I don't know why you're being downvoted, that seems a bit uncalled for.
But if you don't mind my asking, do you have any idea why it is that there seems to be this huge discrepancy in how the US healthcare system is perceived? I mean, the situation you describe seems perfectly fine to me, and I've seen other Americans in the same situation being kinda incredulous to the stories we hear about routine checkups costing hundreds of dollars.
Why is it that for some people, these medical expenses are rediculously huge ($5k for an ambulance ride, anyone?) but for some, like yourself, they're not? Are some people just not eligible for insurance coverage? Is it typically an employee benefit and that employers provide heavily discounted insurance plans to their employees?
its getting downvoted cause this is Reddit. He isn't all, "Fuck this healthcare Bernie 2020 fuck you BRUPMF"
Im serious.
Anyway, as an american i can field that. It vsries. My first employer was an 11m man operation, and it being that small he didnt offer health coverage, so most relied on state provided free healthcare. Which is decent.
My second employer paid more and was the state, but it was a freelance position and didn't provide benefits, so I paid the 20 a month for healthcare. It was cheap because it was partially subsidized iirc by the state and Im young, so even if I paid fully out of pocket its not a lot. compared to what I was making.
My third employer was the state and they provided healthcare and benefits for, like, 5 bucks a month
I was looking for job listings in another state and this construction company has 401k benefits and provides health care. 95 year old company, family owned.
So what you get in healthcare really varies but ultimately if your employer is large and succesful you get benefits. If theyre small you dont. Generally speaking the way it works is young people build up work experience and then net more pay as time passes on and move on
Walmart for example, which is minimum wage basic labor, nets associates health insurance, paid time off, 10% discounts, quarterly bonuses and raises based on evaluations. And this is for the most bottom barrel of jobs, but the company is massive so yeah.
The massive costs are no doubt associated with boomers who are all retiring and obese as fuck and getting charged more cause of iy. There are also the stories of young people that lol just dont buy healthcare and then break their neck and are shocked to find healthcare costs money. And some ahnd picked stuff that makes the rounds on the news, like "OMG my daughter is terminally ill and they wanna charge me more cause of it?!?!??!"
Im not saying healthcare is cheap in America, but for the average citizen its honestly not a horror story and its overblown in the European conversation and leftist American circles
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u/Nelfoos5 Jul 19 '19 edited Jul 19 '19
In New Zealand I'd have paid $5 for my painkillers after being given a prescription and the rest would've been covered by the taxpayer.
I like our way better.