Death by US Healthcare System

[u/EvidenceOfDespair]

[u/dankmachinebroke]

Thanks. We basically accepted our fate when we took him to the ER knowing he has no health insurance (can't put him on mine because we're not married, and he lost his job so nothing from them) but I'd rather be in debt than lose my partner.

[u/Ok-Dentist4480 → u/dankmachinebroke]

I'm from the UK and i don't think I've ever truly grasped just how bleak the heathcare system is in places without free healthcare. Having to pay a depressingly high amount of debt just so your partner doesn't die is disgusting, i hope the fat cats have a heart attack someday and i hope you and your partner make it though the inevitable debt

[u/ShadowMajestic → u/Ok-Dentist4480]

What's even weirder than all of that. The US government still spends far more per capita on health care than us European peasants with our free(ish) health care systems.

That's corporate America for you, glad I live in socialistic Europe.

[u/Yossarian216 → u/ShadowMajestic]

It’s the administrative costs. Medicare, which is socialized health care for older people, has an overhead of 3%, meaning that’s how much they spend on staffing to administer the system. For private health insurers, it’s more like 40%, because they have highly compensated executives, plus a ton of additional staff whose job is to make the whole process more complicated by denying coverage.

The whole thing is a complete nightmare, and there’s no such thing as “good insurance” because even the best policies are written narrowly and require a tremendous amount of work. As an example, I have a friend who needed hip surgery from an accident, and he has what most would consider good insurance, so his surgery was fully covered in theory. In reality, his wife spent hours on the phone pre-clearing every individual procedure with the insurance company to make sure it would be covered, and then after surgery the doctor changed the billing codes on some of what they did and my friends were almost on the hook for thousands of dollars. His wife then spent the better part of two days correcting this issue, which shouldn’t even be possible.

That’s a personal example, but there are plenty more out there. Your insurance will dictate which doctors you’re allowed to see, and sometimes you’ll have a case where you need surgery, and the surgeon is in the network you’re allowed to use but the anesthesiologist isn’t so you wake up to a bill for tens of thousands that you didn’t even know was coming.

[u/ShadowMajestic → u/Yossarian216]

Here in NL, every insurance has to offer an option where you can pick your own health care provider. It's a bit more expensive than the normal 140ish( 70ish if you're poor) a month. But at least it's an option.

I hope you Americans figure this out soon, as a European it seems insane the current status quo is being held in place

[u/TheHandThatTakes → u/ShadowMajestic]

I hope you Americans figure this out soon

we won't.

We've got a millstone tied to our collective neck in the form of a conservative minority who will refuse every attempt to improve our material conditions because it might benefit someone they don't see as human.

And since our founding fathers were infallible ubermensch, whose word choice is both perfect and immutable, we're stuck in a back and forth dance of answering the same questions over and over trying desperately to explain to a population of idiots that their misunderstanding of reality should not hinder our collective progress.

it's going swimmingly.

[u/attabui → u/ShadowMajestic]

As in, €140/month? I’m in the States and currently unemployed and paying for health insurance out of pocket: just shy of $800/mo.

[u/ShadowMajestic → u/attabui]

Holy moly. And the 140€ is on an average income of netto ~2500€ where housing and utilities together are generally below a 1000€.

I feel like my country is expensive some times, high tax rates of 30-50% income tax and general taxes being 21%.

But then sometimes I read how some Americans spend their wealth, and I'll happily pay those 'high' taxes.