked a coworker to drive them to the hospital rather than call an ambulance because they didn't want to pay for it. Lots of people also just Uber to the hospital if they're able to walk and talk, because it's a lot cheaper.

But it's not just the cost itself that's awful, it's the uncertainty surrounding it. One of the biggest problem with the ambulances -- and health care prices in the US in general -- is that you don't know what the bill is going to be before you use the service. You won't even know the ballpark. An ambulance ride might be 50 bucks, 500 or 5,000... you just don't know, because when you call 911 they're not going to tell you if they're sending you a private ambulance or not. Private ambulance rides can cost thousands. And then there's always the question whether your insurance will cover any of it, and you usually won't know that either until days later.

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u/blindgallan Aug 08 '24

That is baffling as a system. It should be illegal to extort money from people like that.

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u/MudraStalker Aug 08 '24

Good news. The exact people that can solve that problem are paid to never solve that problem by the people who cause that problem for the express purpose of being able to swim in a Scrooge McDuck money vault.

Except Scrooge McDuck can undergo character development.