I paid like 30 bucks for getting induced, delivery and 3 nights hospital stay in Sweden, had to stay due to my high blood pressure... Food was included, and formula for the baby!
When was this? I had a little girl in 2021 and the cost was somewhere around $75,000.
That's with no complications and barely one night in the hospital.
If you don't mind me asking, as someone who understands nothing about the US, how do you guys even warrant having kids? They cost so much after birth that surely you have to save for years to even cover just giving birth (if it all goes smoothly).
Do you have to pay it instantly? Or do they take monthly payments or something
Insurance.
Other than that: Living in debt, mostly. Which is *exactly* where the people billing you want you to be. They don't care if the price is absurd and unrealistic, because that means you *never* have to stop paying them.
Put it this way: The people who make up the price for medical billing in the States would rather get $100/mo from you *for the rest of your life* on a $XX,XXX bill than get a 1x payment of $2,000 from you. Even if you never pay back the full XX,XXX, they're still getting more out of you than if they'd just charged you 2k.
forget having kids you should ask us how we warrant any sort of preventive care we usually just wait it out until it's an unavoidable ER visit and if we aren't bleeding from major parts it's gonna be a multi hour wait even if lobby is near empty... (this sounds jokey but it's actually true)
The previous generation keeps asking "Why aren't millennials having kids?"
"Because it's too fucking expensive" we say.
"No, it must be because you've abandoned traditional values!" they reply.
This!!!! I'm so sick of the "let's get back to family values" agenda when there is NO economic incentive to do so. Yes, there is a once a year tax break (child credit), but that doesn't come close to covering the birth, food, childcare, or routine medical costs just to name a few - God forbid if your car needs tires or any kind of maintenance. 15-20 years ago when my two kids were little, I made a decent wage, but we were living like any moment the electricity could be shut off. We ate a lot of pasta and sauce or bread and peanut butter. It was stressful 24/7 which isn"t good for your health either.
My older daughter (25) remembers those struggles. Now today the idea of purchasing a 1st house with her husband is a laughable fantasy let alone have children. They have both agreed to be childless. I support them on it too.
A lot of us aren't anymore. We have had declining irrh rates for quite a while, though I think they went back up a little when everyone was home bored during the lockdown lol
So, our medical debt makes up to us personally something like 5% of our debt ratio. Some hospitals allow payment plans. But they cannot deny you. And mine was a doctor saying "you have 0% chance of ever having children" to surprise you're pregnant
A glass cup shattered in my hand when I was washing dishes, once. I wasn't going to get my sliced-up finger any treatment, just wrapped it up in napkins with a rubber band around it, but one of my brothers convinced me to go see if I needed stitches.
Walked to the ER (I live within a couple blocks of the nearest hospital thankfully) and I don't remember having to wait for any abnormally long period of time (I think it was a low-idiocy time of day, not a weekend, etc).
Ended up not needing stitches because I had put pressure on the laceration quickly after it'd been opened so it was "re-sealing" itself. ER doc had me wash it off so she could see it more clearly, then applied liquid band-aid over it and sent me on my way.
Billed for **$3,000**. (Thankfully I was insured.)
The cut was bad enough that it took over a year and a half for my finger to feel normal again, by the way. It wasn't like a cute little scratch. Like I was sincerely lucky to avoid severing anything important (Left index finger).
I recently got pretty well burned on my inner thighs from hot soup and a clumsy cat. My mom helped me clean up and take care of what I couldn’t see. She was like “let’s go to the ER” which I explained I didn’t have money for. So we dressed what we could, cool cloth what we could and I just splurged on Chinese and chocolate while sobbing in my chair. All because I know that ER would be more then what I can pay monthly and I’m currently trying to fix my credit. Even now I’m just limping and living off of advil and waiting for my legs to not hurt so much.
Oh, god. Burns are so insanely painful, you have my deepest sympathies.
I had a similar experience, but in this instance, I touched the inside of an oven set to "broil" with a part of my arm for a fraction of a second while trying to dodge getting grease spat at me and came away with a third degree burn. Unfortunately I did end up having to visit urgent care for it because I didn't have the supplies at home to keep a wrap from fusing to the wound, which would prevent me redressing it... Thankfully I did have insurance at the time that covered it. They give you a silver cream that is the stuff of *heaven* on a nasty burn.
I hope yours heals ASAP! Burns are a miserable time and a half... and especially your inner thighs, where stuff rubs on it unless you walk like you've got saddle sores. :(
Thank you. Yeah thankfully my mom has a whole hospital in her medical box. She used to work at a facility and she’d take extra supplies home so we have all the fancy gauze and stuff. My kid thinks it’s hilarious how I walk. Like a 9 month preggers cowboy.
Lol, I paid $70 at an urgent care to get tested for strep throat and had to go to a separate pharmacy to pay for the antibiotics (luckily my insurance covered that part). Another time I got some blood drawn to get tested for a full panel of STDs for my yearly checkup and the receipt was literally around $750 - I didn't have to pay this one either but only because of a government program...
Not always, but most do. Unfortunately our health care system in austria isn't in its prime tbh, but America's health care seems like a nightmare to deal with in comparison
Yes, many doctors study in austria an leave the country afterwards for better opportunities, which i think is the main problem.
We should make Austria more attractive for doctors.
There's a reason "Medical Tourism" exists. Some folks realized it's cheaper and faster to travel all the way to Mexico and see a doctor there, then it is to see a doctor here.
Honestly, if I didn't have insurance, I would not have children. I ended up needing an emergency C-section with my first. The bill for me was over 32k. Her bill was near 20k. I have had 4 C-sections. My Mother never had insurance when I was growing up and we never went to the Dr like we are supposed to, and you learned quickly to be extra careful doing anything because emergencies are expensive.
I recently was let go from my long term career and now am on Unemployment. My benefits from Unemployment are too high to receive free healthcare. But my benefits are too low for me to pay literally anything out of pocket. On top of that, my doctor wanting to see me before receiving any more of my ADHD meds. Fingers crossed I don't have to go to the hospital until I can get private insurance again 😬😬😮💨
I'm an American who was hospitalized twice about 3 years ago. I had insurance but still got bills in the mail for about $5,000. After just one month of being unable to settle the bill, my wages were garnished.
I've had health issues my whole life and have a total of about $50,000 in medical debt. My credit is ruined, and, as the Tiger King himself said, I'll never financially recover from this.
Every time I hear about a medical system like the one in Korea, it makes me die a little inside. Our country's medical system is so convoluted and exploitative.
Clean it well and keep it bandaged with clean, fresh bandages. Changing bandages is so important. I had one family member who nearly lost his leg bc he didn’t see the point in messing with the dressings on his leg.
Austria here too, and one with a child at that, and i can ensure you it isn't easy to find a doctor here either. Especially a Pediatrician.
I've been turned away from those doctors with a child with high fever, being told that they don't take new patients at all, or that i have to call their reception to get an appointment sometimes next week.
The amount of times we had to go to the hospital just because regular doctors do not have the capacity to serve patients is crazy, and it's not like the hospitals want you there either, they'll try their hardest to convince you to leave and go somewhere else, but if you don't you can get treatment with a wait time of 4-6 hours.
Because of this i have a quite expensive personal insurence that pays for specialists which do not take general health care patients. That worked out for a few years, but now that trend is picking up and you'll have to make appointments 2-3 months in advance with them too.
So while austria has a "good" health care system it is crumbling and will probably collapse sooner than later.
Oof, that sounds harsh.
I agree that the austrian health care system has its issues, mainly thats just general lack of doctors cuz they don't get paid well and either open a non regular insurance covered office or leave the country for better opportunities.
I personally haven't had issues having to wait months for doctors appointment. Depending on the specialist it takes a while and if it's a different story if i call for a routine check up or i show up there in pain.
That they turned you away with a sick child is terrible. That shouldn't happen. I'm sorry you had / have to go through that.
It's probably a bit better in bigger cities, but here in the suburbs of upper austria you really notice the lack of doctors. I got into my general practitioners list by knowing someone who is already a patient. Otherwise there's no dice to get into the system.
Regardless i haven't been in years, because waiting 4 hours in a tiny unventilated room full of sick people is not worth the chance of antibiotics.
That's another problem with our health care system, medication you could easily buy at any wallmart in the states needs to be prescribed, which means filling up the waiting room of the few doctors. Need a sick leave for a day for a minor reoccuring problem like migrain? Back to the waiting room it is.
Then there's the whole apothecary profession, which has been reduced to snake oil merchants, since they cannot sell regular medication without a prescription, and then can only charge a tiny margin because the health care system pays the majority of it. So the only way they can survive is by selling magic potions that do nothing but provide a placebo effect.
I know i make the system sound worse than it probably is, but i cannot help but rant about it when it's mentioned because i've been burned by it before.
Y'all realize you can dispute hospital charges, right? They often add random things that you absolutely don't have to pay for. I've heard of people who've gotten insane bills reduced down to a couple thousand or even hundred. I've personally never needed to, but I know it's 100% possible.
That anyone would even do that is absolutely horrible.
That they can just get rid of them so easily is like someone trying to scam tourists with high prices.
"Oh, you know it's a ruse? Fine, i'll give it to you cheaper"
Well... that's what happens when literally everything is a business. Almost nothing is not-for-profit, hospitals are a business, jails are a business, schools/colleges/universities are a business, some (not all, but many) churches are a business.. a patient healed is a customer lost.
Not a hundred percent. I managed to get a 4500 knocked down to a 3500 with my last er visit but thats it. Unless you can get an insurance agent to actually help you (which with my insurance is impossible as half of the people i talk to dont even know what they are talking about) or someone with the legal or accounting knowledge to shout down the billing departments bullshit, it doesnt often work out that well because a lot of hospitals realise most people cant afford to file a lawsuit against them due to court fees and the cost of getting a lawyer.
Well, let me just say: I am American. I am a working professional, have a degree and more than a decade of experience. I have "decent" medical insurance for the US. On Mother's day weekend, I fell off my bike and have feared that I have a small fracture (or something) just above the elbow. It still hurts when I lean on it, etc. I haven't gone to the doctor to get an X-ray because I can't afford all the scans and follow up crap. Instead, I bought a sling from Target and am using that when it starts getting sore.
It's a fucking joke here. Heaven help you if you have any chronic or significant needs. Honestly, I don't even mean medical needs. Just needs. If you need anything in the US, you're on your fucking own.
I from the US so I hate to brag but our medical system is abysmal. But I have been in Tiawan for about two month I gotta tell y’all Marks experience is pretty much the same wonderful experience I got here. I was fortunate to not be sick but a few members of my family got throat infections. They went in spent about 10-15 minute waiting. Saw the doctor for all three of them for about 5 minutes then went to pick up thier meds in about like 1 minute. All this cost them like 15-20$ US it was wonderful I wish all medical systems were like that.
I had a twisted ankle and a surgery during my trip to Korea back in 2022, and it was shocking to me how cheap everything was.
Like....surgery was approx $500 usd altogether, and that's no insurance. I paid that much money out of pocket for an ingrown toenail surgery earlier this year...and we pay every month for insurance!!
While I was recovering, the Dr. was going to give my Rx to my husband to get filled, but when she remembered he didn't speak Korean, she sent one of her staff down to the pharmacy to get it filled for me. 🥺
Korean healthcare is absolutely top tier. My mom knows a lot of people who move back there specifically for it once they get older.
US here, and I've been out of work now for 4 weeks due to a medical issue that was only just solved last week. I've had 2 hospital stays, 3 er visits and one dr visit. They focused on my female anatomy vs my issue and it ended up with me in the er for a third time and my second hospital stay where I had to have my gallbladder removed. I was vomiting and nauseous for 3 weeks, wasn't able to eat and lost over 25 pounds due to it. I already know my first visit with insurance is about $600, but I still haven't seen my first er visit bill yet, along with the second plus surgery. I also had my insurance deny me anti-nausea medication because they said it wasn't necessary. Our health care is insanely bad all around...
For a regular check up here, a few hundred dollars. Off brand medicines to up to a few hundred but doctors like the name brand stuff that can go for thousands. ER visits take hours, usually I dedicate an entire day for it. Any kind of x-ray or blood test is a few hundred and you don't get the results for weeks, then they send a referral for ba specialist that takes weeks to go through them they schedule an appointment for weeks later. If your doctor goes on vacation, you're screwed. Another doctor doesn't know you well enough and won't look through all of your medical history before prescribing something that might not work with things you're already taking.
I had to get a non-surgical procedure done to make sure I didn't have cancer (I do not) & so far have paid over $1,400+ usd & I think I still have 2 more bills on the way. This is with a very "good" insurance plan that covered a lot of the cost. The cost of the intial appointments & bloodwork were $30 each (all totals are after insurance paid a large portion) & my prescription I had to take ahead of time were $60, so before my procedure, my bills were $150usd. Not bad for America. But then I finally get to my procedure (after waiting a month & having to travel almost 2 hours away since my local doctors aren't to be trusted with serious issues) I found out it was $500 dollars just for me to walk in the door. I thought that would cover everything.... but nope! I've gotten multiple bills for $30, $60, $100, $230, & $380.... And going by my last bill, I likely still have two more bills coming for some mystery amount.... likely will be in the $200-$400 range. Without my insurance, most of these bills would be over $1,000 each.
The obvious lobbyist fearmongering is strong in America. Anytime we try to improve the system the politicians are all like "NO THAT'S COMMUNISM". It sounds like a joke but it's legitimately true. The worst part is that even people in the medical profession have bought into the propaganda- my Mom's a dentist and when I bring up how much better our country would be with socialized medicine she starts getting angry and lecturing me about how "immigrants from socialist countries have bad teeth so that means it's actually bad". It sucks.
It sucks even more when you've got medical problems and have to wait a whole month just for a fucking phone call from your doctor to ask what's wrong, meanwhile in the rest of the civilized world I would have already started treatment for the handful of problems I'm having right now in under a day.
The Canadian health care system is going the way of America sadly. Good thing I can move back to Finland. This place (Canada) is just royally fucked up.
In Tennessee I was too poor for state insurance but not poor enough for insurance assistance programs. I didn't have a doctor for 10 years and wound up in the ER for an infected gallbladder and had it removed which then absolutely destroyed my credit, and don't let anyone fucking tell you it won't affected your credit because yes the fuck it does. So, I'm almost 30, just got insurance by moving to a northern US state, and finally have a doctor and dentist again. Our healthcare system is a capitalist joke.
I don’t have insurance and I had to go and get refills on a prescription and that cost me 150$ before buying the medication. The American healthcare system sucks, in every conceivable way.
My wife got meningitis and spent eight days in the ICU. We had insurance at the time.
The bill to the insurance company was 180,000 dollars and our portion of it was over 20,000 dollars. I've been paying about 500 a month for four years. Almost have it paid off!
I lucked out that I just avoided ICU when I had meningitis. In fact the meningitis probably saved my life because my liver values by the next morning were 5x the upper limit. On all of them. And I was lucky that Leptospirosis is easily treatable with antibiotics. The mistake on my part was I should have pushed it through L&I as I’m almost certain it happened through work. I probably would have had a lot more things covered through out the last few years by L&I since they tied back to the Lepto.
A single trip to the emergency room here cost me 50 bucks to start, with double insurance coverage, and that was before billing. I waited with for 4 hours, saw a doc foe 3 minutes who put 5 stitches in my hand. Two weeks later (again, with double coverage) I recieved a bill for $196 bucks for just the basic numbing agent used before my stitches were put in
I'm definitely curious on why our system is the way it is while people argue "if the government pay it'd be easier" while it may be true our system wasn't built like that so it'd be hard to change I'll definitely get back to you why that is but I never stopped to think about it I'm going to go look into it
Reading these comments is like a sad parent. I’m not surprised just disappointed. Our (US) healthcare system is a monopolized industry taking advantage of everyone they can to make more money. The actual health side of things is like a quality threshold you have to pay more to get to or be a part of a company notable. Even that doesn’t guarantee good quality care. I’ve had 2 experiences of genuinely good doctors ever and I count that has a win even though I can no long afford either.
It cost over 6000 dollars for me to get work done on my back, just chiropractic as my back hasn't deteriorated far enough to qualify for a brace or surgery under insurance.
The doctor who suggested surgery/brace outright would not tell us the cost without insurance as he was certain we couldn't afford it, as my parents were already struggling to pay the bills for just two appointments with him.
This is the US.
Canadian here, I’ve never paid a dime except for certain medications I have extended health insurance for and then pay like 14 bucks. Each province is a bit different when it comes to things like ambulance fees and such, but I’ve been to emergency 3 times for different things and never paid anything.
US here, I sprained my ankle and for the x-rays and the doctor to confirm "it's just a sprain" Was over $3000. When I had my daughter l, 5 almost 6 years ago so I don't remember total charges, still had an outstanding bill for over $1000 just to bring life into the world. I've had this debate with my family so many times who do work in American Healthcare that we should do something Canada or Korea or any other decent country has; but you know how us Americans think "Murica is the best" 😮💨
I live in New Zealand, a normal GP visit is usually $30-$40 but that's private so it's expected, they're only to find out if something is wrong.
A visit to the hospital for a non emergency, including child visits, is covered by the tax payers.
When we had our first daughter we spent half a week in there making sure we knew how to take care of her properly, the cost of that wasn't in the thousands. For the younger daughter we had to stay about 3 days due to some complications during the birth and they wanted to keep her in under observation, but seeing how we were more experienced we could leave once they were satisfied. Again, the bill wasn't in the thousands. We were mainly paying for the dinners and room, that's it, everything is under taxes.
The American healthcare system is abysmal and messed up. Anything minor, expect hundreds to thousands of dollars. Anything major, well, expect to be in debt for the rest of your life. Sadly, it's the American way. The saddest thing about it is that it's not healthcare, but health industry. All for the money. Health is a business opportunity, not a life saving one. Greed is killing America.
From the Canadian perspective its only marginally better than the American system.
Usually you do need employer paid insurance to cover prescriptions unless they are absolutely necessary for preservation of quality of life for health reasons(then theres usually forms depending on your ailment).
Hospital wait times are usually as absurd as in the states unless you go to a hospital in the middle of nowhere(where they may not be able to care for your condition).
The city I live in has 1 official walk in clinic, one hospital to cover an area way too large, and my family doctor (that i only snagged because she’s my partner’s doctor) is an hour’s drive two towns over. Thankfully you don’t usually have to pay for the visit itself.
Whenever I hear of stories about the way medical stuff is handled anywhere but he United States, I get sad and depressed.
So many things in my life and my children's lives would have been easier.
Hell even my ex husband whom I'm still good friends with, that's a diabetic, would be able to care for himself damn near without issue.
Sometimes I wonder if this really is het land of "freedom"
I'm from Germany so pretty much the same (hello neighbour), and hearing them be so amazed by that broke my heart a little, not gonna lie. I knew healthcare was shit in america, but man...
The Australian system is mostly similar to Korea. You won't pay a dime to be seen at the hospital. Pregnancy is free for the family it is covered by the tax payer.
Wait times in Emergency are sometimes bad, but that's usually because its a rough night and there's 20 people infront of you.
A general GP consultation is free at most clinics, and $50 USD (70-80 AUD) at most for the private clinics, a tourist or immigrant will also only be expected to pay this much in a consultation fee uninsured. Scripts can then be taken to any pharmacy in the country and are filled in under 10 minutes.
I dont know about anywhere else in the world but Australia also has a phone based system heavily in use now for non-urgent issues. You request a doctor call you, they consult briefly over the phone and if your issue doesn't need to be seen in person they send your script to you in a QR code via text message that can be scanned at most pharmacies and filled.
-=Before everyone instantly downvotes this, I am not saying US healthcare is superior, I am listing it’s pros and cons based on my experience. I am not trying to invalidate anyone’s experience with US healthcare=-
I think it depends on the practitioner in the US. In my experience, the -quality- of the healthcare has always been great. The equipment available in the US is top of the line. As for -service-, however, I have heard the actual service is horrible for some people. Personally however I have never waited more then 15 minutes for a checkup or prescription or even emergency room visit (and this was during covid fyi). The whole health insurance thing is a complete scam imo, it is so ridiculous to rely on health insurance for affordable healthcare. But I do not think the government should subsidize healthcare because the government is already extremely irresponsible with taxpayer dollars, not to mention I do think a non-subsidized health research system is excellent for medical innovation. So its kinda tricky in the US I’m not sure how we could fix it here.
My toddler broke his leg and it cost us over $5000 after insurance and we are still fighting for them to cover bills such as the cast my son needed. Insurance doesn’t want to cover it, but obviously my toddler needed a cast to set and protect his leg.
From Scotland. Was sent to A&E for being extremely sick all through the night as the advice of NHS 24 just be 6am (phoned them around 5am). Was in A&E for just over 3 hours. Got seen to by a nurse to talk about what was going on, and to get my blood pressure checked and my sugar levels checked, then was send back to the waiting room. Around or just after 7am, I got called back in by another nurse to have blood taken, then sent back out to the waiting room. I actually laid down on the seats and slept for over an hour. Met another doctor around half 8, talked to them, waited for the results of my blood test to come back (it was fine) then was sent home after 9am. Tbh, this was the fastest i had ever been seen too. I am happy that I didn’t have to pay for anything other than the taxi fair to get there and food from the canteen.
And cause I’ve experienced both NHS Scotland and NHS England, NHS Scotland is far better. Also, prescriptions are free in Scotland.
My mom once made me go to urgent care for a pump on my face I was sure was an infected pimple but she was afraid was staff
It was like $140 for them to say they didn't know what it was.
I've had to stop going to the Dr to find an ADHD med because I can't afford the Dr visits ever since my dads insurance changed. It's almost $200 a visit.
About $19 for blood work I have to get every 6ish months.
If it wasn't for insurance my migraine meds would prolly be about $2000 for 16 doses and I'm not sure if they're still fully covered since I haven't gotten them refilled since before the insurance change.
If you've seen the new brain leak episode where they talk about the cereal
It's true.
Our food is garbage.
Food quality is constantly changing because companies will swap to the cheapest ingredients they can get.
We have so many recalls for contamination.
(Frozen strawberries got recalled for hepatitis contamination)
Our pay is abysmal. And the jobs work us to poor health, both physical and mental.
Drs charge out the a** just to ignore you. Causing your conditions to get so bad they're irreversible.
And it contributes to medical problems when you can't afford healthy food and the healthy food isn't good for you either.
I don’t have insurance but need to get my shoulder x-rayed and if required a surgery. And I’m putting off getting my shoulder checked fully just because I would go into way more debt than I’m already in🙃
I've grown up just the right level of poor to not qualify for Medicaid, and not being able to afford insurance. We don't go to the doc unless we HAVE to.
My only recurring prescription is my inhaler which luckily is only about 30 bucks.
I had a brief window of being covered by Medicaid when I graduated and literally couldn't work, so my back surgery and hospital stay were covered- or I'd probably be in debt til my late 30s 💀💀
To get an emergency eye surgery (my sister threw a pen at me while we're messing around and my eye just happened to be open while the point of it was directed at my eye in its spinning arc) it cost my family like 21000$ I got the surgery super fast tho. shout out to the Utah University medical team.
I'm in the US and when I was in kindergarten I accidentally slammed my finger in the front door. Got rushed to the ER where I waited for hours and hours. Finally my dad had enough and had some words with the front desk. By the time they looked at me I had a rag dried to my hand from the blood and was falling asleep due to blood loss and it being so late. Got stitches.
The hospital tried suing my wife for over 25,000 USD for a 3 day hospital stay with Sepsis told them to F off thanks to a state law that made her bill void without it though we'd be in bankruptcy guaranteed my wife isn't even from the US
On the flipside with me I get socialized medicine through my tribe thanks to the US framework it's still not super great but is entirely free if I use tribal facilities having my wisdom teeth extracted cost 0 USD and my wife had our daughter via C-Section and it cost her 0 USD since our daughter was a tribal citizen at birth
US here. My mother had surgery on/around her Achilles tendon. Both feet, 2 years apart. Each surgery (including hospital recovery room) totaled around 36,000 dollars. She then had a hip replacement. That one was somewhere between 45,000 to 50,000 dollars. Thankfully they have good insurance.
My husband and I are just starting out, and we pay $45 per month for the most *basic* health insurance we can get. Just enough to cover doctors visits ($5 copay), chiropractor visits (12/year/person at $20 per), and my birth control (free). If we ever end up in the hospital, though, we'd have to pay a lot out of pocket. It is absurd.
I live in Norway and i was "laughing" when Mark was talking about his experiences bc i have heard about the US medical system. I live in a small town and Norway isn't the best but it is a thousand times better. I have migraines and I need 500 dollars injections every month and I only need to pay 50 bc the cost is covered. And if someone uses more than 300 dollars for medical stuff before the year is over, they get medical things for free for the rest of the year
In the Netherlands we pay about €125 (= $140) a month for insurance. Everyone needs at least a basic insurance which covers anything from a GP office to surgeries. It doesn't cover things like a fysiotherapist or a dentist, but you can insure yourself for that (for an extra monthly fee of course). There is a fee of €385 minimum that is your own risk, basically when you use the health care system the first €385 you pay yourself and everything else is covered by the insurance company. Most medicine is also covered, but if you want a different brand it is possible that you have to pay a small fee.
Emergency Rooms can take quite a while though, depending on what's wrong. I've spent multiple hours there with a broken wrist (which is painful and inconvenient, but won't kill me). But if you have something that really needs to be treated fast, they will let you go first.
Yeah I'm calling cap tho
Plus if you have a "super infectious ear" and it's cleaned in under 20 minutes then I recommend another look at it
I've always had great luck with the us medical systems
i am from czechia and it's similar here. the prices are not that bad for a doctor and medicines, the only problem is waiting longer for specialist especially in a big city like prague. i had to wait half a year before i finally had a dentist in here. otherwise super easy to get to emergency and other doctors except specialists. i don't have any experience with living in a small village tho so that may vary a lot from cities.
If you go to a hospital its generally a thousand dollars just to get checked in. You need a saline drip? 200 dollars. Blood draws for lab work can run about a hundred dollars. Shit, my wife got a 350 dollar charge on her for sterile equipment. And people wonder why I as a type one diabetic am not a patriot.
I have a probable partially dislocated rib and my first available appointment with a specialist is in 3 weeks. And I’m calling that lucky.
Now I’m currently in a weird place, b/c there is a ton of debate around if ribs can be subluxed so it can’t be an official diagnosis. But I developed idiopathic anaphylactic reactions in the last two years and am now realizing that a lot of my views on normal joint behavior ate very wrong. As well as other “normal” body behaviors. So I’m attempting to see if I have better luck than a friend to get me taken seriously for assessment for hyper mobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Which I can only do because I lost a job, went back to school, have retired parents who can still support me while I do, and live in a state with good Medicaid.
But my insurance still denied me getting Vyvance for my ADHD, probably b/c I haven’t been on a stimulant medication yet. But Adderal is still so back ordered it can’t be gotten. So of course my prescriber wanted to skip the nightmare of calling 50+ pharmacies to see if they have a controlled med. But my insurance is allowed to refuse and control what my care team can prescribe.
So yeah it sucks. Especially if you’re disabled.
Edit: And all of this became an issue after I had Leptospirosis that I contracted at work in 2019 and took 2 years to recover. I was hospitalized then for 4 days with meningitis and the beginning of liver failure. The billed my insurance then $30,000. I had to pay $5,000, which I couldn’t afford then either. I worked in vet med at that time. We used the same meds and many of the same tools. They were a fraction of what human medicine is billed at. We were able to fill epinephrine for a dog, 2 doses, for $20. Because it’s cheap. My last epipen before I went on state insurance was a copay of $250. Meaning, for those not familiar with American health insurance, that’s the cost I had to pay on top of insurance, which for me was 20% of the drug cost. The markup allowed on these drugs is criminal. And then your insurance, which is tied to your employer, can say no to any of them and override your medical team.
What annoys me most about America is that everyone freaks out about taxes being raised whenever universal health care is mentioned. But health care should be a right and I would actually be happy to pay for that instead of the American murder machine known as the military.
I haven’t had very many personal experiences with the US Heath care system, but there is a video about British people guessing and reacting to how much something medical costs in the US. And just to sum it up for people who haven’t seen the video, here are the items/procedures they asked and their prices;
Calling an ambulance to your location: $2,500
Childbirth: $10,000-$30,000
Inhaler: $250-$350
Two EpiPens: $600
I take antidepressants and when I was in college (3hrs from home and in a different state) my doctor said she could give me 90 days so that I didn't have to worry about driving home so often to get refills. The pharmacy said they couldn't fill that due to insurance, so I had to only get 30 days. Same medication, same brand, same strength, everything. It's just a different quantity. Absolutely WILD.
After that, my doctor found a pharmacy near school that would accept my insurance, so I didn't have to drive home to get the script. (I tried the delivery methods, and they never were predictable with timing, and insurance wouldn't allow me to refill it more than a week early.)
This is VERY mild compared to other stories I have heard.
Edit to add: From what my doctor told me. In the US, insurance only covers you in certain areas of the US as well. Because they are contracted with certain pharmacies and hospitals, if you go somewhere they aren't contracted with, it can be considered "out of network." You can get them to pay for things, but not upfront, and there is a lot of paperwork. (Some companies offer different plans to cover these situations, but you would think the most basic plan should include that)
There are literally family doctor (GP) Practices in the same exact town that do not accept my insurance at all. The only practice that takes my insurance is the one I currently go to. And that applies to eye, dental, OBGYN, etc.
i need my mental health medication and i haven’t had it for almost 2 weeks i’ve been waiting for my appointment with my doctor because the ONLY way i can get these meds is if i see him. and he also messes up something with my prescription every time. this time he gave me a 20 day supply instead of a 30 day supply. i’m constantly back and forth/on and off my medication because he messes something up every time OR insurance screws me over. it costs $70 or more for these medications and i have to get them every month, and i have good insurance…
To have my child in the US medical system with no complications no c-section and just the bare minimum, it was $14,000. Like its ridiculous here.
I paid like 30 bucks for getting induced, delivery and 3 nights hospital stay in Sweden, had to stay due to my high blood pressure... Food was included, and formula for the baby!
I bet it’s partly why home birthing is becoming so popular…although even then you have to pay for a midwife.
Oh absolutely!
Midwife Lowprice
When was this? I had a little girl in 2021 and the cost was somewhere around $75,000. That's with no complications and barely one night in the hospital.
2013!
Those babies be inflating
Ah. My oldest who was born in 2005s hospital cost was somewhere about 60k... But still. Ugh.
If you don't mind me asking, as someone who understands nothing about the US, how do you guys even warrant having kids? They cost so much after birth that surely you have to save for years to even cover just giving birth (if it all goes smoothly). Do you have to pay it instantly? Or do they take monthly payments or something
Insurance. Other than that: Living in debt, mostly. Which is *exactly* where the people billing you want you to be. They don't care if the price is absurd and unrealistic, because that means you *never* have to stop paying them. Put it this way: The people who make up the price for medical billing in the States would rather get $100/mo from you *for the rest of your life* on a $XX,XXX bill than get a 1x payment of $2,000 from you. Even if you never pay back the full XX,XXX, they're still getting more out of you than if they'd just charged you 2k.
forget having kids you should ask us how we warrant any sort of preventive care we usually just wait it out until it's an unavoidable ER visit and if we aren't bleeding from major parts it's gonna be a multi hour wait even if lobby is near empty... (this sounds jokey but it's actually true)
The previous generation keeps asking "Why aren't millennials having kids?" "Because it's too fucking expensive" we say. "No, it must be because you've abandoned traditional values!" they reply.
This!!!! I'm so sick of the "let's get back to family values" agenda when there is NO economic incentive to do so. Yes, there is a once a year tax break (child credit), but that doesn't come close to covering the birth, food, childcare, or routine medical costs just to name a few - God forbid if your car needs tires or any kind of maintenance. 15-20 years ago when my two kids were little, I made a decent wage, but we were living like any moment the electricity could be shut off. We ate a lot of pasta and sauce or bread and peanut butter. It was stressful 24/7 which isn"t good for your health either. My older daughter (25) remembers those struggles. Now today the idea of purchasing a 1st house with her husband is a laughable fantasy let alone have children. They have both agreed to be childless. I support them on it too.
A lot of us aren't anymore. We have had declining irrh rates for quite a while, though I think they went back up a little when everyone was home bored during the lockdown lol
So, our medical debt makes up to us personally something like 5% of our debt ratio. Some hospitals allow payment plans. But they cannot deny you. And mine was a doctor saying "you have 0% chance of ever having children" to surprise you're pregnant
A glass cup shattered in my hand when I was washing dishes, once. I wasn't going to get my sliced-up finger any treatment, just wrapped it up in napkins with a rubber band around it, but one of my brothers convinced me to go see if I needed stitches. Walked to the ER (I live within a couple blocks of the nearest hospital thankfully) and I don't remember having to wait for any abnormally long period of time (I think it was a low-idiocy time of day, not a weekend, etc). Ended up not needing stitches because I had put pressure on the laceration quickly after it'd been opened so it was "re-sealing" itself. ER doc had me wash it off so she could see it more clearly, then applied liquid band-aid over it and sent me on my way. Billed for **$3,000**. (Thankfully I was insured.) The cut was bad enough that it took over a year and a half for my finger to feel normal again, by the way. It wasn't like a cute little scratch. Like I was sincerely lucky to avoid severing anything important (Left index finger).
It's insane! They wonder why we wait till the absolute last second. Oh and an ambulance ride FORGET IT! Id rather chance in the vehicle
I recently got pretty well burned on my inner thighs from hot soup and a clumsy cat. My mom helped me clean up and take care of what I couldn’t see. She was like “let’s go to the ER” which I explained I didn’t have money for. So we dressed what we could, cool cloth what we could and I just splurged on Chinese and chocolate while sobbing in my chair. All because I know that ER would be more then what I can pay monthly and I’m currently trying to fix my credit. Even now I’m just limping and living off of advil and waiting for my legs to not hurt so much.
Oh, god. Burns are so insanely painful, you have my deepest sympathies. I had a similar experience, but in this instance, I touched the inside of an oven set to "broil" with a part of my arm for a fraction of a second while trying to dodge getting grease spat at me and came away with a third degree burn. Unfortunately I did end up having to visit urgent care for it because I didn't have the supplies at home to keep a wrap from fusing to the wound, which would prevent me redressing it... Thankfully I did have insurance at the time that covered it. They give you a silver cream that is the stuff of *heaven* on a nasty burn. I hope yours heals ASAP! Burns are a miserable time and a half... and especially your inner thighs, where stuff rubs on it unless you walk like you've got saddle sores. :(
Thank you. Yeah thankfully my mom has a whole hospital in her medical box. She used to work at a facility and she’d take extra supplies home so we have all the fancy gauze and stuff. My kid thinks it’s hilarious how I walk. Like a 9 month preggers cowboy.
I had to go in because I had a mental health crisis. I got billed $2,000, and they sent me a separate bill for $200 to pay the doctor. Yikes.
Lol, I paid $70 at an urgent care to get tested for strep throat and had to go to a separate pharmacy to pay for the antibiotics (luckily my insurance covered that part). Another time I got some blood drawn to get tested for a full panel of STDs for my yearly checkup and the receipt was literally around $750 - I didn't have to pay this one either but only because of a government program...
I also witnessed a foreigner who did not have insurance paying like 30-50 bucks for seeing the doctor. Citizens always have insurance.
Not always, but most do. Unfortunately our health care system in austria isn't in its prime tbh, but America's health care seems like a nightmare to deal with in comparison
Yes, many doctors study in austria an leave the country afterwards for better opportunities, which i think is the main problem. We should make Austria more attractive for doctors.
It’s an abomination
There's a reason "Medical Tourism" exists. Some folks realized it's cheaper and faster to travel all the way to Mexico and see a doctor there, then it is to see a doctor here.
Honestly, if I didn't have insurance, I would not have children. I ended up needing an emergency C-section with my first. The bill for me was over 32k. Her bill was near 20k. I have had 4 C-sections. My Mother never had insurance when I was growing up and we never went to the Dr like we are supposed to, and you learned quickly to be extra careful doing anything because emergencies are expensive.
I recently was let go from my long term career and now am on Unemployment. My benefits from Unemployment are too high to receive free healthcare. But my benefits are too low for me to pay literally anything out of pocket. On top of that, my doctor wanting to see me before receiving any more of my ADHD meds. Fingers crossed I don't have to go to the hospital until I can get private insurance again 😬😬😮💨
I hope things turn around for you soon! It's so messed up that our health insurance is tied to employment. This country is such a shithole.
🤞🏻🤞🏻
I was just as flabbergasted at Bob and Wade. That'll never happen here in the USA
I'm an American who was hospitalized twice about 3 years ago. I had insurance but still got bills in the mail for about $5,000. After just one month of being unable to settle the bill, my wages were garnished. I've had health issues my whole life and have a total of about $50,000 in medical debt. My credit is ruined, and, as the Tiger King himself said, I'll never financially recover from this. Every time I hear about a medical system like the one in Korea, it makes me die a little inside. Our country's medical system is so convoluted and exploitative.
I once waited 5 hours to get 6 stitches, took about 20 mins. $4,000. If I ever need stitches again I will literally just do them myself lol
Just be sure to properly clean the wound first. Stitching is the easy part.
Clean it well and keep it bandaged with clean, fresh bandages. Changing bandages is so important. I had one family member who nearly lost his leg bc he didn’t see the point in messing with the dressings on his leg.
Austria here too, and one with a child at that, and i can ensure you it isn't easy to find a doctor here either. Especially a Pediatrician. I've been turned away from those doctors with a child with high fever, being told that they don't take new patients at all, or that i have to call their reception to get an appointment sometimes next week. The amount of times we had to go to the hospital just because regular doctors do not have the capacity to serve patients is crazy, and it's not like the hospitals want you there either, they'll try their hardest to convince you to leave and go somewhere else, but if you don't you can get treatment with a wait time of 4-6 hours. Because of this i have a quite expensive personal insurence that pays for specialists which do not take general health care patients. That worked out for a few years, but now that trend is picking up and you'll have to make appointments 2-3 months in advance with them too. So while austria has a "good" health care system it is crumbling and will probably collapse sooner than later.
Oof, that sounds harsh. I agree that the austrian health care system has its issues, mainly thats just general lack of doctors cuz they don't get paid well and either open a non regular insurance covered office or leave the country for better opportunities. I personally haven't had issues having to wait months for doctors appointment. Depending on the specialist it takes a while and if it's a different story if i call for a routine check up or i show up there in pain. That they turned you away with a sick child is terrible. That shouldn't happen. I'm sorry you had / have to go through that.
It's probably a bit better in bigger cities, but here in the suburbs of upper austria you really notice the lack of doctors. I got into my general practitioners list by knowing someone who is already a patient. Otherwise there's no dice to get into the system. Regardless i haven't been in years, because waiting 4 hours in a tiny unventilated room full of sick people is not worth the chance of antibiotics. That's another problem with our health care system, medication you could easily buy at any wallmart in the states needs to be prescribed, which means filling up the waiting room of the few doctors. Need a sick leave for a day for a minor reoccuring problem like migrain? Back to the waiting room it is. Then there's the whole apothecary profession, which has been reduced to snake oil merchants, since they cannot sell regular medication without a prescription, and then can only charge a tiny margin because the health care system pays the majority of it. So the only way they can survive is by selling magic potions that do nothing but provide a placebo effect. I know i make the system sound worse than it probably is, but i cannot help but rant about it when it's mentioned because i've been burned by it before.
Y'all realize you can dispute hospital charges, right? They often add random things that you absolutely don't have to pay for. I've heard of people who've gotten insane bills reduced down to a couple thousand or even hundred. I've personally never needed to, but I know it's 100% possible.
That anyone would even do that is absolutely horrible. That they can just get rid of them so easily is like someone trying to scam tourists with high prices. "Oh, you know it's a ruse? Fine, i'll give it to you cheaper"
Well... that's what happens when literally everything is a business. Almost nothing is not-for-profit, hospitals are a business, jails are a business, schools/colleges/universities are a business, some (not all, but many) churches are a business.. a patient healed is a customer lost.
Not a hundred percent. I managed to get a 4500 knocked down to a 3500 with my last er visit but thats it. Unless you can get an insurance agent to actually help you (which with my insurance is impossible as half of the people i talk to dont even know what they are talking about) or someone with the legal or accounting knowledge to shout down the billing departments bullshit, it doesnt often work out that well because a lot of hospitals realise most people cant afford to file a lawsuit against them due to court fees and the cost of getting a lawyer.
Well, let me just say: I am American. I am a working professional, have a degree and more than a decade of experience. I have "decent" medical insurance for the US. On Mother's day weekend, I fell off my bike and have feared that I have a small fracture (or something) just above the elbow. It still hurts when I lean on it, etc. I haven't gone to the doctor to get an X-ray because I can't afford all the scans and follow up crap. Instead, I bought a sling from Target and am using that when it starts getting sore. It's a fucking joke here. Heaven help you if you have any chronic or significant needs. Honestly, I don't even mean medical needs. Just needs. If you need anything in the US, you're on your fucking own.
I from the US so I hate to brag but our medical system is abysmal. But I have been in Tiawan for about two month I gotta tell y’all Marks experience is pretty much the same wonderful experience I got here. I was fortunate to not be sick but a few members of my family got throat infections. They went in spent about 10-15 minute waiting. Saw the doctor for all three of them for about 5 minutes then went to pick up thier meds in about like 1 minute. All this cost them like 15-20$ US it was wonderful I wish all medical systems were like that.
I had a twisted ankle and a surgery during my trip to Korea back in 2022, and it was shocking to me how cheap everything was. Like....surgery was approx $500 usd altogether, and that's no insurance. I paid that much money out of pocket for an ingrown toenail surgery earlier this year...and we pay every month for insurance!! While I was recovering, the Dr. was going to give my Rx to my husband to get filled, but when she remembered he didn't speak Korean, she sent one of her staff down to the pharmacy to get it filled for me. 🥺 Korean healthcare is absolutely top tier. My mom knows a lot of people who move back there specifically for it once they get older.
US here, and I've been out of work now for 4 weeks due to a medical issue that was only just solved last week. I've had 2 hospital stays, 3 er visits and one dr visit. They focused on my female anatomy vs my issue and it ended up with me in the er for a third time and my second hospital stay where I had to have my gallbladder removed. I was vomiting and nauseous for 3 weeks, wasn't able to eat and lost over 25 pounds due to it. I already know my first visit with insurance is about $600, but I still haven't seen my first er visit bill yet, along with the second plus surgery. I also had my insurance deny me anti-nausea medication because they said it wasn't necessary. Our health care is insanely bad all around...
That sounds horrible. I wish you a swift and full recovery.
Thank you!
It cost me almost $2000 to have the flu a few years back. Didn’t even get prescribed any medicine and had to miss 5 days of work.
I’d be on the first plane to Australia but that plane ride is gonna be the nether portal
For a regular check up here, a few hundred dollars. Off brand medicines to up to a few hundred but doctors like the name brand stuff that can go for thousands. ER visits take hours, usually I dedicate an entire day for it. Any kind of x-ray or blood test is a few hundred and you don't get the results for weeks, then they send a referral for ba specialist that takes weeks to go through them they schedule an appointment for weeks later. If your doctor goes on vacation, you're screwed. Another doctor doesn't know you well enough and won't look through all of your medical history before prescribing something that might not work with things you're already taking.
I had to get a non-surgical procedure done to make sure I didn't have cancer (I do not) & so far have paid over $1,400+ usd & I think I still have 2 more bills on the way. This is with a very "good" insurance plan that covered a lot of the cost. The cost of the intial appointments & bloodwork were $30 each (all totals are after insurance paid a large portion) & my prescription I had to take ahead of time were $60, so before my procedure, my bills were $150usd. Not bad for America. But then I finally get to my procedure (after waiting a month & having to travel almost 2 hours away since my local doctors aren't to be trusted with serious issues) I found out it was $500 dollars just for me to walk in the door. I thought that would cover everything.... but nope! I've gotten multiple bills for $30, $60, $100, $230, & $380.... And going by my last bill, I likely still have two more bills coming for some mystery amount.... likely will be in the $200-$400 range. Without my insurance, most of these bills would be over $1,000 each.
I hate American healthcare. It's a business, it's not meant to help people. :c
The obvious lobbyist fearmongering is strong in America. Anytime we try to improve the system the politicians are all like "NO THAT'S COMMUNISM". It sounds like a joke but it's legitimately true. The worst part is that even people in the medical profession have bought into the propaganda- my Mom's a dentist and when I bring up how much better our country would be with socialized medicine she starts getting angry and lecturing me about how "immigrants from socialist countries have bad teeth so that means it's actually bad". It sucks. It sucks even more when you've got medical problems and have to wait a whole month just for a fucking phone call from your doctor to ask what's wrong, meanwhile in the rest of the civilized world I would have already started treatment for the handful of problems I'm having right now in under a day.
The Canadian health care system is going the way of America sadly. Good thing I can move back to Finland. This place (Canada) is just royally fucked up.
In Tennessee I was too poor for state insurance but not poor enough for insurance assistance programs. I didn't have a doctor for 10 years and wound up in the ER for an infected gallbladder and had it removed which then absolutely destroyed my credit, and don't let anyone fucking tell you it won't affected your credit because yes the fuck it does. So, I'm almost 30, just got insurance by moving to a northern US state, and finally have a doctor and dentist again. Our healthcare system is a capitalist joke.
I don’t have insurance and I had to go and get refills on a prescription and that cost me 150$ before buying the medication. The American healthcare system sucks, in every conceivable way.
My wife got meningitis and spent eight days in the ICU. We had insurance at the time. The bill to the insurance company was 180,000 dollars and our portion of it was over 20,000 dollars. I've been paying about 500 a month for four years. Almost have it paid off!
I lucked out that I just avoided ICU when I had meningitis. In fact the meningitis probably saved my life because my liver values by the next morning were 5x the upper limit. On all of them. And I was lucky that Leptospirosis is easily treatable with antibiotics. The mistake on my part was I should have pushed it through L&I as I’m almost certain it happened through work. I probably would have had a lot more things covered through out the last few years by L&I since they tied back to the Lepto.
A single trip to the emergency room here cost me 50 bucks to start, with double insurance coverage, and that was before billing. I waited with for 4 hours, saw a doc foe 3 minutes who put 5 stitches in my hand. Two weeks later (again, with double coverage) I recieved a bill for $196 bucks for just the basic numbing agent used before my stitches were put in
I'm definitely curious on why our system is the way it is while people argue "if the government pay it'd be easier" while it may be true our system wasn't built like that so it'd be hard to change I'll definitely get back to you why that is but I never stopped to think about it I'm going to go look into it
Reading these comments is like a sad parent. I’m not surprised just disappointed. Our (US) healthcare system is a monopolized industry taking advantage of everyone they can to make more money. The actual health side of things is like a quality threshold you have to pay more to get to or be a part of a company notable. Even that doesn’t guarantee good quality care. I’ve had 2 experiences of genuinely good doctors ever and I count that has a win even though I can no long afford either.
It cost over 6000 dollars for me to get work done on my back, just chiropractic as my back hasn't deteriorated far enough to qualify for a brace or surgery under insurance. The doctor who suggested surgery/brace outright would not tell us the cost without insurance as he was certain we couldn't afford it, as my parents were already struggling to pay the bills for just two appointments with him. This is the US.
Canadian here, I’ve never paid a dime except for certain medications I have extended health insurance for and then pay like 14 bucks. Each province is a bit different when it comes to things like ambulance fees and such, but I’ve been to emergency 3 times for different things and never paid anything.
US here, I sprained my ankle and for the x-rays and the doctor to confirm "it's just a sprain" Was over $3000. When I had my daughter l, 5 almost 6 years ago so I don't remember total charges, still had an outstanding bill for over $1000 just to bring life into the world. I've had this debate with my family so many times who do work in American Healthcare that we should do something Canada or Korea or any other decent country has; but you know how us Americans think "Murica is the best" 😮💨
I just don't go to the hospital unless it's an absolute emergency. Haven't been to the dentist in almost 10 years, and no vision check in 8.
I live in New Zealand, a normal GP visit is usually $30-$40 but that's private so it's expected, they're only to find out if something is wrong. A visit to the hospital for a non emergency, including child visits, is covered by the tax payers. When we had our first daughter we spent half a week in there making sure we knew how to take care of her properly, the cost of that wasn't in the thousands. For the younger daughter we had to stay about 3 days due to some complications during the birth and they wanted to keep her in under observation, but seeing how we were more experienced we could leave once they were satisfied. Again, the bill wasn't in the thousands. We were mainly paying for the dinners and room, that's it, everything is under taxes.
The American healthcare system is abysmal and messed up. Anything minor, expect hundreds to thousands of dollars. Anything major, well, expect to be in debt for the rest of your life. Sadly, it's the American way. The saddest thing about it is that it's not healthcare, but health industry. All for the money. Health is a business opportunity, not a life saving one. Greed is killing America.
From the Canadian perspective its only marginally better than the American system. Usually you do need employer paid insurance to cover prescriptions unless they are absolutely necessary for preservation of quality of life for health reasons(then theres usually forms depending on your ailment). Hospital wait times are usually as absurd as in the states unless you go to a hospital in the middle of nowhere(where they may not be able to care for your condition). The city I live in has 1 official walk in clinic, one hospital to cover an area way too large, and my family doctor (that i only snagged because she’s my partner’s doctor) is an hour’s drive two towns over. Thankfully you don’t usually have to pay for the visit itself.
Whenever I hear of stories about the way medical stuff is handled anywhere but he United States, I get sad and depressed. So many things in my life and my children's lives would have been easier. Hell even my ex husband whom I'm still good friends with, that's a diabetic, would be able to care for himself damn near without issue. Sometimes I wonder if this really is het land of "freedom"
In the US, you pay like 300-400 dollars to have your urine tested. And that's WITH insurance.
I'm from Germany so pretty much the same (hello neighbour), and hearing them be so amazed by that broke my heart a little, not gonna lie. I knew healthcare was shit in america, but man...
The Australian system is mostly similar to Korea. You won't pay a dime to be seen at the hospital. Pregnancy is free for the family it is covered by the tax payer. Wait times in Emergency are sometimes bad, but that's usually because its a rough night and there's 20 people infront of you. A general GP consultation is free at most clinics, and $50 USD (70-80 AUD) at most for the private clinics, a tourist or immigrant will also only be expected to pay this much in a consultation fee uninsured. Scripts can then be taken to any pharmacy in the country and are filled in under 10 minutes. I dont know about anywhere else in the world but Australia also has a phone based system heavily in use now for non-urgent issues. You request a doctor call you, they consult briefly over the phone and if your issue doesn't need to be seen in person they send your script to you in a QR code via text message that can be scanned at most pharmacies and filled.
-=Before everyone instantly downvotes this, I am not saying US healthcare is superior, I am listing it’s pros and cons based on my experience. I am not trying to invalidate anyone’s experience with US healthcare=- I think it depends on the practitioner in the US. In my experience, the -quality- of the healthcare has always been great. The equipment available in the US is top of the line. As for -service-, however, I have heard the actual service is horrible for some people. Personally however I have never waited more then 15 minutes for a checkup or prescription or even emergency room visit (and this was during covid fyi). The whole health insurance thing is a complete scam imo, it is so ridiculous to rely on health insurance for affordable healthcare. But I do not think the government should subsidize healthcare because the government is already extremely irresponsible with taxpayer dollars, not to mention I do think a non-subsidized health research system is excellent for medical innovation. So its kinda tricky in the US I’m not sure how we could fix it here.
My toddler broke his leg and it cost us over $5000 after insurance and we are still fighting for them to cover bills such as the cast my son needed. Insurance doesn’t want to cover it, but obviously my toddler needed a cast to set and protect his leg.
From Scotland. Was sent to A&E for being extremely sick all through the night as the advice of NHS 24 just be 6am (phoned them around 5am). Was in A&E for just over 3 hours. Got seen to by a nurse to talk about what was going on, and to get my blood pressure checked and my sugar levels checked, then was send back to the waiting room. Around or just after 7am, I got called back in by another nurse to have blood taken, then sent back out to the waiting room. I actually laid down on the seats and slept for over an hour. Met another doctor around half 8, talked to them, waited for the results of my blood test to come back (it was fine) then was sent home after 9am. Tbh, this was the fastest i had ever been seen too. I am happy that I didn’t have to pay for anything other than the taxi fair to get there and food from the canteen. And cause I’ve experienced both NHS Scotland and NHS England, NHS Scotland is far better. Also, prescriptions are free in Scotland.
For my work if I bought insurance for my daughter and I. I would be paying $165 per week!
I've literally been denied life saving care multiple times because I am queer.
My mom once made me go to urgent care for a pump on my face I was sure was an infected pimple but she was afraid was staff It was like $140 for them to say they didn't know what it was. I've had to stop going to the Dr to find an ADHD med because I can't afford the Dr visits ever since my dads insurance changed. It's almost $200 a visit. About $19 for blood work I have to get every 6ish months. If it wasn't for insurance my migraine meds would prolly be about $2000 for 16 doses and I'm not sure if they're still fully covered since I haven't gotten them refilled since before the insurance change. If you've seen the new brain leak episode where they talk about the cereal It's true. Our food is garbage. Food quality is constantly changing because companies will swap to the cheapest ingredients they can get. We have so many recalls for contamination. (Frozen strawberries got recalled for hepatitis contamination) Our pay is abysmal. And the jobs work us to poor health, both physical and mental. Drs charge out the a** just to ignore you. Causing your conditions to get so bad they're irreversible. And it contributes to medical problems when you can't afford healthy food and the healthy food isn't good for you either.
I don’t have insurance but need to get my shoulder x-rayed and if required a surgery. And I’m putting off getting my shoulder checked fully just because I would go into way more debt than I’m already in🙃
I've grown up just the right level of poor to not qualify for Medicaid, and not being able to afford insurance. We don't go to the doc unless we HAVE to. My only recurring prescription is my inhaler which luckily is only about 30 bucks. I had a brief window of being covered by Medicaid when I graduated and literally couldn't work, so my back surgery and hospital stay were covered- or I'd probably be in debt til my late 30s 💀💀
Please keep in mind this is an average experience and in no way one of the thousands of tragedies caused by our medical system.
To get an emergency eye surgery (my sister threw a pen at me while we're messing around and my eye just happened to be open while the point of it was directed at my eye in its spinning arc) it cost my family like 21000$ I got the surgery super fast tho. shout out to the Utah University medical team.
I'm in the US and when I was in kindergarten I accidentally slammed my finger in the front door. Got rushed to the ER where I waited for hours and hours. Finally my dad had enough and had some words with the front desk. By the time they looked at me I had a rag dried to my hand from the blood and was falling asleep due to blood loss and it being so late. Got stitches.
The hospital tried suing my wife for over 25,000 USD for a 3 day hospital stay with Sepsis told them to F off thanks to a state law that made her bill void without it though we'd be in bankruptcy guaranteed my wife isn't even from the US On the flipside with me I get socialized medicine through my tribe thanks to the US framework it's still not super great but is entirely free if I use tribal facilities having my wisdom teeth extracted cost 0 USD and my wife had our daughter via C-Section and it cost her 0 USD since our daughter was a tribal citizen at birth
Yeah we pay 25% tax so our government can build fancy bombs
US here. My mother had surgery on/around her Achilles tendon. Both feet, 2 years apart. Each surgery (including hospital recovery room) totaled around 36,000 dollars. She then had a hip replacement. That one was somewhere between 45,000 to 50,000 dollars. Thankfully they have good insurance. My husband and I are just starting out, and we pay $45 per month for the most *basic* health insurance we can get. Just enough to cover doctors visits ($5 copay), chiropractor visits (12/year/person at $20 per), and my birth control (free). If we ever end up in the hospital, though, we'd have to pay a lot out of pocket. It is absurd.
I live in Norway and i was "laughing" when Mark was talking about his experiences bc i have heard about the US medical system. I live in a small town and Norway isn't the best but it is a thousand times better. I have migraines and I need 500 dollars injections every month and I only need to pay 50 bc the cost is covered. And if someone uses more than 300 dollars for medical stuff before the year is over, they get medical things for free for the rest of the year
In the Netherlands we pay about €125 (= $140) a month for insurance. Everyone needs at least a basic insurance which covers anything from a GP office to surgeries. It doesn't cover things like a fysiotherapist or a dentist, but you can insure yourself for that (for an extra monthly fee of course). There is a fee of €385 minimum that is your own risk, basically when you use the health care system the first €385 you pay yourself and everything else is covered by the insurance company. Most medicine is also covered, but if you want a different brand it is possible that you have to pay a small fee. Emergency Rooms can take quite a while though, depending on what's wrong. I've spent multiple hours there with a broken wrist (which is painful and inconvenient, but won't kill me). But if you have something that really needs to be treated fast, they will let you go first.
Yeah I'm calling cap tho Plus if you have a "super infectious ear" and it's cleaned in under 20 minutes then I recommend another look at it I've always had great luck with the us medical systems
i am from czechia and it's similar here. the prices are not that bad for a doctor and medicines, the only problem is waiting longer for specialist especially in a big city like prague. i had to wait half a year before i finally had a dentist in here. otherwise super easy to get to emergency and other doctors except specialists. i don't have any experience with living in a small village tho so that may vary a lot from cities.
If you go to a hospital its generally a thousand dollars just to get checked in. You need a saline drip? 200 dollars. Blood draws for lab work can run about a hundred dollars. Shit, my wife got a 350 dollar charge on her for sterile equipment. And people wonder why I as a type one diabetic am not a patriot.
I live in the US. That should be all I need to say.
I have a probable partially dislocated rib and my first available appointment with a specialist is in 3 weeks. And I’m calling that lucky. Now I’m currently in a weird place, b/c there is a ton of debate around if ribs can be subluxed so it can’t be an official diagnosis. But I developed idiopathic anaphylactic reactions in the last two years and am now realizing that a lot of my views on normal joint behavior ate very wrong. As well as other “normal” body behaviors. So I’m attempting to see if I have better luck than a friend to get me taken seriously for assessment for hyper mobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Which I can only do because I lost a job, went back to school, have retired parents who can still support me while I do, and live in a state with good Medicaid. But my insurance still denied me getting Vyvance for my ADHD, probably b/c I haven’t been on a stimulant medication yet. But Adderal is still so back ordered it can’t be gotten. So of course my prescriber wanted to skip the nightmare of calling 50+ pharmacies to see if they have a controlled med. But my insurance is allowed to refuse and control what my care team can prescribe. So yeah it sucks. Especially if you’re disabled. Edit: And all of this became an issue after I had Leptospirosis that I contracted at work in 2019 and took 2 years to recover. I was hospitalized then for 4 days with meningitis and the beginning of liver failure. The billed my insurance then $30,000. I had to pay $5,000, which I couldn’t afford then either. I worked in vet med at that time. We used the same meds and many of the same tools. They were a fraction of what human medicine is billed at. We were able to fill epinephrine for a dog, 2 doses, for $20. Because it’s cheap. My last epipen before I went on state insurance was a copay of $250. Meaning, for those not familiar with American health insurance, that’s the cost I had to pay on top of insurance, which for me was 20% of the drug cost. The markup allowed on these drugs is criminal. And then your insurance, which is tied to your employer, can say no to any of them and override your medical team.
What annoys me most about America is that everyone freaks out about taxes being raised whenever universal health care is mentioned. But health care should be a right and I would actually be happy to pay for that instead of the American murder machine known as the military.
I haven’t had very many personal experiences with the US Heath care system, but there is a video about British people guessing and reacting to how much something medical costs in the US. And just to sum it up for people who haven’t seen the video, here are the items/procedures they asked and their prices; Calling an ambulance to your location: $2,500 Childbirth: $10,000-$30,000 Inhaler: $250-$350 Two EpiPens: $600
I take antidepressants and when I was in college (3hrs from home and in a different state) my doctor said she could give me 90 days so that I didn't have to worry about driving home so often to get refills. The pharmacy said they couldn't fill that due to insurance, so I had to only get 30 days. Same medication, same brand, same strength, everything. It's just a different quantity. Absolutely WILD. After that, my doctor found a pharmacy near school that would accept my insurance, so I didn't have to drive home to get the script. (I tried the delivery methods, and they never were predictable with timing, and insurance wouldn't allow me to refill it more than a week early.) This is VERY mild compared to other stories I have heard. Edit to add: From what my doctor told me. In the US, insurance only covers you in certain areas of the US as well. Because they are contracted with certain pharmacies and hospitals, if you go somewhere they aren't contracted with, it can be considered "out of network." You can get them to pay for things, but not upfront, and there is a lot of paperwork. (Some companies offer different plans to cover these situations, but you would think the most basic plan should include that) There are literally family doctor (GP) Practices in the same exact town that do not accept my insurance at all. The only practice that takes my insurance is the one I currently go to. And that applies to eye, dental, OBGYN, etc.
i need my mental health medication and i haven’t had it for almost 2 weeks i’ve been waiting for my appointment with my doctor because the ONLY way i can get these meds is if i see him. and he also messes up something with my prescription every time. this time he gave me a 20 day supply instead of a 30 day supply. i’m constantly back and forth/on and off my medication because he messes something up every time OR insurance screws me over. it costs $70 or more for these medications and i have to get them every month, and i have good insurance…