I'm a US citizen, people in other countries, what do you think when you read stories like these about the US health care system?

Comments

• BlameThePeacock@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  The one thing even Americans who have health insurance don’t realize about single payer healthcare systems, is that we don’t worry about it.

  We don’t consider it when switching jobs, we don’t think about it when we’re sick, we don’t worry about medical bills… we just go to the doctor/hospital, and worry about getting better or dealing with the work implications of taking time off.

  The weight for that piece simply doesn’t rest on our shoulders or minds at all.

  You’ve been tricked and brainwashed you into thinking what you have is normal, and it’s disturbing how many of you think it’s a reasonable way to continue.

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  • ReallyActuallyFrankenstein@lemmynsfw.com ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I’m American and trust me, in no way does it feel normal even after living with it my whole life. Simply hearing what you describe - not thinking about it - feels so deeply right and reasonable that it reminds me just how much weight of “this is not normal” we carry around.

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  • PrincessLeiasCat@sh.itjust.works ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    That’s so fucking crazy sounding. It also sounds wonderful. My parents almost lost our house due to medical expenses, and yes they had insurance (here’s the best part - my dad was a disabled veteran). So support the troops, yay!

    Because of that experience, I’ve developed a lifelong almost PTSD about insurance and medical bills - afraid that it will happen again to me now that I’m an adult. I obsess over it. It’s terrible.

    I’m so jealous of those who never have to give it a second thought.

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    • Mr_Blott@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      That’s so fucking crazy sounding

      And there’s the problem

      It’s so fucking normal sounding. Your system is the crazy, horrifying human rights abuse 😅

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    • Snekeyes@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      1 in 4 bankruptcies are military due to medical cost. We only support troops with thoughts and prayers

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  • roadkill@kbin.social ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Sadly, the brainwashing has been so effective that those who buy it never noticed that those gaslighting people into believing that no government system (eg, single payer) could ever work are the ones (Republicans) doing their best to ensure that government remains as broken as possible.

    More people believe that our system is fucked than those who think this kind of system is normal.

    We're just faced with so many hurdles, gerrymandering, red states that exist only because of minority representation have more power over larger population areas (districts by size and not population, electoral college) ... The majority of the country is merely surviving and the apathy sets in. I remind people that voting fascists out is the only way things are going to change and often the response is "Well, I tried that once and it didn't work." So they stop showing up to vote. Or they buy into the 'both sides' BS and post lame memes on Facebook and Reddit.

    A lot of us really are painfully aware of how fucked it is.

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    • Uranium3006@kbin.social ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      We need to do way more than just voting to defeat fascism

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  • ebits21@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Bingo

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  • cdf12345@lemm.ee ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    This is why I don’t understand why corporations aren’t behind it. It would take an enormous load of my HR dept. It would save them so much.

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    • 520@kbin.social ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Retention. You'll find the threat of lack of healthcare to be fairly coercive.

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    • BlameThePeacock@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Corps actually benefit from workers being worried about leaving. It reduces labour costs.

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  • Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    You’ve been tricked and brainwashed you into thinking what you have is normal, and it’s disturbing how many of you think it’s a reasonable way to continue.

    No, we haven’t… Are you not aware how upset most people are over here about this system?

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  • state_electrician@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Yeah, exactly. The most expensive thing about a hospital visit here is the parking.

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• LightDelaBlue@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  You pay taxes but get no benefit of them . They are used for subdivise automaker ,wallmart ,meat and dairy lobby . I don’t understand why american are OK with that .

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  • oDDmON@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I pray there comes a time when the people decide what their taxes are spent on. Could be done using a simple form, with a dozen or so broad categories to choose from, submitted with your tax return.

    I bet the results would shock the shit out of the politicians.

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    • SoylentBlake@lemm.ee ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I’d like to just start with having to send a check every two weeks instead of allowing them to just deduct it.

      Make people physically pay their tax, that’s how you get engagement. And they know that, which is why it’s NOT like that.

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  • Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    It’s more famously going towards banks, ISP’s, and airlines… Basically all the things we hate the most.

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  • Assman@sh.itjust.works ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I don’t understand why american are OK with that

    Because there’s absolutely nothing we can do about it?

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• ladicius@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  That system is shit and a danger to the people and to the unity a nation needs.

  In Germany we don’t even think about this system when we are ill - we simply go to the doctor whatever it is, and we call an ambulance if it’s necessary. Not a single thought.

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  • Miaou@jlai.lu ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Unless you’re a woman though :)

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    • phoenixz@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Because?

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• KeenFlame@feddit.nu ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I mean it’s literally one of the good reasons to even have a society. I think whatever the fuck this is, it’s more like a good damn competition or something like that. It’s insane. Americans are insane for thinking that they are all temporarily inconvenienced millionaires in the making, and seemingly can’t understand basic empathy for all those that would be non millionaires. I think money making global corporations are soulless complex machines of torture and warfare that are completely psychopathic entities that will destroy anything or anyone standing between it and profits, and instead of controlling that you keep complaining when those machines end up hurting you. These dark corrupted demonic beings of hatred are also just without any oversight abusing and murdering people in other countries making this a world wide problem. I think your dollar scam has ruined the economy of the entire world by being a particularly self centered grifting scheme that for decades has proven to be out of control and toxic to the entire human race.

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  • stringere@sh.itjust.works ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Well yeah, but like, that’s just your opinion, man.

    • The Dude

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  • scarabic@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    It’s actually pretty American not to believe in society. I’m not saying it’s good. But the right of an individual to march off into the wilderness and be left the fuck alone forever is a long-cherished American ideal (whether or not this ever existed).

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• S_204@lemm.ee ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I stopped having sympathy during the Obama administration. When half of the country will willingly and intentionally fuck themselves over to prove a point, when a political party will reverse course on a life saving piece of legislation because the other side agreed to it, and those same people continue to get elected, it’s not worth my emotional energy to give a fuck anymore.

  Y’all deserve what you have. It’s not good but it’s what you want.

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  • ZombieMantis@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    In our defense, the Republican “half” of the country aren’t actually half the country. They’re the smallest of the 3 major political affiliations among votin-age Americans: “None”, “Democrat”, and then “Republican”. In that order. “None” is the largest single political affiliation in America, and that has been a kind of negative feedback loop in our politics. People are disenfranchised and feel disconnected from the governance of our country, so they don’t (or can’t) vote, and because they don’t vote, they’re not represented in government and are easier to disenfranchise. This, and rampent legalized bribery, have created a great deal of our problems.

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  • OpenTTD@lemmy.zip ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Tell that in respect to (ha) Southern Ontario and Montreal to a British Columbian, Albertan, Saskatchewanian, Manitoban, Yukonite, any First Nations Canadian or any resident of Atlantic Canada or the Northwest Territory, and see if they think differently about Ontario-Quebec than most Americans think about the Republican party.

    Oh, did you know 90% of Canadians are well-to-do or upper-middle class residents of Southern Ontario or Montreal who produce less than 10% of Canada’s GDP and vote for anything that lets them continue to take advantage of the rest of the country? Yeah, our population density is horrifyingly low AND yet we have a profit-off-of-artificial-scarcity-induced housing shortage? Fuck you for supporting tyranny by majority, it’s still possible for the majority to all be in with the rich pricks, whether the minority is 49% or <10%.

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    • S_204@lemm.ee ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      You sound jealous that you don’t matter. Must suck feeling that way.

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  • scarabic@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    When half of the country will

    Y’all deserve

    Wow that was a quick progression from “half” to “all.” I deserve this because Republicants are insane fucks? Gee thanks. Not that I care whether you care, particularly.

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    • S_204@lemm.ee ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      You care enough to comment LoL. Loser.

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• SuperTulle@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Orphan Crushing Machine

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• z00s@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Guns are a right, but you can be jailed for getting an abortion. The US is turning into a third world country.

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  • Strobelt@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Actually most third world countries don’t have guns as rights. And their laws on abortion vary wildly.

    So the US would be worse than third world.

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    • BeatTakeshi@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      New achievement unlocked: fourth world

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• Roflmasterbigpimp@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  It’s a so foreign concept for me. Needing to rationalize about going to ER. I feel sorry. People are dying and people are tricked into believing it’s the better alternative. But There is a better way, and it’s only denied because of greed.

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  • Che_Donkey@lemmy.ml ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    The institutionalization runs deep.

    The first time I moved out of the US I lived in a socialized medicine country & I just never went to the doctor. My then girlfriend casually went because she wasnt feeling well (a cold), then would go to the pharmacy for a birth control shot (no prescription needed), and finally when I had a fever and a doc came to the house at 2am (we just had to pay the taxi). I had a lengthy stay in the hospital, and a month of rehab, my employer’s nurse would stop by the house and give me an injection on his way home. And our son was born in a hospital with private rooms- all i had to pay for was my meals and overnight stay (there was a bed for me), plus the room had a mini bar…no shit.

    We moved back to the US to raise the kids and then out again i to another socialized medicine country and I STILL HESITATE to go to the doctors.

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  • Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Yeah… The Trumpers and other idiots are the ones defending this system. We’re talking about something like a third of our population, but it fluctuates.

    People outside the US always overestimate these people’s opinions for some reason. I think the propaganda machine that is our media works better on foreigners than it does on US citizens. Obviously it works far better than it should on our own people, though…

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• IvanOverdrive@lemm.ee ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  The only way I’d live in the States is if I was making so much money that a 20k medical bill meant nothing to me.

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  • Valmond@lemmy.mindoki.com ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    480.000$ cancer treatment enters the chat.

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  • Bye@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Well it’s not that it means nothing to me, but my job in the US pays about $30k more than it would in Germany (I can’t speak to other countries). Lots of Germans come to the US to work in my field for that reason (well they used to before all the layoffs). Also my health insurance is free.

    That said, I absolutely still want public healthcare. Not just for the people in my country who desperately need it, but for myself too. Because while my healthcare is “free”, it isn’t really; my salary could be higher otherwise. And I lose coverage if I stop working (actually not really we have programs for that, but still kind of).

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• Pandoras_Can_Opener@mander.xyz ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  In Europe the US healthcare system is seen as a joke and medieval. Same for most social services I’m the US. Like somebody else said I stopped feeling sympathy a while ago.

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• rufus@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Shaking my head and glad I’m not living in the US.

  A country can decide how to treat people, how to shape the future. I get that nothing is perfect and everything is complicated. But I completely don’t get why the US doesn’t want to tackle some of the problems. Mainly school shootings, healthcare, social security and a democratic system by today’s standards. Maybe the latter is the answer why… And watching documentaries about the rural areas of the USA seems like it’s mostly a third world country.

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  • Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    The funny thing is that the US actually spends about twice as much on healthcare per capita as other developed countries. The reason that outcomes are so much worse there isn’t lack of money.

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    • rufus@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Oh wow, I didn’t know that. Google says $13.493 per person in 2022. And in Germany it’s a bit more than $7.000…

      Also things like maternal mortality is WAY worse…

      I mean the USA is way bigger and maybe things dont translate exactly from a somewhat densely populated central european country to the vast emptiness of rural Wyoming. I guess an hospital is also something that is subject to economy of scale… But even the northern european countries where doctors come in with helicopters all the time, don’t exceed toe ~$7.000

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    • RBWells@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Yeah, it’s not a healthcare system. It’s a jobs system and wealth transfer scheme. Insurance companies have the government in their pocket and get employer money, government money, and employee money and transfer it to the already outrageously rich, and all that in between cost (salespeople, billing specialists, HR benefits specialists) is somebody’s paycheck.

      That’s without consideration of actual fraud, which moves money from the government to the rich without even providing services at all, and is easier to hide in such an outrageously complicated and expensive system.

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    • SoylentBlake@lemm.ee ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      It’s just THAT expensive. An ambulance is 2-3k minimum. Just for showing up. Going to an ER, talking to reception and then giving up and leaving? That’ll be a $1200 bill, to NOT see a doctor.

      I don’t even know the line where I would voluntarily to go the hospital, knowing it’s sacrificing the next 10-20 years of all my extra income. Would it be when I put my thumb thru a grinding disc on my angle grinder, cutting it clean in two right thru the entire nail?

      Naw, hell no. I would have cut my thumb tip off with a chef’s knife and cauterized It if I thought it wouldn’t heal on its own, rather than spend an app $15,000 I don’t have. Took about 10 weeks to heal.

      I know how to fight off an abscess tooth without antibiotics. It takes about 8 days, of constant stabbing, arching your back pain. Ive broken knuckles just to have a different pain to focus on. No one should know how to do this in 2024. Abscess teeth kill. Kennewick Man, y’know, the Popsicle? That’s what killed him. My story isn’t unique, America is a third world country with iPhones. Don’t visit. I wish the world would boycott every American company until we learn how to have a civil society.

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  • SoylentBlake@lemm.ee ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    We WANT too. Gun control, Medicare for all, and SS all have majority support for reform, across the parties. Broad support. Multiple studies have shown that public opinion has ZERO effect on legislation getting passed. Our oligarchy doesn’t give three shits to the wind about actual Americans. I’ve never met a group of people who, clearly, hate almost everyone they see. At the end of the balance sheet, actions speak louder, and the group most responsible for pain, suffering and loss of quality American years lived are the 1%. Their renumeration of revolutionary inequality is simultaneously equal amounts astonishing and disgusting.

    If I wrote out a synopsis of the economy today and somehow got it back to my WW2/Korea vet grandfather he would’ve thought the USSR won the cold war.

    His last words to me, i had asked him about WW2, and said I wanted to join the military like him - I liked my grandad better than my parents - and he told me “you don’t join the military. I fought so you and your siblings don’t have too” and then he made me promise that I’d go to college instead.

    I did as he asked tho looking around now, I feel like no matter what I do, war is gonna find me.

    Which if we’re being brutally honest, would be a return to the norm. Historically war touches everyone’s life. We’re blessed to live under the Pax Americana, but greed has rotted out the essence at its core and when the last leg falls…ever seen that movie Miracle Mile? You should watch it.

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    • rufus@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Thanks for the suggestion. Of course Netflix doesn’t have this 1988 movie… Let me see if I can pirate it… And thanks for teaching me the term “Pax Americana”.

      The USA is somewhat far away from the wars it is or has been engaged with. I think the situation is a bit different than for other countries. That is also a thing I don’t quite get about the USA. Back in the cold war enormous sums of money were invested to fight the UDSSR. And nowadays Putin wants to revive that and the USA really struggles to represent their interests. I mean the USA isn’t tied as closely to eastern europe as for example a central european country where I live. But there are some economic interests and the USA also benefits from a stable eastern europe and Russia/China not wreaking havoc. And this time it’s not even American soldiers who have to die in that battle. And the USA could advertise for their arms industry and make some profit, too. But all of that is overshadowed by national politics and it seems to cripple politics and working towards mid-term and long-term interests.

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  • Snekeyes@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    GOP steps into the chat.

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• Trollivier@sh.itjust.works ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I think third world country.

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  • the_ocs@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I think that’s unfair on third world countries

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  • Honytawk@lemmy.zip ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    That would imply not taking a side in WW2.

    No, the US is a developing nation. Still has plenty of ways to go in order to stomp out corruption and the oligarchy running it. Only then will they be able to look after their own people the way a real developed nation would.

    But as long as people in the US need a gun in order to feel safe walking around, it will stay a shithole.

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• brewery@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Honestly, I am so glad my parents didn’t move to the USA and moved to the UK instead. Me and my sister had several health issues including asthma, food allergies, broken bones playing sports, and as a result several hospital and doctor visits. Considering my parents were self employed shop keepers, I don’t know if we’d be alive, let alone what sort of life we would have had. Then also having to pay for college would’ve been tricky. Having so few work holidays also completely sucks!

  We are now both professionals with great jobs, paying lots of taxes and volunteer a lot to try to give back. Would that be possible in the USA - I honestly have no idea! Would we move to the USA - absolutely no way! We’d both actually earn lots more money in the USA in the same role but factoring in health and happiness, it’s not worth it.

  When you hear “greatest country on earth” and “the American dream”, I think anybody in Western countries really roll their eyes. It’s not a utopia here in the UK but nobody claims it to be, and stories like this just prove we are better off here.

  However, we know the people themselves are great and don’t deserve this position. We feel sorry for you and wish part of your population would travel and see things for themselves to push for changes back home.

  In the UK, we are terrified that we will end up in the same position as our out of touch political elite and ultra wealthy would love to copy this.

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• Baccata@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  The US healthcare system has provided me with lots of entertainment value via John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight. I like it for that

  For real though, despite being a software engineer who could find a very lucrative job in the US in a heartbeat, there’s no way in hell I’ll ever even remotely consider it, and the healthcare system is one of the reasons.

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  • AA5B@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    As a software engineer, you’d likely get a well paying job that included better health insurance than most people get. Also you’d be more likely to be able to afford the gaps that would still exist. You would not be affected by half these horror stories

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    • meekah@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Not OP, but living in the system is supporting the system so I prefer to just live somewhere else. Going to the States for vacation is plenty to experience the cool things

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• whome@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Our son had a pseudo-croup attack, when he was about two. We have a number here in my country that you can call and they try to figure out your next steps. Since he was so young they pretty quickly told us to call an ambulance. Two paramedics came fairly quick and ordered an emergency doctor to the scene since they wanted to give him some medication they couldn’t give him on their own.

  We were a little apologetic because we weren’t sure if calling them was warranted. But they were super nice and said we shouldn’t worry, it was their job and they’d rather drive to cases like this, were things go well then the other way round.

  We gave them our insurance card, they left, and everything was fine.

  Never in the whole process have I thought, oh my, I hope this isn’t going to cost too much. That is an awful thought. Our medical system here is far from perfect and I fear it’s going to get worse but it gives me a piece of mind that I don’t have to worry to go broke over it.

  And the way families are insured really works well. You work and all your children and your partner (if they don’t work) are insured over you. No changes in payment, no questions (apart from: are they earning any money) asked.

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• bizzle@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I’m a union autoworker, my health insurance is premium-free and covers pretty much whatever in exchange for a 25 dollar copay. We need stronger unions in this country. If you have a job, unionize it. The government has proven to be wholly ineffective at providing for the common good. They will never help you. Help yourself by unionizing your workplace.

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  • A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    No, we just need universal healthcare.

    Not being bankrupted by an accident isnt a privilege that should only belong to the rich or well employed.

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• macrocarpa@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I’m just baffled. It seems unnecessarily cruel.

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• Kir@feddit.it ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Honestly, I feel scared because it’s actually something that is being exported here.

  I feel so sorry for you Americans, but I don’t blame you. I don’t think this is something you can address by simply voting, the same way we here can’t do nothing by voting in order to stop the privatization of everything. This are scary times.

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• sbv@sh.itjust.works ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I didn’t read the article, but I read your story, OP. Your situation sounds shitty. As a Canadian, we take our kid to the doc when we feel it’s necessary. We live in a rural community and we don’t have a family doctor, so that usually means a trip to the ER, but we consider the cost in time (ie, how many hours will I have I take off work), rather than money.

  I think it would be fair to say that we take our kids to the doc too often. I’m not proud of that, but I’ll happily pay taxes for other parents to do the same.

  Having to think about price when your boy is having difficulty breathing sounds dystopian.

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  • ABCDE@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    If you feel you need to take them, it’s not too often.

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    • sbv@sh.itjust.works ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I agree wholeheartedly. That’s why I’m happy my taxes pay for me (and others) to hit up their doc.

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  • Wooki@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Same story here in Australia.

    That said our hospitals are in a bad state post covid and need a lot of TLC

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• Modva@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  That story is horrific, I can’t imagine living like that.

  When I have a medical emergency (or even if it’s just a possibility) then I go straight to the ER. I might have a small administration cost to pay, but it’s easy enough to manage that I don’t have to give it a second thought.

  My job isn’t linked to my healthcare, that sounds like insane leverage.

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• stoy@lemmy.zip ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  When I need medical care, I go to the doctor, it is not a question about if I can afford it, I just go.

  Back in 2019 I got sick like hell with mycoplasma, I was out of work for a month and a half, and even stayed two nights in hospital.

  I never worried about my job, just focused on getting better.

  At the end you do still have to pay here in Sweden, but in total, several doctors vists, two nights in hospital, antibiotics, food in hopsital and the medicine from the pharmacy cost me about the equivalent of 150USD.

  So while not 100% free to me, I did not even once think about the cost.

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  • Montagge@kbin.earth ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    To put that in perspective I have a nonemergency going on right now. I need to replace my CPAP. To do so I need a new prescription for one. In order to do that I need to go to my primary doctor to get a referral to a sleep specialist. That appointment cost me $250. The sleep specialist basically told me yup I need a CPAP just like the past 7 years. That cost me $370. So now I've paid $620 in order to pay $800-$1000 for a new CPAP.

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• Chickenstalker@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  On 4chan /k/ a while back, an American ND’ed his gun into his hand and asked the board whether he should go to the hospital or not. It boggled my mind that he was having this conversation and I am from a 3rd world nation.

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• General_Effort@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I used to be horrified and outraged. Now I just think it’s hilarious. No problem, cause you got the 2nd amendment, right? You can get all the health care you need by just holding up a hospital. Haha.

  I have learned that whenever something doesn’t make sense about the US, it is racism. When segregation was declared unconstitutional, the southern states vowed “massive resistance”. The baddies can also riot and mobilize civil society. They privatized what they could to thwart the overreach of the tyrannical government. People are naturally selfless, in that they are willing to suffer to hurt the right people. I fear this insanity is also spreading in Europe, as people are becoming aware of immigration. People do not vote in their own interest if it might benefit “the other”, but they do vote against it if it might hurt “the other”.

  Of course, rational self-interest is also a factor. The US spends ~17% of its GDP on health care, compared to ~13% in Germany on second place. This is despite the fact that it has a younger population and does not cover everyone. So, yeah, those evil corporations again. But, maybe not just “them”. That’s also a lot of white collar jobs and you can see in AI threads how people feel when those are threatened.

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• Volume@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I’m from the US, and I moved to Canada for 4 years for work. As a young adults, my partner and I had revolving medical debt. Not a ton, but enough to make it annoying. A couple thousand here and there. It felt like I was always paying a hospital bill that we were trying to pay off. When we moved to Canada it was weird for us because, just as another person in here stated, you just didn’t have to think about going to the doctor. I had major stomach surgery, we had a kid, we got monetary support for our other kid who’s on the spectrum to take them to therapy… We got gtube supplies, meds for infections… Anything we needed was covered. Not once did I think oh man, this is going to wreck us. Well, that’s not true, I thought that the first time I took my oldest to the doctor to get an xray because we thought she might have broken a bone.

  The only thing we had to pay for was parking and maybe a few bucks for pain meds. But each time we had to get pills it was less than $5 to fill the prescription. One of the kids fell and hit their head? Straight to the doctor. A cold that’s been taking too long to go away on its own? To the doctor!

  Now we are back in the US, and I just paid off another medical bill because my insurance only covered a small amount of an ECG, because they wanted to check make sure my kids heart was strong enough to put her on medication, and that the meds wouldn’t kill her.

  We should move to a single payer medical system.

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• Seditious_Delicious@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I can’t believe governments and companies put such a “price” on people’s health. I must say the news about the US Health System is also echoed by all the other US companies I have dealt with in my professional capacity. Profits before people and sales before outcomes.

  I/We avoid using them when we can…

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• Nobody@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  American here, we have amassed more wealth than Rome at its peak, yet a disgusting number of our citizens live in third world conditions. Another disgusting amount of people live in relative comfort, but also in impossible debt that threatens them daily. They will be homeless soon, and they know it.

  Our wealth inequality is worse than France before the Revolution, and it increases constantly. The wealthy don’t care. They just want more. They’ll burn the entire fucking planet to ash if it makes them a little more profit.

  And Americans pay their utility bills with credit cards. And their grocery bills with credit cards. Their wages go to rent and booze/smoke to get by. Look at the mental health numbers in America and factor in the people worried about getting fired if they admit they’re struggling and ask for help. Factor in the ones who don’t have health insurance and can’t even ask for the help they need.

  It’s a fucking nightmare here. And it’s getting worse every day. Trump is going to win for a reason.

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• Boingboing@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Why does your government not want a healthy work force? Healthy workers are more productive. Even with the right wing focus of your entire government, having healthy workers just feels like a no brainer.

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• CetaceanNeeded@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I’m Australian, I hate the way our government treats our healthcare system and continues to make decisions in favour of companies and to the detriment of the Australian people, but holy hell is our system better than in the US.

  Each time I read an article like this I’m glad to live here. This is never a decision we would need to make, we wouldn’t even question going to the ER in a case like this.

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• spittingimage@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I usually shrug and tell myself you could collectively fix it if you wanted to.

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• smegger@aussie.zone ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I do like that in my country, if there’s an emergency, you don’t need to think about it. You just get help without fear of being financially crippled for life.

  I feel bad for Americans that you can’t easily get medical help, even in emergencies.

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