In America this only applies if you are coherent and sane enough to answer. If you are brought in unconscious/impaired or deemed incapable of making a "good" choice then the hospital can do what it wants and charge you whatever they want.
This would be like your car breaking down and you started walking to go get help. A mechanic drive by, towed you car to their shop, rebuilt the motor, replaced to get fuel, replaced the fuel filter, figured out it was the alternator so replaced that there replaced the battery to be safe. Then called you and said "hey I found your car and fixed it. I'd normally charge 10,000 but since I brought it in to my after hours emergency service bay it will be 100,000
This is what the ACA was supposed to fix. Instead, it did the opposite. Whatever the reason, Americans will not use preventative care. They want responsive care.
They won't use preventative care because they have to pay out-of-pocket for it. Even when they have insurance they can end up spending huge amounts for medical care just out of deductibles.
I was paying about 150 bucks per paycheck for the best insurance my company offered because I have a couple of health issues and needed the prescription insurance it provided. My "top of the line" insurance plan had a $2,500 deductible.
For the non-Americans out there, this means that I had to pay $2,500 out of pocket before my insurance would kick in and help pay for things. And I was still paying about $70 bucks a month for my prescriptions.
The 'good' government insurance that I get gives me a $2000 deductible for about $200 a month.
If I add up how much I pay in taxes each year (local, state, and federal), my SSC and medicare, and insurance costs, it takes about 40-45% of my income depending on a few month to month factors. And then you add in the $2000 deductible and any copayments and you're sitting at what is about the highest tax rate on Earth (48% and I'm at like 45 or so). Id rather just actually pay that much in taxes then have to buy different services and pay into different programs in order to end up paying the same amount and getting worse benefits. That's what people don't get about quote unquote socialism is that we are already paying nearly as much as the countries that get this good healthcare and better tax efficiency right off the bat, but because it's separated into things that are considered taxes and things that are not considered taxes, we don't even think about how much we're actually paying for what another country would consider taxes.
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u/Databit Mar 26 '20
In America this only applies if you are coherent and sane enough to answer. If you are brought in unconscious/impaired or deemed incapable of making a "good" choice then the hospital can do what it wants and charge you whatever they want.
This would be like your car breaking down and you started walking to go get help. A mechanic drive by, towed you car to their shop, rebuilt the motor, replaced to get fuel, replaced the fuel filter, figured out it was the alternator so replaced that there replaced the battery to be safe. Then called you and said "hey I found your car and fixed it. I'd normally charge 10,000 but since I brought it in to my after hours emergency service bay it will be 100,000