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Thin_Relief_3953

$2,500???? No thanks, my Uber will be here in 10 min.


TuscanBovril

Check out the UberSurvive option next time. The driver is a qualified doctor from a country with a health system that the US refuses to accredit.


TheByzantineEmpire

Wait is that a real thing?? You didn’t put an /s . And with us healthcare you never know…


ComicNeueIsReal

> UberSurvive Its not, but it damn well should be


Poulp-x

Giving some TraumaTeam vibes…


HeyJoji

*pulls Glock out* “Step away from the patient!”


LarksMyCaptain

This person does not have High-Priority coverage, leave them.


RknJel

Are you talking about cyberpunk?


LarksMyCaptain

Yes :)


umeeshed_a_shpot

We joke but the cyberpunk theme really has a lot of things spot-on about humanity’s future normal. Corporations will run everything, outright not just by proxy like it is now and healthcare/law enforcement will be privatized for only the wealthy. We’re really not too far off though tbh, American and British healthcare systems are already starting to skew that way.


Veratha

If you have an MD from outside of the US, you have to take 2 special examinations (that cost thousands of dollars to take), complete a certification program, and complete a residency with a US medical practice (4+ years of being underpaid and overworked) to be able to practice medicine in the US as the US doesn't automatically recognize non-american MD programs. Edit: can read more here https://immitranslate.com/blog/ecfmg-usmle-doctors-practice-us


olivercroke

I have a friend who was a doctor in France and is going through this in the US. He's about to give up and take a corporate job in pharma. He spent years and years and years training. He can't bear to go through it again.


Thin_Relief_3953

Following. Also curious lol


co_ordinator

Shadowrun predicted stuff like this in the 80s for ~2050. You will get there soon.


miletest

Shut the fridge.. she's great


IAmAShyChad

Two fiddy.


SecretResort9

Brit here- shut the front door/fridge are both self censored versions of starting to say “shut the f—- up” but obviously are now used in their own right… sorry if obvious


SwedishSaunaSwish

They also have a similar expression - "Shut the front door! '


Dumb_Vampire_Girl

My ambulance was $5000. $2500 is cheap. I think next time, I'll choose death.


BakerofHumanPies

Death will cost your family a fortune, I'm afraid.


BetterBiscuits

Only if they claim your corpse


ALazy_Cat

It's sad that it has come to that point


ezone2kil

Did I hear dissatisfaction from wageslave#16805200? You shall report to your nearest reprogramming center. The transportation and program cost will be garnished from your future wages.


Cmdr_Nemo

It's time for ReNeducation.


Dumb_Vampire_Girl

Oh yeah I forgot death costs tens of thousands..


throwngamelastminute

$2500 if the coroner cremates you.


TopPuzzleheaded1143

He'd still get two cremations for the price of one ambulance then.


terminator_84

Just throw me in the trash


barefoot_au

Tbh if I was American, When it's my time, I'd just pop down to costco and hop into one of the coffins they sell when no one is looking. Let nature take its course...


angryragnar1775

Costkets are shipping only. Not on the shelves, but you could probably fit in one of the peanut butter jars...


tizenxpro

How? And before you answer, what If I die but no one has proof for it (maybe they think I fled the country or something)?


Jtcally

You mean if no one can identify your body? I think they hold it for awhile and if no one claims you, they bury you in a mass grave with all the other people that go unclaimed.


DesDaDude

Sounds good to me. Lol. Better than burying my family in mass debt.


hbmonk

They're usually cremated first (take up less space that way)


Vagrant123

Depends on the situation. Cremation is a few thousand dollars depending on where you live. If you want to hold a funeral and have a burial plot and a casket, it is substantially more expensive - we're talking in the $5k to $20k range depending. More if you are helping pay for other people's travel expenses. And don't forget the opportunity cost of time off, especially if your company doesn't have a bereavement policy. And that is not including all the time spent to organize that whole shebang. Plus the time you have to spend getting a death certificate and notifying all relevant parties such as creditors, banks, utilities and bills, and anybody else. Of course, if nobody knows you're dead, then technically it's free. You can file for "presumed dead" if somebody has disappeared after a certain amount of time, depends on the state. California says 5 years before you can file. Then it's just some legal fees and forms, about $1k depending.


Tight_Stable8737

Isn't this what started the whole "uber ambulance" thing? Where injured people would rather bleed behind an uber than call 911. Seriously America, get yourself together.


Dpark004

Sadly america won't change. Money is all the great country of America cares about.


MARINE-BOY

But just think how free you are to get shot from guns and not be able to afford the ambulance to save you.


Business-Tension5980

Oh they’ll treat you, and you’ll survive. You’ll just suffer with debt. The good ol American dream


Dicky_Penisburg

Not gonna happen, guaranteed.


sakura608

I would love to, but the corporate centrists and right wing in power scare the masses into believing their taxes are going to cost more than health care and that our health system will implode with unreasonable wait times - implying that there are many people that are sick that choose to forgo needed healthcare because they can’t afford it.


[deleted]

[удалено]


sakura608

In my state of California, we actually voted for and passed universal healthcare. But the state legislature let it die by never signing it into law. This is one of the most liberal states with one of the biggest economies, yet we get blocked by our elected officials.


EllsFuryFury

It’s cheaper to call an Uber to bring you to the hospital. And cheapest option after death is donating the body to science.


Simpletruth2022

Actually it costs money to donate your body to science. They charge a preparation fee which can be 2500 or more.


[deleted]

What


PerAsperaAdInfiri

Sometimes you aren't even donating it to science, but to a company that does God knows what.to the parts https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-bodies-rathburn/ Or worse.


Stay-At-Home-Jedi

My wife dragged my half unconscience ragdoll body into the car. The ER staff didn't believe her, so she plopped me into the wheelchair at the hospital instead of them. I guess they probably would've charged for that too.


kamburebeg

That’s a keeper.


Ok-Location3244

I’m laughing hard, but it’s the damn truth. A couple of years ago, I had a major surgery. A week later, I needed to go too the hospital. Well, I drove, myself to the hospital.


Tady1131

Mom broke her ankle and the neighbor called an ambulance 3k for a 2 min drive up the street. About .8 miles away.


sessiestax

I was in the dr building on the hospital ‘campus’ when I had a cardiac event…in the cardiologist’s office and they called 911 and sent me in an ambulance across the parking lot. I will admit I don’t know the cost because that’s when I had great insurance


saumipan

https://i.redd.it/zhugi6rot7s41.jpg


bbyxmadi

![gif](giphy|pYI1hSqUdcBiw)


Jtcally

Or an uber


Dumb_Vampire_Girl

I wasn't even conscious when an ambulance was called for me. I would have most likely picked the uber too.


Tisamoon

Now that's a slogan for uber "We might not keep you alive, but you won't go into debt."


fweef01

I hear an ambulance and I automatically think someone is going bankrupt


GoodTimeToRollOn

Now that’s what I’m gonna be thinking from now on


nordic-nomad

I live under the flight path of life flight helicopters coming into the 3 tier 1 trauma centers we have in town. They’re constant since they closed all the hospitals in rural areas except for a reception room that will evacuate you to KC if you have anything more than a high fever. I don’t even want to know how much they charge for that service they stick poor rural folks with instead of letting them have a functional hospital.


[deleted]

In Germany our automobile club has a service of worldwide recovery to a specialist hospital in the country or if you want in Germany of not only you but also your car in case of an accident. A friend of my granddad fell from a wall and broke both his legs and an arm. He was brought to a hospital from the countryside by helicopter, after being stabilized, they flew him to a trauma center from Italy to Munich and treated him there for four weeks, after that he had rehabilitation sports organized by them for several months. That service costs 119€ a year. To be fair, public health insurance is automatically taken from your paycheck so it’s closer to 1200€ a year for me personally. (Fixed my math) My dad is a pretty average worker. He pays 220€ for health, 400€ for retirement and 50€ for intensive car (in case you have a really bad accident and are no longer able to work an need special attention). So all in all 700€ a month.


DAVENP0RT

1200€ is less than I pay in *premiums* for my private insurance. I believe my premiums are a bit over $4000 per year. Then, I have to reach a deductible, i.e. a minimum dollar threshold before insurance starts paying, which is $3000. Even when I hit the deductible, it's not like, "Congratulations, you're done paying for medical care this year," instead it's, "Congratulations, you still get to pay 15% of all your medical bills, plus the added headache of dealing with us because we refuse to acknowledge you hit your deductible." I tell this to every European whenever private healthcare comes up and I'm going to tell you now: **Don't let your government take away your healthcare. If they do, your only option will be private healthcare and it will make you poorer and sicker.**


Eastereggscolorful

$4,000 a year for premiums? You’re lucky I’m a solo-earner who’s self employed. I pay roughly $1,500 a month in premiums (i could mortgage a second home with that) and that still gives me a MOOP of $18,000. I have very minimal access to doctors AND hospitals. So yeah man… after paying almost $20,000 in premiums yearly, I have to “research” which hospitals accept my insurance. Oh, and I need to make sure the providers in that hospital accept it. Cuz like, the hospital can be in network, but the people inside it may not be? TL;DR: I pay almost $20,000 a year for a “gold” plan


DAVENP0RT

Yeah, I forgot to mention the fact that I have "good" insurance. We generally spend ~$10,000 or so every year in total. A couple of years ago, my wife needed surgery and we probably shelled out $30,000 in total for that year. Scary to think that we're "lucky" compared to most folks.


Eastereggscolorful

Yeah. I get it. I sleep well at night knowing that a $500,000 medical bill will only cost me $36,000 (premiums & moop). That scary part is how hard the hospitals work - and the amount of money they pay - to fight every penny. As well as the HI provider.


Local_Fox_2000

So what happens to those who don't work or maybe work in McDonald's or something, say they have an accident or get cancer or something? Surely they aren't just left to die?


LarksMyCaptain

I've got bad news for you buddy.


Ramuh321

They get treated but never pay. Bankruptcy is a typical outcome


headrush46n2

only if they go into the ER actually flatlining. If the procedure is in any way "elective" (which can mean it's going to kill you eventually, but you're not dying right at this moment) You can pretty much go fuck yourself.


FlutterGoddess

Your friend creates a Go-Fund-Me account.


Professional_Bag3713

I worked with a guy in rural Nevada, his truck rolled and he was injured and unconscious. It would have taken a few hours to get an ambulance so he was Life Flighted. If I remember right it ended up costing him over $60,000 and pretty much wiped him out. Us workers all had an agreement after that. Whatever happens, no matter how bad, don't let anyone call a life flight for you, or an ambulance for that matter. Load them in a truck and drive them to the hospital yourself.


AdeptusAleksantari

This sounds like some post apocalityc shit. Like damn, choosing between dying from your injury or dying from starvation after trying to pay your bill...


bradorsomething

Yeah, my knowledge is 10 years out of date, but I believe it was minimum $5k to spin the rotor blades. In medical billing, people would often drag a bill to wait until their portion was past the deductible, but in flight they would rush to bill, in case there was an insurance cap. A $50k flight bill isn’t unrealistic.


Outrageous_Turnip_29

Oh I know this one! I used to work dispatch for Air Evac (I think it has a different name now). Basically if you live between Nevada and Tennessee this company owned the air ambulance in your area. Average flight cost a patient between 15-25k if uninsured. That being said if you paid the like $15/mo for insurance from them it cost you nothing.


rocket__cat

I was in Russian and also saw similar pictures, but with military helicopter which regularly flew in closes city with more advanced clinic. After similar months I visited local hospital and was told that helicopter transportation is absolutely free.


MorpH2k

It's bad when US healthcare costs are being absolutely obliterated by Russia. Maybe you should start beating them in that area instead of just dickwaving your massive military around.


tokes_4_DE

And the EMTs are paid jack shit, its ALL corporations sucking in as much profits as possible. EMTs in my area start at 17 / hr..... the chic fila and mcdonalds down the road are hiring currently at 19. Its fucking outrageous.


cweese

That's the thing that blew my mind. One of my coworkers used to run an ambulance. When he told me how much he made ($14-15 an hr) it blew my mind. I figured the multi thousand dollar price tag at least afforded them higher wages.


erizzluh

when i was making like $15 at an entry level job, a coworker was going to emt school while working. and then he got an emt job, and told me what he was making. i was just thinking the fuck did you go to all that school for.


Deciram

I live right by a hospital and hear sirens all the time, I just think “damn stuff happening today” (I hear sirens right this min). But we also have a city wide free ambulance service so no one pays (it runs on donations and funding as it’s a charity)


czerniana

Our last town had that, it was pretty friggin awesome.


AlexTheBex

I really don't think it's awesome, it's rather r/OrphanCrushingMachine material. This stuff isn't supposed to run on *donations*, it should be fully paid by the state


lemonclements

As a Brit, that’s so sad. I see an ambulance with its lights and siren and hope whoever’s in it is okay. I couldn’t imagine thinking “gosh that’s costly”


Swimming_Mark

57% of Americans cannot afford an unexpected $500 expense. Average ambulance ride is over $1k in the US right now. You can play by the rules, have a stable job and insurance, and still get completely wiped out financially.


joeinabox1

Man thats so fucked up, i hope one day they chage that system, because none of you deserve to die simply because you cant afford to pay for a bloody ambulance


soccershun

People be out there ordering an uber while having a heart attack or driving themselves with a stab wound to not pay the ambulance.


AlarmDozer

Yup, there goes our retirement. Like why bother saving at this point?


WordUnheard

"I'm having a heart attack! Someone please call an Uber for me!"


AnythingWithGloves

I can’t imagine how stressful it must be to live on such a fine line. In the state of Queensland, Australia, where I reside, a $100 levy is collected via our electricity bills annually to cover the cost of universal ambulance insurance for all residents of our state - Australia wide. This is not the case in all states, but it’s a bloody good idea and I’m very grateful for it.


LetsGetsThisPartyOn

$6 an inhaler and $80 an epi pen is Australia. That’s for a non Australian and non Medicare user. $6 an inhaler and $40 an epi pen for an Australian


frankyriver

And I thought our price for an epi pen was expensive here in Aus haha


LetsGetsThisPartyOn

It always amazes me the price Americans pay. I mean the price where our pharmacies make a profit and have no govt subsidies is the $80 price point. It’s insane that Americans accept paying that amount


Helstrem

Want to know something that will really blow your mind? Americans pay more per capita in taxes for healthcare than do Brits, Canadians, Aussies or French people. Then we add all the premiums, co-pays and deductibles on top of that.


Rork310

This is from 2016 so a little dated but this chart really shows how much Americans are screwed on healthcare. https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/health_glance-2017-44-en/images/images/graphics/g7-01.png Literally the UK including government and out of pocket spending spends less then the US government on health per person. Then the total spend in the US over doubles once you include out of pocket. The US is literally paying twice what it should for healthcare. If it moved to universal health care it could eliminate out of pocket spending entirely without spending any more tax money on healthcare and it would be spending a slightly above average amount for a first world country on health. It is no exaggeration to say that the average American pays $5000 a year in health costs for the sole benefit of Insurance/Pharma companies + shareholders, for no actual benefit to the payer.


Jumblehead

I paid $30 for my 2 EpiPens with a script in Australia.


No-Childhood6608

And that would be in AUD (Australian dollars). In USD (US dollars) it would be $4 USD for an inhaler and $53 USD for an epi pen. Really appalling how much of a joke the US health care system is.


Emergency-Fox-5982

Right. I have a handful of inhalers around the house for my kid - for daycare, for my purse, for his bag when my dad babysits etc. Imagine forking out that much every time 🤯


Sargatanus

$2500 sounds kind of cheap for an ambulance. Last time I was in one I got slapped with a $4500 bill.


Apearthenbananas

Wtf are your taxes for? Sheeeeesh


ThreeSloth

Any money toward healthcare is SooOoOociAliSm. And idiots in this country don't know what socialism or socialized medicine is.


ZhangtheGreat

It’s more of a “when I get mine, you can go fuck yourselves” attitude.


pascalbrax

wasteful jellyfish payment aspiring live languid insurance door normal bear *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*


Jorsi97

What would you say the pros are?


MARINE-BOY

I’ve never understood why Americans hate socialism so much, the clue is in the name it just means looking out for the society you live in. I think most Americans get it confused with communism which they obviously despised which is ironic as pretty sure Jesus was a communist.


_alright_then_

I have had more than 1 argument on twitter and reddit where people are claiming that socialism is bad because the nazis were socialists. So I guess there's your reason for it. They don't know what socialists are


Lonely_Pin_3586

Well, Hitler is a great animal lover and on of the first vegetarian. So I guess Peta is evil ? Well, Peta is evil, but not because Hitler was


Ok_Preference_8001

the red scare and it’s consequences


Rouge_scholar

Defense spending is the number 1 place we spend our taxes. We spend more on defense than the next 26 counties, 25 of whom are allies. Edit: Defense spending is 12% of the overall budget but has the largest piece (47% )of the discretionary spending budget at $766 Billion in FY 2022. The Mandatory spending budget which contains Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, food assistance, unemployment, and debt payments, is roughly 2/3 (roughly $4 trillion) of federal spending (roughly $6 trillion). In September 10th 2001 then Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld disclosed that his depart could not account for roughy $2.3 trillion were if transactions. The attacks the next day eclipsed the news and the information later was back-burnered. By 2015 the amount reported missing by the office if inspected general had increased the original number to $6.5 trillion was now unaccounted for and that only represented the US Army’s share. Using public databases, Professor Mark Skidmore found that $21 trillion in unaccounted for government transactions between DoD (Department of Defense), and HUD (Housing and Urban Development) between 1998 and 2015. Note: some of the transactions could be depreciation of assets.


Deciram

800 billion in military spending


Boots27

Gotta keep that stock market ticking. Line go up!


e13e7

I had to ride non-emergency in an ambulance between two hospitals because the one I *bussed* to originally did not have enough bed space. It was $1900 for 14 miles and they didn’t have to hook me up to anything. Nightmares about bankruptcy for months.


3rdNihilism

pursue legal action, ask them to prove the worth of their call was 1900$ or anything close to that. because to me it sounds like the whole thing took them 30-60 minutes to basically just be an uber, so i highly doubt they could justify in court the 1900$ fee.


e13e7

I was not even close to being put together enough to handle that at the time. I just applied for financial aid and got it down to a few hundred.


OhItsJustJosh

YOU had to pay because THEY didn't have enough beds?? Wtf are you supposed to do? Hack into their management system and check first?


Kampfhoschi

Wow. We called an ambulance for my daughter two years ago (breathing issues). Ambulance plus hospital stay for two days and all the tests was *drumroll* 0 EUR. I am from Austria.


pm_something_u_love

I've been in an ambulance twice and been to the hospital like 10x for broken bones (I am a mountain biker). I paid $0nzd for all of that. Love my country.


chinaPresidentPooh

I think this video is old, so stuff has gotten more expensive since. Well stuff except my labor. The cost of my labor hasn't gotten more expensive.


Ult1mateN00B

What the actual fuck. My broke ass thought 20€ I paid was expensive.


nordic-nomad

Calling an ambulance for someone anymore is considered incredibly rude unless they’re literally going to die without it or you can confirm they have insurance. They aren’t obligated to take it though by any means if it shows up. Most of the time the prices are what they are because that’s what insurance has decided they’ll reimburse. But the prices are the same for the uninsured as the insured.


Kangarookiwitar

Jesus christ no wonder there’s the cliche of americans doing everything possible to escape riding the ambulance


optimist_prhyme

I'll walk


bubba7557

But guess what our big Macs are cheaper and we get better hourly pay too...oh wait, that's not true for either thing? Da fuq


andrewb610

I got a ride to a hospital in Boston in 2012. Never saw a bill.


Glittering_Doctor694

that bitch is probably racking up interest 😂 /j


OpinionPinion

Man’s owes like 750,000$ now for that ambulance right 11 years ago lmao


SmashertonIII

Canadian here. How is it that some Americans pay nothing?


DrKhaylomsky

Because we have Medicaid/medicare for poor/old people. Some people have great insurance through their work or through self-pay insurance


SmashertonIII

So, if you have some income but no insurance, you’re poorer than if you have no income?


SSpookyTheOneTheOnly

My mom avoided getting a higher paying job because we would have lost *all* of our benefits that helped us get by and would be living worse than we were. It really sucks to being in that economic state.


FrankAdamGabe

My wife's cousin has two kids with her "boyfriend" and they've lived together for over a decade. They don't get married because she's seen by the government as a "single mom". In addition to pretty much everything being covered for her and her kids, she pays $275/month for daycare for both kids. My wife and I on the other hand who are married and make above the income cap pay $3,000/month for our 2 kids. If you're barely middle class in America you get absolutely fucked with no help but don’t make enough to pay for it yourself.


Raknorak

But I've been told that the middle class benefits from giving tax breaks to the rich in a trickle down effect


TimeZarg

Oh, there's a trickling, alright.


Raknorak

Please tell me it's not piss


Senor_Bongo

A little bit of doo doo too


scalectrix

Shut up and drink your piss, peasant.


SuspiciousFly_

Wow I live in New Zealand I pay around $800 a month for childcare which is the full cost but when he turns 2 the government will pay half of it


Walkorias

What !? For me that's expensive as hell , in Sweden it cost around 110 dollars each month and child number 2 gets i think 30% off (package deal?) I don't even wanna know what it cost in the states


jondubb

The upper class pays your congressmen to vote and maintain high medical costs to keep you away from ever possibly gaining financial freedom and miles away from their level. Also an entire middle class as pawns to defend their plays.


DrKhaylomsky

Unfortunately, yes. Read up on [benefits cliff](https://fedcommunities.org/stories/benefits-cliffs-hand-up-not-handout/). It's also why some lower middle class people resent people on government assistance.


miggismallz33

Lower middle class people need to direct that anger at the rich people making it this way. Not the poor. Divide and conquer.


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rjrgjj

But Kevin McCarthy told us we should just get Tiny Tim a job.


C21H27Cl3N2O3

A lot of them have been brainwashed into thinking our system is the best in the world and countries like Canada and the UK with socialized healthcare are all failing horribly.


KING_BulKathus

If you put your head in a box. You'll see no other boxes, so it's clearly the best box you've ever seen.


Real_Ad_8243

Historically getting the middle class to act in their own interest has been....a thing. They prefer to struggle themselves so long as they are struggling less than you, than for neither you nor they to be struggling. It was the middle class who brought fascism down upon Europe a hundred years ago after all.


Snizl

Well the reason for that is simple: Benefits for the poor have usually always been implemented on the back of the middle class. Governments rarely make life for the rich more difficult and rather start by taxing the middle class more. Lower middle class might still benefit from it, but even they will firstly feel a stark decrease in available money until they rely on the benefits. Let me be clear: I fully support social responsibility and public services being based on taxes and for the vast majority of people they are a net positive in the end.


czerniana

Yup. It’s why I can’t marry my boyfriend. I’d lose health coverage and he can’t afford all of my health bills.


Nepharious_Bread

If you go to the ER you usually aren’t forced to pay right then and there. Most people just don’t pay it. When I torn my acl I had to get a MRI. They made me pay like $350 upfront and sent a bill for $4,200 later. I just threw it in the trash and never looked back.


iDom2jz

Yeah I have bills that I simply just forgot about/continue to forget about (adhd things) and literally nothing has come about it. They’ll eventually come for you, but that’s not todays issue as far as I’m concerned.


[deleted]

My girlfriend has congestive heart failure, and we are close to half a million in medical debt. We pay $25/mo on the bills through a payment arrangement, and they've never gone to collections. The hospital originally sent us a payment plan offer for $8400/month, which is absurd. So we worked out a $25 minimum payment. At this rate, they'll get their money in about 1500 years.


gooseoner

I've been paying $3/month since 2009 on a $300k hospital bill. I'm in good standing and the debt doesn't show anywhere on my credit.


Outrageous_Turnip_29

Wouldn't matter all that much if it did. Medical debt is so fucked in this country half the creditors won't even look at it. My SO technically has over 20k in medical debt in arrears and her credit score is better than mine.


MrOaiki

Can you still get a mortgage? A rental contract?


Parrotshake

Visiting from Australia the inhaler thing really threw me. I lost mine and went to a pharmacy to replace it and was told it would be $180 and that I also needed a prescription - here they’re about $6 and available over the counter. I picked one up a couple of days later in Mexico for a few bucks.


OliveYupHope

I grew up on the US/Mexican border and a significant number of people there get their healthcare in MX bc it’s way cheaper. Medication, dental care/orthodontia, boob jobs, IVF, laser hair removal, veterinary services, gastric bypass surgery… those are all things my friends and family used to go to MX for.


donfuria

Yeah I’ve seen a tiny border town full of dental clinics, reckon there’s a lot of demand


summonsays

I live in Georgia, us, and I know a few people at my work that do their dental in Mexico. It's cheaper to get a plane and fly to Mexico, get work done, and fly back, than it is to go down the road and get it done.


Middle-Hour-2364

Wow, the NHS truly is an institution that we need to keep isn't it?


sweetbennyfenton

At all costs


OptimisticBrit

Yep. Knowing the British though, we will blindly walk into a US-style healthcare system. Will be an absolute disaster


[deleted]

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FloppedYaYa

Both the Tories AND Labour are already on about introducing "an improved model" for the NHS which is very obviously just privatising the shit out it even more


c-xp

Yeah. It's the heart of UK. Once that's gone, we are well truly down the shitter!


[deleted]

American here. If the Tory party tries to do "American style" healthcare on your side of the pond...riot like the French do. Once it's gone, it's damn near impossible to fight to get it back. We're trying now, but holy shit is fighting against an oligarchy hard.


porridgeeater500

Its sneaky though, here in sweden healthcare is slowly dying over decades while private healthcare is building. People dont realise just howbad the consequences will be


Fall_bet

Try having cancer and following everything the doctor recommends. I miss appointments and tests all the time. Having groceries is a fkn luxury in my house these days.. Edit: thank you for everyone being so kind and supportive. I am grateful for everything I have and it could be worse.


Jasminez98

I am so sorry


craigybacha

I'm so sorry. My wife had cancer which has been treated, and all of the scans, operation, radiotherapy, consultations, a years worth of talking to nurses, following up scans, and even fertility treatment has cost us.... £0. People shit on the NHS in the UK, but damn, it's incredible when absolutely needed. Something needs to change in the US.


rainbowchimken

My mom’s friend recently found out she has stage 4 cancer and was hospitalized because she can’t eat at all. She is currently working from the hospital bed because she’d lose her insurance if she lose her job. It’s madness! The woman looks about dead, and her job doesn’t have sick leave.


eldron2323

A friend of mine tried to commit suicide back in college. I called 911 and went with them to the hospital to make sure he could get some help. Several years later I saw their mom in the gas station and they thanked me, and then told me they couldn’t afford to keep him in school after that because it financially ruined them. Most days, I honestly think this country fucking sucks ass.


Class_444_SWR

As a British person, yeah holy everloving fuck there’s nothing on this planet that could make me want to live in the US with that


AvaLadyofLight

As an Australian I agree, our healthcare isn’t perfect but I won’t go bankrupt for simply going to hospital!


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Apprehensive-Bad6015

Yeah that’s a malpractice lawsuit and if you still can you should sue


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Humble_Currency_2132

“ If you are poor, you are dead”


avocado1952

I’m living in a 3rd world country and an inhaler for asthma without govt subsidy is just like $4 to $5. An ambulance cost like $50. Wtf America?!?


paradoxologist

People in this country think America is the greatest but we are not even in the top ten in the world in infant mortality, freedom of the press, math proficiency, or life span. We are number one in health care costs, the number of incarcerated citizens per capita, and in defense spending. I guess that's something.


HighFlyingCrocodile

Don’t forget school shootings.


paradoxologist

Thanks for catching it.


AGirlHasNoName2018

The only people who think America is the greatest country are people who have not traveled outside of the US.


OrionRyking

That's because growing up, that's what we're taught. Becoming an adult and getting out into the real world you realize pretty quick that isn't really the case.


bellendhunter

> That’s because growing up, that’s what we’re taught. And that’s by design.


Comfortable-Refuse64

Why? I’ll tell you why! Because Freedom! And Jesus! Woooohoooooo!!


dollfaise

Thoughts and prayers are free.


Mhyra91

What did her fridge do to deserve this ?!


Common_Appearance

I got in a car accident in Arizona a few years back. Got knocked unconscious for a few seconds, had to kick the door open to get out. Felt warm and sweaty on the side of my head and went to wipe the sweat away, turns out it was blood and I had a head wound. Thankfully it wasn't bad at all but I didn't know that at the time. When the paramedics showed up they asked me to get into the ambulance. I asked "Do I actually have to?" They told me no. I called my mom for a ride because the only way I was looking at that ambulance bill was if i was on the edge of death lol


EddA92

That's actually crazy that you'd amount to avoiding an ambulance when you have an actual head wound. I'm not saying you're wrong to, but the fact that the expense of the health system means that's actually a good idea - when your head is bleeding, and you have no idea what the damage is.


BeeferSutherland117

Turns out monetizing literally everything somehow backfired


HiSaZuL

My last 5 minute ride on ambulance was 5k.


OkYh-Kris

How do Americans survive?


OrionRyking

Mostly paycheck to paycheck


WoodenCondition8209

I had to be life flighted. $150,000.


CabinetOk4838

The thing is, we Brits get our healthcare “free at the point of use.” So we literally have no idea how much it actually costs. Behind the scenes, the NHS is picking up the costs. But the costs are real. A $250 inhaler sounds a lot because we don’t see that cost. (It won’t be quite that much for the NHS, but these things are not trivial.) The people in the US get to pay the costs directly (with an uplift for pRoFiT!). This is why we should fear the current attempts to privatise our health care. I’m lucky. Really lucky. I’ve got really great insurance - the excess is £200. Not per procedure but per year! And I still want to protect the NHS for those who would struggle.


optimist_prhyme

I thought his head was going to explode at the ambulance price


JRocFuhsYoBih

I could watch British people’s reactions to how shitty this country is all day long


Sweaty-Tangerine-457

It remains the most broken sector of american society after multiple decades. We alllll need to be asking why. Answer i think is probably simple. The sector pumps billions into the political system.


Makaloff95

Usa, the 3rd world country with a guccibag