Sources: pnhp.org/a-brief-history-universal-health-care-efforts-in-the-us/, 2021 account.ache.org/iweb/upload/Morrisey2253_Chapter_1-3b5f4e08.pdf www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK235989/ copyright 1993, National Academy of Sciences journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/us-health-care-non-system-1908-2008/2008-05 , George B. Moseley III, JD, MBA; copyright 2021 American Medical Association, AMA Journal of Ethics www.pbs.org/healthcarecrisis/history.htm www.medicareresources.org/basic-medicare-information/brief-history-of-medicare/ , Steve Anderson, Oct. 7 www.cms.gov/About-CMS/Agency-Information/History From Centers for medicare and medicaid services,Page last edited January 13, 2020 Additional Photo credits: Social Security Amendments of 1965 signing - 1960sdaysofrage.wordpress.com/2017/12/24/social-security-amendments-of-1965/, posted to 1960sdaysofrage.workpress.com on December 24, 2017 by 1960s: Days of Rage. Original Photo Credit: Description: “President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the bill creating Medicare and Medicaid in 1965, with former President Harry S. Truman, who had tried to establish national health insurance, seated at right.” Historic Surgery photo credit: www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/surgery, sciencemuseum.org Segregated Emergency Entrance: sourced from the Library of Congress, original Photographer: John Vachon (1914-1975); Library of Congress Control Number: 2021680805; Digital ID: ds 04324
So grateful to be Canadian. I'm 67, recovering from gall bladder surgery. My husband had an emergency triple by pass a few years ago. We were charged zero for these surgeries and received superb care! When I was a child, prior to our universal healthcare system, my father was chronically ill and the medical bills threw us into poverty. It was so difficult. My heart goes out to my American friends who are still suffering from a heartless greedy corrupt system. Universal healthcare is a basic human right! Praying for change for the USA.🙏
Thank you so much for this insight. Everyone always is so quick to say the Canadian system is the worst as a fear tactic to keep people happy with our current system. But I've never actually met a Canadian who would prefer our system instead.
@Solitude Of Heart the US healthcare system costs 18% of gdp, between 50 and 100% above the cost of universal health care systems elsewhere in the developed world. Health outcomes in the US can be very poor (male life expectancy is low and worsening, maternal mortality and infant mortality are also poor). In addition, 30 million Americans have no health coverage. I am a Canadian. I have had unfailingly excellent health care. The cost is very low
@Solitude Of Heart Canada's crime rate is hugely lower than America's. We do not have a rampant gun culture like the US does. Anyone who qualifies for a provincial or territorial health insurance plan (virtually anyone) gets free health visits and free hospitalization. Prescriptions are charged for, but are significantly less costly than US prescriptions (insulin in Canada can be up to eight times cheaper than insulin in the States. Yes, dental care is costly, as it is in the US
That's wonderful that you had such a great experience, but I hear from many canadians in similar situations that had awful experiences or people who died while they were waiting moths care that should have been performed sooner, And could have had a better outcome
Preach! I am an RN who also cannot afford health insurance. I have watched for years as the majority of my patients had to choose between other needs and healthcare, and I have as well. I go across the border to get dentistry and medications and have to ration my MD visits due to an autoimmune disease. Listen to this woman-what we have is NOT CHOICE. You are locked into whatever providers and treatments your insurance company says you can get, and THAT'S IT.
Totally agree. Stuck with Medicare Advantage as I do not have income to afford a supplement. So I see Dr. maybe once a year & avoid tests due to copay in these inflationary times. Pay bills or get medical care. So far only minor aging issues. Thank You Father.
It’s pretty embarrassing how for such an allegedly wealthy and advanced nation to have its citizens resort to gofundme’s everytime someone needs surgery, or hospitalization, or a medication for a rare disease, or get cancer, in order to be able to afford their bills and get treatment.
Embarrassing is a perfect word for it. Super embarrassing that we so obviously care so little for humans as we can see when we look at almost any policy :(
It's a nation eaten alive by some greedy people. Yet too many Americans are still not raging angry. Healthcare is one of many areas that shows what is a national dystopia. It really is greed.
German here. My mom slipped at the local swimming pool and dislocated and broke her hip. An ambulance was called and she was operated on the same evening (titanium femur), had multiple cts and xrays, stayed two weeks in Hospital and had physical therapy for months. She also got a bed triangle and a walker. Het co-pay was less than 200€, plus a few luxuries she chose like cappuccino, cable tv... (Like another 100€). She is super fit again.
@@Rheem22 well not all of us pay high taxes. The single mom with two jobs does but people like Elon Musk pay nothing . Instead baby Elon Musk ,who got his original business funded by mom and dad ,cry booohoo when anyone suggest the billionaires should pay taxes.
And you don’t worry about going bankrupt and losing your life savings. Our medical costs are super inflated in the US. All to line the pockets of insurance execs, politicians and lobbyists.
ALL OF THIS. We pay almost 1/3 of our salaries in taxes. PLUS Another quarter of our income for healthcare. And we get...what? roads, elementary - high schools, and police. which are great. But thats it. cool.
Honestly Liz, I'd leave the US and just live somewhere better. I think that should be the goal of every American who can afford it. The American dream is now getting out of its waking nightmare!
I feel this so much. I recently broke my foot and had to go to the ER. I sat in the waiting room for 3 hours and was back in my actual room for 3 hours as well. 8pm-2am. All I got in the ER was an x-ray, 600mg of ibuprofen, and a splint on my foot until I could schedule with an orthopedic surgeon. I got 4-5 different bills from different places, and originally the registration didn't run my insurance correctly, so it's been a headache getting that figured out as well. All said and done I just got the updated bill from the hospital, not even from the other billing places for the radiologist and physician bill - $1,300 after insurance, and I'm still waiting for more bills. The 600mg of ibuprofen they gave me? $9.50. I could have brought by Costco 1,000 pill bottles from home and taken 600mg for pennies! Insurance is so frustrating. Thank you for talking about this!
Just left the er for the exact treatment, was given the exact same thing as you , no crutches on site, about a total of 3 hours in the ER to get X-ray, 600mg IBUPROFEN, and a splint… yet i have no insurance, was told i Ned to go see orthopedic for a cast and continue care for a fibula ankle fracture treated with immobilization and crutch use. So I got a big bill coming with no insurance for treatment that wasn’t what’s actually needed. If you couldn’t perform the cast or even give crutches what not give me the option for partial treatment or just await a few hours and go to an orthopedic or just give myself home treatment. Can’t find affordable insurance anywhere. If anyone know of a company that have an free or affordable actually affordable for a non worker please leave information. Thanks in advance. Also can you tell me if you injury was treatment at home with immobilizing from the splint alone, or did you actually have to get a cast with the orthopedic? 🌎💞
The US healthcare system makes me so sad. I wish you guys could all come here to Australia or well basically anywhere else else in the world where we have a goverment funded health care service and subsidised medication and you don't have to pay a ridiculous amount for basic care
This is so good. I’m in Australia and we always talk about how bad the American health system is. We can walk into a hospital at anytime we need for free. I couldn’t imagine not being able to take my child to hospital, mental health service of doctor because of $$$
So timely! I literally did a presentation in my NP class about U.S healthcare system & Germany. We already have medicare advantage (which is exactly like the German system - Universal but multi-payer), which we can expand on. I hope American law makers will push harder to expand medicare/medicaid. Healthcare is a human right not a privilege.
She speaks 100% true. I am also a healthcare provider. I was so equally angry after being out of school for enough time to buy into the LIE that our healthcare system is broken. That anger turned into heartbreak. Why? The day came wherein I realized the system isn't broken at all. It is working PRECISELY as it was designed. It just wasn't designed for you. The patient. It is designed for the insurance companies and the overpaid physicians (sorry, but the AMA is also guilty in this). And now...here we are. The ultimate villain? Our politicians.
Exactly! Why aren't we altogether doing any French-ish Revolution sort of thing yet? It's humans exploiting other humans so they can hoard wealth to buy goodies. It's sheer evil since they can do something right, and they choose their selfish greed over humanity. Soooo, is it going to stay this way?
We just talked about the cost of long-term care in my cna class tonight and it was a mega bummer. Almost every person had a story about how their grandparents couldn't afford care even with Medicare. The cost of care is so high and no one's insurance covers anything. We ended the discussion with our instructor telling us the only thing we can do is to just try and be as healthy as we can.
I saw a documentary somewhere about a growing trend called “Medicaid divorce” where elderly couples are having to get divorced in order to meet Medicare eligibility when one or both of them have long term medical issues and they do not meet Medicares “needs based” requirements because both are collecting their retirement or social security benefits under one household and the only way to maintain your coverage is for someone to die, someone to stop receiving their benefits to meet income requirements, or to divorce and no longer live at the same residence.
Yes! My OBGYN actually TOLD ME that If my husband and I got divorced I could qualify for medicaid to pay for my pregnancy with my daughter. She said a ton of people do it.
Breakdown for you. I pay $858 a month for insurance. My out of pocket max is $5,000. I gave birth in March but, surprise! My baby had jaundice. Because of this I then had to meet his out of pocket max of $5,000. Oh but wait! There's more! The anesthesiologist that administered my epidural was out of network, so I now have to meet a separate out of pocket max of $11,000. In total, for laboring my sweet little human and providing him with health coverage, I have hemorrhaged roughly $24,000 this year. Yeah... something's gotta give here.
I am so so sorry. That is SO MUCH unneeded stress. I also ran into the thing with an out of network anesthesiologist and a crazy bil with that, as if there was ANY way for me to know that when they walked in the room. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Just hearing stuff like this, knowing how true it is even though it sounds like it should be an exaggeration, I can’t believe Americans have let themselves get scammed so openly just so they don’t become “socialist”. Stupid. (I’m American and I hate the system)
My 3yo just got hospitalized because her oxygen was low from getting pneumonia from rhinovirus. My first thought was the bill not my daughter because she required an ambulance ride to the childrens hospital. I pray that in my lifetime we can have universal healthcare here. I’m also going to have a serious talk with my children someday that they should consider moving to another country to truly live life instead of being in fear of going broke from getting healthcare if they do not see these changes in their lifetime. I’m praying that millennials and gen z can make changes. Gen Z seems to be very inclusive and aware of problems effecting them and those around them, honestly I really do believe they’re going to have a true impact on our country. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
I feel this so incredibly deeply, as I've also immediately thought of cost when sending a child to the hospital vs omg how scary is this for her. And I hate it. I'm so sorry. I am SO hopeful that when future generations get to be in charge that things change. Because It's impossible to consider the alternative. Thank you for sharing. i'm sorry you've experienced that stress of not only a sick child but the fear of the financial repercussions.
Just turned 26 last month and was offered good and cheap dental/vision/life insurance through my part time job while I go to college..... However......... the actual "health insurance" is quoted at 697 a month, which is 95% of my monthly income. Amazing job health system, absoutely amazing....
I hate to add insult to injury here - but isn't what you'll have to pay more like $29,000? Not $26k? Also, thank you so much for this video. Thinking about healthcare costs and the state of our "healthcare"/insurance scam....I mean system - literally keeps me up at night. I am entering into the nursing profession and have massive anxiety about the future of this country's healthcare. I don't know where to channel my energy.
Got my jaw shattered by a baseball bat-500k in bills; 50k out of pocket. Just lost my insurance due to cost. Praying I don’t get anything catastrophic. Graduate nursing school next semester so trusting I can at least get back on a “normal” plan. Ironically I don’t make enough to get ACA assistance but make too much for Medicaid. 🤔 one day at a time…
I am so sorry, Anne! That sounds terrible! The finances of who can get help and who can't is also an absolute mess, and I'll try to touch on that in a future video in the series. Sending all the positive vibes for your continued healing and I truly hope you can find one of those one in a million plans at a new job!
This is a smaller experience, but still. I'm 18, and my parents still pay my medical bills. I'm lucky enough that my dad has a good job, but his new job has horrible insurance. We've bounced around to different insurances several times now. I've been having joint problems almost all my life that have now resulted in constant, 24/7 pain that keeps me from work and sleep. I keep begging to see a doctor, but we simply can't afford to on our current insurance because I need a specialist. My primary care doctor ran a few tests, but all she said was "they're normal" and gave no further help or instructions. Several hundred dollars to hear "they're normal" and that's it. I shouldn't have to wait months to book another appointment to discuss results or go to a different doctor blindly looking for an answer. Heck, I shouldn't have to book a second appointment to discuss results and where to go next when we already paid for it!
Ugh. I'm so so sorry that this is your reality. This is what I saw ALL the time in primary care. Patients unable to seek the specialist they needed due to cost. Me trying to run tests, but they didn't necessarily show us anything. And then it was just an expensive sad mess with no answers. I hope you get yours soon and feel better.
Yes! This is why our emergency departments are dumping grounds! We are so far from equality in healthcare. I just wrote a paper on this last semester....... I look forward to your upcoming videos.
It’s also crazy how our medical insurance is tied to our jobs and some jobs don’t even let it kick in until working there for 60 days. Great video!!! Hoping to see another like it
I’m actually here because my insurance doesn’t kick in until 90 days. I messaged my oncologist but she has been leaving me on read….. maybe because my new work insurance hasn’t started?
Another huge problem is that we are billed separately by everyone. So if you’re on a payment plan and paying 6 different bills at $200 a month, you’re paying a mortgage payment. Don’t pay it, you’re in collections and they’ll garnish your wages. I’ve been through medical bankruptcy twice. My son was born six weeks early and had to be flow to another state and stayed in the NICU for a month. The second time was after my second was born and I was hospitalized a week before a c-section for pre-eclampsia and then following a hysterectomy 2 years later, and a multitude of other surgeries. We finally FINALLY were able to buy a house and start a savings. I decided to go back to school and then my husband needed a tonsillectomy and a massive lipoma removed on his neck because, in combination, was causing obstructive sleep apnea. A few hours after the lipoma removal, he developed an arterial bleed and had to go back in for an emergency surgery. Then jumps in my issues and being diagnosed with Barrett’s Esophagus 3 months later. We’ve reached our max-out-of-pocket for the family. I’ve needed cubital tunnel surgery so bad and out it off so my husband could get his surgery earlier this year. Now I have permanent nerve damage and my son needs a tonsillectomy. We are trying desperately to hurry and get these things done before the end of the year and our deductibles reset. Now insurance is making us jump through unnecessary tests after tests before the surgeries, although our doctors have said we need these surgeries. I’ve had to leave school and will have to start all over again in our program, so that I can just go to work to pay the $11,000 in medical bills we occurred, this year. I don’t know how anyone can argue that this system works. My husband makes good money and we live well within our means. I feel like we are being punished.
omg what an absolute nightmare. I'm so sorry. That is so hard to get out from under. I experienced this too with my daughter when she was born the anesthesiologist was out of network and was a totally different crazy bill. As if that was something I even got any input on when they came into the room. So ridiculous
Come to Australia, New Zealand or the UK. We get great free healthcare here. A software engineer and a nurse practitioner in Australia, you guys can probably clear at least $300K/ year or even higher. 2 kids? You get free daycare as well. Come on over!
Thank you! This is so true. My husband and I need to renew our insurance. We make good money. And the ins is more than 30% of our take home…. And EVEN the ACA (ObamaCare) WITH the tax credit is still close to 23% of our take home pay. It’s insane. I want to move to a freaking socialist country because I just want to be able to go to the doctor when I am sick with out being *more sick* at the bill.
In our state, thru the marketplace, for 2 people, we will pay upwards of $36,000 in premium for 2022. Even worse is the premium historically increases a minimum of 20 percent per year. This is not sustainable and if something doesn't change soon there will be a large chunk of middle income Americans uninsured or bankrupt.
I got hit by a car while riding my bike, I hit the road head first going probably around 15-20 mph (idk the actual speed but I was going really fast downhill) when I got to the hospital I had to wait in the hallway for about 3 hours, all they did was X-ray my legs, never even gave me anything for the immense pain I had from the impact, when I complained about the lack of care they said I denied pain relief which is total bullshit since I literally asked them about 4 times to get me something for the pain. You could say they didn’t want to give me opioids due to the epidemic but they couldn’t even give me the bare minimum of Tylenol. I still owe a shit ton for the “care” I received and this experience made me lose all faith in the American healthcare system
Such a good video. Such a ridiculous system. “Socialist” health care isn’t so bad, I live in Australia and we can see a primary care dr for free and visit the hospital for free and we are so lucky. I don’t see how anyone could be against that
Just thought I would also say I live in the UK where the NHS can often be criticised for its short comings. However with all of that said I would still choose NHS over the system this video highlights. When I get sick I worry about that and not how I’m going to pay for it. The thought of people fearing being able to afford healthcare and going without treatment due to money makes me so sad xx
For sure. If you ever want to discuss more on the NHS I'd love to talk with you about it! I'm hoping to do a video comparing the US system to NHS, Australia, German, and Canadian helathcare systems
in at 0:55 and i have to make a comment that you will most likely NOT like, so here we go. im steffys husband and i am a man, in 1998 i got on SSI because of depression. my doctor (shrink) put me on a drug that caused me to get type 2 diabeties, it was in a class action suit but the expert witness REFUSED to testify against this drug because it was "SAFER THAN THE OTHER DRUGS" to the lawyers dropped me like a hot potato. 2 years later this "safer" drug was on national news broadcasts as causing 8 year old BOYS to develop FEMALE BREASTS THAT LEAKED MILK!!! doctors do NOT cure illness anymore they just throw drugs at the condition that cause side effects that they throw other drugs at!! our American food system is broken too, it too is controlled by the FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION .there are children that have NEVER been outside their city that have traces of GLYPHOSATE (ROUNDUP) in their urine! glyphosate falls from the sky in the rain! the food industry puts more chemicals into our food than they put food !! i was an agriculture student in college from 2008 to 2014. the publication IOWA FARMER TODAY printed an article that i read aloud in my ORGANIC CERTIFICATION CLASS that told the plight of a "certified organic wheat farmer" on the west coast that had his crop (that he had sold to a foreign country for many years) turned down at the port because it contained GMO WHEAT , but GMO WHEAT WAS NOT AVAILABLE UNTIL 6 MONTHS LATER, but it had escaped the test plots over 100 miles away and contaminated his field, and he LOST HIS ORGANIC CERTIFICATION FOR 7 YEARS BECAUSE OF IT TO BOOT! GMO'S ARE NOT A ORGANIC CROP!! the plastic industry sold the people a BIG LIE, 90% of plastic not only is NOT recyclable, but it also releases toxic chemicals into our food!! so to ALL NURSES please quit pushing patients to take things that will cause them harm, quit pushing patients to do things or buy things that will cause them harm!! if you know that carbs will cause your patients to need to increase insulin injection, then do NOT scold them to eat their potatoes and gravy or the apple pie, do NOT offer them tea with high fructose corn syrup or colas with high fruitcose corn syrup! the EPA now says that they were MISTAKEN that some of the chemicals in our municipal water supply that they said were safe at these levels are actually 10,000 times over the safe level!! all these big corporations are screwing us!!!! the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA was incorporated in england just after the (un)civil war ! the founding fathers gave us the united states of America NOT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!
after having to pay for my own hospital bills last month i now cringe so hard when providers order unnecessary tests, scans and consults for patients (icu nurse and starting CRNA school in a few months)
Love the video! Great info and depressing as I see no change coming soon. I think it was one of your videos that really opened my eyes to the insurance system where you mentioned some people cannot afford insulin bc insurance wouldn’t cover it… INSULIN?!?!? It’s infuriating. Insulin should be free. Also insurance is super confusing for most people. I’m not even totally sure of what is covered on my plan because it’s so wordy and jargony.
it is SO incredibly confusing I agree. And its not something that is taught to nurses, or NP's or Any healthcare provider really that I'm aware of . So we are operating in a system that we don't know how patients are charged. Which is not OK
This video is simply wonderful. Thanks so much, Liz. As a Canadian, it amazes me that the richest and most powerful democracy in the world does not consider health care as a basic human right!. The other cogent points: US healthcare costs 18% of gdp. This is 50% to 100% more expensive than single payer healthcare systems elsewhere in the developed world. US health outcomes are also really poor. Male life expectancy is very poor, and worsening (79). Maternal mortality and infant mortality are embarrassingly poor. And, as you point out, 30% of Americans have no health insurance. Citadel on a hill? I think not
I have autoimmune and I deal with it by cutting out food that make me sick. The last 3 years I was struggling with double vision. I had changed my eyeglasses. And it only got worse. It took almost a year to get in to see a specialist. In the meantime I ordered prisms online that stick on your glasses and I did two one worked and I didn't have double vision anymore. By the time I got into see the specialist I had already had it ground into my glasses from my eye doctor. And then the specialist said the MRI showed I had heavy eye syndrome is from having really bad eyes for my whole life that your muscles get weak and it causes this. It was $1,000 to see the specialist who didn't do s*** for me and I already figured it out myself. I paid cash for my MRI like $300 which is much cheaper My deductible is like $8,000 with my stupid Obamacare crap. I am a travel nurse. I avoid doctors and hospitals unless I'm going to die. I hate this country's health care system. The hospitals Ceo's get rich and the rest of us get robbed of all of our money. I don't understand why we can't have some kind of base free health care system. I realize we pay more in taxes. But you know otherwise they basically take all your money. They could even take your house and they're doing it. It is like the number one reason why people are bankrupt and go homeless.
I have over 4000 dollars worth of debt. With no way foreseeable in the future this figure could go down. It is to the point that I'm literally living paycheck to paycheck
Inflation, bank collapse, severe drought in the agricultural belt, recession, food shortages, diesel fuel and heating oil shortages, baby formula shortages, available automobile shortages and prices, the price of living place.
Government policy has thrown the future under the bus for decades. The day of judgment is near. I predict an 80% drop in the stock market. Investors will abandon stocks in favor of real estate. There will be no money in banks... You must devise a strategy for survival.
I agree. I have pulled in more than $435k since 2020 through my advisor. It pays off more in the long run to just pick quality stocks and ride with those stocks.
I'd like to give significant credit to *Mary Onita Wier* who maintains a strong online presence. You can easily find her through a web search. While there are some other individuals worth considering, it may be more challenging to locate them. In addition, Julia has provided excellent guidance throughout the year.
I ask, what am I entitled to at the forced expense of others ??? Now I am forced to pay property taxes,, so all the children can go to school , then they give medical care ,then they take all I have left and they dont care !!!! This is the results of forced taxation and a mofia type health care regulated system . whitch leaves the free market system destroyed !!! Its that simple ..!!!
My experience is this: I am one of the lucky folks, for now while I’m still on my parents insurance, and my dad has okay insurance, but here is the trick. . . I was born with a heart condition and need an open heart surgery about every 7 years and the only cardiologist I can see in network is 3 hours away, I drive past 4 other hospitals with cardiology units and doctors qualified to see me but I am unable to because the insurance has dictated that I cannot. I am lucky, and many parts of Obamacare has saved my future financial life but the system is still incredibly broke
Thank you for sharing. This is the thing that blows my mind. People act as if individuals who need medical care somehow brought it upon themselves. Which is quite literally impossible in your case. And should never matter in the first place. I'm glad the insurance extension is helping you!
Thank you for talking about this Liz. I’m studying to be an FNP right now, and your videos and realism are helping me to prepare for the challenges I know I will face working in primary care after graduation. I wish that undergrad had talked more about health insurance and the current system, as well as other systems in the world. Nursing is the largest healthcare workforce and most trusted profession. If we all came together, instead of avoiding policy like we typically do, maybe thinfs could actually change.
exactly!! is your FNP program talking about it? Mine barely mentioned it which is insane considering how it pretty much decides how we can all do our jobs
@@NurseLiz Sorry for the late reply! We've actually spent these last two weeks talking about financing healthcare : one week on the U.S. healthcare system as it currently exists and one on how other countries finance their healthcare systems. It's sparked some interesting discussion, and I wish I'd had this knowledge as a BSN. Nursing is one of the largest groups of healthcare professionals, but the majority of that population are CNAs, LVNs, and RNs. Not NPs. If we're planning to make a difference as a collective profession, we have to educate the ground base.
Liz, this is your sweet spot. $26k/yr to insure a family of 4 is mind blowing. That is just the base cost and we haven't even addressed the cost of medication. Health is definitely wealth, because it cost too much to be sick.
great video liz, i'm a nurse and just turned 26. I cant afford health insurance and it feels wrong working through a pandemic without any help to take care of myself
I remember that time that I signed a contract and was willing to DIE for this country at the young age of 18. How embarrassing for me 🥴 I've been desperate to move out of the US now. People are dying because of American propaganda. We ARE the "currupt" country that we've been taught to fear.
My shock and anger would be from going to a doctor appt w my husband then going to pick up the medication from the pharmacy and they said the insurance said no to the medication. They're not the doctor! They weren't in the room when the doctor said this would be best. Why do they get to choose what the dr can or can't prescribe? And now as a nurse, I see it often and I'm like yeah it happens.
yeah. I probably got 4-5 messages a day or phone calls from patients saying that their insurance denied the medication we prescribed. And then we had to try ones we knew would fail because the insurance wanted proof that we had done so. ALl the while the patient suffered or had other complications of the thing we could have solved in the first place. It's so broken
I had my daughter 14 years ago, and was lucky to have the horrible Kaiser Permanente insurance. I payed $250 copay. Their services are awful but great for babies. Now, I wouldn't be able to afford giving birth with insurance I have. My savings account was depleted by medical bills this year. It's awful what we have to pay for insurance then the bills.
I'm currently taking a Medical economics course and even though I don't have the personal experince you have I understand the frustration and I know that you are not lying. The US healthcare system is a joke. America has too much pride on the wrong things. The greed from the most powerful and priviledged people, that control how our healthcare system is, need to make much needed improvements but don't see the benefits of learning from other healthcare systems around the world, simply because the money they currently profit fills them up. Its embarrassing and its contributing to more deaths than what it would be if everyone had affordable and easy access to healthcare coverage. Plus, we are in a pandemic! Even though I'm still learning about the healthcare system I already understand just how pathetic it is. Healthcare has always been and still is for the powerful and rich because they control how the system works. We need to speak up for ourselves because our health matters. My wish is for everyone to understand each others suffering and to find ways to help one another.
thank you for this. America has WAY too much of a selfish attitude about everything. Also everything has become so political that people will not even LISTEN to things that are "liberal" like this
@@NurseLiz Yeah, its almost seems like the people who refuse to see or listen to a different perspective or reality of things just want to excuse their disapproval/refusal with labels such as "liberal" things, which end up obscuring the truth or focus of the problem in the first place. Frustrating.
I am Canadian and do not understand a lot of the group think in the US - particularly around your health care system. I have extended family living in the US who are not at all wealthy and diehard on not having “socialized” medicine shoved down their throats. I do not get it. But you know what I did get? A Go Fund Me link for one of those extended family members to help pay for health care costs after a catastrophic diagnosis. Yes, I do pay more taxes living in Canada. But it is so worth not having to be homeless if someone in the family has a hospital stay (and my father recently passed away after heart failure and many stays in CCU/ICU over the years. The cost? Not a single penny. But he did get a quintuple bypass and life support several times that extended his life so he could experience being a grandfather). The BS your politicians spread about public health care is just plain wrong. Money before lives.
I will NEVER understand the mentality. Because you are so right. Go fund me's NUMBER ONE payout is for medical expenses. I can guarantee that if we took all the money donated to go fund me's for medical expenses it would pay for single payer healthcare WITHOUT taxes. It's so ridiculous. Thank you for sharing this. Because I also think that so many people think that no one gets adequate care in other countries, or procedures that are not curative, but do prolong life. And that is simply not true.
Everything is changing because we are evolving to 4 or 5th dimension. Creator in humanity is ending tyranny of mankind. No more control by the powers who wants humanity to pay for everything. Everything is changing for our greater good.
Happy your speaking about this! I met a lady who purchased a membership to a primary care clinic for $264 quarterly, Im trying to figure out what this model is called, but she makes too much for Medicaid and doesnt want to pay for private health insurance and has Medicare (65+) only. She see's NP's and specialists all in one place. Concierge maybe? Im a young breast cancer survivor and Im super fortunate to have had Medicaid cover my expenses during and after (current) treatment, literally the first thing I was worried about after getting diagnosed was the cost and not cancer, how crazy is that?!
Concierge medicine is definitely becoming more and more popular, but the issue there is it doesn't cover any specialists. So its super helpful for those who are overall healthy and don't have any other complications, but if you require a specialists care, then it's still un-accessible. On a very different note I am so so happy that you kicked that cancer!!
My goddness. This breaks my heart. I live in Australia - so the system that the US has is scary to understand. We have free accessible basic health care. Sure there can be long wait times for surgery if you use the public system. However the cost of diabetic medication here under our tax funded pharmaceutical system means you can only pay $15 for a packet of testing strips. Even less if you are on a government issues health care card (low income). Our system does have issues around dental care - no government funding and quite pricey outside of private insurance. Generally most middle income people will have private health insurance - however you'll like get treated in a public hospital - in a shared room and the only thing the insurance gives you is your choice of treating doctor. In the current pandemic we live in - I find it crazy that we have so many in Australia choose to not get the vaccine - yet they are the ones to get sick and therefore take over the hospital system. Ironically Id be curious to understand if those that find health care less accessible due to employment have a higher uptake of the covid vaccines - given the cost of entering the hospital system if they end up very unwell.
Thank you for this! So helpful to understand how things work in other countries! The way they talk about universal healthcare in other countries it sounds like everyone is dying of curable things left and right and that is just not true from. So this is so helpful! Definitely an interesting point with covid
I got to the point last year where I could not afford my insurance anymore, and it caused me to go a really long time without my Humira for Crohn's. Basically had to choose between paying my bills, or paying for medical insurance. Thankfully things are better for me now, but I ended up in the hospital several times from severe flare-ups due to missing my medication. Can't thank you enough for speaking out on this, because so many experience it, but not enough people talk about it.
I am so so sorry. Living with a chronic condition in the US is an absolute disaster WITHOUT even looking at the actual crhonic condition. Just financially. I'm so so sorry. Thank you for sharing your experience.
The system has to change... I've had numerous patients make themselves DNR to avoid the potential medical bills falling on their family's. Decline treatment for heart attacks etc because of the cost. Or a patient who was so overcome by worry about cost after being life flighted to save their life. That they developed takotsubo cardiomyopathy.... It's just heartbreaking and terrible
I'll never forget during my nursing orientation they were training us on how to document codes in the emr and they said "oh, also don't forget to add the charge to the account at the end of the code! :)" I was like, what? we charge for that??? how freaking morbid.
Nothing will change as long as people keep electing Republicans to Congress. Some people don't understand or don't care that health care in this country is a business which is the reason that most hospital administrators are MBAs and the GOP only works for the elite and corporations that line their pockets. The GOP uses the excuse that the "free market" will take care of health care costs so there's no need to regulate it. Yeah, right!
Liz, thank you so much for making this amazing video. Absolutely everything you've covered I've seen and experienced regularly since I've been an RN. It's indisputable that we have the absolute worst, broken health payor system in the world because it's simply built on a massive amount of greed for the doctors, hospitals, insurance pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturer companies. One point I would disagree with. This is absolutely a political issue that bankrupts and kills people. For me, that saddest part of everything you've shared is that our discipline of nursing, which is one of the largest professions in the nation, appears to be very divided on healthcare solutions, as well as incredibly ignorant about just how bad our healthcare system is. This blows my mind when we work within this system and see the impacts everyday. I really want to be hopeful about a reasonable healthcare payor change, however I just don't see it changing because Americans absolutely love their fear based propagandistic arguments. I wish you all the luck in the world influencing people to accept and support some type of universal system. My personal story is that as an RN I developed a rare reaction from a flu vaccine, GBS, which turned into CIDP. I wasn't able to work for 1.5 years which of course I lost my job as an oncology RN & health insurance. By grace my wife was able to add me to her plan, but her's was, and is a high deductible plan. $6000 family annually, with premiums totally $10k annually deducted from her paycheck. After this insurance will cover 80% of medical expenses depending on the doctor, or hospital. And, of course there is a limited network of providers, and hospitals. You forgot to mention the joys of fighting with insurance companies that delay, or reject provider prescribed treatments simply because they don't want to pay for it. I experienced a 6 month delay in the IVIG treatments my neurologist prescribed for this reason, all the while I suffered with incredible neuropathy and weakness. I was fortunate because my medical background gave me knowledge of who to call, what to say, and how to fight, and it still took me 6 months to get my treatments approved-with painful suffering all that time. I've seen numerous cancer patients refusing care and dying to avoid bankruptcy. Mental health patients committing suicide, or overdosing due to insurance delays or refusals. People without insurance, or possessing disaster policies, or high deductible plans delaying seeking care until the pain overwhelmed them, only to come to the ER, be admitted and their disease ends of terminal. Yes, or health payor system is absolutely broken. I call it a health payor system because care cannot be provided effectively until this payor part is resolved effectively, resulting in some form of a universal system for everyone...simply because they're a human being. Thanks so much for this video!
I can’t even afford therapy for my son because the deductible is so dang high. the premium for BCBS ppo alone is very high…. It’s just defeating. I have to rely on RUclips and Facebook groups for help and it’s not nearly enough. Schools refuse to provide therapy to almost everybody I know. It’s a mess! A huge mess and I pray that change will come for my children’s generation.
I’ve contemplated so many times moving out of this country simply because it doesn’t offer healthcare to its people, while this might sound strange to some it is a value and right I believe all people should have. Knowing that our country does not does not feel this way about it’s people is just morally, the disparities in health and healthcare continue growing more divided. It’s clear big business and the rich and prized as they hold all the power (lobbyists, stakeholders, shares). It is long overdue for me to find a country that values the lives of its people. I’m sorry this is happening to you and your family Liz
I totally know what you mean. Its SO sad living in a country where you know people have SUCH little value on human life. It's hard to wrap your mind around
I love this type of content . I have followed your journey and you helped get me through my ABSN program. Now you are helping me make sense of our healthcare system. It is broken. I am here for all the new content, nurse Liz. Keep doing what you are doing.
I feel this! I work in an ambulance as an Advanced EMT and can do some procedures and give certain medications but at times I have to call a paramedic service and that equals two bills from two different ambulance companies... breaks my heart when someone doesn't call an ambulance based on finances... Amazing job Liz❤️
Omg I bet. When I was in high school the school wasn't allowed to call 911 without parental consent unless you were completely unresponsive because of how much money the ambulances cost
I worked with a nurse who was working full time to OT and had her wages garnished to pay for her Chemo! Yet we’ve all had entitled pts who get all their healthcare paid for-like politicians, criminals, etc…
Direct-pay is the solution. Pre-ACA, there were affordable catastrophic care policies available. Vote for a government which will reinstate conditions allowing for catastrophic insurance + HSAs. Then patients will shop for medical care and competition will drive prices lower. Outcomes also improve: see Singapore model.
And yes, we have been in this boat. We’ve had a marketplace plan with $6.5k in premiums and $12.5k in deductibles. And we were lucky I got pregnant in Jan, so pregnancy and delivery happened in the same year. 19k total. Can you imagine getting pregnant in July? You get to pay double!
I have a family history of Alzheimer's, breast cancer, and leukemia. The moment I get diagnosed with any of those, I'm bribing a doctor to euthanize me or I'll take myself out on my own terms. I won't even bother with treatments; too expensive, not to mention the toll it takes on the body. My partner keeps telling me I'm being silly, but I told him I'm 100% being serious. I'm not going to bankrupt our family with medical bills when that money can be used for the future of our children. Hell, until his own parents passed, buying a house was impossible. If corporate America has taught me anything, it's that I am insignificant and absolutely replaceable, so I'm confident he'll have no issue finding a new one if I get any of those diseases
I’m currently trying to go back to school to become a nurse, but this is actually the issue that makes me most nervous about going into the medical field. Do I want to be part of a system that is incentivized to let people die for a buck? I mean, I want to be a nurse to facilitate people in crisis getting back their health and dignity. There’s nothing dignified about fleecing desperate people.
@@NurseLiz I think I am done with nursing school because of this issue. I can't be apart of this. Thank you for speaking out on an issue I am so passionate about. Go Liz!
Watching this makes me so Grateful we have the NHS here in the uk,we can brake bones have operations give birth in hospital and NOT PAY A PENNY no medical bills no nothing(our taxes go towards that)I feel so sorry for Americans who can’t even go to the doctors if ill cos it costs them money let alone any meds they may need to have!,why can’t ur country have universal healthcare like the uk Canada and other countries!why can’t the states be like us and just have taxes go towards healthcare so EVERYONE can get the healthcare they need,It’s fucking disgusting how a country like the USA can’t put its peoples health first without trying to make money for the bigwigs!!…It’s awful that u have to decide between healthcare,affording rent or buying groceries!!!😔🥺
EVERYONE SHOULD FORM A CORPORATION!! if you incorporate you can put every thing you own in the corporations name, then the corporation can charge you what ever it decides for rent on your car and your house etc... then when your actual money after the rents is below a set level based on the number of persons in your household, you can GET ON OBANA CARE!! my wife earns over $17.00 an hour and i get $330 a month social security, while our toddler gets $230 a month social security. that is our total income and we are NOT incorporated but we get good insurance through THE NETWORK for just $77 a month!!! im on social security retirement.
I pay my insurance biweekly through my job. I'm afraid to use it. I had to take my wife for a colonoscopy that cost me $500 - $600! There were fees for the anesthesiologist, facility fees, and a couple of other fees. My insurance company was getting something like $21,000 a year between me and my employer. I'm so scared to use the insurance for fear of incurring exorbitant fees not disclosed and or things not covered! Oh then there is that wonderful deductible that your insurance company tells you will be the highest you'll have to pay in one year. That's BS also! Not every fee will count towards that deductible. Yes you heard right. Insurance is a racket! Lie, cheat and steal is their game.
I do not know what state you are in, but you might want to check out the ongoing healthcare experiment in Washington State (not DC, the Pacific Northwest one). We are two years into a state hybrid public option experiment, and therefore have two years of data. Something your state legislature might want to look at. If Washington DC is useless, maybe the way to go is one state at a time. Other states experimenting with state public option are Colorado (2021) and Nevada (starting 2026). Good luck.
I am single and self employed. Healthcare with Cigna Connect will cost me $321 monthly / $3, 852 yearly this year. The deductible is $7,000. My dental is $25 a month with Delta Dental. I'm debating whether to purchase vision insurance or just pay out of pocket for contacts. My eyeglasses without insurance last year cost me $400 and eye exam was $100 plus. When I was a teacher (I left right before covid) I had walking pneumonia and didn't want to go to the doctor because of the cost and I felt scolded and critized for wanting to take off work. My principle asked if I could work and "just play a movie ". My students knew I kept an empty plastic bottle to spit my mucus in during the day. I was gross and awful. I hardly had a voice and it was hard to keep control of a classroom of 35 students when I could only whisper. My monthly net pay then was $1,780, and I worked weekends (Sat and Sun) for $11/hr as a cna. Even working seven days it was hard to get by.
We don't want federalized healthcare. Hear me out before I get 10k downvotes. There is a much better proven way to reduce costs that doesn't give 1/6th of the economy to federal government bureaucrats. If you think that handing the healthcare decisions from one set of bureaucrats to another set will make things better, then you might want to think again. There is another way though. Back in the 1980s, LASIK was introduced and was extremely expensive. What made the cost come down over time and quality of the surgery go up? Competition. Let me say that again...Competition. Here is my 3 pronged idea in case anyone cares...first, stop treating normal items like an emergency. Take the healthcare industry out of things like physicals and the cost will come down DRAMATICALLY. Treat most things like this...for everything else, there could be a catastrophic single payer system. Anything that would cause a catastrophic health issue would be covered by Federal Catastrophic Care coverage. Pull the bureaucrats out of the decision process for most normal things. Win win.
Australian here and although our system with private medical practitioners isn’t working as well as we might like due high cost of living expenses. We have excellent large public hospitals where medical care is free. The Federal Government has recently set up free medical clinics next to these major hospitals to treat what private medical practitioners would normally treat. Normally our Federal Government has a Medicare levy which is about 1.5% of all persons earnings. It needs to be raised but that is politically difficult at the moment because of a cost of living crisis. These free clinics are terrific. We have private hospitals for people who have private health insurance, but their treatment is not as good as the major public hospitals which are associated with university institutions. It is unbelievable that 2 professionals such as you and your husband cannot afford insurance. This must be changed. My private health insurance at top rate costs me $4500 per year
Critical Kitty.....What company do you work for? Do they pay for ANY drug or procedure no matter the cost? I know there are companies that pay their employees health insurance premiums but you don't have a choice about the insurance company and still have to pay co-pays or deductibles. I have heard about companies that are "Self Funded" who also cover their employees health insurance in full but still limit coverage and get access to your medical records.
As an RN, my insurance at a previous job, costs out of pocket, were $1465.00 per month. Some of the staff at that facility “ Caretel” were literally working just to have insurance and after the taxes, insurance costs their take home was around 10 dollars ! In every manufacturing job I had prior to becoming a nurse the insurance was never even close to that amount. Moreover, some jobs even paid 100% for all insurance. Because healthcare is primarily a female occupation and women’s healthcare costs greatly outpace mens, the costs are astronomical ! Every healthcare job I have had , the insurance is so expensive, my family has not been able to afford it. In addition to insurance, the 401 K savings and contributions are non existent as well. In almost every skilled trades occupation that is not the case. However, the vast majority of those jobs are held by men who would not stand for being treated like a dog. Which is what almost every nurse I have ever worked with loves to be treated like! Women in healthcare are rolled over and bent over by management daily ! Managers just have to say “ What about grandma” and they drop to their knees and start sucking the corporate cock !!
Thank you for your history and comments. I have experienced insurance woes from being a server in a restaurant to now an RN at a hospital bought oit by a corporation. The ups and downs of my I scramble wow! My question for you is a little different subject. I am in a health policy class for my RN to BSN degree. The state of NC is trying to pass the SAVE act to give nurse practitioners the right to practice automously. In primary care and mental health practices especially. I am hoping we pass this like 24 stares have already passed. My personal goal is to become a psychiatric nurse practitioner. You are a primary care nurse practitioner, and on your state, did they pass this act so you can practice without being supervised by a physician ? How did this act affect you? If you are independent, you still have trouble accessing health insurance for yourself and your family ? Thank you for answering my questions.
This report is a bit older, but you can see that nothing has changed in the USA to date, and nothing will change in the future. Citizens are still paying horrendous sums for insurance, are still paying horrendous sums for doctors and even more so for hospitals. God forbid anyone who has to go to an American hospital only to get the bill afterwards can declare financial bankruptcy and live on the street like in California. What an exploitative system that actually is. Nothing will change because there is also a lobby here that prevents change, you don't earn any more money and that's all they care about, just money, money, money. Health is a human right and not a privilege only for the rich. It's good that I live in a country where I don't have to worry about going bankrupt because of such costs. No bill from the doctor, no bill from the hospital, and medicine from the pharmacy at normal prices or paid for by the health insurance. Greetings from Germany
Here’s the thing, single payer can work if the population is stabilized and the doctors and clinics accept the rate the single payer offers. Now in the uk, it did work in its early years, but many factors strained the NHS a lot like influx of immigrants, privatization of certain sectors that resulted these sectors to be greedy. Also if the government takes control of the healthcare sector, it can dictate what’s covered or not and can increase taxes, in which many people don’t like. I’m not also a big fan of private insurance even though I have 0 deductible and 1000 out of pocket max for my health insurance. But that’s because I’m 19 and sets me as an outlier. Healthcare will get more expensive as new technologies arise and many doctors want higher pay as result from inflation. The us can fix its healthcare problem, but it will take hard work and a very long time for that to happen.
I am a nurse who was hired part-time, but worked full-time so they did not have to offer me benefits. I worked all through Covid until I contracted Covid while at work. My experience with Covid was serious. I ended up having a PE and a blood clotting condition I have been unable to work as a nurse since, my husband and I have been living without insurance for about five years now I currently sit at home within enlarged lymph nodes, and as a nurse I’m pretty sure I know what’s wrong with me, but I cannot go to the doctor. They won’t even see me because I don’t have insurance.
Im 28 and I have ulcerative colitis diagnoses cost 5000, meds would cost 60,000 a year and the remission rates are horrible plus side effects of these bioligics include cancer. So I can go bankrupt not go into remission and get cancer then they can do another 60,000 dollar surgery on me to remove body parts.Because in this country that is what we do when meds stop working we start removing body parts lol. Thankfully going plant based keeps me off all meds . This country is a joke
You are not dramatic mam. You are telling truths! We are literally denied our own medical records from an urgent care that we went to. We are paying for it, but my spouse left before the doctor could read CT scan results. He waited for 3+ hrs, the nurse/doc were rude and condescending. When we called they said we need to come back and redo the tests again within 4 days of first visit. It's their policy is to not share our medical records. My spouse and I are left in tears after a call and a visit. That's how taxing it was.
My good friend had to take a 17 percent paycut. She doesnt understand her good company insurance is not free. I shop around for prices. Costco has 29 dollar virtual visits. We go elsewhere. one hospital wants 2000 for something another wants 900. Price transparency and competition is forcing these big companies to raise health insurance. Nobody will be happier than me when insurance all comes crashing down. None of these companies deserve that sweet heart deal.
Being a woman with chronic illness I am so extremely angry at our country for allowing this monster industry to develop. Now I have to figure out how I will work full time again so that Medicaid doesn’t put a lien on my home. Marketplace insurance is ridiculously expensive. I just hate this…. We have the highest paid Drs in the world and the highest cost for secondary education for them. Of coarse they want big bucks. I don’t see how this system is going to sustain….
Sources:
pnhp.org/a-brief-history-universal-health-care-efforts-in-the-us/, 2021
account.ache.org/iweb/upload/Morrisey2253_Chapter_1-3b5f4e08.pdf
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK235989/ copyright 1993, National Academy of Sciences
journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/us-health-care-non-system-1908-2008/2008-05 , George B. Moseley III, JD, MBA; copyright 2021 American Medical Association, AMA Journal of Ethics
www.pbs.org/healthcarecrisis/history.htm
www.medicareresources.org/basic-medicare-information/brief-history-of-medicare/ , Steve Anderson, Oct. 7
www.cms.gov/About-CMS/Agency-Information/History From Centers for medicare and medicaid services,Page last edited January 13, 2020
Additional Photo credits:
Social Security Amendments of 1965 signing - 1960sdaysofrage.wordpress.com/2017/12/24/social-security-amendments-of-1965/, posted to 1960sdaysofrage.workpress.com on December 24, 2017 by 1960s: Days of Rage. Original Photo Credit: Description: “President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the bill creating Medicare and Medicaid in 1965, with former President Harry S. Truman, who had tried to establish national health insurance, seated at right.”
Historic Surgery photo credit: www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/surgery, sciencemuseum.org
Segregated Emergency Entrance: sourced from the Library of Congress, original Photographer: John Vachon (1914-1975); Library of Congress Control Number: 2021680805; Digital ID: ds 04324
She on her APA stuff
So grateful to be Canadian. I'm 67, recovering from gall bladder surgery. My husband had an emergency triple by pass a few years ago. We were charged zero for these surgeries and received superb care! When I was a child, prior to our universal healthcare system, my father was chronically ill and the medical bills threw us into poverty. It was so difficult. My heart goes out to my American friends who are still suffering from a heartless greedy corrupt system. Universal healthcare is a basic human right! Praying for change for the USA.🙏
Thank you so much for this insight. Everyone always is so quick to say the Canadian system is the worst as a fear tactic to keep people happy with our current system. But I've never actually met a Canadian who would prefer our system instead.
@Solitude Of Heart lol, you “lived there for 2 years”…. So, not a resident…. In other words, your opinion is invalid and you are full of it…
@Solitude Of Heart the US healthcare system costs 18% of gdp, between 50 and 100% above the cost of universal health care systems elsewhere in the developed world. Health outcomes in the US can be very poor (male life expectancy is low and worsening, maternal mortality and infant mortality are also poor). In addition, 30 million Americans have no health coverage. I am a Canadian. I have had unfailingly excellent health care. The cost is very low
@Solitude Of Heart Canada's crime rate is hugely lower than America's. We do not have a rampant gun culture like the US does. Anyone who qualifies for a provincial or territorial health insurance plan (virtually anyone) gets free health visits and free hospitalization. Prescriptions are charged for, but are significantly less costly than US prescriptions (insulin in Canada can be up to eight times cheaper than insulin in the States. Yes, dental care is costly, as it is in the US
That's wonderful that you had such a great experience, but I hear from many canadians in similar situations that had awful experiences or people who died while they were waiting moths care that should have been performed sooner, And could have had a better outcome
Preach! I am an RN who also cannot afford health insurance. I have watched for years as the majority of my patients had to choose between other needs and healthcare, and I have as well. I go across the border to get dentistry and medications and have to ration my MD visits due to an autoimmune disease. Listen to this woman-what we have is NOT CHOICE. You are locked into whatever providers and treatments your insurance company says you can get, and THAT'S IT.
It's so incredibly sad :( I hope we see change. Thank you for sharing your experience
Totally agree. Stuck with Medicare Advantage as I do not have income to afford a supplement. So I see Dr. maybe once a year & avoid tests due to copay in these inflationary times. Pay bills or get medical care. So far only minor aging issues. Thank You Father.
so true
You are a healthcare professional yet, you can't afford health insurance.
Good grief! Broken record reaction here. America is broken.
It’s pretty embarrassing how for such an allegedly wealthy and advanced nation to have its citizens resort to gofundme’s everytime someone needs surgery, or hospitalization, or a medication for a rare disease, or get cancer, in order to be able to afford their bills and get treatment.
Embarrassing is a perfect word for it. Super embarrassing that we so obviously care so little for humans as we can see when we look at almost any policy :(
It's a nation eaten alive by some greedy people. Yet too many Americans are still not raging angry. Healthcare is one of many areas that shows what is a national dystopia. It really is greed.
Incredible Liz! Netflix should hire you! This is a true documentary level video!
Well thank you!
German here. My mom slipped at the local swimming pool and dislocated and broke her hip. An ambulance was called and she was operated on the same evening (titanium femur), had multiple cts and xrays, stayed two weeks in Hospital and had physical therapy for months. She also got a bed triangle and a walker. Het co-pay was less than 200€, plus a few luxuries she chose like cappuccino, cable tv... (Like another 100€). She is super fit again.
In Norway we pay higher taxes, but everyone receives high quality universal health care in return.
And in the U.S. people actually pay higher taxes too and get nothing for it.
@@Rheem22 well not all of us pay high taxes. The single mom with two jobs does but people like Elon Musk pay nothing . Instead baby Elon Musk ,who got his original business funded by mom and dad ,cry booohoo when anyone suggest the billionaires should pay taxes.
And you don’t worry about going bankrupt and losing your life savings. Our medical costs are super inflated in the US. All to line the pockets of insurance execs, politicians and lobbyists.
ALL OF THIS. We pay almost 1/3 of our salaries in taxes. PLUS Another quarter of our income for healthcare. And we get...what? roads, elementary - high schools, and police. which are great. But thats it. cool.
@@NurseLiz don’t forget Liz… we get trillions spent on tanks and machine guns!!! 🥴
I’m a hospital Case Manager and THIS is what patients and their families need to know or hear and everyone else.
From European point of view American healthcare system looks barbaric. ☹️
It is barbaric
Honestly Liz, I'd leave the US and just live somewhere better.
I think that should be the goal of every American who can afford it.
The American dream is now getting out of its waking nightmare!
Had to pause the video at 3 minutes to switch this video to my smart tv and make a cup of coffee.. definitely bigger-screen worthy contnet
This is possibly the best compliment I've ever received lol. Thank you!
I feel this so much. I recently broke my foot and had to go to the ER. I sat in the waiting room for 3 hours and was back in my actual room for 3 hours as well. 8pm-2am. All I got in the ER was an x-ray, 600mg of ibuprofen, and a splint on my foot until I could schedule with an orthopedic surgeon. I got 4-5 different bills from different places, and originally the registration didn't run my insurance correctly, so it's been a headache getting that figured out as well.
All said and done I just got the updated bill from the hospital, not even from the other billing places for the radiologist and physician bill - $1,300 after insurance, and I'm still waiting for more bills.
The 600mg of ibuprofen they gave me? $9.50. I could have brought by Costco 1,000 pill bottles from home and taken 600mg for pennies!
Insurance is so frustrating. Thank you for talking about this!
Thank you for sharing your experience as well. That is so infuriating.
Just left the er for the exact treatment, was given the exact same thing as you , no crutches on site, about a total of 3 hours in the ER to get X-ray, 600mg IBUPROFEN, and a splint… yet i have no insurance, was told i Ned to go see orthopedic for a cast and continue care for a fibula ankle fracture treated with immobilization and crutch use. So I got a big bill coming with no insurance for treatment that wasn’t what’s actually needed. If you couldn’t perform the cast or even give crutches what not give me the option for partial treatment or just await a few hours and go to an orthopedic or just give myself home treatment. Can’t find affordable insurance anywhere. If anyone know of a company that have an free or affordable actually affordable for a non worker please leave information. Thanks in advance.
Also can you tell me if you injury was treatment at home with immobilizing from the splint alone, or did you actually have to get a cast with the orthopedic? 🌎💞
The US healthcare system makes me so sad.
I wish you guys could all come here to Australia or well basically anywhere else else in the world where we have a goverment funded health care service and subsidised medication and you don't have to pay a ridiculous amount for basic care
Ugh. I wish this too. I'm going to be doing a whole video about Australia's healthcare situation and would love to ask you some questions!
This is so good. I’m in Australia and we always talk about how bad the American health system is. We can walk into a hospital at anytime we need for free.
I couldn’t imagine not being able to take my child to hospital, mental health service of doctor because of $$$
Yeah its a nightmare. Jealous of your system!
So timely! I literally did a presentation in my NP class about U.S healthcare system & Germany. We already have medicare advantage (which is exactly like the German system - Universal but multi-payer), which we can expand on. I hope American law makers will push harder to expand medicare/medicaid. Healthcare is a human right not a privilege.
exactly. That sounds like an awesome presentation!
She speaks 100% true. I am also a healthcare provider. I was so equally angry after being out of school for enough time to buy into the LIE that our healthcare system is broken.
That anger turned into heartbreak. Why?
The day came wherein I realized the system isn't broken at all. It is working PRECISELY as it was designed. It just wasn't designed for you. The patient.
It is designed for the insurance companies and the overpaid physicians (sorry, but the AMA is also guilty in this).
And now...here we are. The ultimate villain? Our politicians.
Exactly! Why aren't we altogether doing any French-ish Revolution sort of thing yet? It's humans exploiting other humans so they can hoard wealth to buy goodies. It's sheer evil since they can do something right, and they choose their selfish greed over humanity. Soooo, is it going to stay this way?
We just talked about the cost of long-term care in my cna class tonight and it was a mega bummer. Almost every person had a story about how their grandparents couldn't afford care even with Medicare. The cost of care is so high and no one's insurance covers anything. We ended the discussion with our instructor telling us the only thing we can do is to just try and be as healthy as we can.
I saw a documentary somewhere about a growing trend called “Medicaid divorce” where elderly couples are having to get divorced in order to meet Medicare eligibility when one or both of them have long term medical issues and they do not meet Medicares “needs based” requirements because both are collecting their retirement or social security benefits under one household and the only way to maintain your coverage is for someone to die, someone to stop receiving their benefits to meet income requirements, or to divorce and no longer live at the same residence.
Kellie ugh. this is what I see constantly in primary care as well. It's so frustrating
Yes! My OBGYN actually TOLD ME that If my husband and I got divorced I could qualify for medicaid to pay for my pregnancy with my daughter. She said a ton of people do it.
Breakdown for you. I pay $858 a month for insurance. My out of pocket max is $5,000. I gave birth in March but, surprise! My baby had jaundice. Because of this I then had to meet his out of pocket max of $5,000. Oh but wait! There's more! The anesthesiologist that administered my epidural was out of network, so I now have to meet a separate out of pocket max of $11,000. In total, for laboring my sweet little human and providing him with health coverage, I have hemorrhaged roughly $24,000 this year. Yeah... something's gotta give here.
I am so so sorry. That is SO MUCH unneeded stress. I also ran into the thing with an out of network anesthesiologist and a crazy bil with that, as if there was ANY way for me to know that when they walked in the room. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Just hearing stuff like this, knowing how true it is even though it sounds like it should be an exaggeration, I can’t believe Americans have let themselves get scammed so openly just so they don’t become “socialist”. Stupid. (I’m American and I hate the system)
My 3yo just got hospitalized because her oxygen was low from getting pneumonia from rhinovirus. My first thought was the bill not my daughter because she required an ambulance ride to the childrens hospital. I pray that in my lifetime we can have universal healthcare here. I’m also going to have a serious talk with my children someday that they should consider moving to another country to truly live life instead of being in fear of going broke from getting healthcare if they do not see these changes in their lifetime. I’m praying that millennials and gen z can make changes. Gen Z seems to be very inclusive and aware of problems effecting them and those around them, honestly I really do believe they’re going to have a true impact on our country. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
I feel this so incredibly deeply, as I've also immediately thought of cost when sending a child to the hospital vs omg how scary is this for her. And I hate it. I'm so sorry. I am SO hopeful that when future generations get to be in charge that things change. Because It's impossible to consider the alternative. Thank you for sharing. i'm sorry you've experienced that stress of not only a sick child but the fear of the financial repercussions.
Just turned 26 last month and was offered good and cheap dental/vision/life insurance through my part time job while I go to college..... However......... the actual "health insurance" is quoted at 697 a month, which is 95% of my monthly income. Amazing job health system, absoutely amazing....
what an absolute bargain right there. Ugh. I'm sorry.
It honestly is depressing. I'm really happy to see your perspective on this!
M4A. :)
Tell me about it. Hopefully, more people having conversations about this will lead to change!
@@NurseLiz 🙌
I hate to add insult to injury here - but isn't what you'll have to pay more like $29,000? Not $26k? Also, thank you so much for this video. Thinking about healthcare costs and the state of our "healthcare"/insurance scam....I mean system - literally keeps me up at night. I am entering into the nursing profession and have massive anxiety about the future of this country's healthcare. I don't know where to channel my energy.
yeahhhh. That would be the appropriate math haha. But my brain is in legit denial that this is happening.
Got my jaw shattered by a baseball bat-500k in bills; 50k out of pocket. Just lost my insurance due to cost. Praying I don’t get anything catastrophic. Graduate nursing school next semester so trusting I can at least get back on a “normal” plan. Ironically I don’t make enough to get ACA assistance but make too much for Medicaid. 🤔 one day at a time…
I am so sorry, Anne! That sounds terrible! The finances of who can get help and who can't is also an absolute mess, and I'll try to touch on that in a future video in the series. Sending all the positive vibes for your continued healing and I truly hope you can find one of those one in a million plans at a new job!
This is a smaller experience, but still. I'm 18, and my parents still pay my medical bills. I'm lucky enough that my dad has a good job, but his new job has horrible insurance. We've bounced around to different insurances several times now.
I've been having joint problems almost all my life that have now resulted in constant, 24/7 pain that keeps me from work and sleep. I keep begging to see a doctor, but we simply can't afford to on our current insurance because I need a specialist.
My primary care doctor ran a few tests, but all she said was "they're normal" and gave no further help or instructions. Several hundred dollars to hear "they're normal" and that's it.
I shouldn't have to wait months to book another appointment to discuss results or go to a different doctor blindly looking for an answer. Heck, I shouldn't have to book a second appointment to discuss results and where to go next when we already paid for it!
Ugh. I'm so so sorry that this is your reality. This is what I saw ALL the time in primary care. Patients unable to seek the specialist they needed due to cost. Me trying to run tests, but they didn't necessarily show us anything. And then it was just an expensive sad mess with no answers. I hope you get yours soon and feel better.
If you do transplant in US ,cost you more than half millio dollars,but in other country only cost you 50k us dollars
It’s getting worst. Each year less help and coverage and if you actually need it it costs you like crazy
Yes! This is why our emergency departments are dumping grounds! We are so far from equality in healthcare. I just wrote a paper on this last semester....... I look forward to your upcoming videos.
omg YES. the mis use of the healthcare system due to all of this is such a disaster. Thank you for watching!
It’s also crazy how our medical insurance is tied to our jobs and some jobs don’t even let it kick in until working there for 60 days. Great video!!! Hoping to see another like it
I’m actually here because my insurance doesn’t kick in until 90 days. I messaged my oncologist but she has been leaving me on read….. maybe because my new work insurance hasn’t started?
@@Mittsume3I hope things are going well for you now.
Another huge problem is that we are billed separately by everyone. So if you’re on a payment plan and paying 6 different bills at $200 a month, you’re paying a mortgage payment. Don’t pay it, you’re in collections and they’ll garnish your wages. I’ve been through medical bankruptcy twice. My son was born six weeks early and had to be flow to another state and stayed in the NICU for a month. The second time was after my second was born and I was hospitalized a week before a c-section for pre-eclampsia and then following a hysterectomy 2 years later, and a multitude of other surgeries. We finally FINALLY were able to buy a house and start a savings. I decided to go back to school and then my husband needed a tonsillectomy and a massive lipoma removed on his neck because, in combination, was causing obstructive sleep apnea. A few hours after the lipoma removal, he developed an arterial bleed and had to go back in for an emergency surgery. Then jumps in my issues and being diagnosed with Barrett’s Esophagus 3 months later. We’ve reached our max-out-of-pocket for the family. I’ve needed cubital tunnel surgery so bad and out it off so my husband could get his surgery earlier this year. Now I have permanent nerve damage and my son needs a tonsillectomy. We are trying desperately to hurry and get these things done before the end of the year and our deductibles reset. Now insurance is making us jump through unnecessary tests after tests before the surgeries, although our doctors have said we need these surgeries. I’ve had to leave school and will have to start all over again in our program, so that I can just go to work to pay the $11,000 in medical bills we occurred, this year. I don’t know how anyone can argue that this system works. My husband makes good money and we live well within our means. I feel like we are being punished.
omg what an absolute nightmare. I'm so sorry. That is so hard to get out from under. I experienced this too with my daughter when she was born the anesthesiologist was out of network and was a totally different crazy bill. As if that was something I even got any input on when they came into the room. So ridiculous
Come to Australia, New Zealand or the UK. We get great free healthcare here.
A software engineer and a nurse practitioner in Australia, you guys can probably clear at least $300K/ year or even higher. 2 kids? You get free daycare as well. Come on over!
Ugh. If my family would go with me I would in a heartbeat. It would be lovely to live somewhere that gave a crap about humans!
Thank you! This is so true. My husband and I need to renew our insurance. We make good money. And the ins is more than 30% of our take home…. And EVEN the ACA (ObamaCare) WITH the tax credit is still close to 23% of our take home pay. It’s insane. I want to move to a freaking socialist country because I just want to be able to go to the doctor when I am sick with out being *more sick* at the bill.
That is BONKERS! And so dangerous for the public.
In our state, thru the marketplace, for 2 people, we will pay upwards of $36,000 in premium for 2022. Even worse is the premium historically increases a minimum of 20 percent per year. This is not sustainable and if something doesn't change soon there will be a large chunk of middle income Americans uninsured or bankrupt.
I got hit by a car while riding my bike, I hit the road head first going probably around 15-20 mph (idk the actual speed but I was going really fast downhill) when I got to the hospital I had to wait in the hallway for about 3 hours, all they did was X-ray my legs, never even gave me anything for the immense pain I had from the impact, when I complained about the lack of care they said I denied pain relief which is total bullshit since I literally asked them about 4 times to get me something for the pain. You could say they didn’t want to give me opioids due to the epidemic but they couldn’t even give me the bare minimum of Tylenol. I still owe a shit ton for the “care” I received and this experience made me lose all faith in the American healthcare system
Such a good video. Such a ridiculous system. “Socialist” health care isn’t so bad, I live in Australia and we can see a primary care dr for free and visit the hospital for free and we are so lucky. I don’t see how anyone could be against that
Me. Either. It's mind blowing. It's because they've been fed fear and lies their whole lives.
Just thought I would also say I live in the UK where the NHS can often be criticised for its short comings. However with all of that said I would still choose NHS over the system this video highlights. When I get sick I worry about that and not how I’m going to pay for it. The thought of people fearing being able to afford healthcare and going without treatment due to money makes me so sad xx
For sure. If you ever want to discuss more on the NHS I'd love to talk with you about it! I'm hoping to do a video comparing the US system to NHS, Australia, German, and Canadian helathcare systems
in at 0:55 and i have to make a comment that you will most likely NOT like, so here we go. im steffys husband and i am a man, in 1998 i got on SSI because of depression. my doctor (shrink) put me on a drug that caused me to get type 2 diabeties, it was in a class action suit but the expert witness REFUSED to testify against this drug because it was "SAFER THAN THE OTHER DRUGS" to the lawyers dropped me like a hot potato. 2 years later this "safer" drug was on national news broadcasts as causing 8 year old BOYS to develop FEMALE BREASTS THAT LEAKED MILK!!!
doctors do NOT cure illness anymore they just throw drugs at the condition that cause side effects that they throw other drugs at!!
our American food system is broken too, it too is controlled by the FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION .there are children that have NEVER been outside their city that have traces of GLYPHOSATE (ROUNDUP) in their urine! glyphosate falls from the sky in the rain! the food industry puts more chemicals into our food than they put food !!
i was an agriculture student in college from 2008 to 2014. the publication IOWA FARMER TODAY printed an article that i read aloud in my ORGANIC CERTIFICATION CLASS that told the plight of a "certified organic wheat farmer" on the west coast that had his crop (that he had sold to a foreign country for many years) turned down at the port because it contained GMO WHEAT , but GMO WHEAT WAS NOT AVAILABLE UNTIL 6 MONTHS LATER, but it had escaped the test plots over 100 miles away and contaminated his field, and he LOST HIS ORGANIC CERTIFICATION FOR 7 YEARS BECAUSE OF IT TO BOOT! GMO'S ARE NOT A ORGANIC CROP!!
the plastic industry sold the people a BIG LIE, 90% of plastic not only is NOT recyclable, but it also releases toxic chemicals into our food!!
so to ALL NURSES please quit pushing patients to take things that will cause them harm, quit pushing patients to do things or buy things that will cause them harm!!
if you know that carbs will cause your patients to need to increase insulin injection, then do NOT scold them to eat their potatoes and gravy or the apple pie, do NOT offer them tea with high fructose corn syrup or colas with high fruitcose corn syrup!
the EPA now says that they were MISTAKEN that some of the chemicals in our municipal water supply that they said were safe at these levels are actually 10,000 times over the safe level!!
all these big corporations are screwing us!!!! the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA was incorporated in england just after the (un)civil war ! the founding fathers gave us the united states of America NOT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!
after having to pay for my own hospital bills last month i now cringe so hard when providers order unnecessary tests, scans and consults for patients (icu nurse and starting CRNA school in a few months)
YES. and Insurance companies ENCOURAGE random tests because they of course make money. it's such a broken system
Love the video! Great info and depressing as I see no change coming soon.
I think it was one of your videos that really opened my eyes to the insurance system where you mentioned some people cannot afford insulin bc insurance wouldn’t cover it… INSULIN?!?!? It’s infuriating. Insulin should be free.
Also insurance is super confusing for most people. I’m not even totally sure of what is covered on my plan because it’s so wordy and jargony.
it is SO incredibly confusing I agree. And its not something that is taught to nurses, or NP's or Any healthcare provider really that I'm aware of . So we are operating in a system that we don't know how patients are charged. Which is not OK
This video is simply wonderful. Thanks so much, Liz. As a Canadian, it amazes me that the richest and most powerful democracy in the world does not consider health care as a basic human right!. The other cogent points: US healthcare costs 18% of gdp. This is 50% to 100% more expensive than single payer healthcare systems elsewhere in the developed world. US health outcomes are also really poor. Male life expectancy is very poor, and worsening (79). Maternal mortality and infant mortality are embarrassingly poor. And, as you point out, 30% of Americans have no health insurance. Citadel on a hill? I think not
I come from England but now live in America, the fear mongering is real!! Thank you for using your platform for something so important.
I have autoimmune and I deal with it by cutting out food that make me sick. The last 3 years I was struggling with double vision. I had changed my eyeglasses. And it only got worse. It took almost a year to get in to see a specialist. In the meantime I ordered prisms online that stick on your glasses and I did two one worked and I didn't have double vision anymore. By the time I got into see the specialist I had already had it ground into my glasses from my eye doctor. And then the specialist said the MRI showed I had heavy eye syndrome is from having really bad eyes for my whole life that your muscles get weak and it causes this. It was $1,000 to see the specialist who didn't do s*** for me and I already figured it out myself. I paid cash for my MRI like $300 which is much cheaper My deductible is like $8,000 with my stupid Obamacare crap. I am a travel nurse. I avoid doctors and hospitals unless I'm going to die. I hate this country's health care system. The hospitals Ceo's get rich and the rest of us get robbed of all of our money. I don't understand why we can't have some kind of base free health care system. I realize we pay more in taxes. But you know otherwise they basically take all your money. They could even take your house and they're doing it. It is like the number one reason why people are bankrupt and go homeless.
I have over 4000 dollars worth of debt. With no way foreseeable in the future this figure could go down.
It is to the point that I'm literally living paycheck to paycheck
Maybe nurses and doctors should take a pay cut! And perhaps the pharmaceutical companies as well...then insurance would be affordable
I didn’t realize that it was 13,000 to have a baby. I don’t have Heath insurance lie most low class workers. I may have to do medashare
Is the problem the amount being charged by providers? Or the “who pays for it” issue? Or both?
I can't wait to never have kids💀
Inflation, bank collapse, severe drought in the agricultural belt, recession, food shortages, diesel fuel and heating oil shortages, baby formula shortages, available automobile shortages and prices, the price of living place.
Government policy has thrown the future under the bus for decades. The day of judgment is near. I predict an 80% drop in the stock market. Investors will abandon stocks in favor of real estate. There will be no money in banks... You must devise a strategy for survival.
I agree. I have pulled in more than $435k since 2020 through my advisor. It pays off more in the long run to just pick quality stocks and ride with those stocks.
@@maryHenokNft Mind if I ask you recommend this particular professional you use their service? i have quite a lot of marketing problems.
I'd like to give significant credit to *Mary Onita Wier* who maintains a strong online presence. You can easily find her through a web search. While there are some other individuals worth considering, it may be more challenging to locate them. In addition, Julia has provided excellent guidance throughout the year.
trying to find out how much my insurance will actually pay for out of network procedures is a nightmare
I ask, what am I entitled to at the forced expense of others ??? Now I am forced to pay property taxes,, so all the children can go to school , then they give medical care ,then they take all I have left and they dont care !!!! This is the results of forced taxation and a mofia type health care regulated system . whitch leaves the free market system destroyed !!! Its that simple ..!!!
My experience is this: I am one of the lucky folks, for now while I’m still on my parents insurance, and my dad has okay insurance, but here is the trick. . . I was born with a heart condition and need an open heart surgery about every 7 years and the only cardiologist I can see in network is 3 hours away, I drive past 4 other hospitals with cardiology units and doctors qualified to see me but I am unable to because the insurance has dictated that I cannot. I am lucky, and many parts of Obamacare has saved my future financial life but the system is still incredibly broke
Thank you for sharing. This is the thing that blows my mind. People act as if individuals who need medical care somehow brought it upon themselves. Which is quite literally impossible in your case. And should never matter in the first place. I'm glad the insurance extension is helping you!
Oh my god, my heart feel so heavy watching this
thank you for watching. it is sad indeed
Thank you for talking about this Liz. I’m studying to be an FNP right now, and your videos and realism are helping me to prepare for the challenges I know I will face working in primary care after graduation. I wish that undergrad had talked more about health insurance and the current system, as well as other systems in the world. Nursing is the largest healthcare workforce and most trusted profession. If we all came together, instead of avoiding policy like we typically do, maybe thinfs could actually change.
exactly!! is your FNP program talking about it? Mine barely mentioned it which is insane considering how it pretty much decides how we can all do our jobs
@@NurseLiz Sorry for the late reply! We've actually spent these last two weeks talking about financing healthcare : one week on the U.S. healthcare system as it currently exists and one on how other countries finance their healthcare systems. It's sparked some interesting discussion, and I wish I'd had this knowledge as a BSN. Nursing is one of the largest groups of healthcare professionals, but the majority of that population are CNAs, LVNs, and RNs. Not NPs. If we're planning to make a difference as a collective profession, we have to educate the ground base.
Who needs health insurance when they can just die or go bankrupt instead? _(sarcasm)_
Liz, this is your sweet spot. $26k/yr to insure a family of 4 is mind blowing. That is just the base cost and we haven't even addressed the cost of medication. Health is definitely wealth, because it cost too much to be sick.
absolutely. The middle class is SCREWED when it comes to this and so many other things. Thanks for watching and for the encouragement!
great video liz, i'm a nurse and just turned 26. I cant afford health insurance and it feels wrong working through a pandemic without any help to take care of myself
I remember that time that I signed a contract and was willing to DIE for this country at the young age of 18. How embarrassing for me 🥴 I've been desperate to move out of the US now. People are dying because of American propaganda. We ARE the "currupt" country that we've been taught to fear.
My shock and anger would be from going to a doctor appt w my husband then going to pick up the medication from the pharmacy and they said the insurance said no to the medication. They're not the doctor! They weren't in the room when the doctor said this would be best. Why do they get to choose what the dr can or can't prescribe? And now as a nurse, I see it often and I'm like yeah it happens.
yeah. I probably got 4-5 messages a day or phone calls from patients saying that their insurance denied the medication we prescribed. And then we had to try ones we knew would fail because the insurance wanted proof that we had done so. ALl the while the patient suffered or had other complications of the thing we could have solved in the first place. It's so broken
I had my daughter 14 years ago, and was lucky to have the horrible Kaiser Permanente insurance. I payed $250 copay. Their services are awful but great for babies.
Now, I wouldn't be able to afford giving birth with insurance I have.
My savings account was depleted by medical bills this year. It's awful what we have to pay for insurance then the bills.
ugh I am so sorry that happened to you!
I'm currently taking a Medical economics course and even though I don't have the personal experince you have I understand the frustration and I know that you are not lying. The US healthcare system is a joke. America has too much pride on the wrong things. The greed from the most powerful and priviledged people, that control how our healthcare system is, need to make much needed improvements but don't see the benefits of learning from other healthcare systems around the world, simply because the money they currently profit fills them up. Its embarrassing and its contributing to more deaths than what it would be if everyone had affordable and easy access to healthcare coverage. Plus, we are in a pandemic! Even though I'm still learning about the healthcare system I already understand just how pathetic it is. Healthcare has always been and still is for the powerful and rich because they control how the system works. We need to speak up for ourselves because our health matters. My wish is for everyone to understand each others suffering and to find ways to help one another.
thank you for this. America has WAY too much of a selfish attitude about everything. Also everything has become so political that people will not even LISTEN to things that are "liberal" like this
@@NurseLiz Yeah, its almost seems like the people who refuse to see or listen to a different perspective or reality of things just want to excuse their disapproval/refusal with labels such as "liberal" things, which end up obscuring the truth or focus of the problem in the first place. Frustrating.
I am Canadian and do not understand a lot of the group think in the US - particularly around your health care system. I have extended family living in the US who are not at all wealthy and diehard on not having “socialized” medicine shoved down their throats. I do not get it. But you know what I did get? A Go Fund Me link for one of those extended family members to help pay for health care costs after a catastrophic diagnosis. Yes, I do pay more taxes living in Canada. But it is so worth not having to be homeless if someone in the family has a hospital stay (and my father recently passed away after heart failure and many stays in CCU/ICU over the years. The cost? Not a single penny. But he did get a quintuple bypass and life support several times that extended his life so he could experience being a grandfather). The BS your politicians spread about public health care is just plain wrong. Money before lives.
I will NEVER understand the mentality. Because you are so right. Go fund me's NUMBER ONE payout is for medical expenses. I can guarantee that if we took all the money donated to go fund me's for medical expenses it would pay for single payer healthcare WITHOUT taxes. It's so ridiculous. Thank you for sharing this. Because I also think that so many people think that no one gets adequate care in other countries, or procedures that are not curative, but do prolong life. And that is simply not true.
A handful of people get rich off of our healthcare and everyone else suffers.
Everything is changing because we are evolving to 4 or 5th dimension. Creator in humanity is ending tyranny of mankind. No more control by the powers who wants humanity to pay for everything. Everything is changing for our greater good.
I heard it will happen before 2024 begin, I really hope so. This current state of affairs of earth is in disrepair.
I've been in primary care for two years and she is %100 right on everything
Happy your speaking about this! I met a lady who purchased a membership to a primary care clinic for $264 quarterly, Im trying to figure out what this model is called, but she makes too much for Medicaid and doesnt want to pay for private health insurance and has Medicare (65+) only. She see's NP's and specialists all in one place. Concierge maybe?
Im a young breast cancer survivor and Im super fortunate to have had Medicaid cover my expenses during and after (current) treatment, literally the first thing I was worried about after getting diagnosed was the cost and not cancer, how crazy is that?!
Concierge medicine is definitely becoming more and more popular, but the issue there is it doesn't cover any specialists. So its super helpful for those who are overall healthy and don't have any other complications, but if you require a specialists care, then it's still un-accessible. On a very different note I am so so happy that you kicked that cancer!!
People who think our insurance system is ok are people who never use it.
Totally agree
My goddness. This breaks my heart. I live in Australia - so the system that the US has is scary to understand. We have free accessible basic health care. Sure there can be long wait times for surgery if you use the public system. However the cost of diabetic medication here under our tax funded pharmaceutical system means you can only pay $15 for a packet of testing strips. Even less if you are on a government issues health care card (low income). Our system does have issues around dental care - no government funding and quite pricey outside of private insurance. Generally most middle income people will have private health insurance - however you'll like get treated in a public hospital - in a shared room and the only thing the insurance gives you is your choice of treating doctor. In the current pandemic we live in - I find it crazy that we have so many in Australia choose to not get the vaccine - yet they are the ones to get sick and therefore take over the hospital system. Ironically Id be curious to understand if those that find health care less accessible due to employment have a higher uptake of the covid vaccines - given the cost of entering the hospital system if they end up very unwell.
Thank you for this! So helpful to understand how things work in other countries! The way they talk about universal healthcare in other countries it sounds like everyone is dying of curable things left and right and that is just not true from. So this is so helpful! Definitely an interesting point with covid
I got to the point last year where I could not afford my insurance anymore, and it caused me to go a really long time without my Humira for Crohn's. Basically had to choose between paying my bills, or paying for medical insurance. Thankfully things are better for me now, but I ended up in the hospital several times from severe flare-ups due to missing my medication. Can't thank you enough for speaking out on this, because so many experience it, but not enough people talk about it.
I am so so sorry. Living with a chronic condition in the US is an absolute disaster WITHOUT even looking at the actual crhonic condition. Just financially. I'm so so sorry. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Thanks so much for your insight and compassion. Things have to change. You are helping us all know how the system really works.
The system has to change... I've had numerous patients make themselves DNR to avoid the potential medical bills falling on their family's. Decline treatment for heart attacks etc because of the cost. Or a patient who was so overcome by worry about cost after being life flighted to save their life. That they developed takotsubo cardiomyopathy.... It's just heartbreaking and terrible
So. So . incredibly heartbreaking. You can't forget things like that.
I'll never forget during my nursing orientation they were training us on how to document codes in the emr and they said "oh, also don't forget to add the charge to the account at the end of the code! :)" I was like, what? we charge for that??? how freaking morbid.
Nothing will change as long as people keep electing Republicans to Congress. Some people don't understand or don't care that health care in this country is a business which is the reason that most hospital administrators are MBAs and the GOP only works for the elite and corporations that line their pockets. The GOP uses the excuse that the "free market" will take care of health care costs so there's no need to regulate it. Yeah, right!
Liz, thank you so much for making this amazing video. Absolutely everything you've covered I've seen and experienced regularly since I've been an RN. It's indisputable that we have the absolute worst, broken health payor system in the world because it's simply built on a massive amount of greed for the doctors, hospitals, insurance pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturer companies. One point I would disagree with. This is absolutely a political issue that bankrupts and kills people. For me, that saddest part of everything you've shared is that our discipline of nursing, which is one of the largest professions in the nation, appears to be very divided on healthcare solutions, as well as incredibly ignorant about just how bad our healthcare system is. This blows my mind when we work within this system and see the impacts everyday. I really want to be hopeful about a reasonable healthcare payor change, however I just don't see it changing because Americans absolutely love their fear based propagandistic arguments. I wish you all the luck in the world influencing people to accept and support some type of universal system.
My personal story is that as an RN I developed a rare reaction from a flu vaccine, GBS, which turned into CIDP. I wasn't able to work for 1.5 years which of course I lost my job as an oncology RN & health insurance. By grace my wife was able to add me to her plan, but her's was, and is a high deductible plan. $6000 family annually, with premiums totally $10k annually deducted from her paycheck. After this insurance will cover 80% of medical expenses depending on the doctor, or hospital. And, of course there is a limited network of providers, and hospitals. You forgot to mention the joys of fighting with insurance companies that delay, or reject provider prescribed treatments simply because they don't want to pay for it. I experienced a 6 month delay in the IVIG treatments my neurologist prescribed for this reason, all the while I suffered with incredible neuropathy and weakness. I was fortunate because my medical background gave me knowledge of who to call, what to say, and how to fight, and it still took me 6 months to get my treatments approved-with painful suffering all that time.
I've seen numerous cancer patients refusing care and dying to avoid bankruptcy. Mental health patients committing suicide, or overdosing due to insurance delays or refusals. People without insurance, or possessing disaster policies, or high deductible plans delaying seeking care until the pain overwhelmed them, only to come to the ER, be admitted and their disease ends of terminal. Yes, or health payor system is absolutely broken. I call it a health payor system because care cannot be provided effectively until this payor part is resolved effectively, resulting in some form of a universal system for everyone...simply because they're a human being. Thanks so much for this video!
I can’t even afford therapy for my son because the deductible is so dang high. the premium for BCBS ppo alone is very high…. It’s just defeating. I have to rely on RUclips and Facebook groups for help and it’s not nearly enough. Schools refuse to provide therapy to almost everybody I know. It’s a mess! A huge mess and I pray that change will come for my children’s generation.
Im so sorry :( it’s horrifying how little we support people in this country.
I’ve contemplated so many times moving out of this country simply because it doesn’t offer healthcare to its people, while this might sound strange to some it is a value and right I believe all people should have. Knowing that our country does not does not feel this way about it’s people is just morally, the disparities in health and healthcare continue growing more divided. It’s clear big business and the rich and prized as they hold all the power (lobbyists, stakeholders, shares). It is long overdue for me to find a country that values the lives of its people. I’m sorry this is happening to you and your family Liz
I totally know what you mean. Its SO sad living in a country where you know people have SUCH little value on human life. It's hard to wrap your mind around
I love this type of content . I have followed your journey and you helped get me through my ABSN program. Now you are helping me make sense of our healthcare system. It is broken. I am here for all the new content, nurse Liz. Keep doing what you are doing.
I feel this! I work in an ambulance as an Advanced EMT and can do some procedures and give certain medications but at times I have to call a paramedic service and that equals two bills from two different ambulance companies... breaks my heart when someone doesn't call an ambulance based on finances... Amazing job Liz❤️
Omg I bet. When I was in high school the school wasn't allowed to call 911 without parental consent unless you were completely unresponsive because of how much money the ambulances cost
I worked with a nurse who was working full time to OT and had her wages garnished to pay for her Chemo! Yet we’ve all had entitled pts who get all their healthcare paid for-like politicians, criminals, etc…
Direct-pay is the solution.
Pre-ACA, there were affordable catastrophic care policies available.
Vote for a government which will reinstate conditions allowing for catastrophic insurance + HSAs. Then patients will shop for medical care and competition will drive prices lower. Outcomes also improve: see Singapore model.
And yes, we have been in this boat. We’ve had a marketplace plan with $6.5k in premiums and $12.5k in deductibles. And we were lucky I got pregnant in Jan, so pregnancy and delivery happened in the same year. 19k total. Can you imagine getting pregnant in July? You get to pay double!
I have a family history of Alzheimer's, breast cancer, and leukemia. The moment I get diagnosed with any of those, I'm bribing a doctor to euthanize me or I'll take myself out on my own terms. I won't even bother with treatments; too expensive, not to mention the toll it takes on the body. My partner keeps telling me I'm being silly, but I told him I'm 100% being serious. I'm not going to bankrupt our family with medical bills when that money can be used for the future of our children. Hell, until his own parents passed, buying a house was impossible. If corporate America has taught me anything, it's that I am insignificant and absolutely replaceable, so I'm confident he'll have no issue finding a new one if I get any of those diseases
I’m currently trying to go back to school to become a nurse, but this is actually the issue that makes me most nervous about going into the medical field. Do I want to be part of a system that is incentivized to let people die for a buck? I mean, I want to be a nurse to facilitate people in crisis getting back their health and dignity. There’s nothing dignified about fleecing desperate people.
I totally get it. I'm leaving what I thought I always wanted to do over feeling like I'm robbing people to try to help them
@@NurseLiz I think I am done with nursing school because of this issue. I can't be apart of this. Thank you for speaking out on an issue I am so passionate about. Go Liz!
I’m a nurse and have no insurance because I refuse to pay $500 a month. I go to the doctor maybe once every 3 years ( because I take care of myself)
I'm glad you're able to stay healthy without any complications! It's so crazy to me that even healthcare workers can't get healthcare.
Watching this makes me so Grateful we have the NHS here in the uk,we can brake bones have operations give birth in hospital and NOT PAY A PENNY no medical bills no nothing(our taxes go towards that)I feel so sorry for Americans who can’t even go to the doctors if ill cos it costs them money let alone any meds they may need to have!,why can’t ur country have universal healthcare like the uk Canada and other countries!why can’t the states be like us and just have taxes go towards healthcare so EVERYONE can get the healthcare they need,It’s fucking disgusting how a country like the USA can’t put its peoples health first without trying to make money for the bigwigs!!…It’s awful that u have to decide between healthcare,affording rent or buying groceries!!!😔🥺
EVERYONE SHOULD FORM A CORPORATION!!
if you incorporate you can put every thing you own in the corporations name, then the corporation can charge you what ever it decides for rent on your car and your house etc...
then when your actual money after the rents is below a set level based on the number of persons in your household, you can GET ON OBANA CARE!! my wife earns over $17.00 an hour and i get $330 a month social security, while our toddler gets $230 a month social security. that is our total income and we are NOT incorporated but we get good insurance through THE NETWORK for just $77 a month!!! im on social security retirement.
I pay my insurance biweekly through my job. I'm afraid to use it. I had to take my wife for a colonoscopy that cost me $500 - $600! There were fees for the anesthesiologist, facility fees, and a couple of other fees. My insurance company was getting something like $21,000 a year between me and my employer. I'm so scared to use the insurance for fear of incurring exorbitant fees not disclosed and or things not covered! Oh then there is that wonderful deductible that your insurance company tells you will be the highest you'll have to pay in one year. That's BS also! Not every fee will count towards that deductible. Yes you heard right. Insurance is a racket! Lie, cheat and steal is their game.
Time to move to Canada
I do not know what state you are in, but you might want to check out the ongoing healthcare experiment in Washington State (not DC, the Pacific Northwest one). We are two years into a state hybrid public option experiment, and therefore have two years of data. Something your state legislature might want to look at. If Washington DC is useless, maybe the way to go is one state at a time. Other states experimenting with state public option are Colorado (2021) and Nevada (starting 2026). Good luck.
I am single and self employed. Healthcare with Cigna Connect will cost me $321 monthly / $3, 852 yearly this year. The deductible is $7,000. My dental is $25 a month with Delta Dental. I'm debating whether to purchase vision insurance or just pay out of pocket for contacts. My eyeglasses without insurance last year cost me $400 and eye exam was $100 plus.
When I was a teacher (I left right before covid) I had walking pneumonia and didn't want to go to the doctor because of the cost and I felt scolded and critized for wanting to take off work. My principle asked if I could work and "just play a movie ". My students knew I kept an empty plastic bottle to spit my mucus in during the day. I was gross and awful. I hardly had a voice and it was hard to keep control of a classroom of 35 students when I could only whisper.
My monthly net pay then was $1,780, and I worked weekends (Sat and Sun) for $11/hr as a cna. Even working seven days it was hard to get by.
We don't want federalized healthcare. Hear me out before I get 10k downvotes. There is a much better proven way to reduce costs that doesn't give 1/6th of the economy to federal government bureaucrats. If you think that handing the healthcare decisions from one set of bureaucrats to another set will make things better, then you might want to think again. There is another way though. Back in the 1980s, LASIK was introduced and was extremely expensive. What made the cost come down over time and quality of the surgery go up? Competition. Let me say that again...Competition. Here is my 3 pronged idea in case anyone cares...first, stop treating normal items like an emergency. Take the healthcare industry out of things like physicals and the cost will come down DRAMATICALLY. Treat most things like this...for everything else, there could be a catastrophic single payer system. Anything that would cause a catastrophic health issue would be covered by Federal Catastrophic Care coverage. Pull the bureaucrats out of the decision process for most normal things. Win win.
Australian here and although our system with private medical practitioners isn’t working as well as we might like due high cost of living expenses. We have excellent large public hospitals where medical care is free. The Federal Government has recently set up free medical clinics next to these major hospitals to treat what private medical practitioners would normally treat. Normally our Federal Government has a Medicare levy which is about 1.5% of all persons earnings. It needs to be raised but that is politically difficult at the moment because of a cost of living crisis. These free clinics are terrific. We have private hospitals for people who have private health insurance, but their treatment is not as good as the major public hospitals which are associated with university institutions. It is unbelievable that 2 professionals such as you and your husband cannot afford insurance. This must be changed. My private health insurance at top rate costs me $4500 per year
My company pays for my healthcare, thank god, I’m sorry for your current circumstance
I'm glad you have it through your job! It's such a weight off when it happens!
Critical Kitty.....What company do you work for? Do they pay for ANY drug or procedure no matter the cost? I know there are companies that pay their employees health insurance premiums but you don't have a choice about the insurance company and still have to pay co-pays or deductibles. I have heard about companies that are "Self Funded" who also cover their employees health insurance in full but still limit coverage and get access to your medical records.
@@karimaogden3875 oh no, just the premium as you said. Our deductible is $5000 for a family of two which is not bad.
As an RN, my insurance at a previous job, costs out of pocket, were $1465.00 per month.
Some of the staff at that facility “ Caretel” were literally working just to have insurance and after the taxes, insurance costs their take home was around 10 dollars ! In every manufacturing job I had prior to becoming a nurse the insurance was never even close to that amount. Moreover, some jobs even paid 100% for all insurance. Because healthcare is primarily a female occupation and women’s healthcare costs greatly outpace mens, the costs are astronomical ! Every healthcare job I have had , the insurance is so expensive, my family has not been able to afford it. In addition to insurance, the 401 K savings and contributions are non existent as well. In almost every skilled trades occupation that is not the case. However, the vast majority of those jobs are held by men who would not stand for being treated like a dog. Which is what almost every nurse I have ever worked with loves to be treated like! Women in healthcare are rolled over and bent over by management daily ! Managers just have to say “ What about grandma” and they drop to their knees and start sucking the corporate cock !!
Thank you for your history and comments. I have experienced insurance woes from being a server in a restaurant to now an RN at a hospital bought oit by a corporation. The ups and downs of my I scramble wow! My question for you is a little different subject. I am in a health policy class for my RN to BSN degree. The state of NC is trying to pass the SAVE act to give nurse practitioners the right to practice automously. In primary care and mental health practices especially. I am hoping we pass this like 24 stares have already passed. My personal goal is to become a psychiatric nurse practitioner. You are a primary care nurse practitioner, and on your state, did they pass this act so you can practice without being supervised by a physician ? How did this act affect you? If you are independent, you still have trouble accessing health insurance for yourself and your family ? Thank you for answering my questions.
This report is a bit older, but you can see that nothing has changed in the USA to date, and nothing will change in the future.
Citizens are still paying horrendous sums for insurance, are still paying horrendous sums for doctors and even more so for hospitals. God forbid anyone who has to go to an American hospital only to get the bill afterwards can declare financial bankruptcy and live on the street like in California. What an exploitative system that actually is. Nothing will change because there is also a lobby here that prevents change, you don't earn any more money and that's all they care about, just money, money, money.
Health is a human right and not a privilege only for the rich.
It's good that I live in a country where I don't have to worry about going bankrupt because of such costs. No bill from the doctor, no bill from the hospital, and medicine from the pharmacy at normal prices or paid for by the health insurance. Greetings from Germany
as a couple of nurse practitioners we are charge 2000 a month with 28000 deductible..with a possible increase next year..
Here’s the thing, single payer can work if the population is stabilized and the doctors and clinics accept the rate the single payer offers. Now in the uk, it did work in its early years, but many factors strained the NHS a lot like influx of immigrants, privatization of certain sectors that resulted these sectors to be greedy. Also if the government takes control of the healthcare sector, it can dictate what’s covered or not and can increase taxes, in which many people don’t like. I’m not also a big fan of private insurance even though I have 0 deductible and 1000 out of pocket max for my health insurance. But that’s because I’m 19 and sets me as an outlier. Healthcare will get more expensive as new technologies arise and many doctors want higher pay as result from inflation. The us can fix its healthcare problem, but it will take hard work and a very long time for that to happen.
I am a nurse who was hired part-time, but worked full-time so they did not have to offer me benefits. I worked all through Covid until I contracted Covid while at work. My experience with Covid was serious. I ended up having a PE and a blood clotting condition I have been unable to work as a nurse since, my husband and I have been living without insurance for about five years now I currently sit at home within enlarged lymph nodes, and as a nurse I’m pretty sure I know what’s wrong with me, but I cannot go to the doctor. They won’t even see me because I don’t have insurance.
Im 28 and I have ulcerative colitis diagnoses cost 5000, meds would cost 60,000 a year and the remission rates are horrible plus side effects of these bioligics include cancer. So I can go bankrupt not go into remission and get cancer then they can do another 60,000 dollar surgery on me to remove body parts.Because in this country that is what we do when meds stop working we start removing body parts lol. Thankfully going plant based keeps me off all meds . This country is a joke
You are not dramatic mam. You are telling truths! We are literally denied our own medical records from an urgent care that we went to. We are paying for it, but my spouse left before the doctor could read CT scan results. He waited for 3+ hrs, the nurse/doc were rude and condescending. When we called they said we need to come back and redo the tests again within 4 days of first visit. It's their policy is to not share our medical records. My spouse and I are left in tears after a call and a visit. That's how taxing it was.
My good friend had to take a 17 percent paycut. She doesnt understand her good company insurance is not free. I shop around for prices. Costco has 29 dollar virtual visits. We go elsewhere. one hospital wants 2000 for something another wants 900. Price transparency and competition is forcing these big companies to raise health insurance. Nobody will be happier than me when insurance all comes crashing down. None of these companies deserve that sweet heart deal.
Being a woman with chronic illness I am so extremely angry at our country for allowing this monster industry to develop.
Now I have to figure out how I will work full time again so that Medicaid doesn’t put a lien on my home. Marketplace insurance is ridiculously expensive. I just hate this…. We have the highest paid Drs in the world and the highest cost for secondary education for them. Of coarse they want big bucks. I don’t see how this system is going to sustain….
How many bankruptcys are people who do not take care of health, fat, promiscuous etc...
I have 5 children, I only paid 2 bucks each... yo grand total 10 bucks...