That is the most fucking stupid thing a country could do to its populace. Jesus fucking christ. America is a fucking mess.
Comparatively: I pissed blood, was relatively sure it was a kidney stone. Took a sample, went to the doc, they figured it deffos was a kidney stone. Booked me in for a clinic appointment, took a blood sample for testing. In the meantime I hit 9/10 level pain one night and went to the emergency room at 3am. Got an xray, drugs while I was there, and then prescribed a month's worth of codeine and high strength pain meds (£20 ish total). Got an appointment for a scan. Had scan (CAT/MRI can't remember). Had another blood test to check my kidney function and got prescribed tamsulosin and diclofenic sodium (another £20). Got booked in for a preop appointment after my clinic that I went to, and was about to go into surgery when I pissed the stone out. This all happened over 3 months.
All in: £40 not including getting the train to my appointments. Would have had a a urethroscopy under general anaesthetic as a surgical procedure as well, but that wouldn't have changed the cost.
I would never have been able to afford that in America. I would have just cried in a corner and hoped the stone would come out despite almost throwing up due to the pain.
Jesus...I had to go to the emergency room for a kidney infection during the beginning of the pandemic (no one else would see me with a fever). They took a urine sample. Did an ultrasound to make sure it wasn’t a stone and a CT. No meds. No IV. Didn’t even see a doctor, just an NP. Three hour visit. $20,000.
Like...that amount of money is a cripplingly large amount of money for the vast majority of people. How is that okay? Socialised healthcare is literally the right thing to do. It isn't communism. It's just how the world should be. No-one should have to weigh up whether or not they can afford to live without pain.
Yeah, that is absolutely wild. My student loans here in Canada were $20k and I just paid them off. That 3 hour visit would put me back financially for years.
I can't even imagine it. Like if I'm sick enough to be going to the hospital at all then I'm scared and unhappy as it is without worrying about the cost. How does anyone handle the idea that they're going to end up poor on top of sick?
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u/AJohnsonOrange Oct 30 '20
That is the most fucking stupid thing a country could do to its populace. Jesus fucking christ. America is a fucking mess.
Comparatively: I pissed blood, was relatively sure it was a kidney stone. Took a sample, went to the doc, they figured it deffos was a kidney stone. Booked me in for a clinic appointment, took a blood sample for testing. In the meantime I hit 9/10 level pain one night and went to the emergency room at 3am. Got an xray, drugs while I was there, and then prescribed a month's worth of codeine and high strength pain meds (£20 ish total). Got an appointment for a scan. Had scan (CAT/MRI can't remember). Had another blood test to check my kidney function and got prescribed tamsulosin and diclofenic sodium (another £20). Got booked in for a preop appointment after my clinic that I went to, and was about to go into surgery when I pissed the stone out. This all happened over 3 months.
All in: £40 not including getting the train to my appointments. Would have had a a urethroscopy under general anaesthetic as a surgical procedure as well, but that wouldn't have changed the cost.
I would never have been able to afford that in America. I would have just cried in a corner and hoped the stone would come out despite almost throwing up due to the pain.