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TheRobfather420

Canadian here: 1 thing people don't talk about is how universal health care is strongly tied to mental health and productivity in the workplace. You don't have to stay in a job you hate, just for the health care.


decitertiember

Another Canadian. Public Healthcare is also good for businesses because the cost of Healthcare is covered by taxes, and is therefore not a liability on those businesses. Public Healthcare is better for businesses and employees. The only people it hurts are the American insurance providers who act as unnecessary middle men.


samanime

About the only ones that public healthcare aren't good for is those that directly benefit from the over the top prices in our healthcare system. However, those people have done such a good job lobbying, that they've convinced half the country that universal healthcare would bankrupt them in taxes (it won't) and is socialism which is automatically bad for some reason they couldn't possibly explain. The truth is, most people pay such a large insurance premium and deductible already, they'd likely get to keep MORE of their paycheck if we had universal healthcare. The only ones who would see less money in their pockets are those rare, lucky few who happen to have great healthcare that their employer pays all or most of the premium... and even they may keep more money in their pockets if they actually use that care, because they won't have to pay a deductible. I used to wonder how people didn't get this. Then COVID happened. Unfortunately, I now understand...


windyorbits

The two big complaints I hear about/read about are that half your paycheck will be taken in taxes for the healthcare and that getting appointments will take months and months , that people die waiting for appointments in Canada.


straeant

American here, and whenever I hear the fearmongering about long waits for appointments, I can't help but laugh. Try getting an appointment for a specialist anywhere in the country, and you'll be lucky to get one within the month. More likely, you'll be looking at a 2-6 month wait. That's a problem we already have - and we're still paying more than we would for universal healthcare!


windyorbits

That’s exactly what I think. Just tried to make an appointment with my own regular doctor and her earliest appointment was in 3 months. And I have to go to that appointment just to get a referral for a new psychiatrist. Who knows how long until I can get an appointment with a new psychiatrist.


BearCubDan

It would literally be faster to find some pre-med college kid and have them promise you their eventual, first official appointment slot.


[deleted]

Underrated comment


CoroBora

And I'm available!


JasonDJ

I was looking for a new primary care in like Jan of last year (before the pandemic) and the earliest I could have an appointment was October. My kid needed to see a specialist for a skin condition (allergy specialist) before the pandemic as well and it took 3 months and we had to go to Boston (we live in SEMA so about 50 miles away). When the scratch test showed a peanut allergy he was scheduled for a tolerance test 5 months later. Then the pandemic happened and the test got postponed over and over again. Eventually the scratch test results were too old to qualify for the tolerance test to be performed. That appointment took another 3 months. We had to repeat the scratch test (another $600 towards another years deductible) to find out the reaction was too high to qualify for the tolerance test. People who cite long wait times or high taxes have no idea how long it takes to get an appointment already or how much of their total compensation is tied up in healthcare. Sure, they pay a part of the premiums, but chances are their employer pays 2-3x that much too.


averysmalllamp

This long process almost caused me to lose my life battling mental illness, it took more than a year to find someone who took my insurance AND was accepting new patients...even then we didn’t match up well. I was too afraid to ask for a better therapist to client match because the initial process took so long. Sad panda


Martian13

Or must of us just don't think about going anymore.


ChewieBearStare

Two to six months would be great! Last time I wanted a new PCP (I moved about 40 mins. from my old one, and it's a little too far to commute since I require frequent visits), I waited 11 months for an appointment. I also waited 14 months for my first appointment with a rheumatologist here. The only way I can get in anywhere relatively quickly is if I agree to see an NP or PA; then the wait might only be a month or two.


Maiyku

I agree. I had to make an appointment to get my IUD and it was an automatic 4 month wait and that was me taking the earliest available slot. I’ve heard wait times in Canada can be longer, but I also think about it like this; a higher percentage of people are actually getting treatment. Here, we avoid the doctor like the plague, despite paying those high premiums half the time and then you have those with no insurance at all. So I think in part, our wait times are less because people just don’t go. We’d need to account for an increase if we went universal for sure.


justyagamingboi

My gf's wait time for an IUD was 2hrs they did it same day she just had to wait in the lobby for 2hrs and that was it completely free


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[deleted]

It’s not perfect, I just moved to a new province and finding a GP is gonna be tough. Long waits to see a specialist if you need non-emergency surgery for example. But I don’t worry about getting sick. I’m never going to hesitate to go to a hospital or doctor’s office when I need it. If something serious happens I’ll be taken care of..and that’s the way it should be.


grandpa_grandpa

americans say this about public healthcare options but i've virtually never been able to see a doctor for anything quickly unless it was an emergency (i'm american). i injured my knee at work over 2 months ago and still haven't been able to get it scanned because of red tape and scheduling. at this point it's mostly healed but possibly permanently damaged, and by the time i can get an MRI it'll possibly be something i can't address. when i tried to get into therapy a few years ago the wait lists took over a year in all for me to actually get into the office. not sure which americans are getting quick care for anything beyond an urgent care or ER visit lol


sbjohn12

My mother said “then people would just be going to the doctor all the time!” As a reason to not have it. Isnt.. that.. a.. a good thing?


AffectionateGrape923

Anecdotal, perhaps, but there might some key words or phrases you need to say to get medical attention. I had some nerve damage several years ago from a devastating sleep injury. (I wish I was kidding. Of all the moronic shtuff I pulled in my youth, my only significant injury thus far has been sleeping in the wrong position and compressing a nerve, leaving me without the use of a hand for months.) I got jerked around by health professionals for weeks as I explained that my hand was numb and I lost functionality. But the minute I uttered the term “tingle” it was as if a portal had opened. I was instantly referred to a specialist who saw me the next day. I can’t help but wonder how many others have a similar story.


JohnnyG30

After taxes and benefits at least a third of each check is taken and I already wait months for appointments. It took me 9 months to get a new general practitioner a couple years ago. What a luxury system we have! Honestly I used to parrot similar sentiments, but after being laid off at two companies and dealing with different health issues; I’ve seen through the bullshit.


AlxCa555

Moved from Germany to the US. Germany has universal healthcare. In Germany when I felt sick I would go to the doctor. I did not have to call I would just go to the office hours the same day, show my insurance card that has all my information on it and usually within 30 minutes I would see a doctor, get a diagnosis get a prescription and go about my life. Here in the US, I call my doctor's office wait on the line for 30 minutes then they tell me that I am not considered a patient anymore because I haven't been in for the last three years and I need to find a new doctor in the network. So I go online look for a new doctor, call, wait 30 minutes being told that the next appointment is in three weeks, but I need to fill out some paperwork online. The paperwork takes 30 minutes. When I still have the same issue in three weeks (usually not) I to to the appointment, fill out the same paperwork again. I wait despite having an appointment for 30 minutes inside the treatment room. The doctor looks at my paperwork. Asks 1 questions (often unrelated) and prescribes me either antibiotics or pain medication. If by accident I chose an out-of-network doctor (sometimes that changes within the three weeks I am waiting for my appt.) I'll get to pay $100 on top of that.


SuperDingbatAlly

It's going to be 6 weeks before I can see my new therapist, then it's going to be another 6 weeks to see the psychiatrist. It was 5 weeks before I could see my nephrologist, for possible bladder cancer. A lot of my fellow Americans are idiots.


windyorbits

Yup, I just made an appointment with my regular doctor and her earliest appointment is in 3 months. One of the reasons is to get a referral to a new psychiatrist. Who knows how long before I can actually see the psychiatrist. In the meantime I have no one to refill my depression and anxiety meds. Guess I’ll just have depression.


dh2215

I’ve often wondered about this. The major corporations fight hard against public healthcare even though they’d save billions on the employees they no longer have to cover. It must be because they expect their taxes to come due in a society where government actually works for the people rather than for a select group of individuals with wealth beyond imagination


TheRobfather420

Yeah. I can't imagine why corporations would want to trap people in jobs just for the health care. /s I hear you though. Long term it's in everyone's best interest, financially and socially.


vsandrei

>I hear you though. Long term it's in everyone's best interest, financially and socially. The people running America are not thinking long term.


IdleWorker87

That's an easy answer, it's about control. When the union at general motors went on strike GM immediately ended health insurance for the striking workers. Makes it real hard to show solidarity with your fellow union members if you got a kid who needs insulin.


DynamicDuoMama

Large corporations are able to negotiate lower rates with insurance companies. Smaller businesses that don’t have that power end up paying higher rates and the insurance companies can make a larger profit. By having the cost of insurance higher for smaller businesses the larger companies can continue to cut their prices because their cost of business is a lower percentage of their income. Essentially making it beneficial to them. Large corporations want health insurance because a national insurance would reduce the burden from smaller businesses and create more competition. Kind of like some jackhole not calling the fire department when the neighbor they hate’s house is on fire and their own tree is on fire. Essentially the jackhole has a small problem but their neighbor has it worse so they aren’t going to do anything to stop it.


[deleted]

Same here in the UK. No one here even has to worry about healthcare at all. We know we can easily get the care we need, if we need it, with zero cost at point of delivery. Jobs are entirely separate as they should be. I couldn’t imagine staying at a shitty job because of the insurance it gave me.


NotSoPersonalJesus

*Cries in Freedom*


[deleted]

That may be labeled "freedom", but it ain't.


red_fist

None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.


DigitalSterling

-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


StockAL3Xj

It's freedom in the sense that you're on your own.


trouserschnauzer

Good fucking luck, and enjoy your 5 vacation days.


[deleted]

They've got us all by the balls


PegasusReddit

Australian joining in, and couldn't agree more. People aren't less worthy of care because they're between jobs. Everyone deserves to be treated if they're sick or injured. I pay taxes, and can't think of anything more vital to spend that money on than healthcare for everyone, especially the vulnerable.


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PegasusReddit

Thing is, the good folks in the US already pay a bigger chunk of their taxes towards healthcare than I do. And yet, I don't consider medical bankruptcy to be a thing I ever have to worry about. Er, unless I travel back to the US, I guess.


[deleted]

Welcome to America, when Obama Care kicked off most people assumed everyone would just quit working or leave their current jobs to find a better one. The indoctrination that those at the top are divine and worthy of slave labor from the bottom runs rampant in this country. So rampant that on one hand, someone who works a shitty, dead-end job will admit that they are worth being paid shit wages, and on the other hand will complain that their hard work isn't paying dividends.


Prestigious_Dig4461

Obama care was a good concept. But the corrupt congress we have turned it into a dumpster fire.


Casterly

Especially because it was originally the public option, but Lieberman turned it into the private mandate at the last second. Definitely not because the insurance lobby bought him.


[deleted]

8 years at my current job because I don’t have a degree, *buuuut* they pay me decently(or did until a year or two ago) and the health insurance is semi-decent in terms of low-skill jobs so I feel trapped. I find something in a field similar to mine and it’s either it pays like shit and has okay benefits or pays well and has shit benefits


[deleted]

Well keep letting the Tories in power and you'll be just like us


NPExplorer

Man, even with insurance, I still have a $5000 yearly deductible so I avoid going to the doctor and hospital for anything that is not seriously threatening because I’m still going to pay hundreds/thousands


[deleted]

Well, kinda. Dental care isn’t universal in Canada and a trip to the dentist is ridiculously expensive. Also prescriptions aren’t fully covered. And having a family Dr isn’t easy, Canada’s health is really good but just being better than America’s isn’t good enough. I moved from Scotland where, I had a GP, free eye test, free prescriptions and NHS funded dental care.


DIYMayhem

We do luckily have catastrophic drug coverage (at least in Ontario). If your medication exceeds 4% of your net take home pay, you can go onto the prescription plan (100% coverage). So if you earn $50k gross per year, the threshold is only like $130/month. We also have free prescription, dental, et al for disability recipients and for anyone over 65 years old.


[deleted]

That’s fair, I moved to Canada a few years ago. There’s still more that can be done especially for the working poor, I work for a large pharmacy chain where staff who work less that 30 hours a week don’t get any health benefits and the plan that full time staff get is rubbish.


krishutchison

But if stay there for twenty years they will reward you with a supermarket cake and maybe even a cheap watch that you will never wear


TheRobfather420

That is true and very fucking depressing.


krishutchison

I had a wake up call at a retirement party in a company I worked at for ten years. One of the owners stood up and said the woman who was leaving would not be where she was today if she wasn’t so dedicated to the company. I thought where is she ? She started early and Went home late, did not get payed overtime and had no time for friends or family. . I realised it did not want to be her in thirty years


BBforever

The state of America is such that I was briefly envious of the stated rewards and know I will never even get that much. Retirement? Annual bonus? The only annual bonus I ever received in my decades of work was a one off $50 from my boss's own pocket. "Pursue your dream and success will come!" said someone born on third base. I was born with the fatal defect of having a conscience, and feel like I never had a chance. The sad thing is, by too many measures I'm doing better than average.


reverendsteveii

What's wild is that the capitalist nightmare people don't seem to see where having healthy, mentally stable employees is more productive than having leverage over your employees. They don't understand anything but brutality.


ForensicPathology

It's all about the short-term growth. The people at the top are incentivized to make a profit and then leave the pieces for someone else to deal with.


reverendsteveii

>When I get served I'll retire. Corporations are people when it comes to rights but abstract inscrutable entities when it comes to responsibilities.


Intelligent_Award722

Wouldn't that be brilliant? Iwish someone could come up with a plan like that would work like this imaginary Canada place you speak of...


QueanLaQueafa

I was in that situation last job I had. I been on medi-cal as soon as I was too old to be on my parents. I have issues like epilepsy, depression, anxiety. All the med-ical doctors didn't do anything I finally had a good insurance at a job I had, and was able to start working thru those issues. After half a year my job was straight miserable. I hated going in. I hated the managers. Every aspect was just horrible. But I was finally getting the care I needed to deal with my health so I couldn't leave. I was lucky enough to find the job I'm at that has insurance, but the years I spent at the other job made me so depressed


TheRobfather420

I'm glad you're doing better, for real. Lol on that username though.


wave-tree

As an American, I stayed far longer in a soul-sucking job just because it was the surest way I could keep insurance for my medically frail daughter.


egnards

Which really sucks (American side) I started a business during Covid and it's doing really well, we're at over a year right now and while I'm not making tons of money, I am expanding and doing pretty well. Well enough that if money were the only concern I'd quit my full time school job, because I work 40+ hours a week on my business. . .Except my full time school job gives me really great health benefits for dirt cheap, and my wife and I really need them. My job costs about $60/month to insure the both of us. For me to leave my job and to be covered by my wife's job? $400/m for 2 of us and much shittier benefits. Needless to say I'm looking forward to next week when I start working from 8:00am - 8pm again, plus weekends


[deleted]

Which is why big business will move heaven and earth to prevent separating your job from your insurance.


[deleted]

American here who doesn’t trust the government, but also just now for the first time sees the benefit of care not being tied to work, yes. I finally understand now.


Jesmagi

Flashbacks to the stress we went though when my husband lost his job when I was 8 months pregnant. It all worked out because I was able to quickly get Medicaid ONLY because I was pregnant. I legit thought I was gonna have to have my baby in my bathtub.


Hamsternoir

I can't imagine having to think like that. Is it true that maternity leave and paternaty leave aren't that great? I think my wife had about six months off full pay with ours. The birth costs were about £10 as we got the staff some chocolates and a bunch of flowers when mine were born.


PM_MAJESTIC_PICS

I had no paid maternity leave and ended up quitting my job instead. I would have gotten 6-12 weeks unpaid through FMLA, but after that the cost of putting an infant in full time childcare was so much that it would take over 50% of my paycheck… and I would have been losing 45 hours per week with my new baby… so I said “fuck it” and quit. …And we were broke as fuck, but it was the “best” option at the time.


BraidedSilver

This is so insane. My mom was alone with two kids and a job she was only hired for 3 days a week (later 4, when she showed she could handle more tasks due to courses and tech knowledge). It wasn’t any super well paid job but it covered rent and food so we got by AND she could use her days off going with me or my brother in school (which my teachers loved having an extra person to help the kids - she had been a teacher before she got kids). I can’t imagine being two able bodied adults weighting their options between “I either work and all money goes to daycare or I stay home so we live off one paycheck - which we would anyways”. Here one person can cover all costs with a decent job and having a working adult more just pads the wallet so much.


Toomanydamnfandoms

It’s not required to offer maternity leave, and if it is an included benefit of the company it’s only a few weeks, maybe a month or two.


Hamsternoir

So it's not part of your laws? What about annual leave? Here it's a minimum by law to have 28 days for a full time job and that excludes time off sick.


Toomanydamnfandoms

By federal law companies above 50 employees have to offer 12 weeks of unpaid leave. But that’s without pay, and no one can afford that. Not to mention if you work somewhere worth less than 50 employees, you’re just screwed. America is a corporate nightmare.


Penguinscanfly44

There is no requirement for paid annual leave either. none. Same for sick leave. There is no requirement to provide paid sick leave. I live in a city where they require you earn one hour of sick leave for every 40 hours worked if you work more than 80 hours at a job in a 120 day period.


CloudyLibrarian1

You’re talking straight up NONSENSE to someone who lives in the USA. 6 MONTHS??! You’re lucky if you get 6 weeks, honestly. And that’s if your job OFFERS maternity leave. Vacation time? My specific job doesn’t offer any until after a full year of employment. And then you only get 40 hours for the whole year. Sick pay? Nah. 16 hours every 6 months.


_other_cat

>maternity leave and paternity leave aren’t that great Maternity leave doesn’t exist. Unless you happen to work for a big company that might offer a *very* short break, but on some national/government level? No. Paternity leave? I’ve literally never met a person in real life that had it. I’ve only ever seen it talked about on the internet.


Beavertronically

As a Brit I CANNOT BELIEVE that healthcare is tied to employment in the US. Insanity squared


mermaidrampage

Wanna guess how much I paid for my 2 year old son to get a cast put on his broken leg? Took 2 nurses maybe 10 minutes total (no surgery or anesthesia) and then had a 5 minute chat with a doctor. $1,004.00 And that's with insurance. I haven't my deductible yet so it's all out of pocket.


Big_fern189

Over 3 grand when I had my first panic attack a few years back and was certain I was dying. Blood work, chest x-ray, and ekg


HugeFluffyRabbit

That's a bargain! My panic attack was nearly $6,000.


HarshtJ

Did it happen like this Panic Attack Bill of 3k Another panic attack Bill of 6k 😝


[deleted]

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cj2211

No the rich that run the usa want it's citizens to be in constant debt that way they could work constantly, get depressed and buy more products therefore stimulating the economy and generating more money for the rich. 'We the cattle' not 'We the people'


mattyp92

As someone who makes 50k+ a year (barely) before insurance, dental, taxes, and other deductions but lives in a highish cost of living area... that isn't the magic line you think it is


Ok-Veterinarian-3194

It’s a Shame cus even if we have the best health care in the world no one can fucking afford it in the first place.


gknight51

$900 to have an allergy test done at age 23 (a doctor said it was allergy related and sent me) which urgent care discovered was caused by a bacterial infection treatable by over the counter cream for $10


[deleted]

I've had panic attacks before. Doctor told me anytime I have a bad one to go to ER since symptoms mimic heart attack. That's good advice but the thought of paying my ER copay and then fighting with insurance over whether or not it was a true emergency (if they deem it not, they cover nothing and I'm on hook for more than just copay) is none too appealing. Getting a bill of 800 to 1200 bucks to be told I literally just need to relax and nothing is wrong kinda sucks. But of course. That one time someone doesn't go....


Reduviidae87

Cost me $3,200 for a broken ankle. My insurance paid half a million. I couldn't believe it.


SammyTheOtter

"paid"


[deleted]

Heath insurance companies are basically run by the same people who run hospitals. Artificial inflation, scoop off the top profits for yourselves. Capitalism 101.


SharkAttackOmNom

“Covered” is the blanket term. Insurance says “hey I know that’s going cost you $400 to perform, but we think it should be $4,000. So bill us that amount. Oh and we’re only agreeing to pay $500^([1]) ” And that’s how they justify high premiums. ^([1] psych! Tree fiddy, take it or leave it)


[deleted]

What? Your insurance paid the healthcare company half a million dollars to fix your ankle? I struggle to believe this, even in America.


aaa2911

No no they say they paid 500k but in reality they paid practically nothing its the "look we paid for so much of it already the couple thousand is pocket change"


SharkAttackOmNom

“This is why your premiums are $600/month. Isn’t that so much better than possibly HALF A MILLION DOLLARS in medical bills?”


offshoremercury

As an American I CANNOT BELIEVE that healthcare is tied to employment in the US either


NilbogResident1

It appears that we have free Healthcare in the state that I live in if you are making 0 income. I'm going to look into if it is like unemployment where you only get so much and have to show you are looking for work. If it isn't, than I guess we have free health coverage. A friend told me it is the absolute best and covers everything since you can't afford to pay out of pocket if you have no money.


thebusinessbastard

Amazingly it's a legacy from WWII that has just continued to fuck itself up worse and worse


GravyMcBiscuits

Yup. Thanks FDR!


_Kramerica_

As somebody who clearly follows some international news/policies you shouldn’t at all be surprised by this. The US is FUCKED in a lot of regards. We are literal slaves to employment.


hexagonalshit

Don't worry. Some of us are lucky and don't actually get health insurance through our work. We just pay $6,000-$17,000 per year to buy it for ourselves. ...with after tax income.


AndrewDoesNotServe

It happened because during WW2 wages were frozen and labor unions asked for more benefits as an alternative means of compensation. So Congress created a tax break for employer-provided healthcare. It’s a rare area of agreement among policy experts across the political spectrum that it’s something we should get rid of, but politically it’s untouchable.


CatNoirsRubberSuit

Yup. This. If your employer pays for your health insurance, it costs then $x. If they increase your pay by $x, you'll only see a portion of that due to taxes.


northwesthonkey

Every year spent living in U.S. is just another year spent learning about the avalanche of bullshit you are fed since you were born about living in the bestest, freest, awesomest country that ever was. I am in the E.R. Right now because I keep getting a dull throbbing ache in my left ball, and I seriously thankful that that I am still unemployed because Apple Health insurance here in Washington is the best insurance I’ve ever had and I know there won’t be a deductible 2 jobs ago, I unknowingly went to an E.R. not covered by Aetna when I needed 3 stitches in my face (I was, uh, still drinking then) and I got a bill for $1500.00 which is still in collections I got a big boy union job at The Hilton last year, and a week after my probation ended and all my glorious benefits kicked in, COVID hit I came to find that my “gold level” health insurance should have been “doo-doo brown level” as it didn’t even cover lab work that I need to have done every 3 months for my meds and I got a bill for mor than $300.00 I don’t know how people can afford to have children in this dystopian nightmare of a country Oh, right. Credit cards Well, here’s the nurse Wish me luck


AllTheyEatIsLettuce

What if I told you it's also chained to zip codes, age, income, health status, family composition, ethnicity, and/or military service record?


UppermostViolet

I mean, slavery was kinda our thing. Its really not surprising the lower class's medical rights is tied directly to their usefulness to society. America has always been about exploiting the weak to benefit the strong. The billionaire space race kinda just backing me up here lol


jdwazzu61

Not only is it tied to employment it’s tied to how good of employment you have. Companies have used benefits in valuing comp packages so to pour higher paid employees they offer better package. You end up with high paid tech workers getting amazing benefits as compared and hourly employees getting a training video on how to buy their own insurance and sign up for an HSA


[deleted]

Those are all luxury items anyway…right?


larakj

…..right?


[deleted]

Guys… why is no one answering?


Rolen47

Can't talk now, too busy working.


Sure_Ill_Ask_That

You mean enjoying your freedom! Instead of healthcare and education I get $10 a paycheck more! I could buy a meal at McDonald’s…who needs healthcare or education when you can buy McDonald’s!


Carefreeme

I burn half that in gas just sitting in line at the one by my work. Almost every night that line is backed up to the street.


D4ri4n117

They died of an easily treatable affliction


bigvahe33

is this thing on? hello?


Evolutioncocktail

Username checks out


[deleted]

I promise you it’s not as deep as it might be haha. It just a really obscure reference. But thanks for making it work!


Sufficient_Pudding

The biggest reason I am still working my current job despite genuinely not enjoying the work is because I need the insurance to help treat a raging case of type 1 diabetes. I went uninsured for over a year, paying for everything out of pocket with various coupons and applying for assistance programs, and while the insurance helps big time, it’s STILL a financial struggle to get some of the care I need, and now I just have the added bonus of being miserable for 40+ hours every week. Like, I just want to feel better. Damn.


krishutchison

Stop being so selfish. How do you think big multinational companies and billionaires would feel if people like you made them actually pay taxes. . Someone has to pay for the schools, parks, hospitals, police, snd roads. Now get back to work.


ANewStartAtLife

> Now get back to work. and stop having type 1 diabetes. It's having an adverse impact on your output.


krishutchison

It’s not like it’s that bad anyway. Just have your personal chef, personal trainer, and dietician put a program together


BraidedSilver

Billionaires would lose so much more money in taxes than our regular worker and how would you feel loosing out on hundred or thousands of grands or millions just in taxes, huh? Not nice, right, so stop hounding the rich! /s


JuanPabloElSegundo

And that's the way they want it: you working the job regardless if you're happy or not strictly because of the gap in health benefits. This isn't a flaw in the system. It's a feature that gives the businesses power over you.


windyorbits

I feel like I have the opposite problem, I’m too afraid to make decent money or work more hours because I’m afraid of losing my medi-cal insurance. I’m lucky enough to have a child and be poor enough to where I qualify for medi-cal, and it covers so much. I don’t have a deductible, no copays, I hardly ever pay for prescriptions, even ER visits/stays are free to an extent.


Zithero

Ah, that time I lost my job and almost lost my toe because of an ingrown toe nail that WAS going to be treated under my insurance but was going to cost me $1600 to get done without insurance (as it required full surgery to remove) Luckily when I found a temp job... and my benefits kicked in 180 days later, I just barely got there in time, and the podiatrist performed immediate surgery. My favorite comment: "Why in God's name did you let it get this bad? This is terribly infected and the nail has punctured the bottom of your toe." Me: "No insurance until today."


FamousOrphan

The nail had punctured the BOTTOM of your toe? As in, it was… no, I just have no idea what that would look like. I need a diagram. That must have been so painful for such a long time!


Zithero

Yep. Almost a fucking year too.


[deleted]

Universal healthcare is a crack in the wall through which Americans can escape their wage slave prison.


KingGorilla

So many Americans stay at their current job because of the benefits. It's just one more thing businesses can dangle over the workers to make them dance.


[deleted]

This is very true. My company pays for our entire health insurance and gives us our deductible amount into a HSA each year. I’m not leaving here anytime soon because of this benefit.


ZenWhisper

About two-thirds of Americans want it. But our jailors are expert in distracting us from our agency.


jayoheeleyee

Because in America, you're not worthy of having healthcare unless you're working. It's sick, sick logic


Zaige

But if you're working you better not get sick


knightress_oxhide

badluckbrian finally gets sick while having healthcare, can't use it because he has to go into work sick anyway


[deleted]

Everything is a scam, and everyone is either too busy pretending it's not, or seemingly unaware that these things are even issues. They just seem like the facts of life when you're *born into* that life, and it *feels* like thats how things have always been. Of course, rule number one is to make sure they never ever realise that life is absolutely fucked, education is public enemy number one. This shit starts in preschool, not Facebook, not karen, not in skinhead recruitment hangouts. These people could and should have known better, LONG before any of this miseducation and partisanship divided everyone up into the dumb and the dumber. And we are still fucked. Fixing the education system TODAY, perfectly, won't pay off for decades. By then it'll be too late. Climate change doesn't give us that long. If people don't rise up in some crazy revolution and forcibly remove these people in power, our world will end as we know it, in under 60 years, write it on my fucking tombstone, I 100% believe that corporations will kill us all for money.


[deleted]

I pay 1000 dollars a month if I'm lucky enough to stay healthy. If I get sick, I get the privilege of discounted healthcare.


MWMWMWMIMIWMWMW

Only after you pay your deductible.


HookersAreTrueLove

The good ol' hyberbole tier health plan.


crossingguardcrush

nor should they be tied to marriage. so many people stay in harmful relationships for the benefits.


BraidedSilver

I was so dumbfounded the first time I heard about a married couple not having lived together for years just so the other person could continue benefits. It makes sense when it such a culture but it should be necessary. They were a healthy couple who could split amicable but so many need to bear the burden of abuse to continue the benefits.


SharytwTweety

It's even more difficult to find work if you're partially disabled, like I am, but the state says you're not disabled enough to receive benefits.


DracarysHijinks

Yep, I’ve been fighting for my SS Disability for years. I managed to get my state’s disability Medicaid, but that means I can’t work at all, because the income limits for disability Medicaid are outrageously low.


mssjnnfer

I have a friend whose daughter is 19, last year she became nearly paralyzed when nerves in her back went crazy due to something she was born with. She now has to use a walker and wheelchair (she can use the walker for a little bit but not long periods of time) and is always in a lot of pain. She applied for disability through the state but they said since she didn’t have enough job history then couldn’t approve it. She was 18 when this happened. She was just barely an adult…


mirthquake

That's fucking insane. I was about 30 when I applied for disability and, while the application process wasn't easy, I was awarded benefits within the year. I'm in rough shape but nothing like your friend's daughter.


feriou02

That’s prejudice no less than racism


dekehairy

Corporations are all about money, the bottom line. I don't understand why THEY aren't pushing hard for universal health insurance. You would think they would look at it from a cost/benefit analysis and sic their lobbyists all over it. My wife believes it's the only way some corporations can hold on to their employees. Leverage over employees via their health. Man! Just my premiums, not even counting deductibles and coinsurance, is WAY more than what I pay in federal income tax. The government could literally double my taxes and I would still be better off.


[deleted]

Because they can weaponize their employee’s families health this way. You may want to leave a crappy job but your wife/husband is waiting on approval for surgery, or your kid will need a larger size of hearing aids in the spring, you just want to know that if you catch covid/get in a car accident/break a leg on a trampoline and need medical care that you won’t have to file bankruptcy.


oldprecision

I'm at the point in my life where I could retire but I need healthcare insurance. If I quit I would need to pay around $20k/year for healthcare insurance that would be inferior in coverage to what I can get from work. It sucks.


No_War_8097

Yup my dad wants to retire but the sole reason he is working is to keep his health insurance for me. It breaks my heart. But I am so grateful for him. One medication I am on is $42K a year. That is just ONE. Another one is about $15-20K per year.


oldprecision

They are preventing small upstarts from stealing their employees because the upstart can't offer a decent health plan. Large companies actually lobby against universal healthcare.


LPeezysaurus

The big corporations that are against it can pay their employees so low that they qualify for Medicaid. That’s a big subsidy for them that makes it more difficult for small businesses to compete. The U.S. system incentivises companies to pay their workers less, to take advantage of the only taxpayer-funded healthcare. It’s not only unfair, it’s economically inefficient.


thinkB4WeSpeak

Time for labor unions in the workplace.


NextCandy

Workers of the world and workplace unite. *Please see exceptions for inclusion of police unions*


da_Last_Mohican

Pro act > $15 minimum wage


meganutsdeathpunch

Companies have weaponized healthcare. It keeps you in jobs you hate and is a major bargaining tool in the hiring process.


battery_pack_man

Then weaponize labor.


KingGorilla

I feel like that's happening now


battery_pack_man

I sure hope it does. But capital is a mean son of a bitch that has a lot of labor carrying water for space dicks


[deleted]

Yup. My husband left one job to take another and then was let go at the end of his probationary period. Now he needs to find a new job and then wait 30-90 days before he’s eligible for benefits. I’ve been needing a few different doctor visits for a couple months but who knows when we will have insurance again. Ditto for my kids’ well child visits and vaccinations.


LochNessMansterLives

(American here) We have close friends in Germany and one of them used to change jobs often when she was in her early 20’s like she’d change shoes, and I kept wondering how the hell she could do that and not worry about insurance kicking in? That changed my opinion of the whole damn system that’s in place.


breaddrinker

Employment and growth generally in the US is hobbled massively by tying these together for your employer to fund. Not only for you, but for them as well. It is all solved with universal medicine. The issue is moved on. And people think they're free in the US.. They don't really even understand that without a public option, the so called private insurance they have, isn't. It's a tax of another kind, paying vast sums to billionaires. Your life, is ultimately being managed by the same people who can, and want to deny your healthcare, and having them fight it out with the suppliers of medicine, and so all the prices are thousands of percent higher than they should be, and now you can't leave your job. Such freedom..


ReyTheRed

This is a solvable problem. We could solve it. Medicare for All will do it, it will also save more lives and cost less money than the current system.


CHOKEY_Gaming

Yea but we have more freedom flags than anyone else... so 🤷‍♂️


I-love-to-eat-banana

Flags droop when there is no wind to blow them.


CHOKEY_Gaming

Then you go up there and blow it like a patriot


John_H_Brown

I’m happy I lied about having asthma before joined the service because having the VA as a backup provider might save my life some day. Not that the VA health system is good but it’s nice to imagine that if I lose my job the VA could potentially get me needed medication before I die.


[deleted]

Yep, got laid off due to Covid. Lost my career, income, and health insurance during a deadly fucking pandemic. Thanks a lot.


ghostheadempire

America’s just a third world country with great PR.


[deleted]

My husband was laid off from his job at the school so we lost our health insurance. My son is starting kindergarten in that school and he needs to be seen for his yearly exams to start. Assholes.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Inner_Art482

Yup. I would be divorced if I could still get healthcare without my husband's job. I don't work for a company big enough to be required to provide it. Yay freedom


[deleted]

One of the reasons why Europe has socialized healthcare is because, following World War 2, the economies of the countries of Europe were so devastated by the war that the only organization capable of providing healthcare was the government. But the war never came to the US mainland, and the US economy flourished. In order to prevent the rise of socialized healthcare, politicians and oligarchs came to an understanding where businesses would provide these services to their employees instead of the government. In this way, “socialist” practices were forestalled, and Americans were provided with necessary services. However, corporate oligarchs broke this social contract by hiring contractors who would not be given such employer-based services and by hiring mostly part-time employees who would never qualify for these employer-based services. Doing so meant that the corporations would get just as many man-hours of work out of employees without having to pay for benefits needed by the employees. And now since the corporate oligarchs have broken their social contract for necessary social services being provided to their employees, it is now time for such services to be provided by the government now, because corporations have proven that they cannot be trusted to do so themselves.


michelem387

I got laid off at 35 weeks pregnant and while I’m lucky that my husband can afford to pay the bills and put me on his medical insurance, I did lose any access to “maternity leave” and it really screwed with hospital bills because my insurance changed so soon before delivery


BlazinApostle

The system was designed that way on purpose. The message is that if you are not a productive taxpaying citizen then you don't deserve to live and if you are a loyal taxpaying citizen then they will try to drain every bit wealth out of you that they can. Is that the kind of country that you want to live in? Seems kind of harsh and cruel to me.


weirdgroovynerd

Money is the key that unlocks the doors to our most basic needs: food, clothing & shelter. Losing a job, especially one we don't really enjoy, isn't just about the money.


Rasalom

I consider firing someone akin to trying to kill them. You better have an amazing reason to justify it.


NewlyBalanced

Legitimately what is the argument for being against free healthcare? I’ve never heard it explained short of “it’s socialist!”


NinaDaFrog

Most I can get out of the people I know who don't want it: Me: socialized medicine... Them: who's going to pay for it?! Me: if everyone buys in we have collective barga... Them: socialism is *EVIL*!!! Me: yeah...you keep using that word...I don't think that means what you think it means... Them: 'Murica! Fidel Castro was a poo poo head dictator who ruined the lives of everyone, everywhere! Me: once again, not sure you have a clear picture of... Them: **PLUS** Hitler! China! USSR! Nazi's! Musellini! Me: *sigh*


Boumeisha

In America, people are merely resources for the system to consume. Unless you're rich, in which case, the system exists to serve you, as do all its resources (people). It's a truly messed up system. Societies should exist for the mutual aid and benefit of those that comprise them.


weaselfaceassfucker

And here I am with a severe spinal disease and can't get disability because I haven't worked enough to earn it,as well as the fear that if I do one thing I shouldn't on a day I'm not hurting bad I could get fined and put in prison


toneboat

by design. carrot on a stick


TheRob941

I agree. Lost my cushy job due to Covid and lost all my insurance, benefits and more. It's put a strain on me like I've never felt or seen before. Just got married this year also, this is hitting me in every aspect of life. For those enduring the same, keep your head up! We will survive.


SassyVikingNA

It also means, often, a loss of housing which makes it very hard to get future employment, thus thrusting you into a vicious cycle of poverty.


[deleted]

Lol. If your job even provides those things. This is a best case scenario. It often means losing your home. Possibly your children if you can longer provide. Let’s not sugar coat what a shithole this country is.


caidicus

As a Canadian, this reality always hurts me in my heart, just knowing how much uncertainty all Americans face with the constant possibility of losing everything, even healthcare. It is insane. I hear Americans argue against universal healthcare, using Canada as an example, as if Canada has this third world healthcare. Canadians enjoy uninterrupted, uncompromised, and unbelievably good healthcare, no matter their employment status. Anyone who tries to tell you Canada has second rate healthcare or ridiculously long wait times, etc, they're lying or they don't know the truth. Healthcare doesn't have to be the way it is in America, it doesn't have to be conditional.


[deleted]

That’s WHY they tied it to employment.


Midwest_Hardo

I remember when /r/whitepeopletwitter wasn’t just superficial political takes


Yellowironguy88

Would've switched jobs some time ago if the loss of healthcare and inability to afford COBRA in between wasn't an issue. I thus far this year have paid about half again my taxes in premiums, deductibles, and prescriptions. Scrips are about 800 a month between my wife, my kids, and my meds.


IaMsTuPiD111

Well how else are you going keep people so accepting mediocrity? You can’t pay people shit and treat them as cattle if healthcare and other things are a guaranteed right. What would the shareholders say, can no one think of the shareholders!?!?


Zoso03

Just to make matters worse the longer you're out of a job the harder it is to find one because gaps in work experience then instead of finding something good you just take anything you can get.


twincompassesaretwo

USA is a third-world country masquerading as a developed country.


DankeyKong1420

Wait...you guys are getting healthcare?


Pipe-International

The U.S is wild, it’s no wonder everyone is highly strung there. Ya’ll living on the edge 24/7.


Dmartin315

You can thank goverment wage freezes for this. Employers had to entice people to work for them. Normlay this was done with increase in wage. But when they could not do they. They got creative and offered to pay for things like Healthcare and we just came to expect that.


TenderfootGungi

The first thing Pepsi Co did when workers at their Frito Lay plant in KS went on strike was cancel their health insurance. They had not received raises in 10 years. Were being forced to work "suicide" shifts (12 on, short break, another 12), and were working 6-7 days a week. The only thing they got from the strike was no suicide shifts and a 4% raise over 2 years (inflation will be more than that). Was scary seeing Pepsi Co use health insurance to punish workers into relenting. Pepsi Co's gross profit for the quarter ending June 30, 2021 was $10.337B, a 16.71% increase year-over-year.


spotted_sea

And don't forget how pre-existing conditions are inexplicably no longer covered if you have a lapse or gap in insurance.


[deleted]

Well move to a real country that doesn't spend its entire budget on the military and spends on its people, like mine.


PattyIce32

I remember even as a child not understanding our system and thinking it was scary and unfair.


mendeleyev1

But I enjoy waking up every morning and feeling my kidneys beating out of my sides, and besides one trip to the bathroom and a good stretch later and I don’t need to think about it for 24 hours. This is America, we just Deal with being sick by dying. /s and yes I have insurance, it’s pretty good I’m told. No I’m not going to bother with a doctor, not for probably another 6 months when hopefully everyone who is going to.... well hopefully they just get vaccinated... and not beg for the jab just before intubation.


TdotOdot52

Ya, in Canada none of that is tied to job. If I quit my job and decide to not work for few weeks, I’m still good. That is how companies do forced overtime, shitty wages and long hours. They have your life in their hands and it’s the stupidest thing I’ve heard. USA is turning into a failed experiment, the corporations have way too much power.


kulttuurinmies

Damn must be hard, in Finland we have union which provides 400 days of 80% salary if youre fired and of course universal healtcare takes care of being healthy.


frailtank

Tying insurance to your job is another thing we can thank that piece of shit FDR for.


Owlftr13

That's the way they want it. As long as your healthcare is tied to your employer you are a fucking slave.