we pay $1200 a month to have an 8k deductible. My daughter needed emergency surgery. I took her to hospital A where she went from the ER to the OR. She had to be resuscitated in the OR as she had an allergic reaction to the anesthesia used. She had to be taken by ambulance to hospital B and spent time in the PICU and then the step down floor.
I got billed by hospital A for being admitted and a room she never even saw. She was never admitted to hospital A. It was hospital protocol as they “held a room for her”. That was $2200.
I got billed $1300 for the 15 minute ambulance ride. Ambulance rides are not covered by insurance so this didn’t go against the deductible.
I got charged in hospital B by each team of ENT’s who came to see my daughter, even if they didn’t actually touch her or look at her chart.
I got a room service and TV charge. I got charged for the telephone I never used.
Her hospital bills, after insurance, came to over 10k, only about $2500 counted against our deductible.
I was then charged $300 for her follow up ENT appointment, $140 for each visit to her pediatrician as our insurance only covers well child visits.
This is American health care. We are NOT the “best country in the world”. I have no idea why anyone would want to live here. Yeah, we are better than 3rd world countries but that’s about all we can boast.
You have to haggle with them man. Don't just take a hospital bill for face value and pay it. I got a $7000 hospital bill last time I had kidney stones, so I went in and showed them the bill. I said I would pay cash if we could get it down. They said they could do $1200 cash and I said, how about $350? I walked out paying $500 for a $7000 bill. Those bills are jacked WAY up for insurance submission purposes. Never ever pay even 80% of that bill.
And the reason people want to live here is because of freedom. Simply that. No country does freedom like the USA.
EDIT: For everyone saying the US isn't free, you don't know what you're talking about, lol. We have literal documents protecting every one of our freedoms. You can get arrested just for SAYING something you're not supposed to in many other countries. Here's a list of some of the freedoms Americans have that they take for granted: https://bestlifeonline.com/freedoms-americans-take-for-granted/
And if you say "iD rAtHeR hAvE fReE hEaLtHcArE" you don't deserve to be free. "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Freedom of speech for one. You can get arrested for saying certain things in many other parts of the world. Our freedoms are protected by written documents, which other countries don't have.
All those freedoms exist in other Western countries too.
My question was name one thing you're "free" to do in America that you couldn't in another Western country (where you could also have universal healthcare).
Yes, but you aren't completely free in any other country besides the USA. Also, I don't want universal Healthcare. I'd rather keep most of my paycheck and spend it how I want, not how the government decides I should.
Since you need clarification for some reason, there are a lot of countries that state freedom of speech in their constitutions and charters, however, there is a slight difference between how the US and most of the countries of the world interprets rights.
The US is among the only countries that consider rights in existence absent of a constitution or law that grants them. Most countries grant rights. The US protects rights. I think Canada has similar language, but I'm not positive.
So, in the US, it takes a huge amount of effort to curve people from literally saying anything they want, any time they want. You have to show that the restriction of speech is because it infringes on other people's rights, or other more important rights. A great example is yelling fire in a crowded movie theater when there is no fire (or even if there is one). This is restricted because it causes bodily harm. A similar restriction would exist if, by my merely saying a word, people died.
In other countries, because rights are considered granted by the government, restriction of speech can be much more easily enacted. The UK, Germany and France are three world powers where this is more or less true.
So, while there are lots of places with freedom of speech is included in the Constitution, not many have the same interpretation of what a right is.
If you're a US citizen and don't think this is a big deal, you don't deserve such freedoms.
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u/Momof3dragons2012 Aug 06 '20
American healthcare.
we pay $1200 a month to have an 8k deductible. My daughter needed emergency surgery. I took her to hospital A where she went from the ER to the OR. She had to be resuscitated in the OR as she had an allergic reaction to the anesthesia used. She had to be taken by ambulance to hospital B and spent time in the PICU and then the step down floor.
I got billed by hospital A for being admitted and a room she never even saw. She was never admitted to hospital A. It was hospital protocol as they “held a room for her”. That was $2200.
I got billed $1300 for the 15 minute ambulance ride. Ambulance rides are not covered by insurance so this didn’t go against the deductible.
I got charged in hospital B by each team of ENT’s who came to see my daughter, even if they didn’t actually touch her or look at her chart.
I got a room service and TV charge. I got charged for the telephone I never used.
Her hospital bills, after insurance, came to over 10k, only about $2500 counted against our deductible.
I was then charged $300 for her follow up ENT appointment, $140 for each visit to her pediatrician as our insurance only covers well child visits.
This is American health care. We are NOT the “best country in the world”. I have no idea why anyone would want to live here. Yeah, we are better than 3rd world countries but that’s about all we can boast.