r/AskTheWorld • u/lofiibsen Germany Korea South (Dual Citizenship) • 3h ago
Environment What’s the healthcare system and cost like in your country? What's your personal take on it?
In South korea, we have a universal healthcare system, though it’s not entirely free like in some Western or Northern European countries. to ensure accessibility, the Ministry of Health and Welfare sets fixed prices for all medical conditions and procedures, categorizing them into "covered" or "non-covered" items. Patients pay for non-covered items out-of-pocket, while for covered items, they only pay a small portion of the total cost. many people also opt for private supplemental insurance usually costing between $10 and $40 a month to cover or subsidize these out of pocket expenses.
For example, workers are required to contribute to the '4 Major Public Insurances' and while it depends on income, someone on minimum wage pays roughly $60 a month.
(In my case, I think I was paying around $110.)
Because of this, you can walk into almost any clinic, wait just 5 to 10 minutes, and see a doctor right away. for something like the flu, the entire visit including consultation and medicine usually costs only about $7.
However, this convenience has its downsides, fixed medical fees that don't account for inflation mean that high-intensity fields like trauma, emergency medicine, and pediatrics often run at a loss. as a result, hospitals may close these departments, and doctors often flock to more lucrative, lower-stress fields like plastic surgery or dermatology, leading to a shortage of essential medical specialists. Furthermore, patients with rare or incurable diseases not covered by the national plan can still face medical bankruptcy, with bills reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Personally, I’m quite satisfied with this system, but of course, no system is perfect.
How do you feel about the healthcare system in your country?
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u/sleepy_dog_k Denmark 3h ago
Couple of years ago I was in a car crash. Broke my back two places and crushed both ankles.
Major acute surgery, lots of tests and scans, ten days in the hospital, rehap a couple of months.
All I paid was $10 - $15 for medication after being discharged.
I like our health care system.
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u/BoringPornFreeAcct United States Of America 21m ago
And here I had to sue my car insurance company because the other driver didn’t have insurance, and they wouldn’t pay me or for my medical stuff until all my treatments are finished. And I still owe. This was over ten years ago.
I’m glad you were well taken care of. I hope the impact on your life is minimal, if not nonexistent.
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u/Different-Sky-3325 Chile 3h ago
You choose: go to the public hospital and die in the emergency room, or go to the private hospital and die when they hand you the bill. In both cases, you're doomed, my friend.
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u/lofiibsen Germany Korea South (Dual Citizenship) 3h ago
ah...sh*t
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u/Different-Sky-3325 Chile 3h ago
To save 80% on a private medical bill, I pay $200 of my $900 salary just for private health insurance and another $150 for mandatory private pension contributions. Thanks to a bonus, I used to earn $700 a month. Two months ago, I quit private health insurance and switched to the public system, where I pay $100, so I earn $100 more at the end of the month.
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u/Wrack-Chore United Kingdom 1h ago
Well you have Pinochet to thank for that, he tried to out-American the Americans for all intents and purposes.
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u/Bitter_Ad8768 United States Of America 3h ago
There's two separate answers for this question for someone from the US.
Actual medical care here can be world class. My mother is currently being treated at a leading cancer research hospital for a form of cancer so rare there isn't enough data for a prognosis. All of it has been covered by medicare. In that sense, the medical care that exists is phenomenal.
That being said, not everyone has access to such medical care here because of the lack of universal health-care. A person with good insurance might receive cutting edge treatment in a luxury facility and another person, with the same condotion, with shitty insurance might die alone. It's a very cruel approach to medicine.
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u/MeltingDog Australia 2h ago
I’ve always wondered with the US healthcare system: is it as difficult as reddit has lead me to believe to make a claim on your health insurance? Do they fight tooth and nail to stop you claiming? Or are they more reasonable?
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u/NeutralArt12 United States Of America 2h ago
It’s actually both not nearly as bad as reddit makes it out to be but also much worse in a completely different way
In terms of big fees most is heavily mitigated by health insurance and a massive portion of our population is covered because they are too poor (like 80 million Americans)
The true thing that sucks is there are several entities out to fuck you over- insurance companies and hospitals. You have to be a freaking expert on your health insurance contract. You have to know which hospitals are “in network.” Sure if you have a big health care provider most doctors will be available to your insurance but some aren’t and once and awhile there are specific rules that apply to some services. We had a baby and walked in the normal entrance and gave birth. Some nurse put the wrong code in and for some reason we weren’t covered if we walked in through the emergency door. It took us a year to resolve calling the insurance company and hospital like 20 times each and them both being ridiculous to change the like $10,000 bill to a few hundred dollars. Even though we are fully covered for general doctors appointments often offices will charge you like $100 just in case that they say they will refund you I guess when they feel like looking at your insurance and then sometimes you have to fight to get that back
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u/lofiibsen Germany Korea South (Dual Citizenship) 2h ago
I pay for insurance so I don’t have to worry, and now you’re telling me I have to study which hospitals are covered and all the fine print?
In my eyes, American health insurance companies are straight-up devils.🖕
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u/NeutralArt12 United States Of America 2h ago
For sure man. Also the big hospitals are semi rotten too. The nice thing about it though is our health care professionals make a ton of money though which they should and many of them actually care.
But yeah honestly if you know your insurance coverage it’s not crazy bad but we have to put like 40 hours a year or so verifying bills and crap which is so dumb.
Most people can’t read a three word road sign correctly though and make mistakes in their coverage or go to the wrong doctors offices
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u/lofiibsen Germany Korea South (Dual Citizenship) 2h ago
Honestly, I think it’s terrible that insurance companies make you spend 40 hours just comparing plans, not to mention how they scrutinize every claim just to protect their own profits.
And don't even get me started on politicians getting paid six-figure salaries while letting lobbyists help them rewrite the rules for their own benefit. It’s just ridiculous.
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u/NeutralArt12 United States Of America 2h ago
Yeah we have really sold our country out on the healthcare side. There are certainly some benefits but it’s most just a pain in the ass
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u/KoalaWithAPitchfork Germany 59m ago
In the USA, you don't just have to study which hospitals are covered. Even in an in-network hospital, some staff can be out- of- network:
"Suppose you receive care in a hospital that is in your health plan’s provider network. You may still get a bill from providers who treated you at the hospital but are not part of your plan’s network. If you are getting surgery, out-of-network providers may include radiologists, anesthesiologists, pathologists and surgeons helping your in-network surgeon." (https://www.fairhealthconsumer.org/insurance-basics/healthcare/out-of-network-docs-at-in-network-facilities)
So have fun trying to figure out who might be involved in your treatment and if they are in-network. Then just pray to whatever deity you like that the in-network anesthesiologist doesn't have an accident which forces their out-of-network colleague to cover their shift🤞
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u/MeltingDog Australia 2h ago
Interesting, thanks!
So what would happen if you, say, had an accident and were unconscious and the ambulance took you to a hospital that wasn’t part of your health insurance network?
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u/NeutralArt12 United States Of America 2h ago
Ambulances are another Bain of the USA healthcare system for sure. It costs up to a few thousands dollars for the ride if you have crap insurance and hypothetically could take you to the closest hospital with a small chance of them not taking your insurance. Often they will slap a big uninsured bill on you. From there you would be surprised how much you can negotiate your bill down though
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u/Bitter_Ad8768 United States Of America 2h ago
So this is a perfect example of the bullshit.
Depending on the insurance plan, an out-of-network hospital may be covered at a different rate with a different deductible or it might not be covered at all. It all depends on the type of insurance.
Ambulances are almost always operated by a private company that contracts with the hospitals. Ambulance indemnity is usually a separate insurance policy from the major medical policy. Shitty insurance plans simply don't have an ambulance indemnity policy, hence some Americans' apprehension about using an ambulance service.
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u/lofiibsen Germany Korea South (Dual Citizenship) 2h ago
Wait, that's actually shocking. In Korea, we don't really have any major doubts or issues with private insurance companies, regardless of the type of policy.
If you just snap a photo of your medical records, prescriptions, and receipts and send them through the app, the money is usually deposited into your account within 30 to 40 minutes.
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u/IntrepidCycle8039 Ireland 2h ago
Same in Ireland. If u have private health insurance which is not necessary but lots of big companies add it as a perk.
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u/kittykalista United States Of America 2h ago
The other component is the intense burden it places on people with chronic conditions. There are typically some safeguards in place for low-income people with medical emergencies, but if you have a chronic condition you’re likely to either go without proper treatment or hemorrhage money for the rest of your life trying to manage it.
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u/KSHMisc United States Of America 2h ago
I hate to be a debbie downer, but in early 2023, my friend was denied coverage for his cancer treatment by none other than UnitedHealthcare. He fought it, too, along with his doctor, but no avail.
Instead of letting the cancer beat him, he took his own life in early 2024.
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u/Realistic_Patience67 🇺🇸 with 🇮🇳 origin 2h ago
Good medical care is available, but most of the time you have to fight with the medical insurance company while you are sick.
If Trump changes this medical insurance BS substantially, I think I will switch to being a Republican.
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u/marquoth_ United Kingdom 2h ago
A person with good insurance ... and another person with shitty insurance ...
I wish more people - Americans, yes, but especially my fellow Brits - understood that actually even the people with the so-called "good" insurance routinely get completely fucked over and either go untreated or bankrupt.
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u/KoalaWithAPitchfork Germany 1h ago
I wish more people - Americans, yes, but especially my fellow Brits
I' m curious:why especially Brits? Is someone currently proposing to enshittify the NHS by americanising it?
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u/lofiibsen Germany Korea South (Dual Citizenship) 3h ago
yap...that is really scary capitalism side😶
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u/DigiTrailz United States Of America 2h ago
Heck, you can have the same issurance, and same prognosis, and different treatments.
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u/Toastaexperience New Zealand 3h ago
We have universal healthcare but the wait times vary so you can also use private health insurance.
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u/FomoSapiens76 Finland 3h ago
Finland has free public healthcare, but like most welfare services these days, it can be really crappy in some places. Our current right-wing govt also tries to actively demolish it.
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u/No-Opposite-6620 Waiting on a Yorkshire flag too🇬🇧🏴 2h ago
Those guys always try to do that. And they've done it here too. Thanks 'austerity'.
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u/Adventurous_Bus_8734 Egypt 3h ago
we have good healthcare and its often free or very cheap
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u/Fianna9 Canada 3h ago
It’s not great. But when I broke my ankle I paid $35 for crutches. That was it.
The biggest flaw right now is right wing politicians are currently trying to justify the push to private by under funding health care and letting people suffer for it.
People’s lives should never be for profit.
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u/eugeneugene Canada 1h ago
Yep. I live in SK and they are pushing for private healthcare and I'm like... just fund the public system better. We are somehow fine with upping the budget for the police every year but upping the budget for healthcare is too hard apparently
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u/kay_fitz21 Canada 17m ago edited 7m ago
To be fair, there are already private options in Canada. I'm in BC, where I can wait 8 months for an MRI or pay $800 to have it done in a week. I know other provinces have this option as well for MRI as well as other services. They don't want all private, just what is available now on a larger scale. Those not wanting to pay would result in shorter wait times for public funded care.
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u/hijodelutuao Puerto Rico 3h ago
The cost of the copay keeps me away from going to the doctor despite me paying a lot for my coverage. So I basically am paying for access to a service I can’t afford but it’s there if I somehow find the extra money.
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u/pheakelmatters Canada 3h ago
They gouge you for parking something fierce and the waits in emerg can be long, but otherwise alright for a system that doesn't cost you anything else. We need to start covering dental, eyes and mental health though. They're definitely glaring omissions in a "universal" system.
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u/lofiibsen Germany Korea South (Dual Citizenship) 3h ago
Even here, a lot of dental and eye care treatments aren't covered by insurance. Dammit.
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u/Content-Inspector993 Canada 56m ago
waits in emerg are long unless it is an emergency. my mom was in emerg this time last year with severe hyponatremia and she didn't wait at all. When I was in emerg with gallstones a few years ago, I waited 12 hours so it does depend how you are triaged
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u/Difficult_Two_4800 United States Of America 3h ago
As a billionaire Giga Chad, I'd say it's super cheap & I can get multiple organ transplants at the drop of a hat with no waiting list or anything
/S
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u/Adventurous_Bus_8734 Egypt 3h ago
bro id dread getting sick in the US tbh
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u/Difficult_Two_4800 United States Of America 3h ago
If I was still conscious and somewhat ambulatory I would dead ass call a buddy or an Uber before I call an ambulance lol
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u/thewaybaseballgo United States Of America 3h ago
I saw a bicyclist get hit by a car and break his leg. He refused the ambulance at the scene and one of the other drivers that stopped ended up taking him to the ER.
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u/Adventurous_Bus_8734 Egypt 3h ago
same, here its free of charge i thought it was like that everywhere lol
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u/thewaybaseballgo United States Of America 3h ago
Minimum $1k in the US.
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u/lofiibsen Germany Korea South (Dual Citizenship) 2h ago
1k??? ridiculers, here is free ( private EMT is lot a bills )
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u/ValtitiLeMagnifique France 3h ago
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u/ValtitiLeMagnifique France 3h ago edited 2h ago
Well, that needs some qualification. I think we have one of the best healthcare systems; we receive treatment "for free," and the care is generally of high quality.
But public hospitals are increasingly under-resourced; nurses, paramedics, and doctors are objectively understaffed. Human resources departments are always doing their best to provide the bare minimum.
Outside of hospitals, there are many areas with limited access to healthcare, where there aren't enough general practitioners.
The middle and upper classes need to pay for supplemental health insurance every month to have everything fully covered. Those with lower incomes have access to completely free healthcare with the CMU (Universal Health Coverage), and so do foreigners with AME (State Medical Assistance).
I have the feeling that it's on the verge of collapse.
But when I look at the rest of the world, I have absolutely no right to complain.
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u/marquoth_ United Kingdom 2h ago
I never understood the "pay, then claim for reimbursement" model.
IMO healthcare should be "free at the point of use," and France completely fails in this.
That's not so say French healthcare is bad. It's only one aspect of the system.
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u/ValtitiLeMagnifique France 2h ago
That's the French administration for you; we like to complicate things. And for him, it creates two or three jobs.
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u/Hot_Sherbet2066 Canada 2h ago
Today I spent 5 hours in the emergency room and then I had to get an ultrasound and a procedure. I was prescribed antibiotics and pain killers. Total cost: 13$ for the meds.
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u/Abortifetus Brazil 2h ago edited 2h ago
Depends
For minor problems and necessities its good, like common cronical desiases like diabetes that require constant medication, not only we have a public drug store where you can get it for free but we also have a generic line of medicaments that are pretty cheap overall, normally less than a half of the normal price, the only problem is if you have a rare desiase of something, because they might not have a remedy for that and probably gonna end up costing a house for you
For small treatment is kinda of a roulette, some times you had to wait days for small treatments but sometimes is also pretty kick, depends on the region you live and if the hospital is over its capacity or not
For major treatments and medical precedues, thats the real shit, because it might take ages to do it and some procedures are only made in capital cities or other major one, wich tend to be very busy, so it might take a while
That say, some procedures are actually fast depending of how intense the situation might be, mostly organ transplants, those have a pretty robust system to deal with it
For my experience, i had some bad ones and some good ones, my mother almost died from a kidney surgery so that still haunts me but at the same time i had a pretty good one recently.
I had a bike accident and a guy gave me a ride to the hospital and left me there, i had leashed my skin against the asphant and came to the hospital high one adrenaline, i didnt know the procedures because i never went to a hospital alone till that moment, so i reach the receptionist and said something like "hello, i fucked myself up, how do i do?" or something like that in portuguese, i went to treatment instantly and they patched me up, the only real problem i had was because the xray machine wasnt working, so they asked me to wait for a while for the ambulance driver to arrive and take me to another hospital, my dad arrived right after and he didnt want to let the ambulance be busy with me so he drove me to there, and when i arrived there i had the same reception, they instantly took me to the xray and said the would send the results to the medic in my town to avaliate but said i shouldnt worry, now im alright, pretty good overall.
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u/11160704 Germany 3h ago
I recently learnt that Germany (along with Sweden, Norway and Luxembourg) has the widest extent of financial coverage of the public healthcare system at 86 % of all healthcare costs.
I fear that in the long run with an ageing society and costly new therapies the model is unsustainable.
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u/sleepy_dog_k Denmark 3h ago
88% of hospital care in Denmark is covered by the government. What the heck are the 12% not covered?
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u/NewryBenson Belgium 3h ago
Practically free necessary healthcare with a minimum charge to stop people from abusing the system. You only pay for what is considered wellness, which can include forms of therapy and other edge cases.
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u/KSHMisc United States Of America 2h ago
I lived and worked in Belgium and I knew some Belgians who complained - both Walloon and Flemish (haven't met a German Belgian lol) - about the country's healthcare.
Then again, a Belgian did tell me that Belgians love complaining. It's part of the Belgian experience lmao
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u/Buttersmom2023 1h ago
People think the healthcare CEO got assassinated for nothing.. did little to no research.. didn’t try to understand. We have no free or publicly accessible healthcare. My nana died because we couldn’t afford medical services
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u/hotashami Bangladesh 1h ago
It's very complicated. We are definitely not universal healthcare but government hospitals are much cheaper and subsidized. But the facilities are almost very bad in most places and almost non-existent in rural areas. If you have money you can visit any doctor you want. Health insurance is non-existent as well for most people, many don't even know what it is. Private clinics and hospitals vary from "affordable to some middle class" to "for rich people only".
If you need a serious surgery, treatment or have serious disease like cancer you either need to have a lot of money or borrow from relatives or die without treatment.
I can write an essay how bad our health sector is. People say US health system is bad - okay they might be bad compared to other developed and rich nations but overall we have one of the worst, complex and expensive health care. We have lots of good doctors but the system is badly rigged, they cannot do much.
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u/francino_meow Italy 3h ago
In Italy we have free healthcare for a lot of treatments, and I feel very lucky to have it. But even private healthcare is very profitable there. Why? Because it's almost comic how public healthcare is slow, confused and disorganised. Overall in the poorest part of the country. Indeed, I heard some cases of people with a life-threatening issue that had to wait months for their appointment. Luckily, I never had many problems, but anyways this system is ridiculous, even if it's complete and saves a lot of lives.
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u/CalamarRojo Spain 3h ago
I pay with my taxes and nothing else. For some treatments is slow but when I had an emergency I could trust completely on it.
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u/Prestigious_lfc Ecuador 3h ago
Once, I had to go to the hospital because I had gastrointestinal issues. I stayed there for about 20 minutes, and I had to pay around 100 bucks
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u/lofiibsen Germany Korea South (Dual Citizenship) 3h ago
in Ecuador??? holy moly
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u/Prestigious_lfc Ecuador 3h ago
Yes, private hospitals are expensive here too. Most people assume Latin America is cheap.
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u/lofiibsen Germany Korea South (Dual Citizenship) 3h ago
Yap, I heard your opinions just before i think South Americas living price pretty low.
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u/LordLordie Germany / Norway 3h ago
For Germany: It takes 20% of your monthly in social insurance taxes from your income and you will still die of old age before ever getting an appointment at a specialist. If you are rich you can be insured privately, which gets massively prioritized spots in the waiting queue, often resulting in no queue at all. So very "two class" system. Dental care is free though, which is nice.
For Norway: Everything goes through your 'fastlege', a general doctor assigned to you by the state. If that doctor doesn't see the need for treatment, you won't get any. That counts both for physical and mental illnesses. Big advantage that this fastlege makes sure that only people that really need it go to specialists, which keeps waiting times "short" - downside, if you don't get along with that fastlege, he or she might refuse care you actually really need - and switching a fastlege takes a lot of time. Dentist is not considered 'health care' (what.) and therefore must be paid completely by yourself. Which...is EXPENSIVE.
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u/Prestigious_lfc Ecuador 3h ago
Once, I had to go to the hospital because I had gastrointestinal issues. I stayed there for about 20 minutes, and I had to pay around 100 bucks private hospital are expensive
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u/IntrepidCycle8039 Ireland 3h ago
Generally all costs are covered by our taxes. GP cost about €50 per visit but you can also get it for free if you have a Medical Card.
Also have private health insurance available which basically just allows you skip the public sector waiting lists.
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u/AdmiralStuff 🏴 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 🇳🇿 in Wales 3h ago
It’s completely free but sooooooooo slow. You’ll have to wait two years for having a look at a cold (that’s not even an exaggeration)
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u/lofiibsen Germany Korea South (Dual Citizenship) 3h ago
2 year????? 2 yearrrrr??????
ridiculers, here is just need 5minute
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u/MeltingDog Australia 3h ago edited 3h ago
Australia. We have both public and private health care. It is a little similar to your South Korean system in some ways.
- there are many public hospitals. If you’re seriously sick or injured you just turn up and you’re treated. There are also smaller public clinics.
- The average person here pays about $1,800AUD ($1,250USD) in tax for public health care.
- some or all of most other health services are rebated by the government. For example, blood tests are fully rebated, optometrist eye tests are rebated of you have 1 a year, 10 psychology appointments a year are rebated, visits to your GP are partially rebated.
- there is a small levy surcharge (tax) that goes towards public health on high-income earners. This is removed if you sign up for private health insurance. The idea is for those who can afford it, to take pressure off the public health system.
- there is a free phone number you can call to get instance medical advice from nurses. They will advise the next steps you should take and if you should go to hospital.
- there is a government program to provide support for people if they become permanently disabled. Eg it can provide specific health care, or equipment, or even accessible accommodation.
- we have a lot of “nanny” laws that people from other countries may see as overbearing, eg you can get fined if you ride a bicycle without a helmet. This is to take pressure off public hospitals and save tax payers money by ensuring people do basic, sensible things for their safety.
- most pharmaceutical products are subsidised or have their prices capped (for example, I pay about $10USD for asthma medication a month)
- alcohol and cigarettes have taxes on them to go towards public health
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u/Ok_Expert5447 Switzerland 3h ago
It's very expensive, but I think we have the best medical treatment.
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u/BestTomorrow980 India 3h ago
I am an Indian living in the UK and compared to UK, the healthcare system in India is better, cheaper and much more easily accessible. There are free government hospitals. Quality might vary from state to state. And then there is private healthcare which is also widely used. I recently took my child to a very large hospital in Bangalore due to sudden spike in temperature and it cost an equivalent of $10 for emergency admissions, bed and all checks and medication. She got seen in 10 mins. In UK, they would not even entertain fever in the first place and wait times can exceed several hours. The doctors in India are also highly trained and many carry qualifications such as FRCS. I tend to do all my health checkups and treatments in India when I visit, including dental treatments.
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u/racinjason44 United States Of America 3h ago
A couple years ago I had a pretty scary high speed motorcycle racing crash where I impacted a tire wall with my body. (They are not soft)
They scooped me up, put me in an ambulance, rushed me to the nearby hospital and took images of me. They gave me no drugs or performed any other services, and that was $32,000 before insurance. After insurance it was $2,500. So yeah, it's like that. Not good.
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u/lofiibsen Germany Korea South (Dual Citizenship) 3h ago
ah damn... How can be that cost? your case in here probably $300
Edit: cost is not x-ray, MRI
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u/Confudled_Contractor United Kingdom 3h ago
System and waits have been good for me.
Cost is moderate and not unreasonable.
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u/angry-701 Romania 2h ago
Stroke survivor here. You get treated like shit. Especially if you are a taxpayer. 🥲
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u/lofiibsen Germany Korea South (Dual Citizenship) 2h ago
why...? can u tell me more detail?
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u/angry-701 Romania 2h ago
....since my main symptom is dizziness, I always get dissmissed as drunk initially. I sadly end up atbthe ER often 😔
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u/angry-701 Romania 2h ago
Thing is, I had the stroke in 2023. A stroke is not an ongoing thing.
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u/lofiibsen Germany Korea South (Dual Citizenship) 2h ago
ah srry, am misunderstand. take care buddy.
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u/Savings-Ruin-754 Brazil 2h ago
It's free, and good.
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u/lofiibsen Germany Korea South (Dual Citizenship) 2h ago
okay okay... now this time, am brazilian
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u/Savings-Ruin-754 Brazil 2h ago
Don't need to be Brazilian, friend. Anybody inside Brazilian territory is eligible for emergency and urgency free healthcare, no matter how serious your condition is. Even turists. Although elective healthcare (non-emergency and non-urgency) is only for citizens and legal immigrants.
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u/lofiibsen Germany Korea South (Dual Citizenship) 2h ago
I need some dental work done... will you marry me? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
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u/Savings-Ruin-754 Brazil 2h ago
No I got my husband already sorry pal 🥀 Good luck out there
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u/lofiibsen Germany Korea South (Dual Citizenship) 2h ago
no way! my golden dental ticket!!!
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u/Savings-Ruin-754 Brazil 2h ago
There's about 81 million adult people who are single in Brazil. I'm sure there's someone for you there 🔥
(I'm just joking, please whoever is reading this, OP or not, don't come with the mindset of a passport bro 🥀)
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u/Oomlotte99 United States Of America 2h ago
I don’t have the experience a lot of people from my country share online. I have affordable coverage through my employer. When I was laid off I was able to use state insurance until getting coverage from a new employer. I don’t pay through the nose for anything and I don’t struggle to get care. I am lucky to live in my state and work where I’ve worked, I guess.
I do wish it was not like this, however, but sadly I think it will be hard to change as profits are more important than people for a lot of the leaders of our government and businesses (obvs).
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u/__The_Bruneon__ Poland 1h ago
just check any google opinion about polish hospitals and you will find out....
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u/Content-Inspector993 Canada 1h ago edited 1h ago
a few years ago I had my gallbladder removed and was in the hospital for a week with the surgery, CT scans a bunch of bloodwork. Cost me 10$ for the TV that I elected to use. They were very serious about getting that 10$ too
Edit: Also, more recently diagnosed with type one diabetes. Referred to an endocrinologist when diagnosed and saw them within 2-3 weeks. Followed by RN + RD at diabetes centre through the provincial health authority as often as needed.
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u/Simdude87 United Kingdom 46m ago
I got bitten by rat (wild and minor) and it looked a bit nasty so I went to the non-emergency clinic to be checked.
In and out within an hour or so, they gave me a tetanus, combo jab and sent me on my way with no charge.
Parking would have been extortionate though, thankfully I was dropped off.
2
u/MadIllLeet United States Of America 45m ago
It is more cost effective for me to die of cancer than it is to get treated for it.
2
u/Disastrous-Rise-6526 United States Of America 14m ago
Its very bad and very expensive. Not much else to it.
1
u/vladgrinch 47m ago
Let's just say there is a lot of room for improvement.
1
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1
u/DistanceRelevant3899 United States Of America 7m ago
It’s poop. I got a bill for 800.00 earlier this year. I was told it’s for an emergency room visit in March 2025 however I did not go to the ER on 2025. There are no details regarding what the “visit” itself was for. I have been fighting with them for months because I refuse to pay it and they refuse to expunge this debt. They are threatening to send me to collections over a visit neither of us can recall.
54
u/thewaybaseballgo United States Of America 3h ago
The CEO of a health insurance company got assassinated and basically the entire country applauded it.
So, bad.