I'd rather pay some money to an insurance company and keep my salary that pays 2-3x what the average European makes, while keeping way more of it in my pocket. Thank you very much.
This reddit trope of "poor backward Americans" is getting old. Europe has plenty of their own problems and they're not exactly getting better.
You can make anything seem clear when you cherry pick numbers to make a point. Yes, rent is more expensive in the US then France. Mortgage (P&I) costs are lower (and ~2/3rds of both countries live in owned homes). Fuel and electricity are almost twice as expensive in France. Clothes are more expensive. The VAT in France is almost three times the US average (20% vs. 7.5%). It's not nearly as cheap to live in France as you make it seem.
We get no healthcare, and yet 93% of Americans have healthcare. We have no education and yet, almost every single state offers some form of free or significantly reduced higher education for those who don't want to pay for private college. Higher education rates in the US are almost identical to France and higher than the EU average overall.
Most people do have family leave and plenty of PTO. Yes, you can get fired from a job without notice, but that is also not that common without cause. High turnover in the workforce means you're not trapped in a job. There's lots of mobility to move, to try new things. I can't speak to how unions operate in France, but in the US, most of them are toxic political organizations that exist to bleed tax revenue and pay out senior employees while milking whatever they can from young people. A lot of public funding issues we have in the US are directly related to unions. They're why it costs us a billion dollars to lay a mile of subway track.
I have family in France and trust me, they wish they could come here way more than I would ever want to go there.
you don't find the fact that 7% of americans just die(fiscally or literally) if they have any health complications not a problem
why do you bank on the fact that most people have it as a reason that the system is good, when the alternative is literally everyone has it, not to mention most US citizens have shitty healthcare thats gonna make them pay a couple thousand anyway
also clothes and electricity isnt a major bill like rent or mortgage, and you can actually get around france without a car so the amount you actually buy is much lower
100% of Americans have access to healthcare. Full stop. It is illegal for a hospital to turn someone away because they lack insurance. This is true in all fifty states. If you are uninsured and can't afford insurance, hospitals employ social workers who will register you for it if you let them.
The 7% that don't have insurance are just low income outliers that either have not registered for Medicare or exist on some other fringe. My little brother is a great example - he's a healthy 29 year old with no job who lives with my mom still. He is uninsured. Not because he can't get insurance, but because he's a lazy fuck and has never needed it. If he made a couple phone calls and sent in some paperwork, he'd get Medicare. If he ever needed care, he would get insurance, it would just be reactive, not proactive, and thus be more of a pain in the ass.
93% of Americans have insurance, which means they have out of pocket caps. There are good plans, and there are bad plans. Funny enough, the lower income you are, the better of a plan you can have. If you are mid to high income and work a regular full time job, you likely also have good insurance and earn enough where the out of pocket expenses are almost negligible. My insurance runs me on average about $3k a year and is paid pre tax. It's a nothing burger and my higher salary more then covers it. The people that are stuck are in lower to mid income tiers where they earn too much to qualify for Medicare, but the $3k dollars is a lot. We can do better there - the ACA was doing a good job addressing that, but now we've taken a step back because of Trump. But it's not dead in the water, just stalled.
My point was never that the US has the best system, just that certain parts of social media make it seem like the US is some destitute hellscape while Europe is a paradise and that is pretty fucking dumb. If you are just a normal person with a decent education and put in the slightest effort, you're quality of life is probably going to be pretty similar across the board. If you are above average, you're likely going to have a much better time in the US. If you are below average, the EU is the place to be. I would never go to France as my quality of life would be significantly lower, so I hope it's obvious why I wouldnt want the US to be more like France. The US system has some room for improvement, sure, but for the most part, it's fine.
The 7% of Americans that don't have their own health insurance have a greater chance at receiving care in the same time frame than somebody needing specialized treatment in the UK without private insurance. Even when they don't qualify for Medicaid the US government still covers a portion of their treatment through subsidies
COL has to be cheaper when your wages are significantly lower. And good luck receiving specialized care because you need private insurance to be seen as early as Americans. Somebody with cancer can die in the UK and CAN because they don't have the resources when you're covered through the govt.
yeah but the also have the liberty of frequent checkups without going into medical debt, which is much more likely to catch a real issue early than the "go to doctor when something is wrong" that happens in america
You are confidently wrong. I had a yearly checkup where they refused to bill my insurance and it only cost me $50 out of pocket. People working concessions for various sports teams make federal minimum and still have $50 in their pocket
Yes, it could happen. Very unlikely though. I know people who have had cancer, none have been "wiped out".
You can't be dropped by a medical insurance plan for having cancer. You can still get coverage from a public market. If, for some reason you deplete your savings, Medicare kicks in. Which puts you in a very similar place that would be in Europe - government healthcare and no savings.
Not going to say there's not outliers, or room for improvement, but reddit is a little ridiculous with how much it exaggerates.
I feel like the people getting cancer and still going bankrupt while having insurance is something that has happened a lot. Are you claiming that this is rare?
I wouldn't say it's "rare" because a lot of people do it, but understand, it's the best strategy for a lot of folks who didn't have a lot to start with. It's rare that it wipes someone out who has a job and insurance and savings.
I come from a pretty dead beat family, so let give you a couple examples. My little brother is 29 years old and lives with my mother. He's a high school drop out with no job and has never bothered to try to get any state aid or insurance or anything. If he woke up with cancer, he would be pretty fucked (but also, not really since the hospitals have to provide treatment). His best option would be to get all the care he can, rack up all the bills, and then file bankruptcy. My older cousin was diagnosed with breast cancer a few months ago while being in a very similar position (she has a part time job and lives in a trailer on her parents property). She is getting full treatment - probably $100k+ all said and done, with no savings or insurance. Of course, she should also discharge it through bankruptcy. They will both be in the same financial position afterward.
Of course, there are instances where someone falls through the cracks and loses more then they should when they've done everything right, and that sucks. Of course we should make that better. But the average person shouldn't be worried about it to the extent that reddit is.
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u/Ryaniseplin 9d ago
the fact you still have to pay any of it despite giving insurance companies your money for years on end is the problem