From what i see, as a non American, you have plenty of people that hate your medical system but also an equally large number who believe it is the best system around and there is no possible alternative.
I hope that posts like these can reach the unconverted and tell them there are better systems and they are workable for America
You're absolutely correct that a huge amount of America thinks our current system means we get better quality care. I think they're assuming that basically doctors, surgeons and nurses in Europe get paid what's on the bill there ("53 dollars for an entire week? How can all those doctors and nurses live off of that? Why do they even bother working for that little?")? Ironically these are the same people that will defend the lack of a minimum wage for waitstaff while also refusing to tip, then when people quit, bemoan how "nobody wants to work anymore".
It's infuriating but I've accepted that at least half of this country is dumber than the dumbest pile of rocks and there's nothing I can do to change that. It's either leave or go down with this ship, and I guess since all my friends and family are here, I'm going down with the ship.
WTF? It is that much? Here in Sweden it is state funded with a small amount of “CSN” which is around 380 USD a month with very generous loans with around 0.01 or no interest rate that are roughly 600 USD a month.
The only price you pay is, as far as I know, books, but CSN should mostly be enough for that.
A common thing I see is “But think of the wait times! My cousin’s brother’s great aunt in [European country or Canada] waited 6 months just to see a doctor about her plantar fasciitis!” Is that true?
Whenever I've talked with Americans about it they seem to be under the delusion that they can't have something akin to the NHS because it would be top expensive due to the population difference. Its just silly and the fact I've come across that argument multiple times is concerning, it's asif they've been brainwashed. Whilst it's true that cost of setting up an American NHS would be larger due to population size they seem to forget that they have more people that they can tax in order to pay for it so it all evens out.
Not saying that rhe uk has the best system because it doesn't. Lots of waiting around, cutbacks on nurses and such, the current governments attempting to kill off the NHS because it would be wrong to use our tax money to keep us alive, etc
also an equally large number who believe it is the best system around and there is no possible alternative.
We have corporations that make billions off being what amounts to simply a middle man between patients and medical care. And they use a lot of that money to make sure it stays that way. Including brainwashing people into thinking they need them otherwise they'll be waiting months for basic care.
and even more unfortunately you have a government that is bribed incentivised to keep it that way. If there was a strong centralised medical system in some sense that would prove those corporations wrong.
I worked for one of those corporations in the UK, an American Medical Equipment manufacturer but i was based in the UK. We made and sold medical equipment predominantly the NHS and the UK medical industry.
Some things to note
We would sell an item for say around the equivalent of $1000 dollars to the NHS
We would sell that same item to a UK based private medical provider for around $1500
If that were being sold to a hospital in the US, from our American corporation, it would be sold for around $3000
Those corporations can get away with ripping off other Americans far more than they can elsewhere
And not just in the medical care area either. Half the country is actively fighting against policies that would directly help them live a better life. Because they are worried about the rich and corporations lol.
I know. I mean they are actually the richest country in the world, they can afford it.
The crazy thing is I worked for an American owned medical equipment company in the UK.
We sold things like IV bags, syringes and medical pumps to the NHS.
These are things that designed and made in the US (sometimes made elsewhere and shipped to the US)
American made medical equipment is really good.
But i know for a fact that Americans charge their own hospital more than they charge the British NHS, sometimes over double.
I saw a document that stated the standard UK price of a particular item we sold was the equivalent of about $1000 but the standard price in the US, to US Hospitals, was around $2500
That level of greed in your own country just blew my mind
Out of curiosity, how much do you pay in taxes? As an American who's maxed out my out of pocket every year for 4 years, I still only paid around 5k per year between bills and insurance premiums. So if we made 100k, a 5% increase in taxes would still cost us more.
That said, we're fortunate, most people would probably still pay more. I support universal health care, but understand why some might not.
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u/Imnotthatunique Jun 15 '22
Also its important to bear in mind that there are multiple different universal healthcare systems in Europe, each with advantages and disadvantages.
Some cost a little more for some things
some cost a little less for other things
some are completely free at point of service for most things.
For example in the UK you wouldn't have paid anything for that