comment: >
  
  That's what happens when you design a healthcare system around insurance lawyers, executives, and doctors who became doctors because they wanted to get rich.  
  A for profit healthcare system is always going to more expensive than a national health service.
context: And a whole bunch of conservative meaniehead jerks are trying to get Canada doing the same shit. By intentionally fucking up our public Healthcare.
  Fuck "starve the beast" libertarianism >
  
  It's a huge talking point for conservative Americans to say that, while our healthcare system is too expensive, the one in Canada is somehow killing people. Nevermind the fact that Canadians are just by the books healthier than Americans. >
  
  Well, in Canada our life expectancy is higher, we have a much lower infant mortality rate, and nobody has to fear going bankrupt over medical bills, but our system isn’t perfect.  Unless your condition is life-threatening, you’re probably going to be waiting awhile for treatment.  I remember around 2008 or so, the GOP were trying to claim that Canada had ”death panels”, where a small group of people decide if a person would live or die.  This has never been true, it’s a horrific, inhuman idea, and the GOP are loathsome scumbags for trying to scare people into voting against their own best interest like that. >
  
  In the US they have those too: it's the small group of people deciding that insulin shouldn't be paid for by tax dollars, for instance >
  
  In the US we also often have to wait for non-life threatening conditions. It's taken me weeks or months to be seen for different issues. After all, private healthcare providers make more profit by keeping staffing to an absolute bare minimum, and (especially in smaller cities) you rarely have real "competition"/choice between providers. >
  
  I need a prescription refilled for my asthma inhaler - my asthma since getting Covid has gone from 1-3 attacks per year, so pretty minor, to having 7 in 4 months.   
  I called my GP in November and was told since they hadn’t seen in me in a year, (wonder why) they couldn’t refill my prescription until they had and the next available appointment was March.
  So I’m paying waaaay more and still have to wait just as long, if not longer than someone in Canada.
  (I did finally get to see the doctor, last week, because I kept calling to check for cancellations) >
  
  Do telehealth/video visit. Tell them you just need your prescription refilled for your inhaler. Done. 
  Even if your insurance doesn't cover it, you can usually find something for $25-40 and you can do it almost immediately. I have the option through my insurance app, but YMMV. >
  
  I've done that for some things! >
  
  “Born into this: into hospitals which are so expensive that it’s cheaper to die”- Charles Bukowski >
  
  You seen the prices funeral homes charge you for dying? That grift is lobbied just as hard >
  
  Pro tip on dying: you can make a will (or tell everyone you know) to turn your body over to the state. They’ll cremate you and it doesn’t cost your family. Don’t think you can get the ashes tho.
  Edit to avoid repeating myself too much: it costs money to donate your body to science, and organ donation doesn’t dispose of the entire body. >
  
  Better to donate your body to science. There are restrictions, but let that be plan A. (also organ donation) >
  
  Donating to science isn’t free either. Organ donation doesn’t dispose of the whole body.
  Capitalism is a nightmare from start to end >
  
  
  Compared with other high-income peers, the US has the shortest life expectancy at birth, the highest rate of avoidable deaths, the highest rate of newborn deaths, the highest rate of maternal deaths, the highest rate of adults with multiple chronic conditions, and the highest rate of obesity, the new analysis found.
  
  All while the US spends almost twice as much % of GDP on health services and fails to provide any health care coverage to tens of millions of its citizens.
  The US has the most inequitable and least efficient health care system in the world, by far.
  Why? What aspect of its history lead the USA to become so exceptional? >
  
  
  What aspect of its history lead the USA to become so exceptional?
  
  Capitalism baby... pure capitalism. >
  
  This isn't even about capitalism vs. socialism. All the countries in Europe that provide affordable healthcare are capitalist. Every time someone tells you public healthcare is socialism they lie.
  It's about corporatism vs. informed capitalism.
  In informed capitalism the populace sees that they will spend less money on healthcare if they provide public healthcare and negotiate prices via their collective means (the state or a single, publicly owned enterprise).
  In corporatism, the populace is divided into groups of interest that are played against each other, in order to keep them from coming together as a collective and solving problems via collective means, where those means would reduce corporate profit. >
  
  Universal healthcare is a socialist policy. Being a capitalist nation doesn't mean that you can't have socialist policies. >
  
  No it’s not. Social welfare programs are not the same thing as being socialist. Lies like this are used both by the far right to demonize social programs and by socialists and communists to insidiously try to normalize themselves. >
  
  Social welfare is a fundamental aspect of socialism and a major threat to capitalism. >
  
  The idea of social welfare and a common good predates socialism and exists as an entirely separate entity. That’s like saying capitalists built railroads so trains are intrinsically capitalist or something.
  Also, like with any economic or government system, functioning social programs are a core component of capitalism, not a threat to it. Without them, it will eventually fail. Don’t mistake a suboptimal implementation of something for a critique of the entire thing itself. It’s a sign that we need reform, not revolution. >
  
  The day after the ACA was passed, about 14 years ago, all we ever heard from the Republiscums in D.C. was that they were going to "repeal & replace it with something cheaper & better".
  14 years.
  In 14 years they've produced absolutely nothing.
  The Repubs had the house for Obama's last 6 years. The Repubs had the White House, house & senate for 2 years under Trump and still had 2  of them his last 2 years.
  What have they offered us??
  Absolutely nothing >
  
  To be fair, they did earnestly attempt the repeal part. John McCain's iconic thumbs down vote stopped that though. >
  
  And a surprise SCOTUS decision. I think (some) conservatives know they have nothing better and will suffer if they simply repeal. >
  
  Was that decision before or after Amy Cony Barrett? >
  
  Yea it's legit crazy. I remember when the USA tried to do universal health care and I thought holy crap this is a step in the right direction. To this day am still completely baffled by anyone who is against universal healthcare and access to all through it. Like people are so dumb they are against something that can help everyone. I have no words at this point. >
  
  My taxes will go up.
  Yeah, but you'll save all the money your employer is taking out of your paycheck for healthcare, and they'll save all the money they have to spend administering all of that bullshit. It'll end up being cheaper for everybody. And if you ever have to leave that job for any reason, you won't have to worry about losing your healthcare. 
  But my taxes will go up. >
  
  But will they go up $2700/mo? Because that’s how much I pay for health insurance for my family.  I don’t know how people afford insurance. >
  
  And even if you can afford the insurance, you might not be able to afford to  actually use it. >
  
  Or get the time off to actually use it either. >
  
  Or your insurance company just decided that your policy doesn’t cover whatever is ailing you. >
  
  Or you're unconscious when an out-of-network specialist steps in to help.  
  Living in the US means accepting the risk that at any moment something totally beyond your control could emerge and, if it's bad enough, you entire financial future is ruined. >
  
  Show us a graph with the inverse relationship between shite healthcare and enormous profits. >
  
  My hometown had two hospitals, one bought the other and closed it. Moved the E.R. To a separate building with doctors offices. They will not send long term patients to the main building because they’d have to eat the ambulance cost so now patients have to pay for an ambulance transfer to the larger city and take all the risks of death if they are in that state. >
  
  The US system is also counterproductive. I was auto enrolled in Medicaid when I was looking for more affordable insurance when I was between jobs. Then I developed a hereditary autoimmune disorder. 
  I’d love to go back to work, but not if it means having to decide between affording medications and healthcare or earning a wage. Ideally, one should be able to do all of the above.  
  If we had a system of universal healthcare that was taken out of the hands of employers, it would actually open up the workforce. >
  
  Nothing like getting a job offer and then asking if you can get the health care information to find out if meds are covered or at what rate.
  Even if you have the same job, your employer can change the plan to save a few bucks and then your on the hook for hundreds to thousands a month. >
  
  Pshhh, that’s just beautiful beautiful CHOICE!
  You get to choose your employer, obviously. >
  
  Unironically their argument. It’s a free market you sillies, just find a new job! >
  
  You know, if any random person could walk into some kind of office and walk out with meaningful and gainful employment with more or less no questions asked, I might cede the point. 
  But then you'll never get through to "small business owners" who don't understand that a 4% income tax on their employees is less than whatever they are being forced to pay for group insurance. >
  
  ..unless you work in congress. >
  
  Precisely.  Lifetime of healthcare paid for taxpayers, yet, at least for the “R’s,” they want to cut Medicare and Medicaid funding for the people that would benefit the people paid for by the people. >
  
  I received a bill for $40K for 10mins of stitches that were done by a plastic surgeon. The system is beyond broken.
  The kicker was having to wait 5 hours in the waiting room to see this guy. >
  
  If I’m a doctor doing that I’m honestly concerned someone snaps and comes back to shoot me at those prices. >
  
  One would hope that, if a person was going to snap, that person would direct their rage at the nearest healthcare CEO or other executive, but America loves letting me down. >
  
  Going to a billionaire estate would work too. At the end of the day, this is their system >
  
  Honestly, just need a grassroots campaign that shows how much more affordable and usable tax based universal is even compared to “great” job based private.
  Headline blurbs should be:
  No copays
  No doctor is out of network
  All medicine is negotiated to the cheapest price
  No gouging
  Just go to the doctor and leave—we’ve got you covered.
  I had my private through one of the largest private universities in the country, in Boston, MA and STILL my paycheck cut for healthcare was bigger than the jump in taxes and I had to drop $30 every time I actually used my healthcare—this was one of the best hc deals out there too. >
  
  
  All medicine is negotiated to the cheapest price
  
  This is the sticking point. The rest is fluff. Until there's a way to price control, nothing will improve. Also fundamentally goes against the American capitalist ethos (which I agree doesn't work in healthcare). >
  
  My boomer parents will start reciting quotes about 'waiting in line' etc.  
  Meanwhile people die waiting to see specialists in the US every day. >
  
  
  My boomer parents will start reciting quotes about 'waiting in line' etc.
  
  Yeah, mine do that too. 
  And in the same breath, my mom started whining about "the wait times" when she had to get some non-invasive surgery done. 
  I love my parents, really I do, but how is it their generation went to college for the price of a McChicken and somehow managed to end up so goddamn gullible? >
  
  My father has a graduate degree in a hard science. Somehow, he is still gullible and falls for the simplest shit. I assume it was the lead in the gasoline and paint. >
  
  Watch conservatives scramble to explain how the statistics should account for rich and poor people separately, without making themselves sound like insuffarable snobs and racists. >
  
  "If the poor just took better care of themselves, they wouldn't need so much healthcare. It's right that we severely limit poor people's choices to maintain their health so they understand the value of work." - conservatives >
  
  As Democrats argued during the Obamacare debates, the Republican health care plan is
  
  
  Don't get sick.
  
  
  If you do get sick, die quickly. >
  
  And who can forget brave Republican Dan Patrick's contribution to the role of Grandpa and Grandma in the economy during COVID? >
  
  Everything's bigger in Texas, especially assholes. >
  
  And it goes up but the media doesn't talk about that because ~~of who they are sponsored by~~ healthcare prices aren't on signs we see on every corner like the cost of gas >
  
  Well we’ve tried nothing to fix it and we’re all out of ideas! >
  
  Medicare For All >
  
  To a Republican, is this really bad news? 
  The entire game plan for them seems to be be "push some people down and hope people confuse that for their own situation improving." 
  If you can't afford healthcare, a Republican gets to pat himself on the back for winning at capitalism, and to them, that's worth more than your life. >
  
  Imagine going to McDonalds because you are hungry. You park, you go in, you order, you sit down and have your meal. After the meal is over, McDonalds bills you for the food. Then another bill arrives, the kitchen crew is a part of another group of kitchen workers who bill separately. They have also charged you. Then another bill arrives, a different company owns the brick and mortar establishment, you owe them for sitting at the table and parking. And bill just says, "dining room table, $4,568." And you ask how using a table can cost so much and you just get shrugs all around. >
  
  This is a depressingly great analogy. >
  
  Conservatives hate their constituents >
  
  Rather, they love that their constituents will happily cut off their nose to spite their face. >
  
  No shit Sherlock. Next breaking headline 'we keep shooting our kids and not paying our teachers, here's how gender and race studies are ruining our education' >
  
  I pay $551 a month in premiums. I have to hit $2500 out of pocket deductible before I can even get 80% coverage. That's $9,112 a year just to have health insurance. I then have to pay co-pays and  prescription costs which easily bring it to $13,000 a year. For me I see it as catastrophic insurance not to ever be used, only there for emergencies - so I avoid anything medical related. >
  
  I'm in a similar scenario. I wouldn't mind the $500/month premium as much if the benefits were amazing but it's such a gut punch to still have to pay so much out of pocket after $13,000/yr in premiums >
  
  This is so insanely true. I pay $15,000 a year for ‘’affordable’’ health care.
  Up until last week I was very healthy. Then, I had an extremely bad sports-related injury. I’m grateful to be covered for an MRI, but damn, the cost of being covered is freaking insane. >
  
  I have brought this up before. It is only me on my employer offered health care. For just me I put out just over $400 a month, with my employer matching that. So, let's say $950 a month.
  Does anybody really think their taxes are going to go up over $11,000 a year for the kind of healthcare the civilized world gets? >
  
  And even if taxes do go up just as much or more (it won't), im willing to pay that in the off chance that something serious does happen to me. Also, I will be able to stay ahead of issues and use the benefits I am paying for knowing there won't be unexpected costs. People in the US are really willing to let millions of people die and suffer in pain and deal with anxiety deciding if their pain will pass and whether or not its worth the risk in not seeing a doctor, because they don't want to have their taxes go up by a pound of steak tips a week. >
  
  The us doesn’t have a health care system at all- it has a health care market, which is the problem >
  
  US $10k per person
  Germany $6k per person.
  Germany has better infant mortality rate and better longevity.
  Medicare for All fixes it with reforms to CMS structure which is run to benefit corporate insurance industry based healthcare in US. >
  
  Medicaid, the cheapest healthcare in the US operating as a State run Single Payer, is $8,900 per person enrolled, for that, costs aren't even paid in full for those that accept Medicaid Patients
  And its still not even covering the Costs
  
  Disproportionate Share Hospital program payments help offset hospital costs for uncompensated care to Medicaid patients and patients who are uninsured. In FY 2017, federal DSH funds must be matched by state funds; in total, $21 billion in state and federal DSH funds were allotted in FY 2017. Medicaid Paid Hospitals $197 Billion in 2017. Out of pocket Spending was $35 Billion. 10% under-paid
  
  And that cheapest Services causes Doctors not to see patients 
  So do services
  
  What Percent of Doctors are Accepting Medicaid Patients
  Physicians in general/family practice were markedly less
  likely to accept new Medicaid patients (68.2 percent) than
  Medicare (89.8 percent) or private insurance (91.0
  percent)
  Psychiatrists also accepted new Medicaid patients at a
  much lower rate (35.7 percent) than Medicare (62.1
  percent) or private insurance (62.2 percent)
  Pediatricians accepted new Medicaid patients at a lower
  rate (78.0 percent) than privately insured patients (91.3
  percent)
  The only policy lever that was associated with
  Medicaid acceptance was Medicaid fees
  
  A 1 percentage point increase in the Medicaid-to Medicare fee ratio would increase acceptance by
  0.78 percentage points >
  
  "Duh", says every American not brainwashed by 'American exceptionalism' in the media. >
  
  I don't even care about the cost anymore (I've accepted the craziness)...it's the delays that have me fuming anymore.  3 months to see my primary.  Then he refers me to a specialist, which is another three month wait.  Then they refer me to their associate who can't see me for two months.  When I get done with them, they tell me it's not what they thought, and I'll have to see my primary to determine the next course of action.  This happened to my mom as well, they didn't catch her cancer in time, now she is stage 4 with few treatment options, palliative for something that should have been curable. >
  
  Exactly. Its a bunch of systems who understaff their medical records departments and dont communicate between offices. Then when you finally have an appointment its 15 minutes. Doctors cannot provide good care in that time. Im caught in this loop now and am giving up. The only reason I've kept up this long is because I have a visible rash and face swelling under my eye. They can't see it on ct so it must not exist, despite it being easy to see just by looking at my face. Im going mad. 
  They dont even give advice on what specialist I should go to. I have to announce myself that I want to see a particular one, but im not a doctor and dont know who i should see because my symptoms span multiple specialties. I know my rash is related to this issue and they keep acting like it has nothing to do with it. Ive done all sorts of expensive allergy tests and nothing. Ive seen 3 derms. The first one i fired immediately because he tried to blow it off as psoriasis. I have psoriasis. Its nothing like this. When it first started (before I went to derm) they tried to shut me up by saying "maybe its shingles" but didn't even bother to tell me to see an eye doctor. I didn't really think it was shingles as I had it previously. However, shingles can damage your eye and this rash was around my eye. Not even a peep about how bad it could get. They claim to hate Google MDs but people have nowhere else to go when their docs won't give them the time of day. Im glad I went and got it checked out though it wasn't shingles. Thats for a not uncommon disease. Good luck with anything rarer. >
  
  I argue with people on reddit all the time about this, and the quality of life in the US.
  Quality of life is dogshit, imo. Mass shootings, murderous police, out of control cost of living, artificially low wages, shitty expensive Healthcare that traps you in a job, shitty early education and insanely expensive later education, no worker rights, no real maternal and paternal leave, a broken political system, the list is huge. 
  We are a failing country, and one political party is trying to accelerate this downfall as much as possible, while they convince their idiotic followers that they are the only thing standing between the country and "communism"
  Not to be a doomer, but I have given up on the US. It will take us decade to fix what is broken, and institute reforms that countries have already had on their books for decades already.
  I'm figuring out how I can immigrate to another country in about 5 years or so, preferably western europe. It's just sad how undeveloped and barbaric our country is, when it could literally be the best country in the world, but corporate and oligarchic propaganda has convinced the rubes that we are already the best, and imo it is very much like north Korea style brain washing >
  
  Totally agree with you and I am planning my escape as well. It’s just crazy that more folks don’t realize the awful shape this country is in and how things could be so much better for everyone instead we have mass shootings daily and idiots who continue the same mistakes over and over. >
  
  
  It’s just crazy that more folks don’t realize the awful shape this country is in 
  
  That's because for the vast majority of Americans, the redditor's description of America and American quality of life is completely inaccurate from what people actually experience. >
  
  It's also  because we have slowly been forced into this type of life, and the change was gradual enough that most don't see it.
  They'll say we are the best at this, that, the most free, but if you show them the objective, easily verifiable stats that we are absolute a shit hole country, they'll deny it to their last breath. 
  People have turned propaganda into their identity, and for a lot of america they refuse to see reality. 
  It is literally no different to how North Koreans or Russians are brainwashed. >
  
  Making young school kids stand up and recite the Pledge of Allegiance every day from 5 years old on is the epitome of brainwashing. No wonder so many still believe in the freedom fallacy. >
  
  I'm a combat veteran, two tours, honorably discharged. I need two dental crowns, and one filling. $11,000 out of my very very shallow pocket WITH HEALTH INSURANCE because my government refuses to cover it. So I won't be able to eat well for quite some time, maybe another year. It'll probably get worse before I have the money. Why won't the VA cover dental???? >
  
  I'm sorry you are in this situation. While the reps from both sides get extremely wealthy during their service in govt work. 
  But a warning. Please prioritize your dental work. Bad teeth and gums can cause all sorts of heart problems. 
  Could you look at maybe getting to Thailand and getting it done there. My sister got heaps done for very little in puket at smile dentist. Was happy with quality. >
  
  Shock! that thing we did nothing to improve is still terrible??? >
  
  Have we tried giving hospital admins, insurance companies, and shareholders even more money? >
  
  Yeah, we know :’( >
  
  But think of the profits being reaped by the ghouls willing to leverage American's health for exorbitant amounts of money, after all isn't making lots of money the most important thing in the world? >
  
  Profit over everything will do this >
  
  I pay over $14,000 a year for health insurance, and that gives me the privilege of only paying a $4500 deductible before insurance takes over.
  Tell me again how M4A would be too expensive for people? >
  
  Had to take my son to the ER. He was doubled over with stomach pains. Waited in the ER for two hours (there were 3 others in there) while he suffered. The look at him curled up in a ball on the bed and literally the first question I was asked is what insurance do I have.  I told them they said that we will be back. 45 minutes later they came back and said take him home and put a heating pad on his stomach. We are not sure what is happening. 3 days later I get a bill for over 3000. They did nothing, and this was supposed to be one of the better hospitals. Ended up taking him to see his regular doctor and they actually ran tests to make sure it was not appendicitis. He was shocked they did not at least try an ultrasound. 
  So yea our healthcare in America is horrible. I pay almost 1000 a month after my employer contribution and get nothing for it. >
  
  And the UK's Conservative party have spent a decade systematically running the NHS into the ground and privatising parts of it by stealth in a bid to emulate that system.
  It's now on the brink of complete collapse, and when it happens that'll be all the excuse they need to turn it over to the private sector as a 'solution'. >
  
  At the beginning of every year, I have to get in a battle with my insurance company to get them to pay for my migraine medications.  
  Every.  F*cking.  Year.
  I request a refill on my prescription, insurance denies it and says "Hey, we'll do XYZ meds instead."  I get my doctor to submit a prescription for XYZ, insurance comes back and says "Hey, that's shit is expensive, have you tried ABC meds?"  I go back to my doctor to have them fill out a prior authorization form that walks through every damn medication I've tried, they submit it to the insurance company, who comes back and says "Well yeah... you tried all those, but have you tried DEF meds????" and I end up having to call them and be That Person on the other end of the line who yells at the Tier 1 level phone monkey until I can get someone with some authority to just approve my goddamn medication.
  Because it's either all of the above, or I pay $1200 for 8 fucking pills every month.
  (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ >
  
  I'd argue that this is the biggest issue facing the US right now. I actively avoid any form of Healthcare unless I feel like I might be dying. It's absolutely soul crushing to see a bill for more money than you make in a year after a life threatening episode. Even with good insurance, you're still left with tens of thousands in out of pocket costs, that they will send to collections the moment you can't pay, like that helps. >
  
  Couldn’t possibly have anything to do with it’s fundamental basis in predatory capitalism, could it? >
  
  Well when you constantly run hospitals intentionally understaffed and charge out the ass to pocket all the profits—turns out you end up with people who are unhappy at work, a system with multiple pitfalls, and patients who put off care until it’s an absolute emergency because they couldn’t afford it before then. Who knew? /s
  All of the money is being sucked out of healthcare and the workers, facilities, and patients suffer without any effort to reinvest or improve. Just more late stage capitalism propping up the privileged and frankly incompetent corporate class. >
  
  It’s criminal. What a racket. Getting rich off the sick. >
  
  The only solution is Medicare for All. >
  
  Conservatives know that insurance is a multi-billion dollar business and they can't upset their donors.
  But they also don't want certain non-Republican voting sectors of the public to get health insurance. >
  
  US healthcare has a mafia-like nature. It's a beast that would be criminal in nations where good faith politicians had a conversation about it and could decide to choose the most beneficial form of healthcare. 
  It's taking the healthcare that US personel, tech and organization is able to provide and selling it at highly elevated prices, in ways that seem comparable to prohibition. Where law vs. need vs alcohol culture shaped a market that made the price of drinks skyrocket and work against the hopes of anti-alcohol people. 
  US could technically choose tomorrow to simply cut out a very large chunk of the price of healthcare, with no negative consequences after the process was safely completed. 
  The mafia part of the US system doesn't add any benefit, it's simply a tumor on society. 
  The reasons behind it not happening is the difficulty of it and for people that aren't afraid of the work, the bribes and scheming keeping the golden goose laying eggs. >
  
  It's seen as a luxury in the US. Basic healthcare being given out is automatically "socialist" and evil because god forbid someone gets something without having to sell their soul and 1/3 of their life while only getting the bare minimum. This is also ignoring how backwards it is to fine someone who can't afford healthcare, thus making it even harder for them to do so. 
  We like to claim that business is what makes America great but in reality it's what makes America one of the most corrupt and heartless places to live. We make a business off of the basics for survival. 
  
  We upcharge 1000% for life saving medication
  We price gouge to make a quick buck when it comes to giving people a decent place to live
  We price gouge food costs so people who can't afford it end up resorting to stealing or peddling lest they starve to death. 
  
  We do all of this in the name of "business" where one person making the money they feel they deserve is done at the expense of hundreds if not thousands of other people. Capitalism is killing people and pretty soon it's going to be our downfall. >
  
  I had a guy tell me yesterday that we have the best healthcare system and things cost so much because it decreases wait times. I audibly laughed because last week my doctor told me it would take 6 weeks just to get SCHEDULED for a thyroid uptake scan, after taking two months just to get my previous lab results. >
  
  “I’ll take Consequences of Corporate Capture of our Legislative and Regulatory Bodies for $1000, Alex.” >
  
  I just got a bill for $4,200 for my vasectomy. Insurance covered most, but still, that is crazy. The procedure did not require anesthesia, any scans, any follow-ups, none of that, and it took 15 minutes as an out-patient procedure. $16,000/hour? What? Huh? >
  
  But health insurance companies are making GREAT profits year after year! How can it be bad?! 
  We just have to implement similar practices in Social Security & Medicare, then they'll be just as successful. You know, privatize them both, suck up the profits for the top and refuse to pay for anything without a fight. That's what really matters in the end, isn't it? >
  
  but only really for the poors, so it's working as intended. >
  
  My discussions with conservatives result in them spouting:
  
  socialism
  long wait times
  death panels
  communism
  every lie Rush, Hannity, and FOX has foisted on the airwaves
  
  You can't reach or reason with them. >
  
  And that's just how "The Owners" of this country want it to be. >
  
  "Thank god!" - everyone making money off this nonsense >
  
  I once had strep come on in the afternoon and by the evening I was super sick so called Bellevue emergency room to ask them whether it would be cheaper to get a penicillin shot from the emergency room or a local doctor chain that had late opening locations. Was told "oh come here, it'll cost you far less." I sat sick in their filthy waiting room full of druggies and alco's fighting each other for 5 hours, and then when eventually a doctor saw me, it was 5 minutes max as he did a quick test and then injected me with a simple penicillin shot. Got the bill a few weeks later - $1500 of which approx $1000 was an "emergency room surcharge." I just laughed at it and threw it in the trash and forgot about it. They sent me one follow up demand which I also ignored, and that was over 10 years ago and I've never heard anything more about it since. It's almost as if they don't bother pursuing people because deep down, they know they're in the wrong, lol. The irony is, if they had just made a reasonable ER surcharge of say, $100, and charged me $500 for the shot, I would have happily paid it (even though the shot is still severely overpriced). Their clearly ridiculous greed made sure they wouldn't get a fucking penny. >
  
  It doesn’t matter. Canada is on a mission to become more like us as we speak. The world is going backwards >
  
  It's by design.
  Place all the facts in front of people and nothing will change because they don't want it to. >
  
  A millionth reminder that it is a feature and not a bug. 
  Expensive=profitable >
  
  But from the perspective of capitalists (Republicans, libertarians, MAGA cult members) , it's the best, most profitable healthcare of any high income country, so there is that to consider. >
  
  And profits are going up baby! 
  /s >
  
  “Still”
  Yeah. That’s what happens when absolutely nothing changes. You stay where you are. >
  
  We don’t have healthcare in this country.  We voted in Obama to fix this and install universal healthcare, instead we got the affordable care act, whatever that is. >
  
  Land of the free! 
  ...until the bill arrives. >
  
  Rest of the world, you don't want the US Health Insurance model. It's horrible. I'll start. Completely arbitrary pricing for surgeries with pricing models that dont make sense, commoditification of Healthcare, doctors suggesting unnecessary procedures, ridiculous itemized receipts for services,  health insurance ceo's making millions, health insurance not "covering" certain procedures. You still have to pay out of pocket to meet your deductible. Depending on your plan, you can have high co pays. It's essential a pay wall for Healthcare >
  
  For the next jackass that says “but I got to wait in line” when universal healthcare is mentioned, please let them know that countries with Universal healthcare have paid sick time off up to a year, mandated BY LAW. >
  
  Trust me, I'm an Aussie. Our system's great. We never even think about costs, if we're sick or injured. You all deserve better. >
  
  But but but…”wait times” /s >
  
  Type 1 diabetic reporting in - can confirm. >
  
  And our billion dollar insurance agencies like it that way, so don't expect it to change >
  
  The current state expensive health care costs is a feature, not a bug. >
  
  This isnt a coincidence. Its by design. >
  
  Insurance and drug companies are bribing politicians on both sides to keep those costs high and profits rolling in >
  
  This is a truth >
  
  “Compared with other high-income peers, the US has the shortest life expectancy at birth, the highest rate of avoidable deaths, the highest rate of newborn deaths, the highest rate of maternal deaths, the highest rate of adults with multiple chronic conditions, and the highest rate of obesity, the new analysis found.”
  USA! #1! USA! #1! >
  
  Americans are being fleeced at each and every (business) opportunity >
  
  I have pretty severe issues with mental illness because of a pretty fucked up life. I just had to quit a decent job over it.
  I want to work. I have goals and ambitions.
  Therapy was helping me. A lot!...but it cost $250/session. And only one insurance company I've ever had would touch it before the dEDuCTiBLe. I had to leave that job because of mental illness too.
  I'm becoming a bitter, jaded, unproductive, unfulfilled person, despite my hardest efforts, because I'm being gatekept from life changing care.
  It often feels like that if I can't be a quiet and obedient drone, my country wants me to hurry the fuck up with that long walk off a short cliff. 
  I'm so tired, yall lol. >
  
  In the US these major insurers and providers need the support of less than 500 people to inflict their will on 350 million people. 
  Seems legit. /s >
  
  "The most expensive thing someone could do was to get sick" Kurt Vonnegut >
  
  Most profitable though! >
  
  It might not be good, but at least it’s expensive. >
  
  The title says ‘still’ as if something might have magically changed in the past few years? >
  
  Healthcare never should have been tied to your work. Not only is our healthcare totally unfairly expensive, it is a machine. Hell, my company has a $2500 deductible! Wtf? >
  
  Wild thing is, something like half the country believes we have the best healthcare in the world, and are convinced that people fly here from all around the world to get medical care because it's so much better than any other country.
  Doesn't matter if there's a whole bunch of peer-reviewed studies and hard data showing our care is inferior, that's all "fake news" and "the deep state", so they won't believe it. >
  
  My doctor recommends a procedure. Insurance can deny it. That is a fookin' racket. The first question out of anyone's mouth is what's your insurance--- the money is more important than your health here. It is disgusting! >
  
  Because the US has the “free market” myth for healthcare. There’s no real competition when the alternative is dieing. Maybe try comparison shopping for kidney failure.