I’d like to know other non-US citizen’s opinions on your health care system are when you read a story like this. I know there are worse places in the world to receive health care, and better. What runs through your heads when you have a medical emergency?

A little background on my question:

My son was having trouble breathing after having a cold for a couple of days and we needed to stop and take the time to see if our insurance would be accepted at the closest emergency room so we didn’t end up with a huge bill (like 2000$-5000$). This was a pretty involved ~10 minute process of logging into our insurance carrier, and unsuccessfully finding the answer there. Then calling the hospital and having them tell us to look it up by scrolling through some links using the local search tool on their website. This gave me some serious pause, what if it was a real emergency, like the kind where you have no time to call and see if the closest hospital takes your insurance.

  • BlameThePeacock@lemmy.ca
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    9 months ago

    The one thing even Americans who have health insurance don’t realize about single payer healthcare systems, is that we don’t worry about it.

    We don’t consider it when switching jobs, we don’t think about it when we’re sick, we don’t worry about medical bills… we just go to the doctor/hospital, and worry about getting better or dealing with the work implications of taking time off.

    The weight for that piece simply doesn’t rest on our shoulders or minds at all.

    You’ve been tricked and brainwashed you into thinking what you have is normal, and it’s disturbing how many of you think it’s a reasonable way to continue.

    • ReallyActuallyFrankenstein@lemmynsfw.com
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      9 months ago

      I’m American and trust me, in no way does it feel normal even after living with it my whole life. Simply hearing what you describe - not thinking about it - feels so deeply right and reasonable that it reminds me just how much weight of “this is not normal” we carry around.

    • PrincessLeiasCat@sh.itjust.works
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      9 months ago

      That’s so fucking crazy sounding. It also sounds wonderful. My parents almost lost our house due to medical expenses, and yes they had insurance (here’s the best part - my dad was a disabled veteran). So support the troops, yay!

      Because of that experience, I’ve developed a lifelong almost PTSD about insurance and medical bills - afraid that it will happen again to me now that I’m an adult. I obsess over it. It’s terrible.

      I’m so jealous of those who never have to give it a second thought.

      • Mr_Blott@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        That’s so fucking crazy sounding

        And there’s the problem

        It’s so fucking normal sounding. Your system is the crazy, horrifying human rights abuse 😅

        • PrincessLeiasCat@sh.itjust.works
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          9 months ago

          No, you’re absolutely right. I didn’t mean crazy to sound negative - it’s just something I cannot even imagine…to never have to think about this thing that I constantly think about. It’s wild. And I really do wish it could become a reality.

      • Snekeyes@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        1 in 4 bankruptcies are military due to medical cost. We only support troops with thoughts and prayers

    • roadkill@kbin.social
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      9 months ago

      Sadly, the brainwashing has been so effective that those who buy it never noticed that those gaslighting people into believing that no government system (eg, single payer) could ever work are the ones (Republicans) doing their best to ensure that government remains as broken as possible.

      More people believe that our system is fucked than those who think this kind of system is normal.

      We’re just faced with so many hurdles, gerrymandering, red states that exist only because of minority representation have more power over larger population areas (districts by size and not population, electoral college) … The majority of the country is merely surviving and the apathy sets in. I remind people that voting fascists out is the only way things are going to change and often the response is “Well, I tried that once and it didn’t work.” So they stop showing up to vote. Or they buy into the ‘both sides’ BS and post lame memes on Facebook and Reddit.

      A lot of us really are painfully aware of how fucked it is.

    • cdf12345@lemm.ee
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      9 months ago

      This is why I don’t understand why corporations aren’t behind it. It would take an enormous load of my HR dept. It would save them so much.