Iconic skier's death points out U.S. health gap (salaries, illegal, cost)
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I am from the UK and live here in the USA. Although there are problems with the National Health Service in the UK, I would take it any day over the nightmare healthcare is here in the US. I have come across so many people with horror stories about the healthcare system here.
A woman I worked with had treatment for cancer. She worked as a waitress and the place she worked at did not provide insurance. She told me she was paying $50 per paycheck for the rest of her life as she had racked up over $200,000 of treatment costs.
A husband and wife ran a small store in my town and she informed me that they both had serious health issues. She said that they basically ran the store to pay their overheads and their health insurance which for them as a self-employed couple amounted to around $27,000 per year. She told me that the stress and worry about health costs had contributed to her bad health.
My stepson is covered on his fathers insurance. About a year after he had had some treatment for an injury to his hand, his mother and I received a bill of $1000 because his father was refusing to pay and as next of kin, his mother had become liable!
I also find the lack of compassion or kindness among many right wing minded people a strange disconnect from the fact that many of them are Christians, supposedly following Christ and his model.
I am sure there were some freeloaders at the feeding of the 5000 or the Sermon on the Mount, but did Christ means test them, or did he care for the poor without judgment?
In what is supposed to be the most civilized country in the world, I believe in this 21st century that each citizen should have the right to education and healthcare. America's healthcare may be the best in the world but thats of no use if people cant or wont access it because of the fear of losing everything else.
I stand corrected... It has been a decade since I was in the medical field. The density here (over 17 in a 15-mile radius) however indicates the intensity of medical device availability. Also the ratio of MRI machines (w.r.t population) is about 4 times that in the US compared to CN.
My SO's mother is British. Retired. An inveterate traveler. She can get health insurance to go to any country in the world, except the U.S. Why? Because she has had a heart attack in the past. Well... that's not quite true, there are companies that will underwrite a trip to the U.S. for her @ $1000 for two weeks. Next year she turns 75 and at that point no affordable insurance options for travel to the U.S. (everywhere else is no problem) will be possible. I'll ask again, is this defensible?
Healthcare bills aren't allowed to be deducted from ones pay checks.
No, they are sent to collection, and if you keep fighting, they get their money through the courts. Why do you think medical bills is #1 reason for personal bankruptcy in US. And most the people going broke had insurance.
By Kari Huus, msnbc.com
Since the death of Canadian skier Sarah Burke in January, fans and supporters from around the world have donated over $300,000 – more than enough to cover the massive U.S. medical bill generated by efforts to save her.
Moderator cut: can only quote 1-2 sentences and provide link
She did, but her insurance company declined the claim because they say the event she entered didn't meet their criteria for a sanctioned event whatever that means. Still, the (international) incident raises a salient point. As has been said, most countries and that includes First World countries with kick ass medical facilities, don't generate half million dollar bills for a short stay. Especially when they lose the patient. Come on... how can this be defended?
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it costs that because the govt started to interfere in healthcare
She did, but her insurance company declined the claim because they say the event she entered didn't meet their criteria for a sanctioned event whatever that means. Still, the (international) incident raises a salient point. As has been said, most countries and that includes First World countries with kick ass medical facilities, don't generate half million dollar bills for a short stay. Especially when they lose the patient. Come on... how can this be defended?
it costs that because the govt started to interfere in healthcare
There is more to it than that, because most countries have far more government involvement, yet only half the cost.
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