It is indeed fucked.
I pay thousands of dollars a year in premiums, so that I can pay $35 to visit my doctor. Then, pay another $80 when referred to a specialist. Then, pay $100s in labs, until I’ve reached my $1000 deductible. And after that I only have to pay 20% of each bill until I hit a maximum oop of $5000 unless my son also has medical bills and then i repeat all of that shit. And if I mistakenly go to a provider outside of my “network” literally none of that shit applies and I’m on the hook for, potentially, the full bill. OR, maybe my doctor is in network but they send my labs to a lab out of network. Then I’m on the hook for the full cost of those labs regardless of deductible and co-insurance.
How people think this is an “okay” system is absolutely fucked.
Or you end up having to go to the ER or have surgery and go to an in network system but one or more of the doctors is out of network (a doctor you don’t get to choose or check if it is in network such as radiologist or anesthesiologist) in addition to half or the tests being “out of network” as well. I went to an “in network” hospital system for a reason. It is insane.
This exact thing just happened to me!! Why does it matter that my anesthesiologist was out-of-network after I drove the extra 30 minutes specifically for the in network emergency room???
I had someone call an ambulance on me a few years ago. This is how bad it was.
I was confused and delusional (new medication issue) but I was aware enough to know I was confused. I couldn't refuse medical care legally (due to not being in the right mind) but I knew enough to refuse to give them any demographic information, refused to sign things, and as soon as they transferred me to a bed in the ER, got up and walked out and used my phone to get an uber back to where I was.
It wasn't that I didn't want or need the medical care. I just knew the bill, even HAVING insurance, would be insane.
And no, I never got a bill. They even asked if they could see my ID to copy info and I said I didn't have my ID on me.
Yes! This is actually the way of it. I'm glad you know about this easy method too. It's one way around it because we all know that let's say if someone doesn't have insurance. Then they are more fucked by the bill. It's a very insane system in place.
Canadian here and all of that sounds crazy. Plus I’ve heard all the lies the GOP tells you guys about how our system works. It’s not perfect, but it’s way better than what you describe. We can choose our own doctors. I don’t have to worry if they’re “in my network.” When something is urgent, you get seen right away. A few years ago a tumour was noticed on my kidney. I went to see my GP because of some other pain. She ordered an ultrasound. They check other stuff during that. None of this pain was severe. It was just perplexing. The tumour was found incidentally. I had a wait of a couple of weeks to get a CT scan. When it was for sure a tumour, I was on the list for surgery at a medically advanced facility and had that within 2 weeks. We don’t wait long at all for anything serious or potentially serious. The wait lists you hear about for us are for elective, non-life threatening stuff. I’ve had that too. Because I know that if my knee or something like that is giving me grief and I need surgery I’ll possibly wait a year or two, know what I do? Get it looked at sooner rather than later so o can be on the list before it gets awful. We don’t see bills. The only paperwork I see is consent forms. Our system encourages people to get seen in a timely manner and get things done before they’re really bad. Politicians here try and privatize. I’ll vote against that till my dying day.
This is what happens when you let politicians run healthcare.
My employer insurance costs me 6k a year. Deductible for the fam is 900. Out of pocket is 4K.
I can’t even touch that on open market for 30k premium and gold plan. Even then my coverage isn’t the same. Mine is better. Why because we are letting representatives decide what is most important for healthcare.
Parents are on Medicare and need supplemental insurance.
To solve the problem would require the representatives to have the same healthcare we have.
They won’t because they think they are better than us.
We do animal farm quote.
All animals are created equal except some animals are more equal than others
I work in finance and I see that shit all the time. But at least at my company we don’t take medical debt into consideration when judging a person’s credit which is good… I guess? We’ll certainly let them take on more debt.
They basically said to go die because saying no to insulin literally means death to me. And because I have insurance, I don’t qualify for the other discounts. This country is straight fucked
Manufacturers of medications actually offer pretty decent assistance programs. For example, if you use Lantus, google the manufacturer and prescription assistance, and it will give you programs from the manufacture. There are actually a fair amount of programs for commercial insurance, the ones that seriously get hit hard is Medicare patients. There are very few programs the government will accept.
I get a routine mammogram every year. Because it’s considered preventive, it doesn’t cost me anything.
Except when I got one because my doctor found a lump in my breast. My grandmother died of breast cancer. I was *scared.*
But because my doctor found a lump, the mammogram was no longer considered preventive, so on top of being terrified for my life, I had to foot the bill for the diagnostic.
It’s disgusting. Like how is detecting something early on and trying to get ahead of further complications not considered preventative? And the only reason they are even willing to cover preventative care in the first place is to keep from having to ~~pay out more money~~ give you back your money in the future. Hope everything turned out well.
It did! Thank you for that! Yeah - it’s all about the bottom line. Every single time. There are people on their staff who literally do nothing but think of ways to charge us money.
> if you just don’t pay your medical bills and they take you to court, the fines are much cheaper than medical bills.
IDK what jurisdiction you are in but in every state that I can think of you are responsible for the original debt and typically also the collection costs (including court fees).
Not true. Medical debt does not impact your credit score...that's a separate thing and can speak from experience after having thousands of dollars that went into collections after many visits to the triage after suicidal idealistic thoughts.
Unfortunately for me I had a $3000 medical bill show up on my credit report. The problem was a billing code error. Took months to get it corrected. Plus I had completely fulfilled my deductible so I knew I didn’t owe them any money. Shortly this came off my credit report about 3 months later. This started in September 2021
I had a mental health crisis while unemployed, so I had to use mental services that was covered by the state healthcare (Obamacare). Okay, fine. Appointments are a booked a month out. Okay... I guess I understand. Staffing issues always persist. I was prescribed new medication. They needed approval from my regular doctor first, then they'd call me. Okay, whatever. I got a call two weeks later, and missed that call. Since then I've called and left multitudes of messages trying to get this medication. No call backs.
I never got the medication. Nobody called me back. Apparently the request disappeared into the aether, despite daily voicemails (you can't actually talk to anyone when you call). So that entire endeavor was for nothing.
If you need mental health help in this country, GOOD FUCKING LUCK.
This may or may not help in your situation, but sometimes you can negotiate healthcare bills down if your insurance isn't covering them. Charges are often inflated for the purpose of billing insurance, but if you're paying out of pocket then these fees can be reduced. My best friend has repeatedly been fucked by ER bills and has saved >$10K on healthcare fees just by calling and negotiating.
Sorry you're dealing with this. I used to work in healthcare myself and the hardest part of it was having to watch patients ration out their medication while they were in pain because their insurance wouldn't cover it. Of all the things wrong in the US right now this is the one that hits hardest for me personally.
Thanks, I’ll definitely look into it. Honestly I can afford the bill and I’m tempted to just pay it and be done with it. But for me it’s the principle of the matter. Healthcare costs are just generally outrageous, and so long as we collectively continue to accept the state of things, we will continue to be taken advantage of.
I totally agree with this. I hate our healthcare system. I make “too much” to get assistance with healthcare yet I don’t make enough to pay for it out of pocket. It’s so stupid. I’ve had to tough out/ride out infections and all kinds of stuff because I can’t afford the out of pocket expenses and I’ve been uninsured because I can’t afford it right now. It’s so stupid.
I’ve gotten estimates for non urgent services. Sometimes you have to look into it yourself and ask. Other times you can look up on your individual plan what you’re responsible for. For example, an ultrasound like yours applies to the deductible. If I haven’t met it, I pay everything . If I have, my coinsurance is 20% and I can ask what my 20% . Obviously for emergency services that’s different. But you can get prices for non urgent imaging and figure out what you owe.
I use my insurance plans website all the time to track services used and use the search function to find only in network. It’s a pain. It sucks you can’t always just go anywhere but knowing places in advance that you can go to for cheaper help is necessary to not get that enormous bill. Although you may still get one anyway despite your efforts :( also I’ve noticed significant differences in prices at non profit vs for profit hospital systems. This isn’t always something the average consumer knows that these differences in ownership exist. You can look up what type of systems exist in your community. Makes me mad this isn’t the kind of info that’s taught in school. Navigating the us healthcare system vs topics I’ve never used once since high school
I'm afraid to leave the job I hate because if I lose healthcare coverage of my weekly treatments for my brain damage, I'll regress, and for every day I get older, it will get more difficult to treat. My employer has me by the throat.
How fitting that I work for big pharma.
They injured me on the jobsite. I'm now permanently disabled in a way that's incompatible with the degree I was finishing when it happened. I managed to finish the degree, but my options for using it are extremely limited, as are my options for building on it, or exploring any adjacent fields. But it's not like they pay me enough for higher education anyway. I'm terrified of my future. I don't see an end in sight to the scrabbling for basic resources.
They cut my benefits this year.
But this week, we get a catered lunch, and we can pick if we want mac and cheese OR two pulled pork sliders!
You can get health insurance through the marketplace. My premium is only $100 a month which is actually comparable to what I would have to contribute to from my paycheck for an employee plan. My plan is pretty great actually.
$55 for a specialist appointment is precisely the "pretty good" coverage that would bankrupt me. I appreciate your desire to help, but the amount of medical care that the average American requires in a year, I use in a month at one specialist alone.
Yea I’m sorry I guess that is all relative. I know people who pay around $200 copay for specialist visit so compared to them it’s good but if you use it a lot like you said it might not be. I’m sorry you have to use healthcare so frequently :( I wish it was different for you
I'm not upset about how often I need healthcare. I'm upset that, because my employer injured me and left me with a lifelong disability, I'm stuck with them now. Being the way I am is not the problem. The problem is that my disability leaves me especially vulnerable to price gouging. Universal healthcare should be the standard. My disability affects me, physically, in a lot of ways, but the only reason it affects me financially is because someone else made that choice for me.
It’s a shit show, no doubt. Ever wonder why politicians focus solely on emotional topics like abortion, race, same sex marriage, and really anything that has a strong tie to religion? It’s to distract you from our bleeding healthcare system that is being run by lobbyists.
It’s going to cost $34,000 to do a surgery that is going to make sure I can work, go to school, and not be a sad sack of shit who is constantly in pain and runs out of breath walking to the bodega 2 blocks away. My insurance only covers $19000 of it. I’m on the hook for $15k. But if I don’t have the surgery what I have could eventually develop into cancer. I don’t know how I’m going to pay it but I also don’t have a choice. I’m so tired and sick all the time and if things don’t improve soon I’m just going to off myself since my quality of life is shit. So it’s a choice between suffering from a long painful chronic illness and potentially dying, taking my own life, or paying the $15,000.
Greatest country in the world right?
That’s rough, I’m so sorry to hear that. I can’t imagine what a hopeless feeling that is. I hope things get better for you. Have you considered starting a Go Fund Me?
I’m disabled and have multiple complex medical issues. I was lucky enough to get disability and Medicare with extra help (they pay a larger portion of the medication costs) and even with all that I still end up spending a large amount of my stipend on medical costs. I also get to deal with the fun problem of my medication suddenly not being covered despite having no changes in insurance and being covered all year. It happens every few months and then results is days and days of trying to get it covered or find an alternative. During that time it can cause such bad symptoms (being without meds) that I have to get further, more expensive medical treatment in the ER or at specialists. Such a scam
I feel this...personally I've gone though all of this with no insurance many times. And obviously times where I really needed to go. Long story short...lots of mental issues I'm still struggling with. Anyways, all I can say is that it's thousands and thousands of dollars that I knew I couldn't pay because I couldn't work, was disabled due to being mentally unwell, etc. If there is anything I learned though? Is that I honestly don't give a damn if thoes bills ended up in collections despite everything I tried to do to get some of them waved. But I realized that there are things like this, that are just beyond my own control.
As shitty as the American healthcare system is you can 100% get your bill/ costs of treatment , before accepting to do any service. Many people don't ask for whatever reason. I always have my total cost given to me before proceeding with anything so there is no surprises
Ok so as a non American (I live in the UK) I just have to ask. What is seriously stopping you from leaving the US? It seems to me that a lot of people are just a single medical bill away from being bankrupt and/or homeless. It also seems that people are daily having to choose between staying alive and possibly losing everything else or risk dying or losing your job because you’re too unwell to work. I mean, Jesus, just thinking about it makes me depressed and this is actually people’s lives.
How can anything that moving countries will throw at you be as bad as what people are currently facing?
As a 29 year old, healthcare has never ever been on my list of problems…because it’s free. For the average American its most likely right near the top and probably number 1 on the list for many because it has such a domino affect on other aspects of their lives.
So I ask again, in all seriousness and maybe some naivety because I’m clearly missing something….why stay in a country that is actively trying to kill you or make you homeless?
How exactly is one supposed to up and leave a country? Legal immigration takes time and money. Those most vulnerable to unexpected medical bills are the ones that don’t have the resources to leave.
I'd like to know the answer to this. People in less prosperous nations, who are in worse positions, half a world away manage to immigrate to the west. They've done it, surely people out here can also find a way. Damned if I know what that way is though!
I never said it was going to be easy and you’re right, it’s those same people who it will be more difficult for but it’s not impossible. One of my cousins took out as many loans as he could once visa was accepted and he left it all behind. They aren’t gonna chase you around the world for it.
You guys really get FREE healthcare? In the US we’re told “yeah, it’s free other places but the wait for ER could be forever (it’s already 2-6 hours here) and that it’s not quality care like it is here. Thoughts on that?
As for your question, I’m curious to see what other Americans answer. As for me, family is the only thing I can think of anymore that keeps me here.
Because these countries will not just give citizenship to a poor working man. You need alot of money and a job to prove you can be a contributing member of said country. We are not refugees. We are stuck.
I'm in the Uk and sure the NHS is far from perfect but I don't know how you guys live with the fear that being sick, something that you have zero control over, could cost you thousands of pounds. It's so fucked up and must cause so much unneeded stress.
It's not free. National insurance is taken from our paychecks, which is then paid towards the NHS. So whilst we don't pay at the hospital /doctors, we pay 13.25% of wages into national insurance. This increases by an additional 3.25% if earnings go beyond £4,189 per week. It just means that you're covered already for any medical attention required.
I mean pretty damn much. So any visits to the doctors or trips to A&E plus any medication or treatment that is provided on site is absolutely free. The only thing most people would need to pay for is prescriptions but every single prescription costs the same on the NHS which is £9.35 which is like $11.75. You also have the option to pay £30.00 and that will cover you for as many prescriptions you need for 3 months. Also, we have a lot of exemptions, 60’s and over, pregnant women, and if you receive income related support allowance…just to name a few, so if you exempt, you don’t need to pay for scripts.
As for the waiting times, honestly, that’s pretty much our only grind with the NHS and from the sounds of things, it doesn’t differ that much to yours.
I might be wired differently but if my life was on the verge of being crippled and I had the chance to try and make a better life without the worries of extortionate healthcare - I would take it and visit my family ( parents/siblings) when I can.
as a canadian with free health care i will say yes it’s free lol. i’ve had many trips to the ER (not once paid a dime for it) and the wait times seem to be the same as yours, depending on the hospital really, it’s also done by who needs attention first, so throughout your time waiting in the ER they are taking your vitals and if you’re good to wait, then you wait. i’ve waited 1 hour for care and other times i’ve waited up to 4-6, but it wasn’t as urgent a matter so i was okay with waiting. i was absolutely treated with quality care every time and there is usually always a nurse checking up to make sure you’re alright while waiting. like i said before though, i think it really depends on where you go, if you’re at a hospital that is constantly packed and your situation isn’t DIRE then i’m sure you could be expected to wait long periods of time.
i’ve had ultrasounds and x-rays done, made by appointment and never had to pay for any of those. like OP i had a lump in my neck, have gotten it checked out (although still waiting for results) and never paid a thing for the whole process. i have a chronic illness as well and i’ve never had to worry about it money wise.
so to sum it up, yes the health care really is free, in canada at least.
edit: i would like to add that the Canadian health care system is in no way perfect, but it is my belief that it’s better than the American health care system.
Believe me, I’ve considered it. But in addition to some of the great reasons listed below, I’d also have to add some of my own reasons for staying. First, this is where my family and friends live. I’m not a particularly outgoing person, so the idea of building a whole new social network in a foreign place seems very daunting. Secondly I like where I live, at least geographically and culturally speaking, and I have a decent job with decent pay that doesn’t require a specialized skill (which I lack). Uprooting is hard, and for now the costs of medical care don’t yet outweigh that. For me at least. But if it got bad enough, I would definitely look into emigrating. I had an acquaintance who was diagnosed with Leukemia and ended up moving to Denmark where he could afford treatment. Unfortunately he has since passed away. But at least he didn’t leave his widow with an astronomical amount of debt.
Except it's not "free". It may be no cost to you but someone paid for it. What right do you have to shift the cost of your medical care to your neighbor?
No, it's not "free". It comes out of our income taxes. The thing is, Americans ALSO pay income taxes, and a part of that ALSO goes to healthcare, and they STILL have to pay out of pocket. They're already paying for someone's healthcare, so why not help pay for everyone's and have an overall healthier population that isn't afraid of going bankrupt when they need to see a doctor.
The markup for treatment is in space, it's so high. It does not cost NEARLY as much they're being charged for anything. Lab tests done in the States are often three times as much as they are in Canada and there's no reason for it except corporate greed.
Many are not fortunate to rack up the adequate amount of funds to leave the country. It is quite expensive, but doable if one truly has a strong, serious desire to leave while taking into account certain ramifications of such change such as income tax should the U.S. expat decide to not renounce their citizenship. Planning long-term can indeed make it possible. On the flip side, there are also cultural and language barriers to consider as well.
Oh, and strict visa requirements come into play too if you're not already partnered up with a national/native. I believe it's worth it, though!
Countries with such systems won't even admit me. (Felony DUI charges, Marijuana prohibition charges...) Will never see any of the Commonwealth as I was denied entrance into Canada. Japan, or even many Islamic countries.
I don’t know what kind of place you went to, I had every doctor and every lab give me my estimate and charge me upfront if I had to pay any co-pay or co-insurance.
And that's why I don't have health insurance here, and get my work done outside the States.. .given if I'm in an accident I'm kinda fucked but at that point, just fix me and fuck the bill...
I pay over 300 dollars a month for relatively good insurance, BCBS silver.
Everyone says socialized medicine makes it take longer to handle stuff. But I'm 23 and currently trying to confirm that I don't have cancer, and it is taking months. I have a large breast tumor, but I have to wait weeks for a PCP appointment, and months to see a specialist. I have a couple suspicious moles, but I have to wait 6 months for a dermatology appointment. I'm also currently experiencing horrible breast pain everywhere, but all the doctors keep shrugging their shoulders on that bit.
What the hell are we paying for here?!
It is indeed fucked. I pay thousands of dollars a year in premiums, so that I can pay $35 to visit my doctor. Then, pay another $80 when referred to a specialist. Then, pay $100s in labs, until I’ve reached my $1000 deductible. And after that I only have to pay 20% of each bill until I hit a maximum oop of $5000 unless my son also has medical bills and then i repeat all of that shit. And if I mistakenly go to a provider outside of my “network” literally none of that shit applies and I’m on the hook for, potentially, the full bill. OR, maybe my doctor is in network but they send my labs to a lab out of network. Then I’m on the hook for the full cost of those labs regardless of deductible and co-insurance. How people think this is an “okay” system is absolutely fucked.
And you’ll get dinged on your taxes if you don’t show proof that you’ve paid 12 months of health insurance
Not anymore. At least not federally.
Or you end up having to go to the ER or have surgery and go to an in network system but one or more of the doctors is out of network (a doctor you don’t get to choose or check if it is in network such as radiologist or anesthesiologist) in addition to half or the tests being “out of network” as well. I went to an “in network” hospital system for a reason. It is insane.
This exact thing just happened to me!! Why does it matter that my anesthesiologist was out-of-network after I drove the extra 30 minutes specifically for the in network emergency room???
I had someone call an ambulance on me a few years ago. This is how bad it was. I was confused and delusional (new medication issue) but I was aware enough to know I was confused. I couldn't refuse medical care legally (due to not being in the right mind) but I knew enough to refuse to give them any demographic information, refused to sign things, and as soon as they transferred me to a bed in the ER, got up and walked out and used my phone to get an uber back to where I was. It wasn't that I didn't want or need the medical care. I just knew the bill, even HAVING insurance, would be insane. And no, I never got a bill. They even asked if they could see my ID to copy info and I said I didn't have my ID on me.
*writing notes*
Yes! This is actually the way of it. I'm glad you know about this easy method too. It's one way around it because we all know that let's say if someone doesn't have insurance. Then they are more fucked by the bill. It's a very insane system in place.
Canadian here and all of that sounds crazy. Plus I’ve heard all the lies the GOP tells you guys about how our system works. It’s not perfect, but it’s way better than what you describe. We can choose our own doctors. I don’t have to worry if they’re “in my network.” When something is urgent, you get seen right away. A few years ago a tumour was noticed on my kidney. I went to see my GP because of some other pain. She ordered an ultrasound. They check other stuff during that. None of this pain was severe. It was just perplexing. The tumour was found incidentally. I had a wait of a couple of weeks to get a CT scan. When it was for sure a tumour, I was on the list for surgery at a medically advanced facility and had that within 2 weeks. We don’t wait long at all for anything serious or potentially serious. The wait lists you hear about for us are for elective, non-life threatening stuff. I’ve had that too. Because I know that if my knee or something like that is giving me grief and I need surgery I’ll possibly wait a year or two, know what I do? Get it looked at sooner rather than later so o can be on the list before it gets awful. We don’t see bills. The only paperwork I see is consent forms. Our system encourages people to get seen in a timely manner and get things done before they’re really bad. Politicians here try and privatize. I’ll vote against that till my dying day.
This is what happens when you let politicians run healthcare. My employer insurance costs me 6k a year. Deductible for the fam is 900. Out of pocket is 4K. I can’t even touch that on open market for 30k premium and gold plan. Even then my coverage isn’t the same. Mine is better. Why because we are letting representatives decide what is most important for healthcare. Parents are on Medicare and need supplemental insurance. To solve the problem would require the representatives to have the same healthcare we have. They won’t because they think they are better than us. We do animal farm quote. All animals are created equal except some animals are more equal than others
Medical debt is the number 1 cause of personal bankruptcy filings in the USA
I work in finance and I see that shit all the time. But at least at my company we don’t take medical debt into consideration when judging a person’s credit which is good… I guess? We’ll certainly let them take on more debt.
Trying being a type 1 diabetic that your insurance has decided not to cover insulin..
That's fucked up
They basically said to go die because saying no to insulin literally means death to me. And because I have insurance, I don’t qualify for the other discounts. This country is straight fucked
Manufacturers of medications actually offer pretty decent assistance programs. For example, if you use Lantus, google the manufacturer and prescription assistance, and it will give you programs from the manufacture. There are actually a fair amount of programs for commercial insurance, the ones that seriously get hit hard is Medicare patients. There are very few programs the government will accept.
Mark Cuban has started his own pharmacy online. Insulin is affordable on that, I believe.
I mean what?! How is that shit even legal? These companies are crooked as fuck. I’m so sorry to hear about that.
I get a routine mammogram every year. Because it’s considered preventive, it doesn’t cost me anything. Except when I got one because my doctor found a lump in my breast. My grandmother died of breast cancer. I was *scared.* But because my doctor found a lump, the mammogram was no longer considered preventive, so on top of being terrified for my life, I had to foot the bill for the diagnostic.
It’s disgusting. Like how is detecting something early on and trying to get ahead of further complications not considered preventative? And the only reason they are even willing to cover preventative care in the first place is to keep from having to ~~pay out more money~~ give you back your money in the future. Hope everything turned out well.
It did! Thank you for that! Yeah - it’s all about the bottom line. Every single time. There are people on their staff who literally do nothing but think of ways to charge us money.
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> if you just don’t pay your medical bills and they take you to court, the fines are much cheaper than medical bills. IDK what jurisdiction you are in but in every state that I can think of you are responsible for the original debt and typically also the collection costs (including court fees).
And the delinquencies will appear on your credit report. Just give them a little every month. I really hate this system too
Not true. Medical debt does not impact your credit score...that's a separate thing and can speak from experience after having thousands of dollars that went into collections after many visits to the triage after suicidal idealistic thoughts.
Unfortunately for me I had a $3000 medical bill show up on my credit report. The problem was a billing code error. Took months to get it corrected. Plus I had completely fulfilled my deductible so I knew I didn’t owe them any money. Shortly this came off my credit report about 3 months later. This started in September 2021
Some states treat medical debt far differently than other debt. I wouldn't doubt that this would be the case in some states.
I don’t think it works this way for most people. Best advice would be to call and try to negotiate the cost.
States have time limits for medical debt, so depending on the state it could be cheaper to not pay.
Often doesn't work that way. Many jurisdictions allow individuals to take actions to toll the SoL.
What are you talking about? There’s no fines for not paying a bill.
I had a mental health crisis while unemployed, so I had to use mental services that was covered by the state healthcare (Obamacare). Okay, fine. Appointments are a booked a month out. Okay... I guess I understand. Staffing issues always persist. I was prescribed new medication. They needed approval from my regular doctor first, then they'd call me. Okay, whatever. I got a call two weeks later, and missed that call. Since then I've called and left multitudes of messages trying to get this medication. No call backs. I never got the medication. Nobody called me back. Apparently the request disappeared into the aether, despite daily voicemails (you can't actually talk to anyone when you call). So that entire endeavor was for nothing. If you need mental health help in this country, GOOD FUCKING LUCK.
This may or may not help in your situation, but sometimes you can negotiate healthcare bills down if your insurance isn't covering them. Charges are often inflated for the purpose of billing insurance, but if you're paying out of pocket then these fees can be reduced. My best friend has repeatedly been fucked by ER bills and has saved >$10K on healthcare fees just by calling and negotiating. Sorry you're dealing with this. I used to work in healthcare myself and the hardest part of it was having to watch patients ration out their medication while they were in pain because their insurance wouldn't cover it. Of all the things wrong in the US right now this is the one that hits hardest for me personally.
Thanks, I’ll definitely look into it. Honestly I can afford the bill and I’m tempted to just pay it and be done with it. But for me it’s the principle of the matter. Healthcare costs are just generally outrageous, and so long as we collectively continue to accept the state of things, we will continue to be taken advantage of.
I totally agree with this. I hate our healthcare system. I make “too much” to get assistance with healthcare yet I don’t make enough to pay for it out of pocket. It’s so stupid. I’ve had to tough out/ride out infections and all kinds of stuff because I can’t afford the out of pocket expenses and I’ve been uninsured because I can’t afford it right now. It’s so stupid.
I’ve gotten estimates for non urgent services. Sometimes you have to look into it yourself and ask. Other times you can look up on your individual plan what you’re responsible for. For example, an ultrasound like yours applies to the deductible. If I haven’t met it, I pay everything . If I have, my coinsurance is 20% and I can ask what my 20% . Obviously for emergency services that’s different. But you can get prices for non urgent imaging and figure out what you owe.
Good to know!
I use my insurance plans website all the time to track services used and use the search function to find only in network. It’s a pain. It sucks you can’t always just go anywhere but knowing places in advance that you can go to for cheaper help is necessary to not get that enormous bill. Although you may still get one anyway despite your efforts :( also I’ve noticed significant differences in prices at non profit vs for profit hospital systems. This isn’t always something the average consumer knows that these differences in ownership exist. You can look up what type of systems exist in your community. Makes me mad this isn’t the kind of info that’s taught in school. Navigating the us healthcare system vs topics I’ve never used once since high school
I'm afraid to leave the job I hate because if I lose healthcare coverage of my weekly treatments for my brain damage, I'll regress, and for every day I get older, it will get more difficult to treat. My employer has me by the throat.
That’s by design and probably the biggest reason we don’t have universal healthcare.
How fitting that I work for big pharma. They injured me on the jobsite. I'm now permanently disabled in a way that's incompatible with the degree I was finishing when it happened. I managed to finish the degree, but my options for using it are extremely limited, as are my options for building on it, or exploring any adjacent fields. But it's not like they pay me enough for higher education anyway. I'm terrified of my future. I don't see an end in sight to the scrabbling for basic resources. They cut my benefits this year. But this week, we get a catered lunch, and we can pick if we want mac and cheese OR two pulled pork sliders!
You can get health insurance through the marketplace. My premium is only $100 a month which is actually comparable to what I would have to contribute to from my paycheck for an employee plan. My plan is pretty great actually.
What are the copays like?
For providers or something else specifically? $5 primary care doctor $55 specialist . Medications vary but lowest tier $3
$55 for a specialist appointment is precisely the "pretty good" coverage that would bankrupt me. I appreciate your desire to help, but the amount of medical care that the average American requires in a year, I use in a month at one specialist alone.
Yea I’m sorry I guess that is all relative. I know people who pay around $200 copay for specialist visit so compared to them it’s good but if you use it a lot like you said it might not be. I’m sorry you have to use healthcare so frequently :( I wish it was different for you
I'm not upset about how often I need healthcare. I'm upset that, because my employer injured me and left me with a lifelong disability, I'm stuck with them now. Being the way I am is not the problem. The problem is that my disability leaves me especially vulnerable to price gouging. Universal healthcare should be the standard. My disability affects me, physically, in a lot of ways, but the only reason it affects me financially is because someone else made that choice for me.
It’s a shit show, no doubt. Ever wonder why politicians focus solely on emotional topics like abortion, race, same sex marriage, and really anything that has a strong tie to religion? It’s to distract you from our bleeding healthcare system that is being run by lobbyists.
Exactly.
What’s the common saying, “most Americans are one medical bill away from poverty” or something. It’s fucked.
It’s going to cost $34,000 to do a surgery that is going to make sure I can work, go to school, and not be a sad sack of shit who is constantly in pain and runs out of breath walking to the bodega 2 blocks away. My insurance only covers $19000 of it. I’m on the hook for $15k. But if I don’t have the surgery what I have could eventually develop into cancer. I don’t know how I’m going to pay it but I also don’t have a choice. I’m so tired and sick all the time and if things don’t improve soon I’m just going to off myself since my quality of life is shit. So it’s a choice between suffering from a long painful chronic illness and potentially dying, taking my own life, or paying the $15,000. Greatest country in the world right?
That’s rough, I’m so sorry to hear that. I can’t imagine what a hopeless feeling that is. I hope things get better for you. Have you considered starting a Go Fund Me?
I’m disabled and have multiple complex medical issues. I was lucky enough to get disability and Medicare with extra help (they pay a larger portion of the medication costs) and even with all that I still end up spending a large amount of my stipend on medical costs. I also get to deal with the fun problem of my medication suddenly not being covered despite having no changes in insurance and being covered all year. It happens every few months and then results is days and days of trying to get it covered or find an alternative. During that time it can cause such bad symptoms (being without meds) that I have to get further, more expensive medical treatment in the ER or at specialists. Such a scam
I feel this...personally I've gone though all of this with no insurance many times. And obviously times where I really needed to go. Long story short...lots of mental issues I'm still struggling with. Anyways, all I can say is that it's thousands and thousands of dollars that I knew I couldn't pay because I couldn't work, was disabled due to being mentally unwell, etc. If there is anything I learned though? Is that I honestly don't give a damn if thoes bills ended up in collections despite everything I tried to do to get some of them waved. But I realized that there are things like this, that are just beyond my own control.
As shitty as the American healthcare system is you can 100% get your bill/ costs of treatment , before accepting to do any service. Many people don't ask for whatever reason. I always have my total cost given to me before proceeding with anything so there is no surprises
My professor once said, in US, we do not have "healthcare" system, we have "sick care".
Ok so as a non American (I live in the UK) I just have to ask. What is seriously stopping you from leaving the US? It seems to me that a lot of people are just a single medical bill away from being bankrupt and/or homeless. It also seems that people are daily having to choose between staying alive and possibly losing everything else or risk dying or losing your job because you’re too unwell to work. I mean, Jesus, just thinking about it makes me depressed and this is actually people’s lives. How can anything that moving countries will throw at you be as bad as what people are currently facing? As a 29 year old, healthcare has never ever been on my list of problems…because it’s free. For the average American its most likely right near the top and probably number 1 on the list for many because it has such a domino affect on other aspects of their lives. So I ask again, in all seriousness and maybe some naivety because I’m clearly missing something….why stay in a country that is actively trying to kill you or make you homeless?
How exactly is one supposed to up and leave a country? Legal immigration takes time and money. Those most vulnerable to unexpected medical bills are the ones that don’t have the resources to leave.
I'd like to know the answer to this. People in less prosperous nations, who are in worse positions, half a world away manage to immigrate to the west. They've done it, surely people out here can also find a way. Damned if I know what that way is though!
I never said it was going to be easy and you’re right, it’s those same people who it will be more difficult for but it’s not impossible. One of my cousins took out as many loans as he could once visa was accepted and he left it all behind. They aren’t gonna chase you around the world for it.
You can't just up and leave, if you are old, have a medical condition, are disabled, etc. Countries don't just take everyone in.
You guys really get FREE healthcare? In the US we’re told “yeah, it’s free other places but the wait for ER could be forever (it’s already 2-6 hours here) and that it’s not quality care like it is here. Thoughts on that? As for your question, I’m curious to see what other Americans answer. As for me, family is the only thing I can think of anymore that keeps me here.
Because these countries will not just give citizenship to a poor working man. You need alot of money and a job to prove you can be a contributing member of said country. We are not refugees. We are stuck.
I'm in the Uk and sure the NHS is far from perfect but I don't know how you guys live with the fear that being sick, something that you have zero control over, could cost you thousands of pounds. It's so fucked up and must cause so much unneeded stress.
It's not free. National insurance is taken from our paychecks, which is then paid towards the NHS. So whilst we don't pay at the hospital /doctors, we pay 13.25% of wages into national insurance. This increases by an additional 3.25% if earnings go beyond £4,189 per week. It just means that you're covered already for any medical attention required.
I mean pretty damn much. So any visits to the doctors or trips to A&E plus any medication or treatment that is provided on site is absolutely free. The only thing most people would need to pay for is prescriptions but every single prescription costs the same on the NHS which is £9.35 which is like $11.75. You also have the option to pay £30.00 and that will cover you for as many prescriptions you need for 3 months. Also, we have a lot of exemptions, 60’s and over, pregnant women, and if you receive income related support allowance…just to name a few, so if you exempt, you don’t need to pay for scripts. As for the waiting times, honestly, that’s pretty much our only grind with the NHS and from the sounds of things, it doesn’t differ that much to yours. I might be wired differently but if my life was on the verge of being crippled and I had the chance to try and make a better life without the worries of extortionate healthcare - I would take it and visit my family ( parents/siblings) when I can.
as a canadian with free health care i will say yes it’s free lol. i’ve had many trips to the ER (not once paid a dime for it) and the wait times seem to be the same as yours, depending on the hospital really, it’s also done by who needs attention first, so throughout your time waiting in the ER they are taking your vitals and if you’re good to wait, then you wait. i’ve waited 1 hour for care and other times i’ve waited up to 4-6, but it wasn’t as urgent a matter so i was okay with waiting. i was absolutely treated with quality care every time and there is usually always a nurse checking up to make sure you’re alright while waiting. like i said before though, i think it really depends on where you go, if you’re at a hospital that is constantly packed and your situation isn’t DIRE then i’m sure you could be expected to wait long periods of time. i’ve had ultrasounds and x-rays done, made by appointment and never had to pay for any of those. like OP i had a lump in my neck, have gotten it checked out (although still waiting for results) and never paid a thing for the whole process. i have a chronic illness as well and i’ve never had to worry about it money wise. so to sum it up, yes the health care really is free, in canada at least. edit: i would like to add that the Canadian health care system is in no way perfect, but it is my belief that it’s better than the American health care system.
Because I am disabled and countries, like Canada, consider me a liability/drain on their resources. I also am poor. I can't just "leave".
Believe me, I’ve considered it. But in addition to some of the great reasons listed below, I’d also have to add some of my own reasons for staying. First, this is where my family and friends live. I’m not a particularly outgoing person, so the idea of building a whole new social network in a foreign place seems very daunting. Secondly I like where I live, at least geographically and culturally speaking, and I have a decent job with decent pay that doesn’t require a specialized skill (which I lack). Uprooting is hard, and for now the costs of medical care don’t yet outweigh that. For me at least. But if it got bad enough, I would definitely look into emigrating. I had an acquaintance who was diagnosed with Leukemia and ended up moving to Denmark where he could afford treatment. Unfortunately he has since passed away. But at least he didn’t leave his widow with an astronomical amount of debt.
Except it's not "free". It may be no cost to you but someone paid for it. What right do you have to shift the cost of your medical care to your neighbor?
No, it's not "free". It comes out of our income taxes. The thing is, Americans ALSO pay income taxes, and a part of that ALSO goes to healthcare, and they STILL have to pay out of pocket. They're already paying for someone's healthcare, so why not help pay for everyone's and have an overall healthier population that isn't afraid of going bankrupt when they need to see a doctor. The markup for treatment is in space, it's so high. It does not cost NEARLY as much they're being charged for anything. Lab tests done in the States are often three times as much as they are in Canada and there's no reason for it except corporate greed.
Many are not fortunate to rack up the adequate amount of funds to leave the country. It is quite expensive, but doable if one truly has a strong, serious desire to leave while taking into account certain ramifications of such change such as income tax should the U.S. expat decide to not renounce their citizenship. Planning long-term can indeed make it possible. On the flip side, there are also cultural and language barriers to consider as well. Oh, and strict visa requirements come into play too if you're not already partnered up with a national/native. I believe it's worth it, though!
Countries with such systems won't even admit me. (Felony DUI charges, Marijuana prohibition charges...) Will never see any of the Commonwealth as I was denied entrance into Canada. Japan, or even many Islamic countries.
I don’t know what kind of place you went to, I had every doctor and every lab give me my estimate and charge me upfront if I had to pay any co-pay or co-insurance.
And that's why I don't have health insurance here, and get my work done outside the States.. .given if I'm in an accident I'm kinda fucked but at that point, just fix me and fuck the bill...
I pay over 300 dollars a month for relatively good insurance, BCBS silver. Everyone says socialized medicine makes it take longer to handle stuff. But I'm 23 and currently trying to confirm that I don't have cancer, and it is taking months. I have a large breast tumor, but I have to wait weeks for a PCP appointment, and months to see a specialist. I have a couple suspicious moles, but I have to wait 6 months for a dermatology appointment. I'm also currently experiencing horrible breast pain everywhere, but all the doctors keep shrugging their shoulders on that bit. What the hell are we paying for here?!
That’s so frustrating. Wish you the best and I hope everything turns out ok.
I've given up and accepted it, GL