When I was solo traveling in Japan, I had a little scare with my pacemaker. I am 100% pacemaker dependent so I was freaking out. They called me an ambulance…which only made me freak out even more, and then I was seen by the nurses, a cardiologist, had a full pacemaker work up and a chest X-ray. I asked them how much it would cost and was terrified Id have to cut my trip short. They looked sad as they handed me the bill and said “this is the best we can do since you don’t have the national insurance.” The total: $115 My jaw dropped. やすい! “It’s cheap!” I said with my limited Japanese. At that, they all looked so sad for me that $115 was a relief. Side note, I was alone and scared with a language barrier and those doctors and nurses were so kind to me. They hugged me and told me everything would be okay and walked me to the bus stop to make sure I was safe. A+!
@@marti5420 That was completely without national insurance though. Roughly the prize of a bed in an american hospital for a day or so (not including blanket or pillow probably)
@@gathoblaster4329 yes, the point has been completely missed. You guys are so used to paying for nessasary health care you view that as a bargain. That's not the point. $115 is still a lot of money for some people, the fact that they're on holiday, let alone in Japan, tells me theyre not one of those people. Health care shouldn't have a charge, everyone uses it, there are better ways to fund it while curtailing greedy drug companies.
@@marti5420 I believe that’s just how it works in countries with free healthcare. Citizens pay for healthcare through taxes but foreigners who don’t pay taxes there need to pay directly (the money does have to come from somewhere)
@@marti5420 I don’t think they missed the point. In other countries that has universal healthcare like Japan and France, the point is an uninsured patient is more uncommon bc of national coverage that actually works and is affordable AND if you are uninsured it is significantly less expensive and still affordable than in countries like the US where it’s privatized. In the US the risk of not being uninsured is much graver and inequitable, you would not be looking at a $115 for an ambulance. It’s not minimizing the $115 bc it is still a lot for folks without the means but it’s saying if somehow you don’t have the national health insurance that is affordable, it wouldn’t be in the upwards of hundreds or thousands of dollars (which is the reality for US), and this sounds like it is for a more costly visit. It just reinforces the point of this video which is the US healthcare system is broken and privatized healthcare sucks.
This is so real to me. My husband is American and we live in Canada. When he was diagnosed with Cancer he was so afraid of how much everything would cost. I tried reassuring him that he wouldn’t get a bill and that he just needed to concentrate on getting better. Which he did. He couldn’t believe the level of care he received.
I'm an American, and cancer is absolutely terrifying. No, I don't mean about the slowly dying thing or the potentially horrific side effects of treatment-- that stuff all pales in comparison to the knowledge that even the privilege of fighting cancer will cost me and my family every cent we have saved. If I die at the end of it all, all I'll have done is left them with a mountain of medical debt. And yeah, I'm insured.
Interesting. I have a Canadian friend who worked for a major pharmaceutical company in Toronto. When his wife was diagnosed with cancer he relocated to New York with his company immediately. His reasoning was that she would get care for free, but it would take precious time to get everything she needed. Unfortunately, when things are free the economic control employed is rationing. Which is typically what I hear about with Canadian healthcare and similar systems like VA and military care. Costs are controlled by only having a set number of seats, providers, beds, and no financial interest in reaching demand.
@@gmaillastname8591 no reason the ones with financial means should take priority over anyone else. The VA and other non private insurance companies do hold off on more elective things (ortho related surgeries) longer than the private sector but when it comes to treatments for cancer or other urgent matters the wait times are identical to private insurance.
This is the equivalent of an abused partner being surprised when their new partner treats them with respect and dignity. What should be the bare minimum feels like a trap.
very true! american here, because americans have such expensive health care, in other places, we would be shocked at how cheap it is. we can't believe it.
Exactly what I was thinking! So often, watching fellow Americans talk about getting health care in other countries. The assumption. The confusion. The shock. The disbelief. The trouble trusting something that seems "too good to be true". It feels so much like someone who grew up with or experienced chronic abuse.
Very true it’s outrageous how your charged for every little thing here about a year ago my brothers eye was starting to swell up we took him to the doctor all he did was pull his eyelid down say it was a sty and did nothing else then charged him 300 dollars
Exactly the usa are in an abusive relationship. You get gaslit to believe he is the best partner and others are jealous of your relationship (when they warn you its ab*se). Especially Europa is recently taking on the concerned family member trying to reach you role....but the gaslighting is thick. * physical ab*se and threats aren't normal: its not normal to have to live in fear of getting shot in peace time. * you have the right to be cared for: health care and social security are rights. * You can relax and do selfcare: you don't have to work yourself to death. You work to live, you don't live to work. * you have the right to not be poisoned: all those toxic things in the food. The foods not real and its causing health problems. In europe its banned but the usa values profits over people.
I'm a neurologist and my wife is a pediatric clinical geneticist. Whenever we get a child diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder we throw in a question if the parents are willing to live in Europe or Canada. Most of the children's care here in the US are cut short due to finance and sadly their lifespan too.
Well, looks like there's method to the madness of forcing women to give birth no matter age, health, poverty of the mother or whatever else. More children born to make up for the ones who essentially die from lack of riches, and so much cheaper for the state!
I love you?? That is the best question ever! When patients get pneumonia while living on the South Coast of Oregon, I bring up the fact that vacationing in Arizona costs less while being significantly more enjoyable. Sickness duration is shortened because healing occurs more quickly due to significant weather differences.
I live in Denmark. We have universal healthcare so when I was diagnosed with breastcancer ten years ago, I had the surgery done a week after the biopsy followed by 4 months of chemo, 3 months of radiation therapy and anti-hormone treatment ever since. I just finished my treatment. So I’ve been cared for with medications, check-ups, mammograms and ultrasounds every year for ten years and never have had to worry about costs. When people say ‘oh, you pay so much in taxes to the state in Denmark’, my answer is ‘ WE are the state. Taxes is the way we take care of each other. It is something I share with others. I’m not being robbed by a faceless ‘state’. ‘ ❤
maybe.. can you choose what kind of medecine? don't think so .. either you're maimed, bombed with chemo and their drugs or you may die.. you can't possibly choose any other kind of treatment .. but you have to paye their taxes.. so high taxes are paid either you use what other people choose or not. And of course you have been told since ever that only what they give you in hospitals is the "true" medicine .. this to me is called "religion" or "indoctrination"..
Yup. I had to go to the hospital in New Zealand. I was freaking out the entire time. They thankfully had an American doctor working there. I think I scared the ER staff. They brought the American doc in, who treated me and explained that they couldn't bill me bc they didn't have a billing department! I was extremely confused. I'm pretty sure no one in that hospital wanted to visit the USA after that. I heard the American doctor explaining to the coworkers that my reaction was very normal for Americans who went to the ER, and that's one of the reasons he left. New Zealand hospital staff were extremely nice
Yes as a New Zealander I have to say I take emergency/hospital healthcare for granted. Reading these stories I am counting my blessings! I do pay $52NZD per visit to my private general practitioner, some government subsidized ones can be as cheap as $18NZD but bookings can be scarcely available at times with those ones, so there is a trade-off. Common medicines are subsidized with a prescription at the pharmacy too. All in all, healthcare in NZ for me is a weight off my shoulders that was never actually there. Grateful.
They probably do have people doing billing, difference is, it's probably one guy per department who tallies everything up before sending the bill to the government who doesn't have the time to hunt down random people to badger them into paying bills.
@@melodipopham1844 very well put - a weight off your shoulders that was never there. Yes NZ does have a good health care system, as does Australia which, being larger, has deeper pockets so can afford after hours doctors who can visit you (and is also free). Yes of course both have their flaws but when compared to the USA, our health systems shine brightly.
Yeah as a New Zealander I've had the opposite experience and I was terrified to travel to the US. My work literally wouldn't let us go unless we had travel insurance. Thankfully nothing happened but the idea that I might be gravely sick or injured and have my healthcare ride on my insurance getting approved was really stressful.
@@DrEnzyme now try to imagine living with that fear every single day of your life from the time you are a small child being aware that any injury or illness you have will bankrupt your family leading to homelessness. Going into adulthood fearing that your insulin will be cut off when you are no longer on your parents insurance. And then imagine being an adult having to figure out which hospital charges what prior to you going in, and wondering if it's in network, or if you should just Google the issue and try and find homeopathic remedies on your own. Because that is what living in the US every single day as a citizen is like. We are extremely stressed out because we know we are only one accident away from being completely screwed
I once got sick in London and needed to see a doctor on a Sunday but I was too sick to leave my hotel room. The hotel said “we can call someone for you, but it will be VERY expensive.” I said, that’s fine, I really need to be seen immediately. A GP showed up with a black bag full of medicine and basic equipment. He examined me, diagnosed me, gave me medicine straight out of his bag. He charged me $100 including prescription. When I thanked the hotel staff and said that this was not expensive by US standards, they were shocked. “You don’t consider $100 for a house call expensive?” I shook my head.
I would have laughed when they said housecall... Unless you are wealthy you don't get house calls as far as I know, if you're poor you gotta take a public bus down to a clinic area... oh who am I kidding if you're poor and sick in the U.S. you die or you live through it, there is no 'go to the doctor' because even with health insurance you can't afford it.
As far as my knowledge goes as someone who works in US healthcare, doctors don't do house calls. Visiting nurses exist for elderly and disabled patients but they're VERY expensive. My father in law had a nurse come by once a week to check his PICC line after surgery and taught my husband (who was 21 at the time) to do the daily dressing changes and IV meds every 4 hours. He gave up his college education for months to take care of his dad because the visiting nurse wasn't covered by insurance since he wasn't considered old enough to receive daily care and wasn't a hospice patient. House calls stopped when private insurance stepped in. And Medicare (a federal program for the elderly and permanently disabled) and Medicaid (a federal program for people living under the federal poverty line or people who make too little money to afford private insurance) doesn't cover house calls at all because they don't know how to bill anything outside of an office, clinic or hospital. Also being on Medicaid is an absolute nightmare because most doctors don't take it because it requires prior authorization from the state to receive most treatments, and it doesn't cover much. Hospitals are required to take it, but if a physician or technician at the hospital isn't in network with your specific Medicaid HMO plan, you'll get a very, VERY expensive bill. I have many stories about patients who come to "the land of opportunity" from other countries and can't receive treatment ranging from a root canal to chemotherapy until they're permanent residents or full citizens, which takes YEARS to become. This country is fucked.
A big thing that I don't think people account for is pre-emptive health care. Free Healthcare sure sounds like a lot of tax money, that is true. But keep in mind that because it becomes free a lot of health expenses in the industry that would have used your taxes anyways become far cheaper. That individual who couldn't pay the tens of thousands of dollars for when they had their heart attack? Well, if they had free healthcare and they went in earlier, they could've found out they had high blood pressure and gotten a prescription for $15 a month. A lot of people can't seem to wrap their head around the fact that paying for a janitor is cheaper for your business than what would happen without one.
And they get free education as well, some countries going up to even tertiary education, which even my country costs us thousands of dollars relatively for a government institution, which is only 10% of the total tuition fees. Double the taxes for free tertiary education and cheap af(and free checkups) healthcare AND basic insurance coverage? Along with higher QOL AND expected annual income? Count me the fuck in.
@@swordzanderson5352 it's hard to wrap my head about the american situation, given that fucking Soviet Union had hc and edu from kindergarten to aspiranture for free, while being significantly poorer in the meanwhile. Like, it is more than possible, economically, to make it come true in the US. But seems like it's steppin' on someone cat's tail.
@@dandanovich6729 Hopefully this leading country actually becomes number one one day instead of just achieving that in CoViD cases. Then will the land of the free truly be free. Right now, corrupt capitalism and idiocy is what's unshackled, which is a damn shame. Can't say that country isn't the same though, but at least we're subtle about it. Some idiots carry it with pride whilst yelling 'Murica.
LOL...this happened to me. My wife found out she was pregnant while we were in London, and I asked about an OB visit at the hotel. They sent me to a local clinic where we filled out a small slip of paper (name, DOB, address). Not filling out a pile of forms was the first weird thing. Because she was a foreigner, I had to pay 20GBP. Doctor ran a test and sent us for an ultrasound. I asked how much it would be and he said "nothing". I said, "Well, I had to pay 20 pounds..." and he said, "No, that's wrong. Her home country [not USA] has a reciprocal agreement for health care." He went and got me back my 20GBP. We went and got the ultrasound, everything fine. I said, "Is that it? Do I have to pay anything?" Just like the video. I told her "Let's get out of here before they change their minds and we have to pay $1000!"
Same thing happened to me when we were visiting Dublin. I knew they had socialized health care. But I thought that as a non-citizen I would have to pay something. Like I’m trying not to be an American idiot arguing with the receptionist, but geeze, I couldn’t walk out without feeling like I was stealing.
@@alexh4935 Its quite literally cheaper to just treat you like any other citizen, it would be more work, time and energy to go though the effort of itemising charges vs just saying "ehh tourism euros will make up for it".
Why you going back to America? T.T Just kidding, I know it's family and maybe even narional pride stuff. But still, rushing back so you guys can pay more for the baby delivery is kinda odd to me :P Kidding, kidding - don't stone me
As a Canadian medical student, studying in the US, this was so odd to me at first… in my first month, I cried multiple times over it because it was so sad to watch. there was a patient that insurance stopped paying for their adult diaper, the patient couldn’t afford it. the look on the patients face when they urinated on their clothing while I was examining them is still in so vivid in my head. no one has to feel like this! especially when you worked all your life for your country and now that you’re old, this is what you get in return. very unfair, I hope the new generation of healthcare workers in America can stand for peoples rights
I watched a RUclipsr's interview with a man whose illnesses made it impossible for him to walk, move, even speak so he communicated by blinking, and his sister. At some point they were asked if they would go outside on walks and the sister said they used to do that when they had a wheelchair that she could put her brother in but they lost a lot of things, including the wheelchair, in a house fire and insurance hadn't yet approved for a new one. I'm not even American and that made me angry.
American here, and "no one has to feel like this" is more like no one *should* feel like this. It's not just the elderly either. My friend (late 20s) has a bad heart and he waited until his BP was 250/140 before going to the ER once to be sure whatever it was needed to be checked. My cousin suddenly couldn't lift herself off the couch and would collapse walking (40s at the time) and still waited 3 days before going to the doctor and finding out her potassium was 8.8, the ER doc didn't know how she was still alive. It's very common and just one of those things where you accept the likelihood of death. If you don't have money you may as well die in a ditch here.
Hate to tell you, but it's never going to happen. The doctors and nurses aren't the ones causing the problem, it's the administrators and lobbying groups. Standing up for basic human decency means nothing if the people advocating for it have no power, which we don't.
Issue why America does have better healthcare is 2 parts: one, we have to fund most of allies defenses. In NATO, very few pay the Gross 2% of their GDP. This includes German, and France, this doesn’t include the poor state of Greece which does pay it’s 2%. Since the USA is footing much of the bill, this means those counties have more money for healthcare and things. Secondly, laws regarding the cost of medical procedures are not effective if in place at all. The American people don’t want to fund it though since we have an open border right now and that’s letting a lot of illegals through. These illegals are not gonna contribute to paying for a healthcare system that they are gonna exploit by coming here. I say this as a person who has interviewed a half dozen families. They admit it and have no issue with it. Regarding the medical practice parts, I have had my wisdom teeth removed a little over a week ago and it cost several thousand dollars. They removed 4 teeth in under an hour. Additionally, I have a sickness that has started with my brother is working through the family. We could go to a clinic and see about getting some kind of medication to help us treat and recover from this sickness, but this would cost us a few hundred dollars and it not worth it when we could suffer a few extra days with over the counter medication. My family declared bankruptcy when my father have a series of strokes. The bills were not from fixing him. No they were from trying to figure out what’s wrong with him. Over 100k in debt over tests, not solutions. This is America and this is how it is.
I know I'm late to the comments (very late) on this video but I spoke to a nurse in Canada who treated an American with a broken arm. He was so scared it was going to cost him a bunch of money when she told him he wasn't getting charged for it he broke down crying. My wife lost her father because he had no healthcare. He was working on his roof and fell off a ladder onto his head. His neighbor saw this and called an ambulance to come check him out. He declined an ambulance ride to the hospital even though they told him it would be incredibly dangerous for him not to be checked out and he could have internal head or neck trauma. He declined because he had no insurance and couldn't afford it. He went inside to lay in his bed. Died that night, and decomposed in his bed for a month before someone found him. If we had universal healthcare in this country my wife might still have a father. I don't understand how it's so radical or socialist of an idea to have some sort of base foundation for your society to care for its citizens and give them a leg up. We've been brainwashed by politicians who get some of the best insurance in the world funded by taxpayer dollars who convince a large portion of the population that private insurance is the way to go. We have failed our citizens.
I strongly suspect that the pharma / insurance companies who are getting rich of the current system are pulling every dirty trick to protect their money - astro turfing, bribery, couple of donations to Faux News to make sure the working masses are reminded of what a fascist marxist woke thing national health care is ... And the thing is: if health care is guaranteed by the state, then that state very much as an interest in keeping it's citizens healthy and it's medications reasonably priced. I'm absolutely not saying the system is perfect: hospitals have a rotten habit of trying to get away with as little staff as they can. But there are incentives for those who have regular check-ups exactly to make sure health problems are caught early on.
Universal healthcare is socialist, but socialism isn’t necessarily a bad thing.people confuse socialism and communism all the time. Btw, there has been no true communist country, the countries people point to as communist are really a dictatorship. Russia is run by Putin, China by a dictator.
I love when Americans try to "gotcha" with DO YOU KNOW ITS NOT FREE YOU PAY FOR IT WITH TAXES? Yes, we're aware, thank you, that's how functioning societies work.
I usually just point out that they actually pay more in taxes for healthcare than all but 4 other countries. And then they still pay extra on top, making their healthcare the most expensive in the world.
Since we are sharing here… 3 years ago I, a US citizen, cut my finger off on my table saw when alone in the house. I flipped the frack out. My FIRST thought was, “how much will this cost me?” I wrapped my shit up with ice (through the bone, but still hanging on) with a towel, raised my hand and proceeded to drive myself to the urgent care 3 miles away. They said they couldn’t do anything and I needed the ER. “God, that’ll be 5x as much money!” I thought. And then drove MYSELF 5 more miles to the ER. Threw my keys at the ER vallet and ran inside. Walked in with my hand above my head and said, “help, I cut off my finger off on the table saw… Why is it so dark in here?” I woke up in a room surrounded by nurses. I could have died in a car wreck if I’d been any slower. All to save 5 to 11 grand on an ambulance. Total bill WITH decent insurance was 20k. US Healthcare is a joke. I’m still paying for that to this day. All because I wanted to make my wife a pretty candle holder.
Wifes and their wants for darn candle holders, when will they realise the cost it has on the poor husbands. Sorry to hear that man, thats just insane. Hope your finger was able to be reattached.
5 years or so had a major heart attack at home, ambulance ride, 17 days in hospital, pace maker, stint. Total cost $84.00CDN. Zero problem with our tax rates!
& for the total money you paid, one could fly to other free/cheap healthcare country, get it done & fly back home, while also enjoying the vacation. But yours was an emergency, so i Don't think it cud be done in your case.
This is EXACTLY what happened to me when I had an emergency surgery in France. After an ambulance ride, the tests, the surgery, and 3 days in the hospital I was released. When I went to the check-out desk I asked for my bill. The lady behind the counter starts laughing and said "You must be the American. There is no bill, but here is a list of the medications you need to take for the next 2 weeks." The entire ordeal including post-op meds cost me €65. The question is why does one of the richest countries in the world (the US) treat its citizens like trash?
Why do you think it's so rich? It was built on the backs of exploiting millions of people for hundreds of years. Still does. Just because you live there doesn't mean you aren't exploited.
Money. The US allowed unfettered freedom for people making their own fortune... which ended up creating massive megacorporations with practically no governmental oversight, including the pharma and insurance companies. Turns out the idea of the government not regulating "muh freedom" is just a way to give way to someone else doing it for the government, most likely on a for profit basis.
I guess the question is Why do US citizens PERMIT that they are being treated “as trash”. The country isn’t an entity that exists in some void. It is governed by its people. Or at least that’s what I learned democracy is.
@@casakaiser I was just coming on to ask this. I can see both sides - i've been scared to go to hospital (Miami) but if I have to I just go, without worrying (London)
Because some conmen convinced the public that taxes are evil and helping those less fortunate is enabling them, so any increase in taxes, even on only those who make more in a day than most Americans will make in a year, is unjust and awful, even if it would be used to pay for something everyone (except hospitals and insurers) would benefit from. Americans would rather suffer than allow tax dollars to go to someone who doesn’t “deserve” it (e.g. unemployed people, poor people, fat people, people with any vices, whatsoever, people who’ve ever been caught committing a crime, ever, etc.). Then those same people will go to church and pray to a man who said to care for the poor, pay your taxes, forgive others’ sins, help the helpless, etc. We’re really awful, self centered people.
As an American who got an Asthma attack in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia and got free treatment by a lovely Muslim doctor, she was just absolutely amazing, that gave me treatment within 20 mins of me arriving to the hospital. Years later I still remember how I didn't pay for anything.
@@supreme5580 I will say decent. It's not as good as European Healthcare. But hey, it's cheap (free for students, uniformed service personnel, disabled people and elderly people). As Malaysians, we need to appreciate our healthcare more.
I think nowadays non-citizens need to pay for medical care in Malaysia. It's still not much compared to America. A pittance really. But it isn't free any more, sadly.
@@namikazeleviit's a resource issue (I had an uncle die of a heart attack in an ambulance that wasn't outfitted with an AED or anything more than just a bed). The good people working in the system do what they can, but at the end of the day, not having the equipment is a big problem. Still, "we're trying to save your life with what the hospital has" is probably better than "we've got all the best doctors and medical equipment in the world and we aren't allowed to use it because your insurance said no".
Preventative care is so much cheaper for a country than reactive care, in so many ways. Pay now, or pay later, in healthcare costs, life expectancy, maternal mortality, mental healthcare, policing costs….the list is ongoing. If a part of the community suffers, it drags down the entire community. Taking care of the entire community boosts the entire community.
Funnily enough the country with the 8th life expectancy is Australia (where I work as a paediatric emergency physician). We are meant to charge American patients for their healthcare as we don’t have a reciprocal healthcare agreement, however we will often perform quick assessments in the waiting room for very low acuity presentations and advise people to tell the front desk that they left without medical treatment if no further management is required. Since we are all salaried it doesn’t effect our pay, and it saves the patient around AUD1500 💰
Honestly, Americans are fine with paying a reasonable amount. The problem is without insurance the prices are exorbitant and only come in the ballpark of reasonable if the care provider has a discount plan or the insurance actually pays what it should pay. Most of the time it doesn't, they'll over complicate the whole process with numbers and stipulations upon stipulations, so insurance doesn't have to pay people the prices they set with healthcare themselves. Insurance only insures one thing: Themselves.
@@ArcNine9Angel to us its the principle of it. Most of us working in public health wouldn’t have the heart to charge someone for what we consider a basic human right, it just feels wrong to do. I had to do it once for a guys xray and i felt like i was robbing him
I were wondering which country the sketch was about! thanks captain! The reason I wondered about it was because I were wondering which country did not charge foreign patients, but you captain'ed that in advance for me too :)
@@katierasburn9571 That is honestly so incredible to hear, I wish we had that level of care here without it being determined by the insurance companies....
I live in Ireland. Had a baby via emergency C-section this year, stayed a week in hospital. Then after 2 weeks went back with internal haemorrhaging, had major surgery, stayed an extra week. Bill at the end…zero. I have health insurance, so got private room stay for both surgeries. But what if I had no health insurance? Still pay zero, just don’t get a private room. That’s the way it should be! We don’t have perfect health care here, but you don’t go bankrupt when you have a medical emergency.
Not true ALSO Irish had a shit time with being treated like Shit because I was young and looked younger for Gaul balder stones. literally left to die on a waiting list (my first time having an episode they tossed a bunch of pills at me with no explanation other then " Might be your hear, or liver if your lucky might be kidneys or something else." and i had to force them to tell me what the pills even did!) any way after having to pay to get my own ultrasound privatly because they were taking months and months were i would colaps and not be able to breath and confirmed it was stones and not my FREAKING HEART ! I was STILL on a waiting list for surgery despite being a high complication risk (Cancer patient in remission, + family history as sister had same stones at my age and and pancious damaged form being misdiagnosed and then left to long untreated on waiting lists also) and when i could no longer eat withought trigering hours long episode (Plain cucumber and speseal less then 3% fat plain crackers not even meals) they told me they could maybe fit my on the roster in three months... I WAS EXPECTED TO NOT EAT FOR THREE MONTHS. I had to point out to them I would be dead by then and the ER dr told me unofficially I had to come back in 72 hours complaining of the same things and refuse to leave and even then they only listend as my mother is a nurse and had to come with me and refuse also (Keep i mind i had Lumemia as a child and am no stranger to our health care system my any stretch of the imagination) any way finally got a bed and place in sugery roster (thanks to an Epic emergancy dr who had a fit when they saw the state i was in aftering being left months like this and now had extra long stay due to copliations form delayed treatment ( :O no way right? ) found out they acully had a fair amount of open spases for surgery they just wanted a quite christmas so no unessary surgers.. hmmm yeah three months no eating is supper fine. ANY WAY I was fresh out of colledge no job and they hounded me and i mean HOUNDED me to repay them like loan sharks with a gambler (I had no idea my mecial card had expired and didnt know i was entiteld or even how to get one) calls of months to repay them and openly mocked for trying to set a payment plan I could afford.. Any way I could go on sepnt years of my life in our 2 tear system as my sisters have also been treated like shit when heaving there babys here as they are young. IF you are young and female you will be treated like shit here sorry. If you are not private you DO have to pay and they might leave you to die on a waiting list :) German , ukraian , spanish here all tell me they go home to see a dr.... Our staff out good (some of them) your stem ... hmm lets say we cant make fun of America were not exactly much better...
@@MissPrissRN88 you should leave after 2 days anyway. You know there are other people in teh world besides you, and a bed in a hospital is a limited resource. Staying in a bed for an extra week is nice to have, but the ability to do that does indicate that there are more beds than necessary and the hospital is wasting taxpayer money and being inefficient. Of course you would ideally like extra capacity, but perhaps the argument could be made that extra capacity should remain exactly that, extra and not used if not needed. Do you understand what I'm saying? healthcare isn't as simple as someone giving a personal experience and then you putting 2 emojis and pretending to have made some profound insight.
@@melanygalvez9192 that’s crazy money for people who are just bringing a new baby home. I thought with ‘good’ insure it would be completely covered or at least under $100. Thanks for sharing, always interested in health care costs abroad.
@@fahimrind9714 The hospital is saving taxpayer money by making sure post-op people are left to rest in the hospital for a while. That ensures that they do not overexert themselves and any potential complications are caught while they are still literally seconds from medical care. Also, non-ICU beds are rather cheap if you don't run them as a for-profit system.
Lived in UK for several years. I pay more in taxes now than I did in the UK and my healthcare was included. I had twins there and no bills. The broken healthcare system is one of the biggest problems facing Americans today.
I looked into US taxes a few years back and realised the poorest Americans paid more taxes than the poorest in the UK, people with average income paid roughly the same in both countries - it was only in the wealthiest bracket where Americans paid less than their wealthy UK counterparts.
@@ORDEROFTHEKNIGHTSTEMPLAR13 all of the above. In USA corporations are now considered "people" (citizens united ruling) and they can contribute a ton of money to politicians to vote their way (ie big pharma, insurance companies, etc.)
@@ORDEROFTHEKNIGHTSTEMPLAR13 It's the notion that insurance, esp. health insurance, is something socialist. It's being used by the GOP to fight against it. Even the little improvements introduced by Obama were heavily criticized. Most people lose their health insurance when they lose their job.
I got pneumonia in Costa Rica, refused to go to a hospital for a week because I was terrified of maxing out my credit card. My host mom finally dragged me to the ER because she was genuinely concerned I might die. I waited about fifteen minutes to be seen, had chest X-rays, a consultation with a pulmonologist, three breathing treatments, a shot of rocephin, and a sack full of meds to take home--inhaler, steroid, abx, etc. Because I am not a citizen and don't pay taxes there, I was required to pay the full cash price out of pocket. $355. A year later I got sick in Peru and was seen by a doctor at a public health clinic, totally free of charge. I asked how to pay for my visit and they were almost offended by the question.
Sounds like to me that the best way to do healthcare is to live in America where you aren't forced to pay stupidly high taxes, then go to other countries to use their healthcare they had to pay taxes for lol.
@@Goodgu3963 they pay less in taxes than I do here, you dope, and they're not paying separately for their health care on top of it. And again, I paid the full cash price out of pocket in Costa Rica. It's just that a visit that would cost $28,000 in the US cost $355 there.
@@Goodgu3963 I am not sure where in America you live, but you should check how much other countries pay in taxes, start by checking the property tax and start adding. You will be surprised.
I'm a first responder in the US and our healthcare system continues to enrage me on a regular basis. Many of my patients would not be in my ambulance if they could get proper care and their medications. Many more would not be dying or dead if they called us sooner but they know there will be a bill. It's sickening.
The last time I needed an ambulance I gave a fake name, phone number and address, declined service, and took an Uber to the hospital so I wouldn't get hit with a $10,000 bill for a 6 mile ambulance ride. America is goddamn ridiculous when it comes to medical charges.
@@IRLTheGreatZarquon No joke. I went a mile after a car accident because my BP was stroke range to the local VA ER and it was almost 1k. VA wouldn't pay it either. 😒
That’s the one thing a lot of Americans who argue against universal healthcare don’t seem to understand, even if you only care about money: Knowing that calling for help doesn’t mean a mountain of debt means people get help early…and then they don’t need the most expensive interventions later (or die, and then *you* dear taxpayer are paying for their loss of economic output). America pays the most money per capita from taxes for healthcare, and gets this garbage for it. Boggles the mind it really does. The US could probably slash the federal budget for it *and* improve quality of care if you had universal healthcare instead.
It took me 45 mins to get an ambulance in the UK for my grandmother when her heartbeat became irregular, stopped and started again. My US local response is 15mins max, same distance. I don’t love our US system at all, but I will say our ambulance response is much faster.
Wow. Yeah when my mom was having sudden extreme vertigo and vomiting, I called the ambulance against her wishes.. when the paramedics recommended that she be transported via ambulance to the ER, we literally deliberated whether it was worth the 3k ambulance ride to get there. Meanwhile she was throwing up every time she stood or sat upright. Healthcare in the US is so fucked up. The first thought in our minds is not ‘how can we get better’ but ‘how much is this going to cost me’.
@@michaelmartin8337 except democrats somehow don't really want to do that big of reforms too... Somehow I think only having two parties is a moronic political system that is as far away from democracy while still being a democracy. Why arent there more viable parties? Like other democratic countries have established that.
“No society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of a lack of means.” --- Aneurin Bevan, Minister of Health (1945-51)
@@teatin7876 Even under Starmer, the NHS will not become like US healthcare, far from it. And that's despite the Health and Social Care Act 2012 which effectively privatised parts of it. Honestly, primary care especially was so much better here before that bill was passed. A Tory legacy which will take along time to overcome.
@@teatin7876 regards NHS dentistry, I say that but I actually managed to register with an NHS dentist locally today. Finally! A year ago I was being forced to go to London, miles away. Even got an apppointment in three weeks which is good. Happy days. It's so much cheaper than private dentistry here, although insurance can bring the cost down it's a big difference. Do feel the dental surgeries should be paid more but I suspect they may have a new deal as there are numerous NHS dentists available in my area now. Those on low incomes, out of work etc can even get free dentistry, lucky buggers.
@@teatin7876 Yet the NHS has a larger budget than ever before, and is delivering far less.Look at the current waiting ties. 2023 total public spending on healthcare £211Bn (2008 = £102Bn). It is now 8.5% of national GDP. in 2000 it was 4.5%. Try looking at the fact, not the spin.
@@Talkathon408dentist should not be part of the NHS, not everything should be covered, because we putting a lot of pressure on the NHS, normal and rare things yes, dentist not, the same here in Spain
In many countries, like here in Sweden, the patient usually pays a modest fee that serves more to discourage abuse than to actually pay for care. It ranges from roughtly ten or twenty US dollars, to maybe the low hundreds. Of course we "actually" pay for care through taxes, but that's what taxes are for, funding the common good.
Yeah that makes sense, we pay a lot of taxes here in the US too, but somehow almost none of that goes toward our wellbeing and safety (aka supporting the healthcare system)
It is not common good. You pay a lot more in taxes than you will use. It is similar scheme that insurance companies use, but the people who get rich are corrupt politicians and not for profit organizations (at least they are not lying about their motives)
I’m a nurse in Canada. We had an American seasonal worker need an emergency appendectomy a few months ago. He had purchased some travel insurance but it only covered a very small amount. I overheard the site director and the surgeon talking about him at the nurses station “ apparently his insurance only covers a small amount” doc “ he’s a seasonal farm worker he doesn’t have a lot of money” SD “ OK well whatever his insurance pays is fine let’s leave it at that nobody wants to be chasing down people for money”
That's kind of how I think of things: it's just money, we should put people and their health above money. In a first world country, their is no shortage of money
I had a similar thing in my own country - my visits for checkups to the doctor cost me 20$ but as I was on welfare one day I couldn't pay - when the doctor learned I was struggling he simply wrote off the cost for the visit and the receptionist paid me back the 20$. My corrective surgery cost me 30$ iirc - and within that year I'd paid a total of 150$ which meant I didn't have to pay for any more healthcare for the rest of the year. This is all part of the public insurance each citizen has - which is financed by taxes.
@@themaggattack lol, That's the point right..? We use excess money to improve lives instead of drowning them in dept. In the US that money goes to someone with more cash than you.
@@autohmae An MRI machine ain't free, the doctors don't get their groceries for free when they go to the store. Money needs to go to healthcare somehow, it's not a magical fantasy world we live in. Most western countries have decided that taxes should finance healthcare while the USA has decided that corruption should drain money for no improved quality of healthcare and each man for himself.
The only thing I paid during my entire cancer treatment (chemo, radiation, surgery, more chemo, 5 years of follow up consultations, CT scans, and blood work) was for parking. Our healthcare system in Canada isn’t perfect, and Covid has badly strained it, but I am so grateful for it. I truly don’t understand why Americans resist universal healthcare.
Capitalism. Just about everything is about making a profit. A politician (maybe more) used a briefing about covid (at the start of the pandemic) to invest in a company which produces body bags. Need I say more?
I can agree with this statement. I too could point out MANY flaws for our healthcare system, but I'd be paying some 36k in medication every year if it wasn't for it. That's not to say that I think it can't be improved.
Fox news and idiotic "small government" mindsets that would rather die than pay a bit more taxes. It's funny, there are cases where individualism is good, but it also makes you vulnerable to the power of large money groups and ignorance.
I've been to the emergency room in Norway, the Netherlands and France (once for me, twice with one of my kids) and I had the same experience. It was fantastic.
Didn't Uber have to send out this huge announcement saying that their drivers/cars were not substitutes for ambulances because so many people were taking Ubers cuz they couldn't pay for the ambulances? But yeah, the amount of times growing up I heard that unless you feel like you're dying, you're not going in because of how expensive it was
"If you are not feeling like dying" Bad advice you could still have problems that could develop from the "at least Im not dying" injury. But that's reality in the proclaimed most free country in the world.
My cousin got hit by a car, and when he came to there was a woman there saying she had called an ambulance for him. He was quite upset and said he wished she'd called an Uber.
@@StealthXD1 That depends, if you are living in BC for example and you are a beneficiary of the BC Medical Services Plan, you "only" have a copay of 80$ ground or air compared to the over 800$ flat fee for a gound ambulance or the screw you amount an air lift costs.
I moved to the US ten years ago. When I told people I missed what I then called socialized healthcare, people laughed at me or argued in favor of the current US system. Opinions have changed dramatically, and now I almost never hear anyone argue against universal healthcare. And that includes the doctors.
@@bradhaines3142 so instead of paying taxes for something you can benefit from, you rather let them continue to use the taxes for unneeded military? Now that is progress
@@bradhaines3142 if you dont want healthcare, you are againt using taxes for the public health, so they are going to use them for other things. That is just the truth of the matter, you cant be like "neutral" cause not doing nothing equals to supporting what is already in place.
@@bradhaines3142 I see what you're saying, but we corporate would let your family get crippled if it saved investors a single penny. Their corruption is deliberate and intelligent, always pushing for worse and cheaper treatments. Politicians at least pretend to care about their voters, which may push them toward making better decisions. I'd argue that politicians are the lesser of two evils.
Healthcare is the sole reason I will never visit the US, even as a tourist. There are so many places to visit around the world that have free healthcare, that I'm not planning on going into debt for a broken ankle or pneumonia or some shit like that. It just isn't worth it.
As an American I enjoy opening my paycheck and seeing that my tax rate is 10-20%.... better to be taxed less all the time and just pay for the doctor when and if you need it rather than be taxed like crazy all the time for something you might only occasionally need.
@@tommywolfe2706 Yeah much more fun to be fu**ing bankrupted after a serious injury and try to crowdfund it knowing you might as well be playing the lotto to have a living after that.
@@predeterminedmeat5024 Well, I have seen a documentary about a lady who got cancer and she was denied treatment. The doctors told she would only have a couple years left anyway, so it didnt justify the cost of the treatment. That was in the UK, where they have that awesome health care that you like. But your example was good too. I have another one. A man in China broke his leg. He was in his 60's. He couldnt afford treatment. "but I thought they were communist, health care is free".....nope. They refused to do anything. Circulation got cut off on his leg from the break, it started to rot while still attached to his body (obviously) and he had no choice but to cut off his own leg. That was recent (within the last few years), you can see that for yourself online too. But sure, universal health care in these countries is so great.
@@predeterminedmeat5024 My uncle got cancer and had Obamacare. Treatement was $50,000, he had to pay a $12,000 deductible to get treatment. He only lasted 1.5 years afterwards before he died. In the UK, they would have denied his treatment. Not sure about the rest of Europe, but most of those places are the same. In Europe they would have said he didnt have long enough to live to justify doing anything and he should just live out the time he has left.
Has long been this way. A friend from Oklahoma suffered heart failure while on a European cruise 40 or 50 years ago. At next port, in a Scandinavian country, an ambulance was waiting to take her to hospital. Turned out she needed a new heart valve. She underwent open heart surgery for the new heart valve and spent three weeks or so recuperating in the hospital. Before leaving hospital, her husband went to hospital desk to present Medicare card. The accounting department said it would be too much trouble to deal with the paperwork, so forget it and go home :-)
@@peacefulminimalist2028not sure about that… my mother was a doc in a communist country and for foreign patients, they billed *every* nurse interaction, and of course every doc visit. Of course it was pennies, but still, an itemized bill was sent to Germany.
I watch a variety of RUclipsrs. One American talked about how, when she travelled to Spain for a university course, their (obviously Spanish) teacher sat down all the American students at the start of the term and said "Spain has universal healthcare. If you need the doctor, go to the doctor. If you need to take a sick day, take a sick day." All the Americans kinda grumbled in agreement. "No. I have to explain it to you all every year. I have American students who come into class horrendously ill because they think it will cost them a fortune. If you are sick, even with a cold: GO. TO. THE. DOCTOR."
Oh, yes, but not exactly, you can't just go to the doctor being a foreigner unless you exaggerate your symptoms in Spain. If it's not an emergency, and you are not Spaniard (nor have a European health care card) you'll have to pay upfront. 50 euros is the normal fee for a clinic consult.
@@anaryl actually no. who goes to the doc with a cold? that's actually a waste of recourses for everybody. it's not "free" healthcare. it's paid for by taxes. you could go philosophical and say money is made up, but your taxes pay your doctors, and if you abuse a system that's not built for abuse, you'll break it.
Ours ain't perfect either. I waited 6 years for a colonoscopy that should be done every 2 years. I didn't actually get it after 6 years, my specialist just arranged a cheap(ish) one at a private hospital. Only cost me $800.
Odd is a light way to put it. For those Americans who have been bankrupted by the medical industry and still can't even afford the medication they need to live so we just die, and just knowing yourself you could also get ill and be bankrupted yourself is terrifying. We are victims to the American Healthcare industry and the government which allows this to happen.
This sketch just really hit me. I work in an emergency room and had an American patient a few days ago who couldn't believe what he had to pay. Less than 50 euros. He kept asking if we would send him the correct invoice. It took a long time (and a lot of laughter. Because of my school English and his “astonished” lack of understanding). We got it sorted out and in the end he just said: "Can I please emigrate to here? I promise to be good too." I know he meant that in jest. But it was still nice to hear.
I remember I was arguing with my mother about why the US needs "free" health care, and the conversation pretty much went like this: Me: "Every other first world country has free health care." Mom: "And that's why they're first world countries!" She said, thinking that providing life saving medical attention made them worse than the US (she forgot what first world means).
When I first moved abroad, I had an interaction that was sooo similar. I went to a pharmacy to get medication and then hung around to check out. The pharmacist literally said, “why are you still here?” And I said, “to pay?” And she looked at me with total confusion. Getting my EU health insurance card was honestly one of the best days of my life. I felt such a huge weight lifted!!
@@kevinblume7042 I mean, here in Germany you have to pay for your medication, but just a very small % of it and like a max of 5 or 10 Euros cant remember.
The most I had to pay was €8,- for a bottle of mouth wash when I had inflamed tonsils, I think that was just because 1. it was a big bottle. 2. you could also get it as a (temporary) replacement for brushing your teeth, without prescription.
Gotta love when people are too stupid to check the tax withholdings on their paychecks. Remember as you’re waiting hours for an ambulance that you paid for it several times over and the government just pocketed that money.
A relative of mine had pretty much this exact experience in Norway. During a trip, he had a pretty serious health issue, and ended up in the hospital. He received very good care from staff (who spoke English), and the doctor did a better job of communicating with him than his high-dollar specialist in the States. He had travel insurance, but they had a little trouble figuring out how to charge it because the hospital had no billing department. It was pretty much the last thing they thought about. By the way, the cost of their healthcare system is about half what we pay per capita in the US, they cover everyone, and nobody goes bankrupt because of a medical emergency or avoids getting treatment because they're afraid of the cost. Their healthcare outcomes are better and their life expectancy is longer than ours. We are such suckers to allow this to continue.
Most people outside the US are at least bilingual... in my home country everybody speaks a minimum of 3 languages. Most know 4-5. No wonder the US has so many problems...
In the US, voters get what they vote for and the average US voter can't spell "health care". They are absorbed by hot button "issues" and, as a result, have their pockets picked.
@@CityKanin Most people in the UK are single language speekers, you see the world cannot get enough of our major language English. England has three other languages one of those is also spoken in more than one country, there are over 60 distinct dialects in England, and one Proto (before) English Language. then there are at least 10 different dialects of English in Scotland 14 in Ireland, and I think 3 in Wales, plus their own languages. I think as someone from the UK that is far more than enough toi be going on with for anyone!!
Different countries do it differently and all, but from what I've heard, if you're not a citizen or a resident, you'll probably get "I'm so sorry, this is really embarrassing, but I am going to have to charge you today. That will be $20."
Do that with a US citizen and you'll get either a pained "oh no, 20 000 ?" or the look of somebody who's looking for a polite way to say "I have great doubts in your English language skill, can I talk to a colleague of yours who knows English numbers?"
@@Julia-lk8jn I heard of a touring musician who got the bright idea to jump off the speaker at a show in Mexico and broke his knee. At the hospital, he was told "since we're not in your insurance network, you'll have to pay for the surgery out of pocket, which is (a number in the tens of thousands". He and his wife thought that sounded like a normal number out of insurance and started trying to figure out how they were going to pay it without going bankrupt, and then realized that was the cost in pesos that converted to like $800.
I fell and twisted my ankle 3 weeks ago and used the RICE method. My supervisor said that I needed a doctors note to avoid a citation. The next day most of the swelling went down and I managed to get to an urgent care. I had to pay 115 USD just for the doctor to say good job, just keep doing what you're doing.
worked at target for a seasonal job in HS. Was geting light headed stocking the detergant aisle because I got that pallet every time somehow. They told me get a doctors note, I checked and it would have cotst me 400$. Like... what?
@Sofa Miller Definitely not as much as they made. I believe it takes about 1 second to say "good job", so that's, like, $414,000/hr if he manages to say "good job" to one patient every second. Sort of a funny image
My insurance story: I moved to Guatemala and began to relationship there. My bf was cooking one day, and the pan, full of oil, accidently got on his face and chest. Terrified and worried about the cost of this horrific injury, Nevertheless, we got him to a community hospital. Once he got out, I was looking around through the various medications and such and asked where the bill was. "Workers here qualify for IGGS....basically free." So, even in a "3rd world" country, they can afford a form of socialized medicine for basics and emergency health care. While the richest country in the world just a few thousand miles north can't be bothered to provide something similar.
And South American people are flocking to America to live on the street, get a poor education from a crummy Education system, pay through the nose for healthcare and be discriminated against by the locals. Makes you think.
Yep, most Americans balk at the word social###. They've been indoctrinated by the likes of FOX and the republicunts to think that socialistic policies are somehow communist. It just shows the level of education really.
"richest country in the world" 30% of Americans live in poverty. The bottom 50% make less than $45K a year, which is still poor. 90% of Americans make less than $100K a year. Us having billionaires doesnt make the country rich.
As an American working abroad for the past 6 years, I can confirm this is EXACTLY how it feels the first time you go to a doctor for something big. I ended up in the ER with pneumonia because I stubbornly refused to go to the hospital until I was actually drowning in my own lungs. When they released me four days later, I had was sure there was some kind of mistake when I saw the bill. Korean healthcare isn't free, but it was almost free. The next time I was sick, I didn't hesitate to go to the doctor.
I grew up in poverty in the Midwest. Going to the doctor when I got the flu wasn't an option most of the time. I usually just took vitamin C and worked through it. That's the scary reality for tens of millions of Americans. It's one of the main reasons I'm not moving back to the states.
@@QualityPen I would like to point out that most of the time you just though out a disease, you only go to the doctor once it gets bad because usually anything less than a lethal disease is gone within a few days with more bedrest and healthier food. So unless the symptoms are severe, going to the doctor is wasting their precious time.
And this is why healthcare in single payer countries is ~half the cost of what it is in the USA and has better outcomes. You go to the GP without worrying about the cost, get your stuff sorted when it's easily treatable and save the tens of thousands of dollars in cost to have someone in hospital for a few days.
@@zyeborm Literally the same in the US. When people complain about bills it's because they went to the ER/hospital when it wasn't an emergency. We have Urgent Care that'll take you in immediately and treat for like $20-$50 and send you on your way. Same thing with most common surgeries, schedule with a private clinic VS hospital and it'll be MUCH cheaper.
@@bojohannesen4352 err, kinda. At the moment we just don't get seen. Over 1 month for the GP (family doctor) and a single scan took 6 months. High immigrant population + NHS fired 30,000 staff for refusing the covid vaccine means high demand and short supply. Needed an ambulance for my wife and they said it was a 10 hour wait. Joy of joys.
@@mandowarrior123 No, it depends where you live. I live in Staffordshire and saw my doctor the next day after phoning for an appointment. My mother has just had a shoulder replacement, her second, her other shoulder was done last year. It really does depend on where you live.
@@mandowarrior123 I’ll still take some wait times over paying anything. Couldn’t afford healthcare otherwise and would never visit a doctor for my issues without the NHS. Also, free prescriptions here in Scotland means I can get those without worry too. I had less wait times when I was in Aberdeen, where I stay now is much more populated so the wait times are longer because you have more people to each doctor. Just wish the tories weren’t hellbent on destroying and privatising it all.
Pilgrim in 1750: "Well, shucks, I got a deep cut, that will infect, I'm done for, goodbye Margareth, my wife, I'd dead" American in 2023: "Hey Margareth! Do we have health insurance? No? Well, shucks, I got deep cut, that will infect...."
Some of the arguments here are a little worrisome. Yes we pay taxes, so that we can provide affordable health care to anyone that needs it. This is a problem? Really? Yes, if you have the money, you can pay for non urgent treatment quicker, and not be on a waiting list. Or you can wait and be treated for free. Is that really a problem? Our system isn’t perfect by an means, but I’ve never had to worry about going bankrupt to get health care. 🇦🇺
Its crazy! They dont seem to understand the whole scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours thing. We all pay for each other because inevitably we will all need to go to the hospital at some point in our lives, and we all have the right to life and for that life to be as healthy as possible. I couldn’t stand to think my neighbour is dying because they can’t afford treatment, thats awful!
and yet, many people in Aus and NZ still can't afford health care, and no, they're not "lazy system exploiters". And waiting times in the public system are actually dangerous (waiting months for an MRI, years for specialist care and surgery). We need to wake up and realise that just because it's not as bad as in the US, doesn't mean it's good.
@@miyounova You should check your facts before spouting your American propaganda. You've missed the whole point of "Free Healthcare". Nobody can "not afford it", it's free. Yes, our taxes pay for it but if you don't make enough, you are exempt from the medicare levy but the healthcare is still free. What do you get for your taxes?
@@miyounova Your BS about free healthcare not being able to be afforded? Whatever that means...my son has been waiting for the insurance to approve his MRI and medical treatment for almost two years now. If he was in Canada or Australia, etc, he'd have been treated. We have to fight with the insurance to get even what we pay for here in the US. You should really educate yourself about this. American healthcare is the worst in the so-called Western world.
As an Australian who dated an American living here for a while, I can confirm the "but what's the catch?!" freakout is real. He legit was panicky when he found out he could just walk out w. no financial follow-up, & was convinced another shoe was going to drop. But nope; you have to pay for specialists here (usually still less than in the US, tho) or else go on a waitlist, but for standard GP/PHC treatment at a public practice or for ER attention, that's just kind of treated as a basic human right. And I think it should be. Any nation which can't work out how to make its citizens' taxes cover any _emergency_ medical care they may require is a failed state.
I live in Malaysia, a American friend came for a visit but got awfully ill. We brought him to a hospital. He had to pay RM20(5$) when he arrived. he spent the night there, got a blood test and x ray. In the morning he was feeling better and wanted to pay, but the desk explained that he had paid last night. If he was a local, he would have to pay RM1(0.25$). He was so speechless 😂
I mean, technically the US does cover any emergency medical expense for those who can’t pay. People cannot be turned away in an emergency because they can’t pay
I live in America. I have many things I need to go to the doctor for but I find myself having to prioritize over many months or years which thing I treat because there is no possible way to get what I need without paying thousands of dollars a year. When I hear in other countries everything is provided, I can't believe how stressed out I am and how hard I have to work to afford just basic things while I'm being poisoned from every direction on top of it.
I'm lucky enough to have pretty good health care. Which I pay for of course, me & my employer. But I'm still knocking out a bunch of appointments before I retire & go on Medicare and become a second class citizen. 😔 Why does that political party want to destroy Social Security and refuse to pass free national health care???!!!
When he asked "What's the catch?", I felt that. There have been so many times in my life I've passed on medical care because I was terrified of the financial repercussions. Now that I have insurance, I still pass on going to doctors for a lot of things because old habits die hard.
I'm the exact same way. Even after I got health insurance for the first time I finally saw a doctor once, big mistake. It still cost me almost $200 for a single visit. No additional scans or medical prescriptions. I haven't seen a doctor since and it's been over 4 years. I count my blessings every day that I'm healthy and don't have any medical complications that force me to go.
Living in the UK, the thought of having to pay or even fill in a form when I see a doctor, is alien to me. Given the number of times I've needed treatment throughout my life and the fact I now have regular checks by a hospital specialist, perhaps that's no bad thing.
@@grahvis I swear literally everything in America is specifically engineered to keep you in debt. If you want more education? Debt. Healthcare? Debt. Sure families that are well off will obviously think it's not bad as I've had people tell me it isn't that bad. My family isn't completely poor but we struggle with bills sometimes and if I had to pay hospital fees, if not for welfare, there would straight up be times I'd have to go without eating just to be able to afford that shit. I can't imagine the situation for people even poorer than me.
I am an American living in Canada. It's real! My partner got three exams by three doctors, an ocular ultrasound, and an MRI all in one day, and I paid $5 for a water and a croissant at the Tim Horton's in the hospital. It was amazing. When I got bit by a patient (I'm a vet), I went to the urgent care and afterwards we hovered by the front desk and they said 'no, you're good, go.' I felt like running out, jumping in the vehicle, and yelling 'start the car!' like we'd just robbed a bank. It's very confusing.
@@rogerchurley4500 Well you're lucky your insurance covered it. I had to pay 10% of my post-tax income to healthcare out-of-pocket costs, and I have insurance. That doesn't factor in premiums.
I had this very conversation with an American girl who lived in my postgraduate halls in Belfast years ago. She sprained her ankle really badly, then after treatment argued with the doctor and nursing staff because they refused to take her credit card. When she got back home, she checked with me that the hospital had done the right thing in letting her leave without paying. She couldn't understand what was going on and finally I had to say, "You got your ankle looked at and treated for free... what's the problem?" "How is your health care funded?" "Taxes and national insurance." "Really?" "Yep." She was still totally bewildered.
@@GiygasStarman A fuck ton of taxes? for healthcare? Hell no. Bear with me: In 2019, OECD countries health spending average was roughly 9% of GDP. Of that, 7% comes from taxes (+ mandatory insurance where it exists), 2% is out of pocket + voluntary private insurance. In 2019, the US spent roughly 17% of GDP on healthcare. Of that, 9% comes from the federal budget (that is, TAXES), 8% is from insurance and out of pocket. Let's subtract from the federal budget portion the expenses for VA healtcare in the US (as all the other OECD countries have almost no veterans to care for), which amount to roughly 1% of US GDP. And let's wrap it up: in the US, almost double the amount of collective wealth goes into healthcare every year compared to other OECD countries (16% vs 9% of GDP). The portion of the expenses that's funded with taxes money is roughly the same (8% vs 7% of GDP). But in the US, citizens have to top that with 4 times the amount coming from their own wallet (8% vs 2% of GDP). That's a steal!
@@GiygasStarmanthe way Americans talk about our taxes you'd think we can't afford to live anymore. You Americans have less taxes and still rate 38 spots above us in poverty rate.
A friend of mine (an American) was super supportive to me (a Brit) when my sister was seriously ill with covid last year. Thankfully, my sister pulled through after about a week in hospital. When the crisis was over, my friend asked me if my sister had a Go Fund Me link for her medical bills that she could contribute to. I was so so touched that my friend wanted to help in that way, but also absolutely staggered that that was even a thing. I'd never heard of something like that before and I had to explain that my sister's hospital trip and all care was entirely free.
I (kiwi) had the same experience when my aunt was hit by a truck and lost her leg, all my usa friends were so caring and offered to donate for her bills and her time off work and I was like ??? What? Hospital is free and the government pays her wages while she's off work? Horrifying that even is a concern for them. I can't imagine
That’s because many Americans believe all sorts of crazy lies about “socialized health care” and few have experienced outside of the broken US system. 🙁
American here & reading your comments fills me with pride over my fellow citizens’ very real concern for your family member’s health & subsequent financial well-being. (It’s hard to have one without the other) The reason for their reaction is that it’s terrifying to be seriously ill here in the USA. There are only two groups of US citizens who don’t have to worry about the cost of healthcare: the extremely poor & the extremely wealthy. The extremely poor are covered by Medicaid which pays their medical bills, however many private health care professionals do not accept it & the poor end up going to the emergency department of hospitals for routine care. (The truth is that Medicaid pays so little that most doctors in private practice cannot afford to care for patients on Medicaid.) The huge majority of Americans who fall within the “middle class” very often end up going bankrupt in order to pay for much needed healthcare. It’s an absolute national disgrace & a nightmare. Also this is not new, our medical system has been like this forever, but as medical treatment has become increasingly expensive it has also become financially catastrophic for the majority of Americans.
Go Fund Me is now the largest source of payment for medical bills. Even its founder realises how screwed up that is. Insurance is the wrong model to pay for healthcare. Insurance protects against unexpected occurrences, it is expected that most people will need some medical treatments throughout the course of their lives. Also, Insurance wants to pay as little as possible, so they are reluctant to pay for screening and preventative treatments. They also recommend cheaper treatments than the doctors prescribe.
I am so incredibly thankful to live in a country with near-universal healthcare, but those of us in this position shouldn’t feel too smug, and can’t take this for granted. The lobbying for privatization is relentless in many countries. In Canada for example there are efforts by conservative politicians to defund our public healthcare system, and as it strains under the pressure this creates, conservatives & big business use this as “evidence” that we should bring in privatized healthcare options. DON’T let people convince you that a chronically underfunded universal healthcare system that is struggling is ‘evidence’ for privatization - it just proves we need adequate funding!
Short of the odd politician from one province looking for press coverage, can you site a single reliable non-bias source to back up that claim? Because I have yet to see one mainstream conservative politician that has made any claims whatsoever to defund healthcare. I have however seen a lot of incredibly bias left wing media articles fear mongering that shadowy figures are lobbying "right wing" politicians to privatize healthcare which any politician with any common sense would flat out reject since it would be political suicide for anyone (left or right) considering 94% of Canadians list maintaining publicly funded healthcare as a top government priority. Its easy votes.... stop buying into bias bullsh*t news.
I'm from Ontario. It's not just the Conservatives who are trying to underfund it here! (And no, it's not like BC, where the provincial liberals are the equivalent of the conservatives anywhere else). Also, the visiting American would have been charged since, like the rest of the country, we don't really have public healthcare, we just have public health insurance, and a lot of non-residents aren't covered.
I taught in South Korea, my American co-worker and I got sick with the same cold and our co-teacher took us to the clinic one afternoon. I am Canadian, so I was like great free ride, my co-worker was freaking out about the cost saying he didn't need to go, he'd be fine in a few days.... the total cost for the visit (plus getting medication at the pharmacy) was like 10,000won, or about $10. The whole ride back to the school he just kept going on and on about how that visit would have easily been over $100 in the states. It is just sad, American puts on such a front of being the best country and all this, but it is really a very broken country.
@@timothypeterson4781 Before making an attack on an unknown person's integrity, it is not a bad idea to get things right. The gentleman was an American teacher in Korea.
@@timothypeterson4781 A lot of people who teach English in Korea come straight out of university and there is no requirement for a background in education. He had a bachelor's in computer science and a TESL certificate. I know when he left he went into programming. So, he never worked as a teacher in the states.
@@timothypeterson4781 I teach at the university level in the United States. My copay for a walk in would be $50. If any diagnostic tests were run, I would be responsible for 20%. If any medications were required I would have the cost of the medication or a $40 copay, whichever was less. Given the cost of most medications these days, I pretty much count on the $40 copay so, assuming no diagnostic tests were run, probably looking at $90 - story seems pretty consistent with my life experience.
My favourite response from a GP when my American accent spilled into the appointment “Don’t try to give me money, we are a civilised nation and take care of our people. But you can always fetch a cuppa for the nurses if you feel guilty about getting something for free.” Hadn’t even mentioned money. Got the impression the poor guy had had to deal with one too many American tourists.
at my school we had exchange students from the usa who stayed for a whole year and the principal gave them always "the talk" as soon as the arrived: "if you are sick, go to the doctors... no, really... if youre sick go to the doctors right away. dont wait 2 weeks, go to the doctors. its free. dont come to school sick, go to the doctors..." it was a strange new concept to them...
@@MrNukedawhales It's so strange to imagine higher education like that. Here we really are told to "suck it up already" because our "free" aka debt for the rest of our lives education wherein we endure repeated abuses is such a privilege and gift. 😒
As an American, I can't even laugh at this...it's too real. I have "good" insurance from my employer and I pay out the ass for premiums (deducted from my paycheck). I have a $900 yearly deductible, plus copays and 10% coinsurance. I spent ONE NIGHT in the hospital after my hysterectomy last year (NOT by choice, my surgeon decided that), and I paid $2500 out of pocket. I honestly wish they'd just sent me home right after, my bill probably would have been half that. So yeah, our healthcare system is beyond abhorrent, and I'm one of the lucky ones. :/
@@skipj5480 the 900 deductible is what hep pays before the insurance actually kicks in, then he has to pay 10% of the costs which is where the rest of the 3200 comes from. His premium is what he pays to have the insurance and if its anything like the insurance we have available hes paying anywhere from 300-500 a month just to have the insurance. So at min he pays 3600 a year but its probably closer to 6000 a year. That just to have the insurance, not plus the copays and out of pocket.
@@mjarred87 My brain can't even begin to take in that much money to pay in a year for the "privilege" of having health insurance.... and then STILL having to pay even more should you have the audacity to actually USE that insurance. Terrifying to think about. 😔 I've never seen the $$ figures involved before, only that there is a very complicated system for any health cover. With those kind of costs I'm not surprised about the "46th ranking" he mentions in the video!!
... you stayed in the hospital...after a surgery...and only paid 2500?.....I WAS IN AN ER FOR 4 HOURS AFTER COMING IN FOR CHEST PAIN, THEY SAID IM FINE AND SLAPPED ME WITH A $9000 BILL
@@haleywharton1283 Did you have insurance? A stay in the hospital for three days with just antibiotics and saline for two nights and three days with no insurance years ago cost me 28000. A three month stay with insurance just last year ran me 3000 after the deductible. The difference is insane.
That's exactly what I feared the logic would look like under the hood. Their way is always the best way to do anything you could possibly do, just because it's their way.
Not to defend our US health care mess, but if you are 65 or older there's Medicare, about $140 a month including hospitalization and prescription drugs and if you choose Advantage. If your income vs rent etc. is low enough you qualify for SNAP (called food stamps many years ago), with a monthly amount on a sliding scale depending on how those numbers work out, with a per person maximum of around $200. Because of how crazy our non-system is in some cases a drug (like a new one that works on autoimmune problems that I get) is somewhere over $1000 a month copay - or free if you make under $60K a year, with no age minimum.
Meanwhile I'm Canadian and I had to move to the US for work this year. We almost cried trying to choose between health insurance plans. I feel like we're cattle or something, being auctioned off.
I know what you mean. I'm sorry you had to go through that. I wish you the best and hope you stay in good health. The American healthcare system is literally just a cash grab system, it's terrible. I know, I live here and when my mom got cancer, we nearly went into poverty because of the bills. My mom's still alive and well though, so good news on that end.
Brazilian here. My mother discovered a severe heart condition that needed surgery in the beginning of the year. Since it was a very specific problem, the specialised hospital didn't keep a stack on the items needed to be implanted during the surgery (since they are biological and not produced in country). Took her to the er on a Friday since she was getting worse and the doctors decided they wouldn't wait for the normal line of medical equipment importation. They filed an extraordinary form and in 20 days the parts needed were already in here and she was already operated. We didn't pay a dime and she received the best possible care, with the best equipment avaliable in the world. So yeah, free health care is absolutely essential.
@@conspiracypanda1200 Honestly? Do it. Our system isn't perfect, but at least it's *there*. We're all living in the same planet, we all deserve the same basic goodwill from a fellow person. Come to Brazil, get your healthcare, and eat some coxinha.
I am so grateful to be a Canadian. I once was pregnant with triplets; it was a complicated pregnancy that put me in the hospital for 2 months prior to delivery (severe polyhydramnios). After delivery, my triplets were in the NICU. I developed a severe deep lung infection (from being bedridden for so long) and had to remain hospitalized for another 2 weeks after delivery. I was also flown by air ambulance from my community to the big city which also included ambulance rides. If I was an American, I would have had to have sold my firstborn to have been able to afford all this. There is nothing like free healthcare. Plus, I had the very best doctor ever (lectured worldwide).
As a fellow Canadian, I've had a Heart Operation 10 years ago. To this day,I still don't know,or any bills for being, inthe Hospital for 2 and a half weeks. Yet in the States the Operation would be well OVER $12,000.
The catch is that at least here, in Canada, we pay higher taxes on things. WORTH. EVERY. CENT. If it means that an immigrant mom can have the same care as the richest guy in the city, I'm fine with it.
Funny thing is .. usually countries with high taxes got everything baked together to make that high tax. The US got that big tax number split into tons of tiny things so with a quick glance it looks like they are paying less taxes .. but overall its around 45%~ of their salary that is taxed with healthcare insurance added :P. So US people who say they pay less taxes then the "high tax countries"... not really, they are just looking at 1 part out of their 5+ different taxes.
Back in my retail days, I had a Canadian tourist visit my store and gush over how cheap consumer electronics were in the US compared to Canada. This went on for a while, and I finally got so tired of hearing it that I told her I would gladly trade our luxury good pricing for their "free" healthcare and greatly subsidized tuition. Her response? "I never thought of it that way". Hopefully it stuck.
Canadian here - I once knew of a psychiatrist who completed a 2 hour assessment on a child who he found out later had refugee status and hadn't yet secured a healthcare number to cover fees by the time they were seen, and he had no idea how to bill the visit - he certainly wasn't going to send it to the family to cover. Ultimately he just considered it a pro-bono visit where he wouldn't be paid for his time at all, but he later looked up how much it technically should have been. $2000 to assess a kiddo for learning disability, formulate a treatment plan and provide a report to their primary care physician with suggestions on how to help them in school. He wasn't willing to compromise on the kiddo's care and I respected the hell out of him for that. And knowing that for some in the US, 2K would be a steal of a deal compared to the bills they get, blows my mind. Whether or not there is a wait, as a patient I'm so bloody grateful that during my times of pain and struggle I don't have to worry how much the whole ordeal will cost me. I can just focus on getting better.
This is why as someone who works for the nhs we actually have the nhs, because there is no way i could have the heart to slap a huge bill onto someone whos been seriously ill and potentially had their life changed. Though sometimes i wish i could charge people who are clearly wasting my time for taking a valuable spot!
Americans talk about “the wait” in countries with universal healthcare, but my kid needed to see a therapist and it’s taken almost 2 years to be seen. We’re still waiting we have an appointment scheduled for several months from now. And we’re going to have to pay quite a bit once we finally get seen. It’s the same every time I need to see a specialist like a neurologist. It’s usually a 6-12 month wait because there aren’t enough doctors (or therapists/psychologists) in my area. At least if the healthcare system was run by the government, they could offer incentives for certain specialists to move to places that don’t have enough doctors from places that have too many. Or offer incentives to medical school students to go in to specialties that are in deficit nationwide. Instead, it’s a for-profit free-for-all, so only the most wealthy with access to the biggest cities get the best care.
I lived in New Zealand for a while, and this is spot on. I could not believe that I was getting charged nothing for great health care. I was waiting for the "gotcha," but it never came. The Kiwis were completely confused about how the American medical system worked. Their most common reaction was, "Well that makes no sense." Keep up the amazing work.
@CH Kiwi who has lived in NZ, US, UK and Australia . The healthcare systems in the three non US countries are all very similar, all are variations of the NHS system in the UK , around 1 to 2 % of your taxes go towards health and overall health takes around 9% of GDP. The US has a for profit system with punitive insurance costs from private companies and rather than a single payer system there are literally hundreds of insurance suppliers and the US spends around 18% of GDP on health for a much worse system that does not cover everyone.
@CH it’s free at service. And with regards to outgoings, it’s a lot more complicated than you think, US citizens on average actually end up paying more out of their pockets for everything they need than other countries with higher taxes. Basically you guys spend more money going out that are not called taxes compared to what’s included in our higher taxes and I’d rather pay higher taxes and not have to worry financially when I get sick.
@@johnstirling6597 My country is 6% . I have several friends in the Usa and none believed me, so i photocopied my wages slip ( paycheck? ) and sent it to them. It varies , but they pay anything from twice the amount i do , up to nearly 10 times.
As someone who lives in America, this is one of the biggest reasons I want to leave this country. Literally, I told that to someone and they instantly told me that I’d be getting shit healthcare. I don’t care if it’s shittier healthcare, it’s accessible, and that’s far more important to me. There’s no point in having the “world’s greatest healthcare” if nobody can afford it.
I reckon that "shitty healthcare" thing is a complete fabrication - as is "the US has the world's greatest healthcare". As an Australian, the only place I might get less than world-class health care is if I chose to live in a remote or regional area of the country. Only because these areas may be a long way from specialised or emergency medical centres. That would apply to any country in the world however -- in rural areas you often have to travel a long way to get hospital treatment. In Australian cities however, health care is easy to get to, and is world standard. Medical students come from across the globe to train in our public teaching hospitals, which have state of the art facilities and all the latest treatments. I've heard Americans talk about long waiting times in Casualty in other countries, but over here, waiting time depends entirely on the day and time (Saturday night is peak hour the world over) and the free ambulance can often take you to whichever hospital has the shorter wait.
When that person told you that you’d be getting “shit healthcare” it gave me vibes of “Even if I treat you like shit I’m still the best you can do”. Honestly, it makes my heart break for Americans. You do truly deserve to be treated like actual human beings and not feel like you deserve to be exploited
I was talking to my mom the other day about my healthcare because my eyes are deteriorating. She told me that we have to find a specialist that will take my insurance. I said, "I thought I had state insurance?" She said that hospitals don't have to take state insurance. So what is the point of my state's insurance if hospitals aren't required to take it? I'll probably go blind before I find one, which sucks because I'm a painter. Why does America hate it's people so much, I ask myself all the time. I know it would be a lot of work to use a better system, but I always found it confusing that many Americans say that it's too much work. Are we not the people who say hard work is the best and most honest work?
The reason why our healthcare is so expensive is due to government sanctioned monopolies (The FDA basically tells most companies no, even to the simplest of medicines - Only 3 companies can produce insulin, for example), regulations that do nothing but make it harder for the patient to get their healthcare (Certificate of need), and overall the general corruption of the US government not allowing for our programs to do their jobs (We spend more on our Medicaid than the UK does on its NHS, and that's just one of our programs), our healthcare would be fine if we stopped beating it with a stick.
I know a lot of comments have complained about nationalized health care having long 3-6 month waiting lists, but consider this. Here in the "speedy" healthcare USA, I've been walking on a stabbing pain in my heel for about 18 months, lost my sense of smell back in 2018, had a lump grow on my spine about three years ago (Don't worry it quit growing. I think it's benign but if you push on it I do get real nauseous). To date, I haven't been able to save up sufficient cash to be okay with getting any of those checked out. So I fail to see how a 6 month wait is all that different? 🤷♀
I had to wait 3 months for my surgery (gall bladder removal), not a problem. The alternative is way more scarier. I reckon if I was American I would’ve opted for no surgery because I couldn’t afford it so I would instead be popping a vast array of pills for pain relief and to stave off other ailments as a result of not having the initial surgery. That’s not a life I want to live.
Think about it in-depth and you realize just how cruel and privileged it is to complain about waiting lists: the reason there's no lines in American hospitals isn't because they're more efficient, it's because most people can't afford to go. They'd rather endure the pain or ignore dangerous warning signs than be bankrupted by medical bills. So when someone says they'd rather pay for private insurance than deal with waiting lists, they're *openly admitting they want special treatment for being wealthy.* They're admitting they want all the less fortunate people that need treatment just as badly to fuck off and get out of their way.
Spent a year hospitalized, half in intensive care unit during coma and early care after and half in a fantastic reeducation center and it didn't cost a pence, healthcare in europe (at least france where I live) is as it should be, human. I could never thank enough the people that helped me, nurses, the aide soignants (I don't know the term in english), kinesitherapeutes, dieteticians, orthophonists, coachs in adapted physical activity, psychs neuro-psychs, psychiatrists, doctors of all kind; from anesthesists/reanimators to regular doctors to pmr doctor to neurosurgeons, the amount of help I received is as gigantic as the trouble they took making it seem like nothing, no one should face bankruptcy for having the gal to survive and globalized free healthcare is a must for any country saying loud and clear they care about their citizens, I they weren't all there I'd either be dead or in a wheelchair, fight for this right fellow humans from the U.S, no one should face bankruptcy for daring having a stroke or a child. I wish you all the best in this harsh world, keep the fight for a better tomorrow alive brothers and sisters. o7
Over here in the USA some people are getting over $250k bills after being in a hospital for a bit for covid. Because of this, many I know now have a DNR. In fact, most I know including myself openly admit if we get cancer then we aren't going to treat it simply due to the cost.
Thank you for such powerful words! Thank you for your humanity. Thank you for having the audacity to fight for your life and rehabilitation! - with thanks from an American Speech Language Pathologist
This is an absolutely brilliant video that all Americans should watch. The guy is a consummate actor, switching with ease between doctor role and patient role. I've seen similar videos before where Americans get free health care in the UK while living here and simply cannot get their heads around the NHS.
Reminds me of that story where an old man went to “rob” a bank of $1, then when the police arrested him and took him to jail, he was able to ask for healthcare and get the treatment he needed since he was fired from his job and couldn’t afford it. This is America. (Paraphrasing and summarizing but you get the point).
Hi! Where I live (in the US) the "crime rate" goes up when its coldest outside...so people have a place to sleep and not freeze to death. Also, someone close to me had a serious problem with an impacted wisdom tooth and couldn't get care for it...until he went to prison, where they eventually removed it. Cool place to live, huh?
@@AiBkomachi Actually, prisoners have to pay a copay too (it may be different state to state). They pay about $8 to see a provider, which doesn't sound like a lot unless you are making 25 cents/hour in your prison job. They would rather spend their money on canteen items or phone calls or something like that, so they often don't seek care. They come out way less healthy than when they went in.
I worked with someone once who actually moved back to Dunedin NZ to get dental work done at the dental school instead of the UK where he had been living. And there's a lot of drugs that you can't get here because they're not funded but they are in Australia. Basically, every country has it's healthcare drawbacks. America just has different ones.
Painfully accurate. Me in Germany when I had to go to the emergency room. It wasn't near a city and my German was broken while their English was too. The whole time, I was so worried. When a new person came to speak to me, I saw dollar signs. Pills; dollar signs. An IV...more money. At the end, I was given an additional paper with meds written down then I kept saying "rechnung? rechnung?" and had definitely encountered people from the U.S. because they said "Nein.....no...nein....frei.........keiner...no...". That was free and I went to the pharmacy and spent maybe 8 Euro for what I needed. It still absolutely floors me.
I think that many forget that the european salaries are way lower the US counterparts (up to 50% less) even in Germany. And from that about 15% are getting desucted as so called health care tax. Unless you have an accident or somwthing worse, you are actually way better of with the US system. BUT as my cousin had cancer i realized that even our whole family would not be able to cover for his medical bills, I was glad that I live in a system where the fortunate healthy ones pay for the unfortunate unhealthy ones. Even though, as I myself work in the medical field, ppl become careless and dont give a damm about there health. Since the others will pay. It is defnitly a Double edged swored.
@@hislightwillshine4us Yeah, anyone who says their system (government, health, etc.) is like the most perfect/end all and bed all is definitely...reaching and kind of glazing over. I do prefer the German and Swiss systems just with my family as my Dad had major surgery following a heart attack in the United States and the bill was almost $750,000 USD which was just...ridiculous. There is no way we could ever pay that and we have such a insulin-rationing problem here as well which has led to deaths or people just can't afford treatment/medication and die. We also get ridiculously taxed but its many pieces instead of larger chunks. I think one of my friends makes approx. 6% less than I do in a similar field and gets far more benefits.
@@hislightwillshine4us that the european salaries are way lower the US counterparts (up to 50% less) ,,,,that's really BS...your waiters get paid what...2 Bucks an hour??? desucted as so called health care tax. ...these are no taxes...seems like you really have NO clue how it works...btw ..the company pays half of it.... Unless you have an accident or somwthing worse, you are actually way better of with the US system. lol....no...not in ANY dimension...there are no copays, no deductibles....german healthcare ranked no. 27...US...no 37....so how are you better off with the uS-System...this is pure ignorance...you can break your ankle and end up paying thousands of Dollars out of your pocket, while it cost you nothing in Germany. People don´t even go to a doctor cause they can´t afford to pay 100 bucks to see him....yes...so better off.... , ppl become careless and dont give a damm about there health. .......So why there are so many obese people in the US...? Sorry but your whole comment is such a list of stupid ignorance... Go get it....your system is a fucked up greedy mess
Hi, it's not much different in the EU than in US or Canada - a hospital has to take you in case of emergency. Thing is, the bills in the EU are usually small as those procedures are "off the shelf", i.e. nothing crazy or complicated, so often they don't bother charging you, as the bureaucracy would probably cost more. It's exact the cost runaway in the US that's the problem. I paid 70 USD for simple stitches in Poland. That shouldn't cost much more. It was done by a medical technician.
My son was born 9 weeks premature at one of the top hospitals in Canada, delivered by one of the top neonatal experts in Canada. He was in the NICU with Oxygen and a CPAP for the first few days, with 24/7 care. After a week, he was transferred to our local NICU where he stayed from September until late October, with round the clock monitoring and care. After coming home, he has had numerous visits with a pediatrician, specializing in Preemies, an infant physiotherapist ("just in case"), and a neonatal specialty team (again, "just in case"). In total, we paid only for parking, and our son is doing fantastic. Currently, he is screaming his head off and chasing our dog. My taxes are only slightly higher than Americans (depending on state).
I’ve had open heart surgery, 2 kidney transplants, years of dialysis, shoulder stabilisation, about 10 vascular operations and probably a total of about 6+ months in hospital stays. Never paid a penny because im in the uk. If I wars American, I’d be dead because I cannot afford all that treatment since it started at age 17, I’m 31 now
Almost same here in regards the treatment. Had issues with my lungs and they failed for some moments. Had kidney stones years later. I paid for nothing on both cases for medicines, surgeries, my stay at the hospital, etc.
Smh…I’m so sorry. As a ER doctor it so painful to break those kind of news to people because It’s as if you are giving them a death sentence. It’s already difficult finding the strength to deal with the disease but it’s worse when you see the bills that come after. Will keep you both in my prayers 🙏🏿🙏🏿
Had an appointment for a lung infection, and it was 600 dollars for the one appointment. Then, several months later, they tried to bill me again and claimed that I never paid them. I showed them all of my receipts, but they still held me in limbo for several more months, sorting it out while sending letters threatening to send my case to collections. It was really fun. Also pro tip in America. Always ask for an itemized receipt. It will lower your bill because they cant hide the fake charges on one of those.
Also opt for PPO insurance instead of HMO. PPO stands for Preferred Provider Organization whereas HMO means Health Maintenance Organization. After having PPO insurance I’ll never go back to a HMO.
Also the fact that it takes hours and hours and hours on the phone to get an ESTIMATE of what anything will cost and then it's still likely not all you're going to pay and you won't get the real bill until months after whatever your thing was. In countries like Germany any costs are literally posted on the wall for anyone to read easily. It makes the "Free Market" aspect complete nonsense because you have no idea what any decision will cost you.
I'm taking a class about how to bill insurance as a private practitioner in the U.S. I thought it was confusing and unfair as a recipient, but now I find out many times providers simply don't get paid if the insurance company denies the claim for whatever reason, even if you appeal it. And to be in network, many companies stipulate that the patient doesn't need to pay if the claim is denied and you forget to have them sign a form promising to pay. It's like a whole other job to deal with insurance as a provider, and that takes time away from giving the best care possible.
I’m an American living in Canada, and there are so few people who work in doctors offices here. Maybe a receptionist/nurse and the doctor. And the only person you actually see is the doctor. In the US, I had to tell 5 people what my appointment was for before I actually saw the doctor, and by then, I was tired of talking about it
Our business office in our hospital in Canada is one of the smallest offices there and it is a large city teaching hospital. The focus is patient care not collecting money.
I used to temp at a teaching hospital. There were actually jobs that were 90% on the phone trying to get prior authorizations so patients could actually get tests and be treated. Our whole system is broken.
@@JHabc The reason why you see so many receptionists before you get to the doc is most likely because that clinic doesn't have an extensive HR system like a hospital does and that doc needs to hire some people to deal with the excess paperwork caused by your insurance (MediCal/Medicare).
My elderly mother (Canadian) fell and ended it up in a South Carolina Hospital for two nights. Had usual imaging done for a head injury. The out of country private insurance she purchased refused to cover as she answered one question wrong on the application. Then she started getting bills; from the hospital, from the radiologist, from the doctor, seven in total I believe. Hospital bill was $27,000. When I contacted the hospital to explain the situation they dropped the bill to the uninsured rate, $9,000. There’s a reason health care is so expensive in the US. The providers are soaking the insurance companies. For profit healthcare is NOT more efficient and less expensive than social healthcare. Nor is it better. Just look at the statistics. Life expectancy, US is 46th as of 2022, Canada is 16th. Per capita, US spends more than twice as much as Canada as of 2021. Overall healthcare quality Canada 14, US 18, as of 2021. Search the web. You will not find good news is if live with US system. And, God help you if you really get sick and aren’t Uber-rich.
Side argument: our bad life expectancy is probably somewhat caused by our medical care, but also our culture (not taking care of homeless people, very little compassion, lots of gun violence, etc.)
US healthcare is actually more expensive. The insurance companies and the medical association are in cahoots with the scam. They bumped up the prices so people will have to get insurance just like if ur a member in a certain store, prices are marked down compared to non members.
@@nobleradical2158 If you nuked the 5 cities where gun violence was an issue, the U.S. would drop from 3rd in murders, to 189th, out of 193 countries. All those cities have strict gun control laws, so lawful citizens cannot defend themselves, and the sub-saharan affirmative action hires, who pay no attention to those gun restrictions, mimick their genetically-expressed ancestors behavior here, mostly killing each other - and silly retards who live there in that fake bubble.
@@iamdave84 As is consumption of PUFA's - Industrial Seed Oils. Directly relates to endocrine disruption and malnourished obese people. Eat pastured lard, tallow, meat and greens. Seasonal fruit.
Wife went to India and got sick. Her hotel sent a doctor who diagnosed her and gave her a prescription. For free. The only reason we don't have free healthcare is because half of the political establishment taught their constituents to hate it. Those same constituents who need healthcare the most. Our system is about greed, not healthcare.
Keep making these types of videos. I'm so tired of trying to explain to my fellow Americans how shitty our health system is. If we stopped wasting our tax dollars on endless war and corporate bailouts then we could easily afford universal healthcare and we could eliminate the insanity of medical debt.
I think it's not just the corporate bailouts and the tax cuts for the rich, although those certainly aren't helping. AFAI can tell, pharma and insurance companies are making money hand over fist, and of course every dollar that ends up with them wasn't used to pay for health care workers or more hospital beds. That image of 45 being helicoptered to a suite in a private hospital with 12 HC workers just for him? And his oh-so-bereaved son going on about how awful this felt for him, subtext: look look, I'm suffering just like you all !? That nicely summed up the situation.
It isn't just a matter of what we could afford. Do you remember how nasty things were when Obama was trying to get the ACA passed? So many people were just dead set against paying anything to help out someone else, no matter how much it would help the country and themselves.
@@tamaramartin4015 The problem is that you have a multi billion dollar industry in healthcare. No government would ever pay the inflated charges because they're outrageously inflated. It doesn't cost thousands of dollars to run an ambulance 15 miles. The lobbyists who make it rich from the healthcare industry would never allow it and lastly, the effect on your economy would be dire (at least at first) as the money that healthcare generates now would be effectively removed from the system. Then there would be a doctor crisis as children wanted to be lawyers or accountants instead of doctors, it's a very difficult problem to solve once it's snowballed to the levels you have in the US. I can give you other examples of these viscous traps that can no longer easily be undone from other countries.
Yes,@@theashenfox, the $$$$$$ to be made off healthcare is at the core of our problem, and with that, i lay a lot of the problem on the insurance industry. It's just all a hot mess, and we, the little people, don't have much power in the situation.
A lot of people in the U.S. like to convince themselves that they get better care because more money gives you better care, but it's in exchange for the majority getting worse/unaffordable care. It also makes rich people in health related industries a lot richer, so they lobby to make sure it never changes.
Exactly. They like to talk about how the best doctors are in the US. But Sir…. you’re poor, you’re not seeing the best doctors, you’re just seeing some doctor (if any) and then have to pay tons of money for it. People….
@@midnightshadow1491 not really how it works in reality, especially with things like doctors (and other jobs like teachers) and jobs like that, as the good one who csre about people stick with the lower paying job to help as many people as possible, cause that's why they go into the job in the first place, not for money.
Traveled to Spain a few years ago, and had an issue that required an emergency room visit. Was taken to the hospital and seen, ended in an overnight stay. They did send me a bill, which arrived in the US 4 months later. They stated that if the bill was too much I was able to dispute and have it comped but only if I truly needed it. The bill came out to under $10 USD, so I gladly paid and thanked them for effective care!
Unfortunately, some governments are trying to destroy our public health care by privatizing little by little. They try to imitate the American model... I will always prefer to pay taxes and know that I will always be covered, than suffer an accident or a very expensive disease to treat and I may not be able to pay the bill for treatment. That's the difference of seeing healthcare as a right and not a business. Greetings from Spain!
I am so confused that there are actually people defending the US healthcare system. The taxes are worth it, all in all we spend less per capita. We have more access to preventative care. The waiting times are comparable to the US. The quality of care is not worse. Also, let me argue that not worrying about bankruptcy because of an unforeseeable medical emergency is a lot healthier in itself. People can actually go see a doctor when they worry about their health without panicking. I'd also count paid sick leave or parental leave into this. Don't get the wrong idea: we criticise our system a lot. None out there is perfect. But the US one is really only worth defending if you profit off of it. It's insane to me how some people can't see how deeply the current healthcare system affects US culture and only worsens every single societal problem you guys are dealing with.
Thats what happens when all of our schooling growing up went on and on about the land of the free and home of the brave. In America, you're taught we have it good. We have freedom and democracy and the best of everything. Then you grow up. Most of us see the problem. The rest are force fed propaganda to keep them thknking Europe is a socialist hellhole and the US is the last shining beacon of civilization. Its disgusting.
Just go purchase health insurance if you worry. Or look for a job that provides it. Obama care exists for those who have a low income. Maximum out of pocket for them is like 8k. It’s worth a look into the USA healthcare system rather than a 2 minute RUclips short. If you are really interested in it.
@@john-zf1yb I have been looking into it a lot and I also have family in the US with their own experiences. Not convinced. Your argument again proves to me how much we defend what we are used to (yes, me included ofc) and that it's often only hindering our progress. That's why conversations like this are important, so I guess the video did it's job very well.
@@rainghostly I think every human hates change and of course my argument isn’t going to convince anyone I only wrote that comment out of selfishness to prove a point. But if you care to know it breaks my sole to see talented doctors and nurses do one of the hardest jobs and get paid peanuts compared to those who take advantage of others. If the healthcare system changes to a single payer system surely doctors and nurses will take a 75% pay cut in the USA like they did in the UK. We will loose out on 100s of years worth of innovation all because someone didn’t like paying $50 to see there PCP. Is that really worth it?
@@john-zf1yb Given your infant mortality rates, standard of living and life expectancy I'd personally think a doctor not being able to afford his 5th summer home in Bali is worth changing things up. But hey I live in a place where we put our general population over the lifestyle of a couple rich cunts. It's not like Doctors in the UK aren't living very comfortable lives.
I lost my US prescription while I was in Sydney... and it was a very important medication.. Normally, I would have to go see my doctor, pay for that, then go, and pay full price for the medications, which would be like $400 because Insurance wouldn't cover it as it wasn't time for a refill yet... In Australia, within an hour of realizing I had lost my meds, I walked into a random Doctor office, paid nothing, got had a new script.. which was a 6 month supply rather than a 30 day supply, which i got for something like $5 USD,
"It's not free because it's paid with tax" 1) That's what taxes are for, societal needs and benefits 2) The tax you pay is less than what the insurance and hospital payments are in the USA 3) It keeps the actual costs down because it isn't a competitive extortion market (No, it doesn't cost tax payers $20,000 to fix an arm, US hospitals just charge that much)
4) Public insurance creates bargaining power for insured people 5) There is somehow ALWAYS money for military, bailing out banks and tax breaks for the rich.
6. The tax is ALSO lower than the taxes you pay for healthcare in the USA, except you actually get something for it instead of having to still pay out-of-pocket for everything.
"It keeps the actual costs down because it isn't a competitive extortion market" Nah, it is the opposite. US healthcare is so expensive cause by law most competition is PROHIBITED. Huge burdens through very complex regulations and a ban on drug imports. Hospitals and the entire healthcare-system are government-created monopolies - and they take full advantage of this atrocity.
My daughter needed surgery on her feet this year. It was so much cheaper for us to fly her out of the country (where her grandma and other extended family lives) and her have the surgery there. If we had it done in America I would have had to file bankruptcy and then she wouldn’t have been able to get the physical therapy she needs when the cast come off. My mother in law spoke to the doctor for us and he said “since the mom is originally from this country, the daughter qualifies for free healthcare and so does her husband”. My kid went to the hospital there, no questions asked, she had a successful surgery on her feet, stayed for a few nights, and was given a wheelchair to use. We got back for x rays and she will have physical therapy and all it cost was a plane ticket there and back. America has a lot of catching up to do in the healthcare field.
The thing that I feel like I haven't heard brought up much when it comes to the US healthcare system is that the US government spends more of its GDP on healthcare than pretty much any other developed country... and yet it is ranked last among the same group in quality of healthcare. The solution isn't to spend more, it's to fix the system we have. In fact, if done right we may be able to get away with LOWERING its cost in the long term.
Lobbyists have controlled Healthcare in the US for decades. Which is the main factor in it being so expensive, they've also made it nearly impossible for Dr's and other Healthcare workers to survive in the profession outside of thier legally privileged monopolies. Our ability to provide Healthcare has greatly declined because of this, and this also protects shitty doctors and practitioners because now they're under the protection of multibillion dollar giants who have rigged the system even in law.
Facts. When you turn healthcare into a for profit business you don’t make people better, you find better ways for charging for sun standard service. All of the negatives that people try to quote for it have been disproven by all of the other countries who have just made it work. I think the big negative is many people will be out of work, and they will have to figure out a profession that isn’t glorified extortion
@Hopper33 so where i live you have to have health insurance its illegal not to and they will pretty much force you to now i think i spend about 10 euro's on life ensurance per month its actual cost is about 120 euro's but the governments sends us 110 for compensation Now if there is a surgery it depends on your insurance how much it cost my "own risk" what its called (literally translated btw) is 365 euro so upto 365 i have to pay myself after that the insurance will take care of it Most medicine and treatments are treated diffrently their just included in you basic insurance
@@seankrake4776 They find new and creative ways to charge more money. I get shots in my head about every three months for migraines. My share was maybe $250-300. The “health system” decided the room (basically like any other doctor’s exam room) was a “treatment room.” The charge for the room was more than the doctor’s fee and my cost doubled.
I'm in the uk, our NHS is going through a lot of problems right now due to Brexit, not enough staff and staff being overworked. They deserve better, and the NHS deserves not to fail, I wouldn't be alive right now if not for the NHS. I was in hospital for 8 months after I had a large tumor removed back in 2017. Despite the problems they face they really care about patients and I owe them so much. I couldn't imagine the fear Americans must face over healthcare, it's insane.
Good grief, yes, the "we are paying way too much to the EU and we'll save all that and funnel it straight into health care" Brexit. I know that I spent four years thinking: Hey, that one politician who sold you this idea made off into the great Somewhere Else the moment Brexit was voted in,, leaving the whole pleasure of ushering in this amazing improvement to others, _do you think that could mean anything??_
I have to preface this with saying I can't say I've had.. great experiences with our healthcare over the past few years. But even still, it's so, immensely frustrating to hear that the tories considered making it more like the american healthcare system. As bad as my experiences have been... I'd rather it not cost me a penny than put me in debt for like, what, the rest of my life? By no means is me saying this "NHS bad", I'm just frustrated with my poor experiences. And you know what? The staff deserve better than what they're getting right now. Better tools, better pay, more staff, the whole thing.
The problems are because it's being serupticiously privatised and sold off, often to American companies. As this happens taxes basically get diverted from services to profits and the system strains. Then the media, also largely American owned, weigh in and say this shows it needs to be further privatised. It destroys our electric, gas, trains, NHS and now they're doing it to schools. Just to rob people of services paid for with taxes so it can go to private owners RT paying wages for enough nurses etc
As an American who lives in Canada I can confirm how strange this feels. I can’t help but ask how much I owe after I visit the doctor. It’s like some kind of impulse. It feels like robbery, lmao.
@@endxofxeternity Oh yes we do. But I'm fine with it if I don't have to pay for my health care and if I don't have to be in debt forever to go to school.
@@endxofxeternity Oh, I love curiosity! So, our tax rates varies from province to province (we pay both federal and provincial taxes) and it's a tiered taxation system. For example, if I'm paid 100k$ a year: In my province (Québec), I'm taxed 0% for the first 16k$, 15% for the next 30k$ after that, 20% for the next 46$k and 24% on the last 8k$. For the federal, it's 0% on the first 13k$, 12.5% on the following 38k$ and 17.1% on the rest. Total, I would be taxed: 15.62k$ + 13.3k$ ~= 29k$ (which is, really, ~30% of my whole salary). The more money you make, the more tax you pay (the last tier for both provincial and federal taxes are around 25% each). Of course, there are deductions for capital gains, donations, and stuff like that, but that's mostly it.
When I was studying abroad in Japan, I let an ear infection go until I couldn’t hear out of the affected ear before I sought care. I was shocked when the only cost was the equivalent of a few US dollars for the ear drops.
Sorta same thing for me. I live in Denmark, i had a bad ear infection as a kid and now I have an EI maybe 3 times a year on a good year. I just go to the doctor, tell them my ear hurty, they make a prescription and boom, 90kr (12usd) for the biggest bottle of ear juice.
sigh if the drops work they yay, you dont need to worry about paying for it, if they dont and your doctor KEEPS giving you those drops without listening to you, then prepare to pay 650 bucks (this happened to me in the netherlands, i have a proper health insurance that i pay monthly fees to incase i need healthcare, the eardrops would normaly have been payed by the insurance, however since the insurance had to pay everytime i had those drps it kept stacking on and on, eventually you get a bill when you go over the Yearly due's of free Insurance payed medicine, basicly the insurance will pay for most of it, untill you reach theyr end quote of alloted money and then you have to pay an extra fee of 650 bucks, i hated it since i kept telling them i was allergic to the medicated eardrops, yet the doctor i visited didnt believe me since it wasnt on my chart at the time, (which he wouldnt have acces too since i just moved to a new location and my past medical history didnt get passed trough).......eventually i was tested what was wrong with my ear more closely and they found out (like 2 months later) that it was a Yeast Infection that needed Antibiotics to fix rather then those eardrops that uses corticosteroids(wich im allergic too)
Average life expectancy is a reliable metric of a nation's healthcare standards. Canada ranks No. 6 in the world, at 83.99 years. The USA ranks No. 48, at 80.75 years. [SOURCE: CIA World Factbook, 2023] In Canada, healthcare is a right of citizenship. In the US, it is a privilege of wealth. In Canada, cancer is treated as a disease. In the US, cancer is treated as a profit centre. And that makes all the difference.
And without wanting to offend anyone, Canada is not even the best possible example of the benefits of universal healthcare, but still far better. That said, maybe it _is_ the best example after all; to prove a point: even a troubled UHC system is still superior.
In Denmark, healthcare is free, and you can even see specialists for free, you just need a referral from your GP. Only thing that costs a little in Denmark is medicine, which is still pretty cheap, and private offerings like chiropractor etc. The Danish system even has a promise that if a public hospital doesn't have a time for you within a month (30 days to be exact) you'll be scheduled for a time at a private hospital where the state pays. It's called "behandlingsgaranti" essentially "treatment guarantee".
That is one, amongst many things, I miss from those years I lived in Aalborg :-) Even though it is not a huge difference from Norway, we still have to pay a small fee until we reach the yearly limit of aprox 2000kr. I was surprised to know that I could visit my GP in Denmark for free.
I'm Canadian, and when I was a kid my mom's appendix burst. She called an ambulance and got surgery. When she got home, she mentioned that they needed to pay for the ambulance because this wasn't an "emergency". 13 year old me was outraged that she needed to pay. Anyways it was 60 dollars.
This made me tear up. As a physician, I feel I am complicit in this broken system. So much unnecessary hardship that people endure in the wealthiest country on the planet.
It is! A lot of people come to India for their treatment, it's called health tourism but I mean, you're actually getting treated without being robbed out of your life savings!
I know you're half-joking , but in case anyone wants to pull this: The immigration might refuse you access if they find out you're doing that. You're still welcome, but don't be open about it.
On average, the cost of an international flight is about $2000 round trip. Passport is less than $100. An ambulance ride in this country runs between $750 to $1000 on average. Helicopter? $10k. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the fact that they have winter I’d consider moving to Ireland.
I heard this calculation. You can get two and a half hip replacement surgeries, including hotel, flight, passport, surgery, hospital care, postsurgical physio... for what you pay in the US to get one.
When I was solo traveling in Japan, I had a little scare with my pacemaker. I am 100% pacemaker dependent so I was freaking out. They called me an ambulance…which only made me freak out even more, and then I was seen by the nurses, a cardiologist, had a full pacemaker work up and a chest X-ray.
I asked them how much it would cost and was terrified Id have to cut my trip short. They looked sad as they handed me the bill and said “this is the best we can do since you don’t have the national insurance.”
The total: $115
My jaw dropped.
やすい! “It’s cheap!” I said with my limited Japanese.
At that, they all looked so sad for me that $115 was a relief.
Side note, I was alone and scared with a language barrier and those doctors and nurses were so kind to me. They hugged me and told me everything would be okay and walked me to the bus stop to make sure I was safe. A+!
That $115 dollars more than you should have spent. I think you missed the point with this video
@@marti5420 That was completely without national insurance though. Roughly the prize of a bed in an american hospital for a day or so (not including blanket or pillow probably)
@@gathoblaster4329 yes, the point has been completely missed. You guys are so used to paying for nessasary health care you view that as a bargain. That's not the point. $115 is still a lot of money for some people, the fact that they're on holiday, let alone in Japan, tells me theyre not one of those people. Health care shouldn't have a charge, everyone uses it, there are better ways to fund it while curtailing greedy drug companies.
@@marti5420 I believe that’s just how it works in countries with free healthcare. Citizens pay for healthcare through taxes but foreigners who don’t pay taxes there need to pay directly (the money does have to come from somewhere)
@@marti5420 I don’t think they missed the point. In other countries that has universal healthcare like Japan and France, the point is an uninsured patient is more uncommon bc of national coverage that actually works and is affordable AND if you are uninsured it is significantly less expensive and still affordable than in countries like the US where it’s privatized. In the US the risk of not being uninsured is much graver and inequitable, you would not be looking at a $115 for an ambulance. It’s not minimizing the $115 bc it is still a lot for folks without the means but it’s saying if somehow you don’t have the national health insurance that is affordable, it wouldn’t be in the upwards of hundreds or thousands of dollars (which is the reality for US), and this sounds like it is for a more costly visit. It just reinforces the point of this video which is the US healthcare system is broken and privatized healthcare sucks.
This is so real to me. My husband is American and we live in Canada. When he was diagnosed with Cancer he was so afraid of how much everything would cost. I tried reassuring him that he wouldn’t get a bill and that he just needed to concentrate on getting better. Which he did. He couldn’t believe the level of care he received.
I'm an American, and cancer is absolutely terrifying. No, I don't mean about the slowly dying thing or the potentially horrific side effects of treatment-- that stuff all pales in comparison to the knowledge that even the privilege of fighting cancer will cost me and my family every cent we have saved. If I die at the end of it all, all I'll have done is left them with a mountain of medical debt. And yeah, I'm insured.
Interesting. I have a Canadian friend who worked for a major pharmaceutical company in Toronto. When his wife was diagnosed with cancer he relocated to New York with his company immediately. His reasoning was that she would get care for free, but it would take precious time to get everything she needed.
Unfortunately, when things are free the economic control employed is rationing. Which is typically what I hear about with Canadian healthcare and similar systems like VA and military care. Costs are controlled by only having a set number of seats, providers, beds, and no financial interest in reaching demand.
I have seen people get bills from the Canadian system
@@gmaillastname8591 no reason the ones with financial means should take priority over anyone else. The VA and other non private insurance companies do hold off on more elective things (ortho related surgeries) longer than the private sector but when it comes to treatments for cancer or other urgent matters the wait times are identical to private insurance.
Damn. My plan for long term care is literally to not live long enough to need it.
This is the equivalent of an abused partner being surprised when their new partner treats them with respect and dignity. What should be the bare minimum feels like a trap.
very true! american here, because americans have such expensive health care, in other places, we would be shocked at how cheap it is. we can't believe it.
Oh gosh, if I needed it put into perspective more, that comment did it. Yikes.
Exactly what I was thinking!
So often, watching fellow Americans talk about getting health care in other countries. The assumption. The confusion. The shock. The disbelief. The trouble trusting something that seems "too good to be true".
It feels so much like someone who grew up with or experienced chronic abuse.
Very true it’s outrageous how your charged for every little thing here about a year ago my brothers eye was starting to swell up we took him to the doctor all he did was pull his eyelid down say it was a sty and did nothing else then charged him 300 dollars
Exactly the usa are in an abusive relationship. You get gaslit to believe he is the best partner and others are jealous of your relationship (when they warn you its ab*se). Especially Europa is recently taking on the concerned family member trying to reach you role....but the gaslighting is thick.
* physical ab*se and threats aren't normal: its not normal to have to live in fear of getting shot in peace time.
* you have the right to be cared for: health care and social security are rights.
* You can relax and do selfcare: you don't have to work yourself to death. You work to live, you don't live to work.
* you have the right to not be poisoned: all those toxic things in the food. The foods not real and its causing health problems. In europe its banned but the usa values profits over people.
I'm a neurologist and my wife is a pediatric clinical geneticist. Whenever we get a child diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder we throw in a question if the parents are willing to live in Europe or Canada. Most of the children's care here in the US are cut short due to finance and sadly their lifespan too.
Well, looks like there's method to the madness of forcing women to give birth no matter age, health, poverty of the mother or whatever else. More children born to make up for the ones who essentially die from lack of riches, and so much cheaper for the state!
You know, that is a very smart
The thing is nothing is free. We need a free market and strong working class.
This is the saddest thing I’ve heard in a long time. We should be able to do better than that
I love you?? That is the best question ever!
When patients get pneumonia while living on the South Coast of Oregon, I bring up the fact that vacationing in Arizona costs less while being significantly more enjoyable. Sickness duration is shortened because healing occurs more quickly due to significant weather differences.
In the USA:
Doc: "Everything checks out, you're just fine."
Patient: "Aw crap what a waste of money."
WORD
"Next time I'll just not go"
Patients will complain if they don't get any medication due to this mentality. It really sucks to see.
I wont go to the hospital until I am completely certain I am dying of something
Too true. That is literally the best news you could hear and people always seem disappointed.
I live in Denmark. We have universal healthcare so when I was diagnosed with breastcancer ten years ago, I had the surgery done a week after the biopsy followed by 4 months of chemo, 3 months of radiation therapy and anti-hormone treatment ever since. I just finished my treatment. So I’ve been cared for with medications, check-ups, mammograms and ultrasounds every year for ten years and never have had to worry about costs. When people say ‘oh, you pay so much in taxes to the state in Denmark’, my answer is ‘ WE are the state. Taxes is the way we take care of each other. It is something I share with others. I’m not being robbed by a faceless ‘state’. ‘ ❤
Can’t have that in America, having universal healthcare is like being communist
In America, taking care of each other is called communism.
maybe.. can you choose what kind of medecine? don't think so .. either you're maimed, bombed with chemo and their drugs or you may die.. you can't possibly choose any other kind of treatment .. but you have to paye their taxes.. so high taxes are paid either you use what other people choose or not. And of course you have been told since ever that only what they give you in hospitals is the "true" medicine .. this to me is called "religion" or "indoctrination"..
@@mE-zx7pt yep
THAT'S COMMUNISM AAAAAAAAARGH. Oh and btw jeg er også glad for at bo i Danmark.
Yup. I had to go to the hospital in New Zealand. I was freaking out the entire time. They thankfully had an American doctor working there. I think I scared the ER staff. They brought the American doc in, who treated me and explained that they couldn't bill me bc they didn't have a billing department! I was extremely confused. I'm pretty sure no one in that hospital wanted to visit the USA after that. I heard the American doctor explaining to the coworkers that my reaction was very normal for Americans who went to the ER, and that's one of the reasons he left. New Zealand hospital staff were extremely nice
Yes as a New Zealander I have to say I take emergency/hospital healthcare for granted. Reading these stories I am counting my blessings! I do pay $52NZD per visit to my private general practitioner, some government subsidized ones can be as cheap as $18NZD but bookings can be scarcely available at times with those ones, so there is a trade-off. Common medicines are subsidized with a prescription at the pharmacy too. All in all, healthcare in NZ for me is a weight off my shoulders that was never actually there. Grateful.
They probably do have people doing billing, difference is, it's probably one guy per department who tallies everything up before sending the bill to the government who doesn't have the time to hunt down random people to badger them into paying bills.
@@melodipopham1844 very well put - a weight off your shoulders that was never there. Yes NZ does have a good health care system, as does Australia which, being larger, has deeper pockets so can afford after hours doctors who can visit you (and is also free). Yes of course both have their flaws but when compared to the USA, our health systems shine brightly.
Yeah as a New Zealander I've had the opposite experience and I was terrified to travel to the US. My work literally wouldn't let us go unless we had travel insurance. Thankfully nothing happened but the idea that I might be gravely sick or injured and have my healthcare ride on my insurance getting approved was really stressful.
@@DrEnzyme now try to imagine living with that fear every single day of your life from the time you are a small child being aware that any injury or illness you have will bankrupt your family leading to homelessness. Going into adulthood fearing that your insulin will be cut off when you are no longer on your parents insurance. And then imagine being an adult having to figure out which hospital charges what prior to you going in, and wondering if it's in network, or if you should just Google the issue and try and find homeopathic remedies on your own. Because that is what living in the US every single day as a citizen is like. We are extremely stressed out because we know we are only one accident away from being completely screwed
I once got sick in London and needed to see a doctor on a Sunday but I was too sick to leave my hotel room. The hotel said “we can call someone for you, but it will be VERY expensive.” I said, that’s fine, I really need to be seen immediately. A GP showed up with a black bag full of medicine and basic equipment. He examined me, diagnosed me, gave me medicine straight out of his bag. He charged me $100 including prescription. When I thanked the hotel staff and said that this was not expensive by US standards, they were shocked. “You don’t consider $100 for a house call expensive?” I shook my head.
I would have laughed when they said housecall... Unless you are wealthy you don't get house calls as far as I know, if you're poor you gotta take a public bus down to a clinic area... oh who am I kidding if you're poor and sick in the U.S. you die or you live through it, there is no 'go to the doctor' because even with health insurance you can't afford it.
As far as my knowledge goes as someone who works in US healthcare, doctors don't do house calls. Visiting nurses exist for elderly and disabled patients but they're VERY expensive. My father in law had a nurse come by once a week to check his PICC line after surgery and taught my husband (who was 21 at the time) to do the daily dressing changes and IV meds every 4 hours. He gave up his college education for months to take care of his dad because the visiting nurse wasn't covered by insurance since he wasn't considered old enough to receive daily care and wasn't a hospice patient. House calls stopped when private insurance stepped in. And Medicare (a federal program for the elderly and permanently disabled) and Medicaid (a federal program for people living under the federal poverty line or people who make too little money to afford private insurance) doesn't cover house calls at all because they don't know how to bill anything outside of an office, clinic or hospital. Also being on Medicaid is an absolute nightmare because most doctors don't take it because it requires prior authorization from the state to receive most treatments, and it doesn't cover much. Hospitals are required to take it, but if a physician or technician at the hospital isn't in network with your specific Medicaid HMO plan, you'll get a very, VERY expensive bill. I have many stories about patients who come to "the land of opportunity" from other countries and can't receive treatment ranging from a root canal to chemotherapy until they're permanent residents or full citizens, which takes YEARS to become. This country is fucked.
@@tiny99990 in rural area this is more common (especially for old people)
@@erinmurray6957medicaid is excellent in many states and cities. Basically the more conservative the politicians, the worse it is.
Well is like a tenth of many people's monthly wage here
A big thing that I don't think people account for is pre-emptive health care. Free Healthcare sure sounds like a lot of tax money, that is true. But keep in mind that because it becomes free a lot of health expenses in the industry that would have used your taxes anyways become far cheaper. That individual who couldn't pay the tens of thousands of dollars for when they had their heart attack?
Well, if they had free healthcare and they went in earlier, they could've found out they had high blood pressure and gotten a prescription for $15 a month.
A lot of people can't seem to wrap their head around the fact that paying for a janitor is cheaper for your business than what would happen without one.
Preventative care is so important and could help millions of people but then rich people would lose money.
And they get free education as well, some countries going up to even tertiary education, which even my country costs us thousands of dollars relatively for a government institution, which is only 10% of the total tuition fees. Double the taxes for free tertiary education and cheap af(and free checkups) healthcare AND basic insurance coverage? Along with higher QOL AND expected annual income? Count me the fuck in.
@@swordzanderson5352 it's hard to wrap my head about the american situation, given that fucking Soviet Union had hc and edu from kindergarten to aspiranture for free, while being significantly poorer in the meanwhile. Like, it is more than possible, economically, to make it come true in the US. But seems like it's steppin' on someone cat's tail.
@@dandanovich6729 Hopefully this leading country actually becomes number one one day instead of just achieving that in CoViD cases. Then will the land of the free truly be free. Right now, corrupt capitalism and idiocy is what's unshackled, which is a damn shame. Can't say that country isn't the same though, but at least we're subtle about it. Some idiots carry it with pride whilst yelling 'Murica.
Look at the statistics for prostate cancer survival in the US vs Europe
LOL...this happened to me. My wife found out she was pregnant while we were in London, and I asked about an OB visit at the hotel. They sent me to a local clinic where we filled out a small slip of paper (name, DOB, address). Not filling out a pile of forms was the first weird thing. Because she was a foreigner, I had to pay 20GBP. Doctor ran a test and sent us for an ultrasound. I asked how much it would be and he said "nothing". I said, "Well, I had to pay 20 pounds..." and he said, "No, that's wrong. Her home country [not USA] has a reciprocal agreement for health care." He went and got me back my 20GBP. We went and got the ultrasound, everything fine. I said, "Is that it? Do I have to pay anything?" Just like the video. I told her "Let's get out of here before they change their minds and we have to pay $1000!"
If you hang around long enough they'll get you a spot of tea and crumpets
Same thing happened to me when we were visiting Dublin. I knew they had socialized health care. But I thought that as a non-citizen I would have to pay something. Like I’m trying not to be an American idiot arguing with the receptionist, but geeze, I couldn’t walk out without feeling like I was stealing.
Lolol
@@alexh4935 Its quite literally cheaper to just treat you like any other citizen, it would be more work, time and energy to go though the effort of itemising charges vs just saying "ehh tourism euros will make up for it".
Why you going back to America? T.T
Just kidding, I know it's family and maybe even narional pride stuff.
But still, rushing back so you guys can pay more for the baby delivery is kinda odd to me :P
Kidding, kidding - don't stone me
As a Canadian medical student, studying in the US, this was so odd to me at first… in my first month, I cried multiple times over it because it was so sad to watch. there was a patient that insurance stopped paying for their adult diaper, the patient couldn’t afford it. the look on the patients face when they urinated on their clothing while I was examining them is still in so vivid in my head. no one has to feel like this! especially when you worked all your life for your country and now that you’re old, this is what you get in return. very unfair, I hope the new generation of healthcare workers in America can stand for peoples rights
I watched a RUclipsr's interview with a man whose illnesses made it impossible for him to walk, move, even speak so he communicated by blinking, and his sister. At some point they were asked if they would go outside on walks and the sister said they used to do that when they had a wheelchair that she could put her brother in but they lost a lot of things, including the wheelchair, in a house fire and insurance hadn't yet approved for a new one. I'm not even American and that made me angry.
Oh my god that's horrible
American here, and "no one has to feel like this" is more like no one *should* feel like this. It's not just the elderly either. My friend (late 20s) has a bad heart and he waited until his BP was 250/140 before going to the ER once to be sure whatever it was needed to be checked. My cousin suddenly couldn't lift herself off the couch and would collapse walking (40s at the time) and still waited 3 days before going to the doctor and finding out her potassium was 8.8, the ER doc didn't know how she was still alive. It's very common and just one of those things where you accept the likelihood of death. If you don't have money you may as well die in a ditch here.
Hate to tell you, but it's never going to happen. The doctors and nurses aren't the ones causing the problem, it's the administrators and lobbying groups. Standing up for basic human decency means nothing if the people advocating for it have no power, which we don't.
Issue why America does have better healthcare is 2 parts: one, we have to fund most of allies defenses. In NATO, very few pay the Gross 2% of their GDP. This includes German, and France, this doesn’t include the poor state of Greece which does pay it’s 2%. Since the USA is footing much of the bill, this means those counties have more money for healthcare and things.
Secondly, laws regarding the cost of medical procedures are not effective if in place at all. The American people don’t want to fund it though since we have an open border right now and that’s letting a lot of illegals through. These illegals are not gonna contribute to paying for a healthcare system that they are gonna exploit by coming here. I say this as a person who has interviewed a half dozen families. They admit it and have no issue with it.
Regarding the medical practice parts, I have had my wisdom teeth removed a little over a week ago and it cost several thousand dollars. They removed 4 teeth in under an hour. Additionally, I have a sickness that has started with my brother is working through the family. We could go to a clinic and see about getting some kind of medication to help us treat and recover from this sickness, but this would cost us a few hundred dollars and it not worth it when we could suffer a few extra days with over the counter medication.
My family declared bankruptcy when my father have a series of strokes. The bills were not from fixing him. No they were from trying to figure out what’s wrong with him. Over 100k in debt over tests, not solutions. This is America and this is how it is.
I know I'm late to the comments (very late) on this video but I spoke to a nurse in Canada who treated an American with a broken arm. He was so scared it was going to cost him a bunch of money when she told him he wasn't getting charged for it he broke down crying.
My wife lost her father because he had no healthcare. He was working on his roof and fell off a ladder onto his head. His neighbor saw this and called an ambulance to come check him out. He declined an ambulance ride to the hospital even though they told him it would be incredibly dangerous for him not to be checked out and he could have internal head or neck trauma. He declined because he had no insurance and couldn't afford it. He went inside to lay in his bed. Died that night, and decomposed in his bed for a month before someone found him. If we had universal healthcare in this country my wife might still have a father. I don't understand how it's so radical or socialist of an idea to have some sort of base foundation for your society to care for its citizens and give them a leg up. We've been brainwashed by politicians who get some of the best insurance in the world funded by taxpayer dollars who convince a large portion of the population that private insurance is the way to go. We have failed our citizens.
Americans don't care about people who fall of the roof. He should have known better, right?
That is so tragic -- I'm so sorry. The question that people in the U.S. need to ask is where the the money is going. It's certainly being collected.
If the neighbour was worried enough to want to call an ambulance, why didn’t she check up on him later so he would have been discovered earlier?
I strongly suspect that the pharma / insurance companies who are getting rich of the current system are pulling every dirty trick to protect their money - astro turfing, bribery, couple of donations to Faux News to make sure the working masses are reminded of what a fascist marxist woke thing national health care is ...
And the thing is: if health care is guaranteed by the state, then that state very much as an interest in keeping it's citizens healthy and it's medications reasonably priced.
I'm absolutely not saying the system is perfect: hospitals have a rotten habit of trying to get away with as little staff as they can.
But there are incentives for those who have regular check-ups exactly to make sure health problems are caught early on.
Universal healthcare is socialist, but socialism isn’t necessarily a bad thing.people confuse socialism and communism all the time. Btw, there has been no true communist country, the countries people point to as communist are really a dictatorship. Russia is run by Putin, China by a dictator.
I love when Americans try to "gotcha" with DO YOU KNOW ITS NOT FREE YOU PAY FOR IT WITH TAXES? Yes, we're aware, thank you, that's how functioning societies work.
Not really the Americans saying that.
@@Sanbonzakuraa nope, it's usually the murricans saying it.
I'm Swedish and I'm saying don't tread on me, please.
Its amazing what your tax dollars buy when 50%+ of it isnt spent on the most bloated, money-wasting military in the world
I usually just point out that they actually pay more in taxes for healthcare than all but 4 other countries. And then they still pay extra on top, making their healthcare the most expensive in the world.
Since we are sharing here…
3 years ago I, a US citizen, cut my finger off on my table saw when alone in the house. I flipped the frack out. My FIRST thought was, “how much will this cost me?”
I wrapped my shit up with ice (through the bone, but still hanging on) with a towel, raised my hand and proceeded to drive myself to the urgent care 3 miles away. They said they couldn’t do anything and I needed the ER. “God, that’ll be 5x as much money!” I thought. And then drove MYSELF 5 more miles to the ER. Threw my keys at the ER vallet and ran inside.
Walked in with my hand above my head and said, “help, I cut off my finger off on the table saw… Why is it so dark in here?”
I woke up in a room surrounded by nurses.
I could have died in a car wreck if I’d been any slower. All to save 5 to 11 grand on an ambulance.
Total bill WITH decent insurance was 20k.
US Healthcare is a joke. I’m still paying for that to this day. All because I wanted to make my wife a pretty candle holder.
Wifes and their wants for darn candle holders, when will they realise the cost it has on the poor husbands.
Sorry to hear that man, thats just insane. Hope your finger was able to be reattached.
5 years or so had a major heart attack at home, ambulance ride, 17 days in hospital, pace maker, stint. Total cost $84.00CDN. Zero problem with our tax rates!
That doesn't sound like decent insurance.
For $10k, you can buy an ambulance in India
& for the total money you paid, one could fly to other free/cheap healthcare country, get it done & fly back home, while also enjoying the vacation.
But yours was an emergency, so i Don't think it cud be done in your case.
This is EXACTLY what happened to me when I had an emergency surgery in France. After an ambulance ride, the tests, the surgery, and 3 days in the hospital I was released. When I went to the check-out desk I asked for my bill. The lady behind the counter starts laughing and said "You must be the American. There is no bill, but here is a list of the medications you need to take for the next 2 weeks." The entire ordeal including post-op meds cost me €65. The question is why does one of the richest countries in the world (the US) treat its citizens like trash?
Why do you think it's so rich? It was built on the backs of exploiting millions of people for hundreds of years. Still does. Just because you live there doesn't mean you aren't exploited.
Money. The US allowed unfettered freedom for people making their own fortune... which ended up creating massive megacorporations with practically no governmental oversight, including the pharma and insurance companies. Turns out the idea of the government not regulating "muh freedom" is just a way to give way to someone else doing it for the government, most likely on a for profit basis.
I guess the question is Why do US citizens PERMIT that they are being treated “as trash”. The country isn’t an entity that exists in some void. It is governed by its people. Or at least that’s what I learned democracy is.
@@casakaiser I was just coming on to ask this. I can see both sides - i've been scared to go to hospital (Miami) but if I have to I just go, without worrying (London)
Because some conmen convinced the public that taxes are evil and helping those less fortunate is enabling them, so any increase in taxes, even on only those who make more in a day than most Americans will make in a year, is unjust and awful, even if it would be used to pay for something everyone (except hospitals and insurers) would benefit from. Americans would rather suffer than allow tax dollars to go to someone who doesn’t “deserve” it (e.g. unemployed people, poor people, fat people, people with any vices, whatsoever, people who’ve ever been caught committing a crime, ever, etc.). Then those same people will go to church and pray to a man who said to care for the poor, pay your taxes, forgive others’ sins, help the helpless, etc.
We’re really awful, self centered people.
As an American who got an Asthma attack in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia and got free treatment by a lovely Muslim doctor, she was just absolutely amazing, that gave me treatment within 20 mins of me arriving to the hospital. Years later I still remember how I didn't pay for anything.
I'm glad that you feel better here in our country. You are always welcome
Wow thanks for sharing! I hear Malaysia is pretty great on healthcare quality
@@supreme5580 I will say decent. It's not as good as European Healthcare. But hey, it's cheap (free for students, uniformed service personnel, disabled people and elderly people). As Malaysians, we need to appreciate our healthcare more.
I think nowadays non-citizens need to pay for medical care in Malaysia. It's still not much compared to America. A pittance really.
But it isn't free any more, sadly.
@@namikazeleviit's a resource issue (I had an uncle die of a heart attack in an ambulance that wasn't outfitted with an AED or anything more than just a bed). The good people working in the system do what they can, but at the end of the day, not having the equipment is a big problem.
Still, "we're trying to save your life with what the hospital has" is probably better than "we've got all the best doctors and medical equipment in the world and we aren't allowed to use it because your insurance said no".
Preventative care is so much cheaper for a country than reactive care, in so many ways. Pay now, or pay later, in healthcare costs, life expectancy, maternal mortality, mental healthcare, policing costs….the list is ongoing. If a part of the community suffers, it drags down the entire community. Taking care of the entire community boosts the entire community.
Funnily enough the country with the 8th life expectancy is Australia (where I work as a paediatric emergency physician). We are meant to charge American patients for their healthcare as we don’t have a reciprocal healthcare agreement, however we will often perform quick assessments in the waiting room for very low acuity presentations and advise people to tell the front desk that they left without medical treatment if no further management is required. Since we are all salaried it doesn’t effect our pay, and it saves the patient around AUD1500 💰
Honestly, Americans are fine with paying a reasonable amount. The problem is without insurance the prices are exorbitant and only come in the ballpark of reasonable if the care provider has a discount plan or the insurance actually pays what it should pay. Most of the time it doesn't, they'll over complicate the whole process with numbers and stipulations upon stipulations, so insurance doesn't have to pay people the prices they set with healthcare themselves.
Insurance only insures one thing: Themselves.
@@ArcNine9Angel to us its the principle of it. Most of us working in public health wouldn’t have the heart to charge someone for what we consider a basic human right, it just feels wrong to do. I had to do it once for a guys xray and i felt like i was robbing him
I were wondering which country the sketch was about! thanks captain!
The reason I wondered about it was because I were wondering which country did not charge foreign patients, but you captain'ed that in advance for me too :)
@@katierasburn9571 That is honestly so incredible to hear, I wish we had that level of care here without it being determined by the insurance companies....
That's cool!👍🏽👍🏽
I live in Ireland.
Had a baby via emergency C-section this year, stayed a week in hospital. Then after 2 weeks went back with internal haemorrhaging, had major surgery, stayed an extra week.
Bill at the end…zero. I have health insurance, so got private room stay for both surgeries. But what if I had no health insurance? Still pay zero, just don’t get a private room. That’s the way it should be! We don’t have perfect health care here, but you don’t go bankrupt when you have a medical emergency.
Not true ALSO Irish had a shit time with being treated like Shit because I was young and looked younger for Gaul balder stones. literally left to die on a waiting list (my first time having an episode they tossed a bunch of pills at me with no explanation other then " Might be your hear, or liver if your lucky might be kidneys or something else." and i had to force them to tell me what the pills even did!) any way after having to pay to get my own ultrasound privatly because they were taking months and months were i would colaps and not be able to breath and confirmed it was stones and not my FREAKING HEART ! I was STILL on a waiting list for surgery despite being a high complication risk (Cancer patient in remission, + family history as sister had same stones at my age and and pancious damaged form being misdiagnosed and then left to long untreated on waiting lists also) and when i could no longer eat withought trigering hours long episode (Plain cucumber and speseal less then 3% fat plain crackers not even meals) they told me they could maybe fit my on the roster in three months... I WAS EXPECTED TO NOT EAT FOR THREE MONTHS. I had to point out to them I would be dead by then and the ER dr told me unofficially I had to come back in 72 hours complaining of the same things and refuse to leave and even then they only listend as my mother is a nurse and had to come with me and refuse also (Keep i mind i had Lumemia as a child and am no stranger to our health care system my any stretch of the imagination) any way finally got a bed and place in sugery roster (thanks to an Epic emergancy dr who had a fit when they saw the state i was in aftering being left months like this and now had extra long stay due to copliations form delayed treatment ( :O no way right? ) found out they acully had a fair amount of open spases for surgery they just wanted a quite christmas so no unessary surgers.. hmmm yeah three months no eating is supper fine. ANY WAY I was fresh out of colledge no job and they hounded me and i mean HOUNDED me to repay them like loan sharks with a gambler (I had no idea my mecial card had expired and didnt know i was entiteld or even how to get one) calls of months to repay them and openly mocked for trying to set a payment plan I could afford.. Any way I could go on sepnt years of my life in our 2 tear system as my sisters have also been treated like shit when heaving there babys here as they are young. IF you are young and female you will be treated like shit here sorry. If you are not private you DO have to pay and they might leave you to die on a waiting list :) German , ukraian , spanish here all tell me they go home to see a dr.... Our staff out good (some of them) your stem ... hmm lets say we cant make fun of America were not exactly much better...
@@MissPrissRN88 you should leave after 2 days anyway. You know there are other people in teh world besides you, and a bed in a hospital is a limited resource. Staying in a bed for an extra week is nice to have, but the ability to do that does indicate that there are more beds than necessary and the hospital is wasting taxpayer money and being inefficient. Of course you would ideally like extra capacity, but perhaps the argument could be made that extra capacity should remain exactly that, extra and not used if not needed.
Do you understand what I'm saying? healthcare isn't as simple as someone giving a personal experience and then you putting 2 emojis and pretending to have made some profound insight.
My c-section without complications was about $2500 (USA). And I have “good” insurance.
@@melanygalvez9192 that’s crazy money for people who are just bringing a new baby home. I thought with ‘good’ insure it would be completely covered or at least under $100. Thanks for sharing, always interested in health care costs abroad.
@@fahimrind9714 The hospital is saving taxpayer money by making sure post-op people are left to rest in the hospital for a while. That ensures that they do not overexert themselves and any potential complications are caught while they are still literally seconds from medical care. Also, non-ICU beds are rather cheap if you don't run them as a for-profit system.
Lived in UK for several years. I pay more in taxes now than I did in the UK and my healthcare was included. I had twins there and no bills. The broken healthcare system is one of the biggest problems facing Americans today.
I looked into US taxes a few years back and realised the poorest Americans paid more taxes than the poorest in the UK, people with average income paid roughly the same in both countries - it was only in the wealthiest bracket where Americans paid less than their wealthy UK counterparts.
@@blaser80The poorest in the UK are mainly on benefits and I don't think they realise they pay taxes 😂
@@ORDEROFTHEKNIGHTSTEMPLAR13 all of the above. In USA corporations are now considered "people" (citizens united ruling) and they can contribute a ton of money to politicians to vote their way (ie big pharma, insurance companies, etc.)
@@ORDEROFTHEKNIGHTSTEMPLAR13 It's the notion that insurance, esp. health insurance, is something socialist. It's being used by the GOP to fight against it. Even the little improvements introduced by Obama were heavily criticized. Most people lose their health insurance when they lose their job.
I think you typed "UK" twice.
I got pneumonia in Costa Rica, refused to go to a hospital for a week because I was terrified of maxing out my credit card. My host mom finally dragged me to the ER because she was genuinely concerned I might die.
I waited about fifteen minutes to be seen, had chest X-rays, a consultation with a pulmonologist, three breathing treatments, a shot of rocephin, and a sack full of meds to take home--inhaler, steroid, abx, etc.
Because I am not a citizen and don't pay taxes there, I was required to pay the full cash price out of pocket. $355.
A year later I got sick in Peru and was seen by a doctor at a public health clinic, totally free of charge. I asked how to pay for my visit and they were almost offended by the question.
Sounds like to me that the best way to do healthcare is to live in America where you aren't forced to pay stupidly high taxes, then go to other countries to use their healthcare they had to pay taxes for lol.
@@Goodgu3963 they pay less in taxes than I do here, you dope, and they're not paying separately for their health care on top of it.
And again, I paid the full cash price out of pocket in Costa Rica. It's just that a visit that would cost $28,000 in the US cost $355 there.
@@Goodgu3963 They pay a lot less when you add taxes, healthcare, and education together.
@@Goodgu3963 I am not sure where in America you live, but you should check how much other countries pay in taxes, start by checking the property tax and start adding. You will be surprised.
Buy them a cup of coffee and doughnut. They will be very happy.
I'm a first responder in the US and our healthcare system continues to enrage me on a regular basis. Many of my patients would not be in my ambulance if they could get proper care and their medications. Many more would not be dying or dead if they called us sooner but they know there will be a bill. It's sickening.
The last time I needed an ambulance I gave a fake name, phone number and address, declined service, and took an Uber to the hospital so I wouldn't get hit with a $10,000 bill for a 6 mile ambulance ride. America is goddamn ridiculous when it comes to medical charges.
@@IRLTheGreatZarquon No joke. I went a mile after a car accident because my BP was stroke range to the local VA ER and it was almost 1k. VA wouldn't pay it either. 😒
That’s the one thing a lot of Americans who argue against universal healthcare don’t seem to understand, even if you only care about money: Knowing that calling for help doesn’t mean a mountain of debt means people get help early…and then they don’t need the most expensive interventions later (or die, and then *you* dear taxpayer are paying for their loss of economic output).
America pays the most money per capita from taxes for healthcare, and gets this garbage for it. Boggles the mind it really does. The US could probably slash the federal budget for it *and* improve quality of care if you had universal healthcare instead.
It took me 45 mins to get an ambulance in the UK for my grandmother when her heartbeat became irregular, stopped and started again. My US local response is 15mins max, same distance. I don’t love our US system at all, but I will say our ambulance response is much faster.
@@meriadocbrandybuck9833 That's going to vary HUGELY based on where you live.
Wow. Yeah when my mom was having sudden extreme vertigo and vomiting, I called the ambulance against her wishes.. when the paramedics recommended that she be transported via ambulance to the ER, we literally deliberated whether it was worth the 3k ambulance ride to get there. Meanwhile she was throwing up every time she stood or sat upright.
Healthcare in the US is so fucked up. The first thought in our minds is not ‘how can we get better’ but ‘how much is this going to cost me’.
"Pay or die from a cureable disease"
Its as savage as the medieval times.
@@Stachelbeeerchen spot on
"get better?" Well then "liberal"ly VOTE "democrat" Since oDAMacare was "their" "cost-effective" version of healthcare -
@@michaelmartin8337 except democrats somehow don't really want to do that big of reforms too... Somehow I think only having two parties is a moronic political system that is as far away from democracy while still being a democracy.
Why arent there more viable parties? Like other democratic countries have established that.
@@Stachelbeeerchen you hit the nail right on the head
“No society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of a lack of means.”
--- Aneurin Bevan, Minister of Health (1945-51)
@@teatin7876 And in the UK at the moment it's become very difficult to see an NHS dentist. They're all going private.
@@teatin7876 Even under Starmer, the NHS will not become like US healthcare, far from it. And that's despite the Health and Social Care Act 2012 which effectively privatised parts of it. Honestly, primary care especially was so much better here before that bill was passed. A Tory legacy which will take along time to overcome.
@@teatin7876 regards NHS dentistry, I say that but I actually managed to register with an NHS dentist locally today. Finally! A year ago I was being forced to go to London, miles away. Even got an apppointment in three weeks which is good. Happy days. It's so much cheaper than private dentistry here, although insurance can bring the cost down it's a big difference. Do feel the dental surgeries should be paid more but I suspect they may have a new deal as there are numerous NHS dentists available in my area now.
Those on low incomes, out of work etc can even get free dentistry, lucky buggers.
@@teatin7876 Yet the NHS has a larger budget than ever before, and is delivering far less.Look at the current waiting ties. 2023 total public spending on healthcare £211Bn (2008 = £102Bn). It is now 8.5% of national GDP. in 2000 it was 4.5%. Try looking at the fact, not the spin.
@@Talkathon408dentist should not be part of the NHS, not everything should be covered, because we putting a lot of pressure on the NHS, normal and rare things yes, dentist not, the same here in Spain
In many countries, like here in Sweden, the patient usually pays a modest fee that serves more to discourage abuse than to actually pay for care. It ranges from roughtly ten or twenty US dollars, to maybe the low hundreds.
Of course we "actually" pay for care through taxes, but that's what taxes are for, funding the common good.
Yeah that makes sense, we pay a lot of taxes here in the US too, but somehow almost none of that goes toward our wellbeing and safety (aka supporting the healthcare system)
Taxes are not used for the common good in Murica lmao
@@seansampler6808 not nearly the Swedish taxes.
It is not common good. You pay a lot more in taxes than you will use. It is similar scheme that insurance companies use, but the people who get rich are corrupt politicians and not for profit organizations (at least they are not lying about their motives)
@@android199ios25 cope harder
I’m a nurse in Canada. We had an American seasonal worker need an emergency appendectomy a few months ago. He had purchased some travel insurance but it only covered a very small amount. I overheard the site director and the surgeon talking about him at the nurses station “ apparently his insurance only covers a small amount” doc “ he’s a seasonal farm worker he doesn’t have a lot of money” SD “ OK well whatever his insurance pays is fine let’s leave it at that nobody wants to be chasing down people for money”
That's kind of how I think of things: it's just money, we should put people and their health above money. In a first world country, their is no shortage of money
I had a similar thing in my own country - my visits for checkups to the doctor cost me 20$ but as I was on welfare one day I couldn't pay - when the doctor learned I was struggling he simply wrote off the cost for the visit and the receptionist paid me back the 20$. My corrective surgery cost me 30$ iirc - and within that year I'd paid a total of 150$ which meant I didn't have to pay for any more healthcare for the rest of the year. This is all part of the public insurance each citizen has - which is financed by taxes.
@@autohmae Yeah, but God forbid we use the excess money to improve the quality of peasant's lives when there are golden toilet seats to be had.
@@themaggattack lol, That's the point right..?
We use excess money to improve lives instead of drowning them in dept. In the US that money goes to someone with more cash than you.
@@autohmae An MRI machine ain't free, the doctors don't get their groceries for free when they go to the store. Money needs to go to healthcare somehow, it's not a magical fantasy world we live in. Most western countries have decided that taxes should finance healthcare while the USA has decided that corruption should drain money for no improved quality of healthcare and each man for himself.
The only thing I paid during my entire cancer treatment (chemo, radiation, surgery, more chemo, 5 years of follow up consultations, CT scans, and blood work) was for parking. Our healthcare system in Canada isn’t perfect, and Covid has badly strained it, but I am so grateful for it. I truly don’t understand why Americans resist universal healthcare.
Capitalism. Just about everything is about making a profit. A politician (maybe more) used a briefing about covid (at the start of the pandemic) to invest in a company which produces body bags. Need I say more?
I can agree with this statement. I too could point out MANY flaws for our healthcare system, but I'd be paying some 36k in medication every year if it wasn't for it.
That's not to say that I think it can't be improved.
We don’t resist it. Our politicians do
Fox news and idiotic "small government" mindsets that would rather die than pay a bit more taxes. It's funny, there are cases where individualism is good, but it also makes you vulnerable to the power of large money groups and ignorance.
And anyone who does resist is because of propaganda our government puts out
I've been to the emergency room in Norway, the Netherlands and France (once for me, twice with one of my kids) and I had the same experience. It was fantastic.
Didn't Uber have to send out this huge announcement saying that their drivers/cars were not substitutes for ambulances because so many people were taking Ubers cuz they couldn't pay for the ambulances?
But yeah, the amount of times growing up I heard that unless you feel like you're dying, you're not going in because of how expensive it was
"If you are not feeling like dying"
Bad advice you could still have problems that could develop from the "at least Im not dying" injury. But that's reality in the proclaimed most free country in the world.
@@Stachelbeeerchen free to play, pay to win lol
To my knowledge even here in Canada the ambulance ride isn't covered.
My cousin got hit by a car, and when he came to there was a woman there saying she had called an ambulance for him. He was quite upset and said he wished she'd called an Uber.
@@StealthXD1 That depends, if you are living in BC for example and you are a beneficiary of the BC Medical Services Plan, you "only" have a copay of 80$ ground or air compared to the over 800$ flat fee for a gound ambulance or the screw you amount an air lift costs.
I moved to the US ten years ago. When I told people I missed what I then called socialized healthcare, people laughed at me or argued in favor of the current US system. Opinions have changed dramatically, and now I almost never hear anyone argue against universal healthcare. And that includes the doctors.
id argue against it, especially in the US. there's already enough corruption, they dont need more reason to crank up taxes
@@bradhaines3142 so instead of paying taxes for something you can benefit from, you rather let them continue to use the taxes for unneeded military? Now that is progress
@@iohu11 dont put words in my mouth, i never said they should add to anything. military is needed though, but not at the current budget
@@bradhaines3142 if you dont want healthcare, you are againt using taxes for the public health, so they are going to use them for other things. That is just the truth of the matter, you cant be like "neutral" cause not doing nothing equals to supporting what is already in place.
@@bradhaines3142 I see what you're saying, but we corporate would let your family get crippled if it saved investors a single penny. Their corruption is deliberate and intelligent, always pushing for worse and cheaper treatments. Politicians at least pretend to care about their voters, which may push them toward making better decisions. I'd argue that politicians are the lesser of two evils.
As an American, this hits you different in that hopeless pained laughter kind of way.
Healthcare is the sole reason I will never visit the US, even as a tourist.
There are so many places to visit around the world that have free healthcare, that I'm not planning on going into debt for a broken ankle or pneumonia or some shit like that.
It just isn't worth it.
As an American I enjoy opening my paycheck and seeing that my tax rate is 10-20%....
better to be taxed less all the time and just pay for the doctor when and if you need it rather than be taxed like crazy all the time for something you might only occasionally need.
@@tommywolfe2706 Yeah much more fun to be fu**ing bankrupted after a serious injury and try to crowdfund it knowing you might as well be playing the lotto to have a living after that.
@@predeterminedmeat5024 Well, I have seen a documentary about a lady who got cancer and she was denied treatment. The doctors told she would only have a couple years left anyway, so it didnt justify the cost of the treatment.
That was in the UK, where they have that awesome health care that you like. But your example was good too.
I have another one. A man in China broke his leg. He was in his 60's. He couldnt afford treatment. "but I thought they were communist, health care is free".....nope. They refused to do anything. Circulation got cut off on his leg from the break, it started to rot while still attached to his body (obviously) and he had no choice but to cut off his own leg. That was recent (within the last few years), you can see that for yourself online too.
But sure, universal health care in these countries is so great.
@@predeterminedmeat5024 My uncle got cancer and had Obamacare. Treatement was $50,000, he had to pay a $12,000 deductible to get treatment. He only lasted 1.5 years afterwards before he died.
In the UK, they would have denied his treatment. Not sure about the rest of Europe, but most of those places are the same. In Europe they would have said he didnt have long enough to live to justify doing anything and he should just live out the time he has left.
Has long been this way. A friend from Oklahoma suffered heart failure while on a European cruise 40 or 50 years ago. At next port, in a Scandinavian country, an ambulance was waiting to take her to hospital. Turned out she needed a new heart valve. She underwent open heart surgery for the new heart valve and spent three weeks or so recuperating in the hospital. Before leaving hospital, her husband went to hospital desk to present Medicare card. The accounting department said it would be too much trouble to deal with the paperwork, so forget it and go home :-)
All healthcare in Scandinavia is free, so I'm sure they didn't even know what a Medicare card was for.
@@peacefulminimalist2028not sure about that… my mother was a doc in a communist country and for foreign patients, they billed *every* nurse interaction, and of course every doc visit.
Of course it was pennies, but still, an itemized bill was sent to Germany.
@@LMB222 okay
@@LMB222you are aware that no Scandinavian country (nor the rest of the Nordics) are communist regimes right?
@@LMB222 communist country? Are you talking about China? What do Scandinavian countries have to do with Communism?
I watch a variety of RUclipsrs. One American talked about how, when she travelled to Spain for a university course, their (obviously Spanish) teacher sat down all the American students at the start of the term and said "Spain has universal healthcare. If you need the doctor, go to the doctor. If you need to take a sick day, take a sick day." All the Americans kinda grumbled in agreement. "No. I have to explain it to you all every year. I have American students who come into class horrendously ill because they think it will cost them a fortune. If you are sick, even with a cold: GO. TO. THE. DOCTOR."
dont go to the doctor with a fucking cold
@@edvinvestin2457 ^ American healthcare insurer right here.
@@edvinvestin2457 don’t go to work either
Oh, yes, but not exactly, you can't just go to the doctor being a foreigner unless you exaggerate your symptoms in Spain.
If it's not an emergency, and you are not Spaniard (nor have a European health care card) you'll have to pay upfront. 50 euros is the normal fee for a clinic consult.
@@anaryl actually no. who goes to the doc with a cold? that's actually a waste of recourses for everybody. it's not "free" healthcare. it's paid for by taxes. you could go philosophical and say money is made up, but your taxes pay your doctors, and if you abuse a system that's not built for abuse, you'll break it.
I seriously had the first part of that conversation in Greece a few years back. I asked where to pay and they looked at me like I was nuts.
Greece also has the highest number of doctors per citizen in Europe
To be far it is nuts.
@@charlestownsend9280 To Americans or any late-stage capitalist nation maybe.
I find the American healthcare system to be beyond odd, love from Australia.
15 years ago it was not.
@@hardwirecars lol
Ours ain't perfect either.
I waited 6 years for a colonoscopy that should be done every 2 years. I didn't actually get it after 6 years, my specialist just arranged a cheap(ish) one at a private hospital. Only cost me $800.
Odd is a light way to put it. For those Americans who have been bankrupted by the medical industry and still can't even afford the medication they need to live so we just die, and just knowing yourself you could also get ill and be bankrupted yourself is terrifying. We are victims to the American Healthcare industry and the government which allows this to happen.
You pay out of pocket for a service you use? Why is that odd?
This sketch just really hit me.
I work in an emergency room and had an American patient a few days ago who couldn't believe what he had to pay. Less than 50 euros. He kept asking if we would send him the correct invoice. It took a long time (and a lot of laughter. Because of my school English and his “astonished” lack of understanding).
We got it sorted out and in the end he just said: "Can I please emigrate to here? I promise to be good too."
I know he meant that in jest. But it was still nice to hear.
I remember I was arguing with my mother about why the US needs "free" health care, and the conversation pretty much went like this: Me: "Every other first world country has free health care." Mom: "And that's why they're first world countries!" She said, thinking that providing life saving medical attention made them worse than the US (she forgot what first world means).
*chefs kiss*
Ya America is zero world
I read that twice and it sounds your mom agrees with you.
The only Way this makes sense is if she meant that that's ALL they're good for
I mean, by a lot of metrics... the US is slowly slipping into 2nd World. so she isn't wrong lmao
When I first moved abroad, I had an interaction that was sooo similar. I went to a pharmacy to get medication and then hung around to check out. The pharmacist literally said, “why are you still here?” And I said, “to pay?” And she looked at me with total confusion. Getting my EU health insurance card was honestly one of the best days of my life. I felt such a huge weight lifted!!
Welcome to Not-America.
@@kevinblume7042 I mean, here in Germany you have to pay for your medication, but just a very small % of it and like a max of 5 or 10 Euros cant remember.
@@foty8679 it’s 5€ and there is a max per quarter so you don’t pay too much if it’s chronic.
The most I had to pay was €8,- for a bottle of mouth wash when I had inflamed tonsils, I think that was just because
1. it was a big bottle.
2. you could also get it as a (temporary) replacement for brushing your teeth, without prescription.
Gotta love when people are too stupid to check the tax withholdings on their paychecks. Remember as you’re waiting hours for an ambulance that you paid for it several times over and the government just pocketed that money.
A relative of mine had pretty much this exact experience in Norway. During a trip, he had a pretty serious health issue, and ended up in the hospital. He received very good care from staff (who spoke English), and the doctor did a better job of communicating with him than his high-dollar specialist in the States. He had travel insurance, but they had a little trouble figuring out how to charge it because the hospital had no billing department. It was pretty much the last thing they thought about.
By the way, the cost of their healthcare system is about half what we pay per capita in the US, they cover everyone, and nobody goes bankrupt because of a medical emergency or avoids getting treatment because they're afraid of the cost. Their healthcare outcomes are better and their life expectancy is longer than ours.
We are such suckers to allow this to continue.
Most people outside the US are at least bilingual... in my home country everybody speaks a minimum of 3 languages. Most know 4-5.
No wonder the US has so many problems...
In the US, voters get what they vote for and the average US voter can't spell "health care". They are absorbed by hot button "issues" and, as a result, have their pockets picked.
Half‽ In Norway???
@@LMB222 It's prob than half but it's 17% or so in the US vs
@@CityKanin Most people in the UK are single language speekers, you see the world cannot get enough of our major language English. England has three other languages one of those is also spoken in more than one country, there are over 60 distinct dialects in England, and one Proto (before) English Language. then there are at least 10 different dialects of English in Scotland 14 in Ireland, and I think 3 in Wales, plus their own languages. I think as someone from the UK that is far more than enough toi be going on with for anyone!!
Different countries do it differently and all, but from what I've heard, if you're not a citizen or a resident, you'll probably get "I'm so sorry, this is really embarrassing, but I am going to have to charge you today. That will be $20."
Do that with a US citizen and you'll get either a pained "oh no, 20 000 ?" or the look of somebody who's looking for a polite way to say "I have great doubts in your English language skill, can I talk to a colleague of yours who knows English numbers?"
@@Julia-lk8jn I heard of a touring musician who got the bright idea to jump off the speaker at a show in Mexico and broke his knee. At the hospital, he was told "since we're not in your insurance network, you'll have to pay for the surgery out of pocket, which is (a number in the tens of thousands". He and his wife thought that sounded like a normal number out of insurance and started trying to figure out how they were going to pay it without going bankrupt, and then realized that was the cost in pesos that converted to like $800.
@@tparadox88 i'd like to see one in my country, "sorry sir it's gonna cost $340000" (around 400 USD)
@@Julia-lk8jn I THINK You Got Your number wrong, IN the Original comment It CLEARLY SHOWS, $20. DOLLARS. NOT $20,000.
@@andynieuwenhuis7833 yes that was the point of the comment.
I fell and twisted my ankle 3 weeks ago and used the RICE method. My supervisor said that I needed a doctors note to avoid a citation. The next day most of the swelling went down and I managed to get to an urgent care. I had to pay 115 USD just for the doctor to say good job, just keep doing what you're doing.
worked at target for a seasonal job in HS. Was geting light headed stocking the detergant aisle because I got that pallet every time somehow. They told me get a doctors note, I checked and it would have cotst me 400$. Like... what?
Imagine need for anxiety and sleeping pill refill just visit the doctor cost 300 USD everytime
That’s really cheap. How much do you think the doctor should be paid?
@Sofa Miller Definitely not as much as they made. I believe it takes about 1 second to say "good job", so that's, like, $414,000/hr if he manages to say "good job" to one patient every second. Sort of a funny image
@@sofamiller7133 Not 115
My insurance story: I moved to Guatemala and began to relationship there. My bf was cooking one day, and the pan, full of oil, accidently got on his face and chest. Terrified and worried about the cost of this horrific injury, Nevertheless, we got him to a community hospital.
Once he got out, I was looking around through the various medications and such and asked where the bill was.
"Workers here qualify for IGGS....basically free."
So, even in a "3rd world" country, they can afford a form of socialized medicine for basics and emergency health care.
While the richest country in the world just a few thousand miles north can't be bothered to provide something similar.
And South American people are flocking to America to live on the street, get a poor education from a crummy Education system, pay through the nose for healthcare and be discriminated against by the locals.
Makes you think.
You've mentioned the big scary word: Socialised. "I'm not gon pay for nobody's lazy ass to go to no doctor on my dime!!"
Yep, most Americans balk at the word social###. They've been indoctrinated by the likes of FOX and the republicunts to think that socialistic policies are somehow communist. It just shows the level of education really.
"richest country in the world"
30% of Americans live in poverty. The bottom 50% make less than $45K a year, which is still poor. 90% of Americans make less than $100K a year.
Us having billionaires doesnt make the country rich.
@@CantEscapeFlorida I think they were referring more to the GDP rather than individual wealth. I may be wrong about that though.
As an American working abroad for the past 6 years, I can confirm this is EXACTLY how it feels the first time you go to a doctor for something big. I ended up in the ER with pneumonia because I stubbornly refused to go to the hospital until I was actually drowning in my own lungs. When they released me four days later, I had was sure there was some kind of mistake when I saw the bill. Korean healthcare isn't free, but it was almost free. The next time I was sick, I didn't hesitate to go to the doctor.
Here’s a tip: You shouldn’t wait in America either. Prevention is cheaper than treatment.
I grew up in poverty in the Midwest. Going to the doctor when I got the flu wasn't an option most of the time. I usually just took vitamin C and worked through it. That's the scary reality for tens of millions of Americans. It's one of the main reasons I'm not moving back to the states.
@@QualityPen I would like to point out that most of the time you just though out a disease, you only go to the doctor once it gets bad because usually anything less than a lethal disease is gone within a few days with more bedrest and healthier food. So unless the symptoms are severe, going to the doctor is wasting their precious time.
And this is why healthcare in single payer countries is ~half the cost of what it is in the USA and has better outcomes. You go to the GP without worrying about the cost, get your stuff sorted when it's easily treatable and save the tens of thousands of dollars in cost to have someone in hospital for a few days.
@@zyeborm Literally the same in the US. When people complain about bills it's because they went to the ER/hospital when it wasn't an emergency. We have Urgent Care that'll take you in immediately and treat for like $20-$50 and send you on your way. Same thing with most common surgeries, schedule with a private clinic VS hospital and it'll be MUCH cheaper.
As a former nurse who trained in the UK, the entire US health insurance system is a nightmare to navigate.
Oof... You're not going to like what Sunak and his ilk have in mind for the NHS.
@@bojohannesen4352 err, kinda. At the moment we just don't get seen. Over 1 month for the GP (family doctor) and a single scan took 6 months. High immigrant population + NHS fired 30,000 staff for refusing the covid vaccine means high demand and short supply. Needed an ambulance for my wife and they said it was a 10 hour wait. Joy of joys.
@@mandowarrior123 No, it depends where you live. I live in Staffordshire and saw my doctor the next day after phoning for an appointment. My mother has just had a shoulder replacement, her second, her other shoulder was done last year. It really does depend on where you live.
@@mandowarrior123 I’ll still take some wait times over paying anything. Couldn’t afford healthcare otherwise and would never visit a doctor for my issues without the NHS. Also, free prescriptions here in Scotland means I can get those without worry too. I had less wait times when I was in Aberdeen, where I stay now is much more populated so the wait times are longer because you have more people to each doctor. Just wish the tories weren’t hellbent on destroying and privatising it all.
@@bojohannesen4352 You uh... Pay taxes anyway dude. What do you think funds things like firefighters?
Pilgrim in 1750: "Well, shucks, I got a deep cut, that will infect, I'm done for, goodbye Margareth, my wife, I'd dead"
American in 2023: "Hey Margareth! Do we have health insurance? No? Well, shucks, I got deep cut, that will infect...."
Underrated comment 😂
Pilgrim, implies visiting holy sight, they were refugees.
Excellente comparaison! Très juste!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some of the arguments here are a little worrisome. Yes we pay taxes, so that we can provide affordable health care to anyone that needs it. This is a problem? Really? Yes, if you have the money, you can pay for non urgent treatment quicker, and not be on a waiting list. Or you can wait and be treated for free. Is that really a problem?
Our system isn’t perfect by an means, but I’ve never had to worry about going bankrupt to get health care. 🇦🇺
I don't know how it is in your country. Here in Sweden the most sick are prioritized on the list. Like cancer patients etc they don't have to wait.
Its crazy! They dont seem to understand the whole scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours thing. We all pay for each other because inevitably we will all need to go to the hospital at some point in our lives, and we all have the right to life and for that life to be as healthy as possible. I couldn’t stand to think my neighbour is dying because they can’t afford treatment, thats awful!
and yet, many people in Aus and NZ still can't afford health care, and no, they're not "lazy system exploiters". And waiting times in the public system are actually dangerous (waiting months for an MRI, years for specialist care and surgery). We need to wake up and realise that just because it's not as bad as in the US, doesn't mean it's good.
@@miyounova You should check your facts before spouting your American propaganda. You've missed the whole point of "Free Healthcare". Nobody can "not afford it", it's free. Yes, our taxes pay for it but if you don't make enough, you are exempt from the medicare levy but the healthcare is still free. What do you get for your taxes?
@@miyounova Your BS about free healthcare not being able to be afforded? Whatever that means...my son has been waiting for the insurance to approve his MRI and medical treatment for almost two years now. If he was in Canada or Australia, etc, he'd have been treated. We have to fight with the insurance to get even what we pay for here in the US. You should really educate yourself about this. American healthcare is the worst in the so-called Western world.
As an Australian who dated an American living here for a while, I can confirm the "but what's the catch?!" freakout is real. He legit was panicky when he found out he could just walk out w. no financial follow-up, & was convinced another shoe was going to drop.
But nope; you have to pay for specialists here (usually still less than in the US, tho) or else go on a waitlist, but for standard GP/PHC treatment at a public practice or for ER attention, that's just kind of treated as a basic human right.
And I think it should be.
Any nation which can't work out how to make its citizens' taxes cover any _emergency_ medical care they may require is a failed state.
I live in Malaysia, a American friend came for a visit but got awfully ill. We brought him to a hospital. He had to pay RM20(5$) when he arrived. he spent the night there, got a blood test and x ray. In the morning he was feeling better and wanted to pay, but the desk explained that he had paid last night. If he was a local, he would have to pay RM1(0.25$). He was so speechless 😂
I mean, technically the US does cover any emergency medical expense for those who can’t pay. People cannot be turned away in an emergency because they can’t pay
@@karstelobster8203 They don't get billed for it afterwards?
@@karstelobster8203 well yeah but they always find a way to fuck you over in the end
@@naysneedle5707 yes they do. They are stuck with that debt for life
I live in America. I have many things I need to go to the doctor for but I find myself having to prioritize over many months or years which thing I treat because there is no possible way to get what I need without paying thousands of dollars a year. When I hear in other countries everything is provided, I can't believe how stressed out I am and how hard I have to work to afford just basic things while I'm being poisoned from every direction on top of it.
I'm lucky enough to have pretty good health care. Which I pay for of course, me & my employer. But I'm still knocking out a bunch of appointments before I retire & go on Medicare and become a second class citizen. 😔
Why does that political party want to destroy Social Security and refuse to pass free national health care???!!!
Reasons why I left America as soon as I could.
Come to Canada. Our immigration policies are pretty lax. You’d be welcome here.
@@lebojay Yea, I think i'll give up my US citizenship...
Very simple, get a roundtrip ticket to Europe, get a treatment for free and go back home! Way cheaper than doing it in US..
When he asked "What's the catch?", I felt that. There have been so many times in my life I've passed on medical care because I was terrified of the financial repercussions. Now that I have insurance, I still pass on going to doctors for a lot of things because old habits die hard.
I'm the exact same way. Even after I got health insurance for the first time I finally saw a doctor once, big mistake. It still cost me almost $200 for a single visit. No additional scans or medical prescriptions. I haven't seen a doctor since and it's been over 4 years. I count my blessings every day that I'm healthy and don't have any medical complications that force me to go.
Living in the UK, the thought of having to pay or even fill in a form when I see a doctor, is alien to me.
Given the number of times I've needed treatment throughout my life and the fact I now have regular checks by a hospital specialist, perhaps that's no bad thing.
@@grahvis I swear literally everything in America is specifically engineered to keep you in debt. If you want more education? Debt. Healthcare? Debt. Sure families that are well off will obviously think it's not bad as I've had people tell me it isn't that bad.
My family isn't completely poor but we struggle with bills sometimes and if I had to pay hospital fees, if not for welfare, there would straight up be times I'd have to go without eating just to be able to afford that shit. I can't imagine the situation for people even poorer than me.
There is a catch. Just not for that country. Other people pay for it.
The catch is paying taxes, but that’s better than paying a whole operation out of your own pocket.
I am an American living in Canada. It's real! My partner got three exams by three doctors, an ocular ultrasound, and an MRI all in one day, and I paid $5 for a water and a croissant at the Tim Horton's in the hospital. It was amazing. When I got bit by a patient (I'm a vet), I went to the urgent care and afterwards we hovered by the front desk and they said 'no, you're good, go.' I felt like running out, jumping in the vehicle, and yelling 'start the car!' like we'd just robbed a bank. It's very confusing.
5$ for a water and a croissant in a Tim Horton's? You're the one who got robbed.
@@raphaelgaudetboily4452 hehehe yes well
Are you living here Temperly or permanently?
That is what happened to me in the US - my insurance covered it. Taxes or premiums no one gets free healthcare.
@@rogerchurley4500 Well you're lucky your insurance covered it. I had to pay 10% of my post-tax income to healthcare out-of-pocket costs, and I have insurance. That doesn't factor in premiums.
I had this very conversation with an American girl who lived in my postgraduate halls in Belfast years ago. She sprained her ankle really badly, then after treatment argued with the doctor and nursing staff because they refused to take her credit card. When she got back home, she checked with me that the hospital had done the right thing in letting her leave without paying. She couldn't understand what was going on and finally I had to say, "You got your ankle looked at and treated for free... what's the problem?"
"How is your health care funded?"
"Taxes and national insurance."
"Really?"
"Yep."
She was still totally bewildered.
Like, a fuck ton of taxes...
@@GiygasStarman better than a fuck ton of taxes AND a fuck ton of medical insurance
@@GiygasStarman A fuck ton of taxes? for healthcare? Hell no.
Bear with me:
In 2019, OECD countries health spending average was roughly 9% of GDP.
Of that, 7% comes from taxes (+ mandatory insurance where it exists), 2% is out of pocket + voluntary private insurance.
In 2019, the US spent roughly 17% of GDP on healthcare.
Of that, 9% comes from the federal budget (that is, TAXES), 8% is from insurance and out of pocket.
Let's subtract from the federal budget portion the expenses for VA healtcare in the US (as all the other OECD countries have almost no veterans to care for), which amount to roughly 1% of US GDP.
And let's wrap it up:
in the US, almost double the amount of collective wealth goes into healthcare every year compared to other OECD countries (16% vs 9% of GDP).
The portion of the expenses that's funded with taxes money is roughly the same (8% vs 7% of GDP).
But in the US, citizens have to top that with 4 times the amount coming from their own wallet (8% vs 2% of GDP).
That's a steal!
She was bewildered because Reagan told them taxes are wasted by the state.
@@GiygasStarmanthe way Americans talk about our taxes you'd think we can't afford to live anymore. You Americans have less taxes and still rate 38 spots above us in poverty rate.
It's so refreshing to hear something sensible from someone in this country, even if it's only once in a while. Thank you, Doc Glauc. You're the best.
A friend of mine (an American) was super supportive to me (a Brit) when my sister was seriously ill with covid last year. Thankfully, my sister pulled through after about a week in hospital. When the crisis was over, my friend asked me if my sister had a Go Fund Me link for her medical bills that she could contribute to.
I was so so touched that my friend wanted to help in that way, but also absolutely staggered that that was even a thing. I'd never heard of something like that before and I had to explain that my sister's hospital trip and all care was entirely free.
I (kiwi) had the same experience when my aunt was hit by a truck and lost her leg, all my usa friends were so caring and offered to donate for her bills and her time off work and I was like ??? What? Hospital is free and the government pays her wages while she's off work? Horrifying that even is a concern for them. I can't imagine
That’s because many Americans believe all sorts of crazy lies about “socialized health care” and few have experienced outside of the broken US system. 🙁
American here & reading your comments fills me with pride over my fellow citizens’ very real concern for your family member’s health & subsequent financial well-being. (It’s hard to have one without the other)
The reason for their reaction is that
it’s terrifying to be seriously ill here in the USA.
There are only two groups of US citizens who don’t have to worry about the cost of healthcare: the extremely poor & the extremely wealthy.
The extremely poor are covered by Medicaid which pays their medical bills, however many private health care professionals do not accept it & the poor end up going to the emergency department of hospitals for routine care. (The truth is that Medicaid pays so little that most doctors in private practice cannot afford to care for patients on Medicaid.)
The huge majority of Americans who fall within the “middle class” very often end up going bankrupt in order to pay for much needed healthcare. It’s an absolute national disgrace & a nightmare. Also this is not new, our medical system has been like this forever, but as medical treatment has become increasingly expensive it has also become financially catastrophic for the majority of Americans.
Go Fund Me is now the largest source of payment for medical bills. Even its founder realises how screwed up that is. Insurance is the wrong model to pay for healthcare. Insurance protects against unexpected occurrences, it is expected that most people will need some medical treatments throughout the course of their lives. Also, Insurance wants to pay as little as possible, so they are reluctant to pay for screening and preventative treatments. They also recommend cheaper treatments than the doctors prescribe.
@@madyjules06 A third group: People who have Tricare.
I am so incredibly thankful to live in a country with near-universal healthcare, but those of us in this position shouldn’t feel too smug, and can’t take this for granted. The lobbying for privatization is relentless in many countries. In Canada for example there are efforts by conservative politicians to defund our public healthcare system, and as it strains under the pressure this creates, conservatives & big business use this as “evidence” that we should bring in privatized healthcare options. DON’T let people convince you that a chronically underfunded universal healthcare system that is struggling is ‘evidence’ for privatization - it just proves we need adequate funding!
This. This. This.
Short of the odd politician from one province looking for press coverage, can you site a single reliable non-bias source to back up that claim? Because I have yet to see one mainstream conservative politician that has made any claims whatsoever to defund healthcare. I have however seen a lot of incredibly bias left wing media articles fear mongering that shadowy figures are lobbying "right wing" politicians to privatize healthcare which any politician with any common sense would flat out reject since it would be political suicide for anyone (left or right) considering 94% of Canadians list maintaining publicly funded healthcare as a top government priority. Its easy votes.... stop buying into bias bullsh*t news.
I'm from Ontario. It's not just the Conservatives who are trying to underfund it here! (And no, it's not like BC, where the provincial liberals are the equivalent of the conservatives anywhere else). Also, the visiting American would have been charged since, like the rest of the country, we don't really have public healthcare, we just have public health insurance, and a lot of non-residents aren't covered.
Same here downunder. Privatisation is just another form of defrauding the poor
There's no problem a conservative can't make worse.
I taught in South Korea, my American co-worker and I got sick with the same cold and our co-teacher took us to the clinic one afternoon. I am Canadian, so I was like great free ride, my co-worker was freaking out about the cost saying he didn't need to go, he'd be fine in a few days.... the total cost for the visit (plus getting medication at the pharmacy) was like 10,000won, or about $10. The whole ride back to the school he just kept going on and on about how that visit would have easily been over $100 in the states. It is just sad, American puts on such a front of being the best country and all this, but it is really a very broken country.
He... Was lying. American Teachers have very good health insurance.
@@timothypeterson4781 Before making an attack on an unknown person's integrity, it is not a bad idea to get things right. The gentleman was an American teacher in Korea.
Many people in the US are so brainwashed, they have no idea how bad things are here.
@@timothypeterson4781 A lot of people who teach English in Korea come straight out of university and there is no requirement for a background in education. He had a bachelor's in computer science and a TESL certificate. I know when he left he went into programming. So, he never worked as a teacher in the states.
@@timothypeterson4781 I teach at the university level in the United States. My copay for a walk in would be $50. If any diagnostic tests were run, I would be responsible for 20%. If any medications were required I would have the cost of the medication or a $40 copay, whichever was less. Given the cost of most medications these days, I pretty much count on the $40 copay so, assuming no diagnostic tests were run, probably looking at $90 - story seems pretty consistent with my life experience.
You explained America in one video. 👏👏👏. I'll try to explain in one word: LOBBIES.
Exactly.. LOBBYISTS & BIG PHARMA have the loudest voice in government..
I wish I could move this comment to the top.
I'll translate lobbies to legalised corruption
My favourite response from a GP when my American accent spilled into the appointment “Don’t try to give me money, we are a civilised nation and take care of our people. But you can always fetch a cuppa for the nurses if you feel guilty about getting something for free.” Hadn’t even mentioned money. Got the impression the poor guy had had to deal with one too many American tourists.
at my school we had exchange students from the usa who stayed for a whole year and the principal gave them always "the talk" as soon as the arrived: "if you are sick, go to the doctors... no, really... if youre sick go to the doctors right away. dont wait 2 weeks, go to the doctors. its free. dont come to school sick, go to the doctors..." it was a strange new concept to them...
What country was that?
People fail to grasp the concept of free. Sure there’s no bill at the hospital but the govt uses sand instead of lube at tax time
@@freethinkeralways UK
@@MrNukedawhales It's so strange to imagine higher education like that. Here we really are told to "suck it up already" because our "free" aka debt for the rest of our lives education wherein we endure repeated abuses is such a privilege and gift. 😒
As an American, I can't even laugh at this...it's too real. I have "good" insurance from my employer and I pay out the ass for premiums (deducted from my paycheck). I have a $900 yearly deductible, plus copays and 10% coinsurance. I spent ONE NIGHT in the hospital after my hysterectomy last year (NOT by choice, my surgeon decided that), and I paid $2500 out of pocket. I honestly wish they'd just sent me home right after, my bill probably would have been half that. So yeah, our healthcare system is beyond abhorrent, and I'm one of the lucky ones. :/
That's so strange, even though you pay $900 a year you still had a $2500 bill. What would it be if you didn't have that deductable?
@@skipj5480 the 900 deductible is what hep pays before the insurance actually kicks in, then he has to pay 10% of the costs which is where the rest of the 3200 comes from. His premium is what he pays to have the insurance and if its anything like the insurance we have available hes paying anywhere from 300-500 a month just to have the insurance. So at min he pays 3600 a year but its probably closer to 6000 a year. That just to have the insurance, not plus the copays and out of pocket.
@@mjarred87 My brain can't even begin to take in that much money to pay in a year for the "privilege" of having health insurance.... and then STILL having to pay even more should you have the audacity to actually USE that insurance. Terrifying to think about. 😔 I've never seen the $$ figures involved before, only that there is a very complicated system for any health cover. With those kind of costs I'm not surprised about the "46th ranking" he mentions in the video!!
... you stayed in the hospital...after a surgery...and only paid 2500?.....I WAS IN AN ER FOR 4 HOURS AFTER COMING IN FOR CHEST PAIN, THEY SAID IM FINE AND SLAPPED ME WITH A $9000 BILL
@@haleywharton1283 Did you have insurance? A stay in the hospital for three days with just antibiotics and saline for two nights and three days with no insurance years ago cost me 28000. A three month stay with insurance just last year ran me 3000 after the deductible. The difference is insane.
“Our way must be the best way!! Why else would we do it?!”- American medical student I met in Thailand.
Even Thailand have a "30฿ for all basic disease" policy. Ofc, it's basic, so that's not counting specialist.
That's exactly what I feared the logic would look like under the hood. Their way is always the best way to do anything you could possibly do, just because it's their way.
@@davidschaftenaar6530 Ah, American mind washing
that does not sound like someone i would want keeping me from dying
the medical student never thought about greed.
I'm an American & when i hear about the elderly & working poor having to choose between meds & food, it makes me sad & ashamed!
Not to defend our US health care mess, but if you are 65 or older there's Medicare, about $140 a month including hospitalization and prescription drugs and if you choose Advantage. If your income vs rent etc. is low enough you qualify for SNAP (called food stamps many years ago), with a monthly amount on a sliding scale depending on how those numbers work out, with a per person maximum of around $200. Because of how crazy our non-system is in some cases a drug (like a new one that works on autoimmune problems that I get) is somewhere over $1000 a month copay - or free if you make under $60K a year, with no age minimum.
Je crois qu'il faut s'associer au niveau local pour proposer un système d'assurance pour tous pas cher...GO!!!
this is so upsetting, I can’t even imagine the stress of being sick and not being able to get treated
Meanwhile I'm Canadian and I had to move to the US for work this year. We almost cried trying to choose between health insurance plans. I feel like we're cattle or something, being auctioned off.
I know what you mean. I'm sorry you had to go through that. I wish you the best and hope you stay in good health. The American healthcare system is literally just a cash grab system, it's terrible. I know, I live here and when my mom got cancer, we nearly went into poverty because of the bills. My mom's still alive and well though, so good news on that end.
Must be doing pretty well to actually be able to afford health insurance though. We just wait until we're in excruciating pain before going to the ER.
@@MoulderingMortal Most companies offer a healthcare plan as part of their benefits. Mine just deducts the cost from my paycheck.
@@midnightshadow1491 lucky
Almost cried? Lmao, oh please, get over yourself. Move back, quit your job and ask the friendly Canadian government to cover your mortgage, no?
Brazilian here. My mother discovered a severe heart condition that needed surgery in the beginning of the year. Since it was a very specific problem, the specialised hospital didn't keep a stack on the items needed to be implanted during the surgery (since they are biological and not produced in country). Took her to the er on a Friday since she was getting worse and the doctors decided they wouldn't wait for the normal line of medical equipment importation. They filed an extraordinary form and in 20 days the parts needed were already in here and she was already operated.
We didn't pay a dime and she received the best possible care, with the best equipment avaliable in the world. So yeah, free health care is absolutely essential.
So you're saying that Americans should ComeTo Brazil for healthcare?
@@conspiracypanda1200 Honestly? Do it. Our system isn't perfect, but at least it's *there*. We're all living in the same planet, we all deserve the same basic goodwill from a fellow person.
Come to Brazil, get your healthcare, and eat some coxinha.
@@phodon129 Eat some coxinha foi de fude kkkkkkkkkkk Eu recomendaria pão de queijo ou empada, mas concordo assim mesmo com o resto xD
I am so grateful to be a Canadian. I once was pregnant with triplets; it was a complicated pregnancy that put me in the hospital for 2 months prior to delivery (severe polyhydramnios). After delivery, my triplets were in the NICU. I developed a severe deep lung infection (from being bedridden for so long) and had to remain hospitalized for another 2 weeks after delivery. I was also flown by air ambulance from my community to the big city which also included ambulance rides. If I was an American, I would have had to have sold my firstborn to have been able to afford all this. There is nothing like free healthcare. Plus, I had the very best doctor ever (lectured worldwide).
Please, don't call it "free healthcare". You're scaring Americans off.
As a fellow Canadian, I've had a Heart Operation 10 years ago. To this day,I still don't know,or any bills for being, inthe Hospital for 2 and a half weeks. Yet in the States the Operation would be well OVER $12,000.
The catch is that at least here, in Canada, we pay higher taxes on things.
WORTH. EVERY. CENT. If it means that an immigrant mom can have the same care as the richest guy in the city, I'm fine with it.
Funny thing is .. usually countries with high taxes got everything baked together to make that high tax.
The US got that big tax number split into tons of tiny things so with a quick glance it looks like they are paying less taxes .. but overall its around 45%~ of their salary that is taxed with healthcare insurance added :P.
So US people who say they pay less taxes then the "high tax countries"... not really, they are just looking at 1 part out of their 5+ different taxes.
Hi, I'm canadian. Those taxes are nothing compared to medical bills
Im californian and have to go to the doctors quite a bit, so high taxes and medical bills are normal 🥲
Back in my retail days, I had a Canadian tourist visit my store and gush over how cheap consumer electronics were in the US compared to Canada.
This went on for a while, and I finally got so tired of hearing it that I told her I would gladly trade our luxury good pricing for their "free" healthcare and greatly subsidized tuition.
Her response? "I never thought of it that way". Hopefully it stuck.
@@Thuazabi electronics aren't even that much cheaper. Maybe she just failed to understand what currency conversion is 😅
Canadian here - I once knew of a psychiatrist who completed a 2 hour assessment on a child who he found out later had refugee status and hadn't yet secured a healthcare number to cover fees by the time they were seen, and he had no idea how to bill the visit - he certainly wasn't going to send it to the family to cover. Ultimately he just considered it a pro-bono visit where he wouldn't be paid for his time at all, but he later looked up how much it technically should have been. $2000 to assess a kiddo for learning disability, formulate a treatment plan and provide a report to their primary care physician with suggestions on how to help them in school. He wasn't willing to compromise on the kiddo's care and I respected the hell out of him for that.
And knowing that for some in the US, 2K would be a steal of a deal compared to the bills they get, blows my mind. Whether or not there is a wait, as a patient I'm so bloody grateful that during my times of pain and struggle I don't have to worry how much the whole ordeal will cost me. I can just focus on getting better.
This is why as someone who works for the nhs we actually have the nhs, because there is no way i could have the heart to slap a huge bill onto someone whos been seriously ill and potentially had their life changed. Though sometimes i wish i could charge people who are clearly wasting my time for taking a valuable spot!
Americans talk about “the wait” in countries with universal healthcare, but my kid needed to see a therapist and it’s taken almost 2 years to be seen. We’re still waiting we have an appointment scheduled for several months from now.
And we’re going to have to pay quite a bit once we finally get seen.
It’s the same every time I need to see a specialist like a neurologist. It’s usually a 6-12 month wait because there aren’t enough doctors (or therapists/psychologists) in my area.
At least if the healthcare system was run by the government, they could offer incentives for certain specialists to move to places that don’t have enough doctors from places that have too many. Or offer incentives to medical school students to go in to specialties that are in deficit nationwide.
Instead, it’s a for-profit free-for-all, so only the most wealthy with access to the biggest cities get the best care.
2k? Thats still way to pricey :( In Germany my insurance pays around 200€ per 60min of ambulant therapy in a hospital.
@@Annie_Annie__ if you go abroad and travel a country for a week and go to the doctor there and then come back it will cost you less
I lived in New Zealand for a while, and this is spot on. I could not believe that I was getting charged nothing for great health care. I was waiting for the "gotcha," but it never came. The Kiwis were completely confused about how the American medical system worked. Their most common reaction was, "Well that makes no sense." Keep up the amazing work.
@CH Kiwi who has lived in NZ, US, UK and Australia . The healthcare systems in the three non US countries are all very similar, all are variations of the NHS system in the UK , around 1 to 2 % of your taxes go towards health and overall health takes around 9% of GDP. The US has a for profit system with punitive insurance costs from private companies and rather than a single payer system there are literally hundreds of insurance suppliers and the US spends around 18% of GDP on health for a much worse system that does not cover everyone.
@CH it’s free at service. And with regards to outgoings, it’s a lot more complicated than you think, US citizens on average actually end up paying more out of their pockets for everything they need than other countries with higher taxes. Basically you guys spend more money going out that are not called taxes compared to what’s included in our higher taxes and I’d rather pay higher taxes and not have to worry financially when I get sick.
@CH the health care you are paying for is more than you would pay in taxes in other countries. You dont have to be a genius to realize this. ☮️
@@johnstirling6597 My country is 6% . I have several friends in the Usa and none believed me, so i photocopied my wages slip ( paycheck? ) and sent it to them. It varies , but they pay anything from twice the amount i do , up to nearly 10 times.
@@cbird1974 I dont know, do you consider 6% a lot?
Yes as a French citizen living in the US every time I go back to France and I go to the dentist or doctor, I am PUZZLED. This video is GOLD (and sad).
probably cheaper to fly back to france for a regular doctors appointment and back rather than go to a clinic in the States
Je pense que GameCyborgCH a raison, si ça ce trouve ça coute moins cher de ce faire soigné chez nous même avec le prix du billet d'avion que la bas XD
You maybe right on that ^^@@GameCyborgCh
As someone who lives in America, this is one of the biggest reasons I want to leave this country. Literally, I told that to someone and they instantly told me that I’d be getting shit healthcare. I don’t care if it’s shittier healthcare, it’s accessible, and that’s far more important to me. There’s no point in having the “world’s greatest healthcare” if nobody can afford it.
I reckon that "shitty healthcare" thing is a complete fabrication - as is "the US has the world's greatest healthcare". As an Australian, the only place I might get less than world-class health care is if I chose to live in a remote or regional area of the country. Only because these areas may be a long way from specialised or emergency medical centres. That would apply to any country in the world however -- in rural areas you often have to travel a long way to get hospital treatment. In Australian cities however, health care is easy to get to, and is world standard. Medical students come from across the globe to train in our public teaching hospitals, which have state of the art facilities and all the latest treatments. I've heard Americans talk about long waiting times in Casualty in other countries, but over here, waiting time depends entirely on the day and time (Saturday night is peak hour the world over) and the free ambulance can often take you to whichever hospital has the shorter wait.
@@a24-45 Compare: Waiting time casualty with "My family can't pay for the treatment, just let me die."
When that person told you that you’d be getting “shit healthcare” it gave me vibes of “Even if I treat you like shit I’m still the best you can do”. Honestly, it makes my heart break for Americans. You do truly deserve to be treated like actual human beings and not feel like you deserve to be exploited
I was talking to my mom the other day about my healthcare because my eyes are deteriorating.
She told me that we have to find a specialist that will take my insurance. I said, "I thought I had state insurance?" She said that hospitals don't have to take state insurance. So what is the point of my state's insurance if hospitals aren't required to take it?
I'll probably go blind before I find one, which sucks because I'm a painter. Why does America hate it's people so much, I ask myself all the time.
I know it would be a lot of work to use a better system, but I always found it confusing that many Americans say that it's too much work. Are we not the people who say hard work is the best and most honest work?
The reason why our healthcare is so expensive is due to government sanctioned monopolies (The FDA basically tells most companies no, even to the simplest of medicines - Only 3 companies can produce insulin, for example), regulations that do nothing but make it harder for the patient to get their healthcare (Certificate of need), and overall the general corruption of the US government not allowing for our programs to do their jobs (We spend more on our Medicaid than the UK does on its NHS, and that's just one of our programs), our healthcare would be fine if we stopped beating it with a stick.
I know a lot of comments have complained about nationalized health care having long 3-6 month waiting lists, but consider this. Here in the "speedy" healthcare USA, I've been walking on a stabbing pain in my heel for about 18 months, lost my sense of smell back in 2018, had a lump grow on my spine about three years ago (Don't worry it quit growing. I think it's benign but if you push on it I do get real nauseous). To date, I haven't been able to save up sufficient cash to be okay with getting any of those checked out. So I fail to see how a 6 month wait is all that different? 🤷♀
I'm glad to see your reason triumph over the indoctrination, good for you man.
I had to wait 3 months for my surgery (gall bladder removal), not a problem. The alternative is way more scarier. I reckon if I was American I would’ve opted for no surgery because I couldn’t afford it so I would instead be popping a vast array of pills for pain relief and to stave off other ailments as a result of not having the initial surgery. That’s not a life I want to live.
Think about it in-depth and you realize just how cruel and privileged it is to complain about waiting lists: the reason there's no lines in American hospitals isn't because they're more efficient, it's because most people can't afford to go. They'd rather endure the pain or ignore dangerous warning signs than be bankrupted by medical bills. So when someone says they'd rather pay for private insurance than deal with waiting lists, they're *openly admitting they want special treatment for being wealthy.* They're admitting they want all the less fortunate people that need treatment just as badly to fuck off and get out of their way.
To be fair - I've never waited more than 2 weeks for an appointment with universal healthcare - including surgery. Usually I get booked within a week.
@@66maybe66 👏👏
Spent a year hospitalized, half in intensive care unit during coma and early care after and half in a fantastic reeducation center and it didn't cost a pence, healthcare in europe (at least france where I live) is as it should be, human. I could never thank enough the people that helped me, nurses, the aide soignants (I don't know the term in english), kinesitherapeutes, dieteticians, orthophonists, coachs in adapted physical activity, psychs neuro-psychs, psychiatrists, doctors of all kind; from anesthesists/reanimators to regular doctors to pmr doctor to neurosurgeons, the amount of help I received is as gigantic as the trouble they took making it seem like nothing, no one should face bankruptcy for having the gal to survive and globalized free healthcare is a must for any country saying loud and clear they care about their citizens, I they weren't all there I'd either be dead or in a wheelchair, fight for this right fellow humans from the U.S, no one should face bankruptcy for daring having a stroke or a child. I wish you all the best in this harsh world, keep the fight for a better tomorrow alive brothers and sisters. o7
I appreciate this comment and you so much, and I also find your verbiage fascinating.
Over here in the USA some people are getting over $250k bills after being in a hospital for a bit for covid. Because of this, many I know now have a DNR. In fact, most I know including myself openly admit if we get cancer then we aren't going to treat it simply due to the cost.
Thank you for such powerful words! Thank you for your humanity. Thank you for having the audacity to fight for your life and rehabilitation! - with thanks from an American Speech Language Pathologist
Anaesthetist translates to "reanimator" in your native language? That is amazing. This is how I am introducing myself from now on.
@@DrCake-px7ri it is the intensivist
This is an absolutely brilliant video that all Americans should watch. The guy is a consummate actor, switching with ease between doctor role and patient role. I've seen similar videos before where Americans get free health care in the UK while living here and simply cannot get their heads around the NHS.
Reminds me of that story where an old man went to “rob” a bank of $1, then when the police arrested him and took him to jail, he was able to ask for healthcare and get the treatment he needed since he was fired from his job and couldn’t afford it. This is America. (Paraphrasing and summarizing but you get the point).
Hi! Where I live (in the US) the "crime rate" goes up when its coldest outside...so people have a place to sleep and not freeze to death. Also, someone close to me had a serious problem with an impacted wisdom tooth and couldn't get care for it...until he went to prison, where they eventually removed it. Cool place to live, huh?
So this is how much it takes to get free healthcare in America , sounds about right.
@@AiBkomachi Actually, prisoners have to pay a copay too (it may be different state to state). They pay about $8 to see a provider, which doesn't sound like a lot unless you are making 25 cents/hour in your prison job. They would rather spend their money on canteen items or phone calls or something like that, so they often don't seek care. They come out way less healthy than when they went in.
I worked with someone once who actually moved back to Dunedin NZ to get dental work done at the dental school instead of the UK where he had been living. And there's a lot of drugs that you can't get here because they're not funded but they are in Australia.
Basically, every country has it's healthcare drawbacks. America just has different ones.
@@joshduthie3401 *bigger ones
Fify
To paraphrase something from the internets:
"It's easier to live longer when your 70th birthday isn't locked behind a huge paywall"
Painfully accurate. Me in Germany when I had to go to the emergency room. It wasn't near a city and my German was broken while their English was too. The whole time, I was so worried. When a new person came to speak to me, I saw dollar signs. Pills; dollar signs. An IV...more money. At the end, I was given an additional paper with meds written down then I kept saying "rechnung? rechnung?" and had definitely encountered people from the U.S. because they said "Nein.....no...nein....frei.........keiner...no...". That was free and I went to the pharmacy and spent maybe 8 Euro for what I needed. It still absolutely floors me.
I think that many forget that the european salaries are way lower the US counterparts (up to 50% less) even in Germany. And from that about 15% are getting desucted as so called health care tax.
Unless you have an accident or somwthing worse, you are actually way better of with the US system.
BUT as my cousin had cancer i realized that even our whole family would not be able to cover for his medical bills, I was glad that I live in a system where the fortunate healthy ones pay for the unfortunate unhealthy ones.
Even though, as I myself work in the medical field, ppl become careless and dont give a damm about there health. Since the others will pay.
It is defnitly a Double edged swored.
@@hislightwillshine4us Yeah, anyone who says their system (government, health, etc.) is like the most perfect/end all and bed all is definitely...reaching and kind of glazing over. I do prefer the German and Swiss systems just with my family as my Dad had major surgery following a heart attack in the United States and the bill was almost $750,000 USD which was just...ridiculous. There is no way we could ever pay that and we have such a insulin-rationing problem here as well which has led to deaths or people just can't afford treatment/medication and die. We also get ridiculously taxed but its many pieces instead of larger chunks. I think one of my friends makes approx. 6% less than I do in a similar field and gets far more benefits.
@@hislightwillshine4us
that the european salaries are way lower the US counterparts (up to 50% less)
,,,,that's really BS...your waiters get paid what...2 Bucks an hour???
desucted as so called health care tax.
...these are no taxes...seems like you really have NO clue how it works...btw ..the company pays half of it....
Unless you have an accident or somwthing worse, you are actually way better of with the US system.
lol....no...not in ANY dimension...there are no copays, no deductibles....german healthcare ranked no. 27...US...no 37....so how are you better off with the uS-System...this is pure ignorance...you can break your ankle and end up paying thousands of Dollars out of your pocket, while it cost you nothing in Germany. People don´t even go to a doctor cause they can´t afford to pay 100 bucks to see him....yes...so better off....
, ppl become careless and dont give a damm about there health.
.......So why there are so many obese people in the US...?
Sorry but your whole comment is such a list of stupid ignorance...
Go get it....your system is a fucked up greedy mess
Hi, it's not much different in the EU than in US or Canada - a hospital has to take you in case of emergency.
Thing is, the bills in the EU are usually small as those procedures are "off the shelf", i.e. nothing crazy or complicated, so often they don't bother charging you, as the bureaucracy would probably cost more.
It's exact the cost runaway in the US that's the problem. I paid 70 USD for simple stitches in Poland. That shouldn't cost much more. It was done by a medical technician.
@@hislightwillshine4us and how does life expectancy in the US compare to Germany? How about obesity rates? Which country, on average, is healthier?
My son was born 9 weeks premature at one of the top hospitals in Canada, delivered by one of the top neonatal experts in Canada. He was in the NICU with Oxygen and a CPAP for the first few days, with 24/7 care. After a week, he was transferred to our local NICU where he stayed from September until late October, with round the clock monitoring and care. After coming home, he has had numerous visits with a pediatrician, specializing in Preemies, an infant physiotherapist ("just in case"), and a neonatal specialty team (again, "just in case").
In total, we paid only for parking, and our son is doing fantastic. Currently, he is screaming his head off and chasing our dog. My taxes are only slightly higher than Americans (depending on state).
The only thing Americans are lied to about more than universal healthcare is how low their taxes are.
But you live in a country run by Castro's son, hopefully for not tto long
@@luless666 Seems to be working out fine though, doesn't it.
@@luless666 we had the same healthcare under Harper before him. But seems like a fine compromise either way
why don't you fact check it before saying something ridiculous?@@luless666
I’ve had open heart surgery, 2 kidney transplants, years of dialysis, shoulder stabilisation, about 10 vascular operations and probably a total of about 6+ months in hospital stays. Never paid a penny because im in the uk. If I wars American, I’d be dead because I cannot afford all that treatment since it started at age 17, I’m 31 now
That's a lot, hope ur doing okay now
Holy you are really strong, i hope your health will be better after all of that treatments.
Im sorry you've been so unwell in your life, I hope you're feeling more well now x
Almost same here in regards the treatment.
Had issues with my lungs and they failed for some moments.
Had kidney stones years later.
I paid for nothing on both cases for medicines, surgeries, my stay at the hospital, etc.
You might be surprised, the way the US healthcare system is set up is that it is more expensive the healthier you are
For the first five years (at least) of living in the UK I felt like I was doing a dine and dash every time I left the doctor's office without paying.
I feel this so much right now. My husband has cancer and the bills just never stop
I am so sorry. May God bless you both.
Smh…I’m so sorry. As a ER doctor it so painful to break those kind of news to people because It’s as if you are giving them a death sentence. It’s already difficult finding the strength to deal with the disease but it’s worse when you see the bills that come after.
Will keep you both in my prayers 🙏🏿🙏🏿
You and your husband are in my prayers. I hope he is getting good care at least 💕
Had an appointment for a lung infection, and it was 600 dollars for the one appointment. Then, several months later, they tried to bill me again and claimed that I never paid them. I showed them all of my receipts, but they still held me in limbo for several more months, sorting it out while sending letters threatening to send my case to collections. It was really fun. Also pro tip in America. Always ask for an itemized receipt. It will lower your bill because they cant hide the fake charges on one of those.
Also opt for PPO insurance instead of HMO.
PPO stands for Preferred Provider Organization whereas HMO means Health Maintenance Organization.
After having PPO insurance I’ll never go back to a HMO.
Also the fact that it takes hours and hours and hours on the phone to get an ESTIMATE of what anything will cost and then it's still likely not all you're going to pay and you won't get the real bill until months after whatever your thing was. In countries like Germany any costs are literally posted on the wall for anyone to read easily. It makes the "Free Market" aspect complete nonsense because you have no idea what any decision will cost you.
I'm taking a class about how to bill insurance as a private practitioner in the U.S. I thought it was confusing and unfair as a recipient, but now I find out many times providers simply don't get paid if the insurance company denies the claim for whatever reason, even if you appeal it. And to be in network, many companies stipulate that the patient doesn't need to pay if the claim is denied and you forget to have them sign a form promising to pay. It's like a whole other job to deal with insurance as a provider, and that takes time away from giving the best care possible.
I’m an American living in Canada, and there are so few people who work in doctors offices here. Maybe a receptionist/nurse and the doctor. And the only person you actually see is the doctor. In the US, I had to tell 5 people what my appointment was for before I actually saw the doctor, and by then, I was tired of talking about it
Our business office in our hospital in Canada is one of the smallest offices there and it is a large city teaching hospital. The focus is patient care not collecting money.
I used to temp at a teaching hospital. There were actually jobs that were 90% on the phone trying to get prior authorizations so patients could actually get tests and be treated. Our whole system is broken.
@@kathleens6770 Which then increases costs for healthcare since it has to pay for another whole industry.
@@JHabc The reason why you see so many receptionists before you get to the doc is most likely because that clinic doesn't have an extensive HR system like a hospital does and that doc needs to hire some people to deal with the excess paperwork caused by your insurance (MediCal/Medicare).
My elderly mother (Canadian) fell and ended it up in a South Carolina Hospital for two nights. Had usual imaging done for a head injury. The out of country private insurance she purchased refused to cover as she answered one question wrong on the application. Then she started getting bills; from the hospital, from the radiologist, from the doctor, seven in total I believe. Hospital bill was $27,000. When I contacted the hospital to explain the situation they dropped the bill to the uninsured rate, $9,000. There’s a reason health care is so expensive in the US. The providers are soaking the insurance companies. For profit healthcare is NOT more efficient and less expensive than social healthcare. Nor is it better. Just look at the statistics. Life expectancy, US is 46th as of 2022, Canada is 16th. Per capita, US spends more than twice as much as Canada as of 2021. Overall healthcare quality Canada 14, US 18, as of 2021. Search the web. You will not find good news is if live with US system. And, God help you if you really get sick and aren’t Uber-rich.
Side argument: our bad life expectancy is probably somewhat caused by our medical care, but also our culture (not taking care of homeless people, very little compassion, lots of gun violence, etc.)
Obesity is also very common in the US, just like here in Australia
US healthcare is actually more expensive. The insurance companies and the medical association are in cahoots with the scam. They bumped up the prices so people will have to get insurance just like if ur a member in a certain store, prices are marked down compared to non members.
@@nobleradical2158 If you nuked the 5 cities where gun violence was an issue, the U.S. would drop from 3rd in murders, to 189th, out of 193 countries. All those cities have strict gun control laws, so lawful citizens cannot defend themselves, and the sub-saharan affirmative action hires, who pay no attention to those gun restrictions, mimick their genetically-expressed ancestors behavior here, mostly killing each other - and silly retards who live there in that fake bubble.
@@iamdave84 As is consumption of PUFA's - Industrial Seed Oils. Directly relates to endocrine disruption and malnourished obese people. Eat pastured lard, tallow, meat and greens. Seasonal fruit.
Wife went to India and got sick. Her hotel sent a doctor who diagnosed her and gave her a prescription. For free. The only reason we don't have free healthcare is because half of the political establishment taught their constituents to hate it. Those same constituents who need healthcare the most. Our system is about greed, not healthcare.
And that's India lmao, not really a country that is generally praised for such things.
Keep making these types of videos. I'm so tired of trying to explain to my fellow Americans how shitty our health system is. If we stopped wasting our tax dollars on endless war and corporate bailouts then we could easily afford universal healthcare and we could eliminate the insanity of medical debt.
I think it's not just the corporate bailouts and the tax cuts for the rich, although those certainly aren't helping. AFAI can tell, pharma and insurance companies are making money hand over fist, and of course every dollar that ends up with them wasn't used to pay for health care workers or more hospital beds.
That image of 45 being helicoptered to a suite in a private hospital with 12 HC workers just for him? And his oh-so-bereaved son going on about how awful this felt for him, subtext: look look, I'm suffering just like you all !?
That nicely summed up the situation.
It isn't just a matter of what we could afford. Do you remember how nasty things were when Obama was trying to get the ACA passed? So many people were just dead set against paying anything to help out someone else, no matter how much it would help the country and themselves.
@@tamaramartin4015 The problem is that you have a multi billion dollar industry in healthcare. No government would ever pay the inflated charges because they're outrageously inflated. It doesn't cost thousands of dollars to run an ambulance 15 miles. The lobbyists who make it rich from the healthcare industry would never allow it and lastly, the effect on your economy would be dire (at least at first) as the money that healthcare generates now would be effectively removed from the system. Then there would be a doctor crisis as children wanted to be lawyers or accountants instead of doctors, it's a very difficult problem to solve once it's snowballed to the levels you have in the US. I can give you other examples of these viscous traps that can no longer easily be undone from other countries.
Yes,@@theashenfox, the $$$$$$ to be made off healthcare is at the core of our problem, and with that, i lay a lot of the problem on the insurance industry. It's just all a hot mess, and we, the little people, don't have much power in the situation.
Yes, why should your taxes be used to bail out corporate cock-ups? Shareholder power, yet again. The whole world is run to suit shareholders.
A lot of people in the U.S. like to convince themselves that they get better care because more money gives you better care, but it's in exchange for the majority getting worse/unaffordable care. It also makes rich people in health related industries a lot richer, so they lobby to make sure it never changes.
Exactly. They like to talk about how the best doctors are in the US. But Sir…. you’re poor, you’re not seeing the best doctors, you’re just seeing some doctor (if any) and then have to pay tons of money for it. People….
@@patrickmunro5379 It's like any other job. You get the help you pay for.
@@midnightshadow1491 that’s not really true, but okay.
And the only reason it costs them more money is cause businesses inflate the cost of basic thing like stitches and tissues by over 100%.
@@midnightshadow1491 not really how it works in reality, especially with things like doctors (and other jobs like teachers) and jobs like that, as the good one who csre about people stick with the lower paying job to help as many people as possible, cause that's why they go into the job in the first place, not for money.
Traveled to Spain a few years ago, and had an issue that required an emergency room visit. Was taken to the hospital and seen, ended in an overnight stay. They did send me a bill, which arrived in the US 4 months later. They stated that if the bill was too much I was able to dispute and have it comped but only if I truly needed it. The bill came out to under $10 USD, so I gladly paid and thanked them for effective care!
Unfortunately, some governments are trying to destroy our public health care by privatizing little by little.
They try to imitate the American model...
I will always prefer to pay taxes and know that I will always be covered, than suffer an accident or a very expensive disease to treat and I may not be able to pay the bill for treatment.
That's the difference of seeing healthcare as a right and not a business.
Greetings from Spain!
you were treated by one of the best healthcare systems in the world.
I am so confused that there are actually people defending the US healthcare system.
The taxes are worth it, all in all we spend less per capita. We have more access to preventative care. The waiting times are comparable to the US. The quality of care is not worse. Also, let me argue that not worrying about bankruptcy because of an unforeseeable medical emergency is a lot healthier in itself. People can actually go see a doctor when they worry about their health without panicking. I'd also count paid sick leave or parental leave into this.
Don't get the wrong idea: we criticise our system a lot. None out there is perfect. But the US one is really only worth defending if you profit off of it.
It's insane to me how some people can't see how deeply the current healthcare system affects US culture and only worsens every single societal problem you guys are dealing with.
Thats what happens when all of our schooling growing up went on and on about the land of the free and home of the brave. In America, you're taught we have it good. We have freedom and democracy and the best of everything. Then you grow up. Most of us see the problem. The rest are force fed propaganda to keep them thknking Europe is a socialist hellhole and the US is the last shining beacon of civilization. Its disgusting.
Just go purchase health insurance if you worry. Or look for a job that provides it. Obama care exists for those who have a low income. Maximum out of pocket for them is like 8k.
It’s worth a look into the USA healthcare system rather than a 2 minute RUclips short. If you are really interested in it.
@@john-zf1yb I have been looking into it a lot and I also have family in the US with their own experiences. Not convinced. Your argument again proves to me how much we defend what we are used to (yes, me included ofc) and that it's often only hindering our progress. That's why conversations like this are important, so I guess the video did it's job very well.
@@rainghostly I think every human hates change and of course my argument isn’t going to convince anyone I only wrote that comment out of selfishness to prove a point.
But if you care to know it breaks my sole to see talented doctors and nurses do one of the hardest jobs and get paid peanuts compared to those who take advantage of others.
If the healthcare system changes to a single payer system surely doctors and nurses will take a 75% pay cut in the USA like they did in the UK. We will loose out on 100s of years worth of innovation all because someone didn’t like paying $50 to see there PCP. Is that really worth it?
@@john-zf1yb Given your infant mortality rates, standard of living and life expectancy I'd personally think a doctor not being able to afford his 5th summer home in Bali is worth changing things up. But hey I live in a place where we put our general population over the lifestyle of a couple rich cunts.
It's not like Doctors in the UK aren't living very comfortable lives.
I lost my US prescription while I was in Sydney... and it was a very important medication.. Normally, I would have to go see my doctor, pay for that, then go, and pay full price for the medications, which would be like $400 because Insurance wouldn't cover it as it wasn't time for a refill yet... In Australia, within an hour of realizing I had lost my meds, I walked into a random Doctor office, paid nothing, got had a new script.. which was a 6 month supply rather than a 30 day supply, which i got for something like $5 USD,
"It's not free because it's paid with tax"
1) That's what taxes are for, societal needs and benefits
2) The tax you pay is less than what the insurance and hospital payments are in the USA
3) It keeps the actual costs down because it isn't a competitive extortion market (No, it doesn't cost tax payers $20,000 to fix an arm, US hospitals just charge that much)
4) Public insurance creates bargaining power for insured people
5) There is somehow ALWAYS money for military, bailing out banks and tax breaks for the rich.
6. The tax is ALSO lower than the taxes you pay for healthcare in the USA, except you actually get something for it instead of having to still pay out-of-pocket for everything.
With all these, we kept voting for someone that don't do sht about it
"It keeps the actual costs down because it isn't a competitive extortion market"
Nah, it is the opposite. US healthcare is so expensive cause by law most competition is PROHIBITED. Huge burdens through very complex regulations and a ban on drug imports.
Hospitals and the entire healthcare-system are government-created monopolies - and they take full advantage of this atrocity.
@@ABaumstumpf “government created monopolies” :D
My daughter needed surgery on her feet this year. It was so much cheaper for us to fly her out of the country (where her grandma and other extended family lives) and her have the surgery there. If we had it done in America I would have had to file bankruptcy and then she wouldn’t have been able to get the physical therapy she needs when the cast come off.
My mother in law spoke to the doctor for us and he said “since the mom is originally from this country, the daughter qualifies for free healthcare and so does her husband”. My kid went to the hospital there, no questions asked, she had a successful surgery on her feet, stayed for a few nights, and was given a wheelchair to use. We got back for x rays and she will have physical therapy and all it cost was a plane ticket there and back. America has a lot of catching up to do in the healthcare field.
The thing that I feel like I haven't heard brought up much when it comes to the US healthcare system is that the US government spends more of its GDP on healthcare than pretty much any other developed country... and yet it is ranked last among the same group in quality of healthcare. The solution isn't to spend more, it's to fix the system we have. In fact, if done right we may be able to get away with LOWERING its cost in the long term.
Lobbyists have controlled Healthcare in the US for decades. Which is the main factor in it being so expensive, they've also made it nearly impossible for Dr's and other Healthcare workers to survive in the profession outside of thier legally privileged monopolies. Our ability to provide Healthcare has greatly declined because of this, and this also protects shitty doctors and practitioners because now they're under the protection of multibillion dollar giants who have rigged the system even in law.
Facts. When you turn healthcare into a for profit business you don’t make people better, you find better ways for charging for sun standard service. All of the negatives that people try to quote for it have been disproven by all of the other countries who have just made it work. I think the big negative is many people will be out of work, and they will have to figure out a profession that isn’t glorified extortion
@Hopper33 so where i live you have to have health insurance its illegal not to and they will pretty much force you to now i think i spend about 10 euro's on life ensurance per month its actual cost is about 120 euro's but the governments sends us 110 for compensation
Now if there is a surgery it depends on your insurance how much it cost my "own risk" what its called (literally translated btw) is 365 euro so upto 365 i have to pay myself after that the insurance will take care of it
Most medicine and treatments are treated diffrently their just included in you basic insurance
I’m not sure if that’s what the government spends or if that is what the citizens and insurance company spends.
@@seankrake4776 They find new and creative ways to charge more money. I get shots in my head about every three months for migraines. My share was maybe $250-300. The “health system” decided the room (basically like any other doctor’s exam room) was a “treatment room.” The charge for the room was more than the doctor’s fee and my cost doubled.
I'm in the uk, our NHS is going through a lot of problems right now due to Brexit, not enough staff and staff being overworked. They deserve better, and the NHS deserves not to fail, I wouldn't be alive right now if not for the NHS. I was in hospital for 8 months after I had a large tumor removed back in 2017. Despite the problems they face they really care about patients and I owe them so much. I couldn't imagine the fear Americans must face over healthcare, it's insane.
Good grief, yes, the "we are paying way too much to the EU and we'll save all that and funnel it straight into health care" Brexit.
I know that I spent four years thinking: Hey, that one politician who sold you this idea made off into the great Somewhere Else the moment Brexit was voted in,, leaving the whole pleasure of ushering in this amazing improvement to others, _do you think that could mean anything??_
I have to preface this with saying I can't say I've had.. great experiences with our healthcare over the past few years. But even still, it's so, immensely frustrating to hear that the tories considered making it more like the american healthcare system.
As bad as my experiences have been... I'd rather it not cost me a penny than put me in debt for like, what, the rest of my life?
By no means is me saying this "NHS bad", I'm just frustrated with my poor experiences. And you know what? The staff deserve better than what they're getting right now. Better tools, better pay, more staff, the whole thing.
The problems are because it's being serupticiously privatised and sold off, often to American companies. As this happens taxes basically get diverted from services to profits and the system strains. Then the media, also largely American owned, weigh in and say this shows it needs to be further privatised. It destroys our electric, gas, trains, NHS and now they're doing it to schools. Just to rob people of services paid for with taxes so it can go to private owners RT paying wages for enough nurses etc
As an American who lives in Canada I can confirm how strange this feels. I can’t help but ask how much I owe after I visit the doctor. It’s like some kind of impulse. It feels like robbery, lmao.
Do you pay taxes in Canada?
It is robbery. You are getting robbed in the USA by your own healthcare systems.
@@endxofxeternity Oh yes we do. But I'm fine with it if I don't have to pay for my health care and if I don't have to be in debt forever to go to school.
@@Drake5607 I was just curious and asking OP. Not against single payer option at all.
@@endxofxeternity Oh, I love curiosity!
So, our tax rates varies from province to province (we pay both federal and provincial taxes) and it's a tiered taxation system.
For example, if I'm paid 100k$ a year:
In my province (Québec), I'm taxed 0% for the first 16k$, 15% for the next 30k$ after that, 20% for the next 46$k and 24% on the last 8k$.
For the federal, it's 0% on the first 13k$, 12.5% on the following 38k$ and 17.1% on the rest. Total, I would be taxed: 15.62k$ + 13.3k$ ~= 29k$ (which is, really, ~30% of my whole salary).
The more money you make, the more tax you pay (the last tier for both provincial and federal taxes are around 25% each).
Of course, there are deductions for capital gains, donations, and stuff like that, but that's mostly it.
When I was studying abroad in Japan, I let an ear infection go until I couldn’t hear out of the affected ear before I sought care. I was shocked when the only cost was the equivalent of a few US dollars for the ear drops.
Sorta same thing for me. I live in Denmark, i had a bad ear infection as a kid and now I have an EI maybe 3 times a year on a good year. I just go to the doctor, tell them my ear hurty, they make a prescription and boom, 90kr (12usd) for the biggest bottle of ear juice.
@@jonahthrane812 Thank you for living here and catching our ear infections so I don't have to
@@Ole_Rasmussen I'm Danish..
sigh if the drops work they yay, you dont need to worry about paying for it, if they dont and your doctor KEEPS giving you those drops without listening to you, then prepare to pay 650 bucks (this happened to me in the netherlands, i have a proper health insurance that i pay monthly fees to incase i need healthcare, the eardrops would normaly have been payed by the insurance, however since the insurance had to pay everytime i had those drps it kept stacking on and on, eventually you get a bill when you go over the Yearly due's of free Insurance payed medicine, basicly the insurance will pay for most of it, untill you reach theyr end quote of alloted money and then you have to pay an extra fee of 650 bucks, i hated it since i kept telling them i was allergic to the medicated eardrops, yet the doctor i visited didnt believe me since it wasnt on my chart at the time, (which he wouldnt have acces too since i just moved to a new location and my past medical history didnt get passed trough).......eventually i was tested what was wrong with my ear more closely and they found out (like 2 months later) that it was a Yeast Infection that needed Antibiotics to fix rather then those eardrops that uses corticosteroids(wich im allergic too)
"... Doooo you want us to mail you something?" That cracked me 😂 Yeah I'm terrified of ever getting sick in the states. Love from Ireland
Average life expectancy is a reliable metric of a nation's healthcare standards. Canada ranks No. 6 in the world, at 83.99 years. The USA ranks No. 48, at 80.75 years. [SOURCE: CIA World Factbook, 2023] In Canada, healthcare is a right of citizenship. In the US, it is a privilege of wealth. In Canada, cancer is treated as a disease. In the US, cancer is treated as a profit centre. And that makes all the difference.
And without wanting to offend anyone, Canada is not even the best possible example of the benefits of universal healthcare, but still far better.
That said, maybe it _is_ the best example after all; to prove a point: even a troubled UHC system is still superior.
In Denmark, healthcare is free, and you can even see specialists for free, you just need a referral from your GP.
Only thing that costs a little in Denmark is medicine, which is still pretty cheap, and private offerings like chiropractor etc.
The Danish system even has a promise that if a public hospital doesn't have a time for you within a month (30 days to be exact) you'll be scheduled for a time at a private hospital where the state pays. It's called "behandlingsgaranti" essentially "treatment guarantee".
Chiropractors aren't real doctors, so I hope they aren't covered by insurance
That is one, amongst many things, I miss from those years I lived in Aalborg :-) Even though it is not a huge difference from Norway, we still have to pay a small fee until we reach the yearly limit of aprox 2000kr. I was surprised to know that I could visit my GP in Denmark for free.
I'm Canadian, and when I was a kid my mom's appendix burst. She called an ambulance and got surgery. When she got home, she mentioned that they needed to pay for the ambulance because this wasn't an "emergency". 13 year old me was outraged that she needed to pay. Anyways it was 60 dollars.
How is an organ exploding not an emergency??
@@TheGreatBackUpVIDEOS bro I don't know.
On a somewhat related note, isn't it interesting how every country that adopts a western diet starts suffering from exploding organs?
Honestly, I feel your mother's outrage, because I had my appendix burst, too, and, dude, EVERYTHING about it felt like an emergency.
@@pantitapalittapongarnpim1581 honestly I'm still salty she had to pay
This made me tear up.
As a physician, I feel I am complicit in this broken system.
So much unnecessary hardship that people endure in the wealthiest country on the planet.
It seems like an airplane ticket and a passport would be much cheaper and safer options than healthcare in the US.
It is! A lot of people come to India for their treatment, it's called health tourism but I mean, you're actually getting treated without being robbed out of your life savings!
I know you're half-joking , but in case anyone wants to pull this:
The immigration might refuse you access if they find out you're doing that. You're still welcome, but don't be open about it.
@@majormajor7925and the good news is most of those doctors graduated from American medical schools 😂
On average, the cost of an international flight is about $2000 round trip. Passport is less than $100.
An ambulance ride in this country runs between $750 to $1000 on average. Helicopter? $10k.
Honestly, if it wasn’t for the fact that they have winter I’d consider moving to Ireland.
I heard this calculation. You can get two and a half hip replacement surgeries, including hotel, flight, passport, surgery, hospital care, postsurgical physio... for what you pay in the US to get one.