Medicare for All: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
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- čas přidán 19. 05. 2024
- As presidential candidates continue to discuss Medicare for All, John Oliver explores how much it might cost, what it will change, and who it will help.
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The exorbitant cost of healthcare in America is a result of several complex factors. Firstly, the country's fragmented healthcare system leads to inefficiencies and administrative overheads, with multiple layers of bureaucracy and paperwork increasing expenses. Additionally, the high prices of medical services, pharmaceuticals, and equipment contribute significantly to healthcare costs, fueled by a lack of price transparency and competition. Moreover, the prevalence of costly medical procedures, defensive medicine practices, and a fee-for-service payment model further drive up expenses. Addressing these systemic issues and promoting reforms focused on efficiency, affordability, and accessibility is crucial to mitigate the burden of healthcare costs on individuals and the economy.
I would Support you on this one because I'm a doctor for 10years now Deeply understand. However, To address this issue, policymakers must prioritize reforms aimed at streamlining the healthcare system, increasing price transparency, and promoting value-based care delivery models to ensure affordability and accessibility for all Americans.
Investing can play a crucial role in helping individuals manage and keep up with healthcare expenses in the United States. By strategically allocating funds into investment vehicles such as health savings accounts (HSAs), individual retirement accounts (IRAs), and brokerage accounts, individuals can build a financial cushion to cover medical bills and unexpected healthcare costs. Moreover, investing in dividend-paying stocks, bonds, and real estate investment trusts (REITs) can generate passive income streams that can be earmarked for healthcare expenses. Additionally, investing in healthcare-focused mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) allows individuals to capitalize on the growth potential of the healthcare sector while diversifying their investment portfolio. By adopting a proactive approach to investing and diligently managing their finances, individuals can better navigate the challenges of healthcare expenses and secure their financial well-being.
Certainly! Participating in investing is a critical component of financial planning, ensuring individuals can maintain their desired lifestyle and financial security during their retirement years and also to help battle health issues when you can no more work when you get ill.
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I'm a Taiwanese citizen living in the US. Years ago I suspected I had a tumor and called a doctor to try to have it diagnosed. They said they can schedule me for a CT scan in two weeks and it'll cost me $3,500 out of pocket coz I haven't met my insurance deductible. I hung up the phone and booked a $900 plane ticket back to Taiwan in 2 days, had my choice of doctor, had it diagnosed (it was an ovarian cyst), scheduled and undergone surgery, and out of the hospital all within one week. It costed me $3 as is standard co-pay for our country's universal healthcare system. I really do not understand the argument of higher prices, longer lines, no choices.
That's because america is convinced that it will lead us to communism.
@@blackearl7891 yet it is fine for the police and fire service to be government funded but not health, too much profit in health. Or should I say too much profit in sickness
spiked my dude there is massive internal contradiction with the American psyche. Scare mongering on healthcare has been a thing here since Truman.
@@blackearl7891 Americans actually love the idea of a single payer system like Taiwan's. Government run healthcare has consistently reached over 70% by the population, even by republicans. It's the politicians that are so god damn averse to instituting one because it would affect their money pools.
@@michaellin5290 bernie would've probably faced heavy obstruction from the senate (if it remained republican, and probably more so from moderate democrats), leaving him with very little options to take action on his proposed measures. it's either that, or he would be faced against intense lobbying from private healthcare companies. it's a big uphill battle for him
I got an appendectomy at 19 years old with a bill of $30,000. I couldn't afford the college I was going to anymore, which I had a football scholarship for. it has crushed me.
I’m 24 today pondering how I’ve spent so much time working to pay off my medical bills instead of graduating from college. I’ll probably be 27 before it happens. Debt collectors are still calling two years later.
Dude, why do you sound defeated?? FIGHT! Stand your ground and tell the hospital that you can't afford it and make noise, talk to whatever manager you have to to get a discount or anything so that you're able to study. Refuse to pay a single cent until you get a deal you can actually afford. Seriously don't give up or it's deadass gonna ruin the rest of your life.
Do not give up. Someone, somewhere knows how to help you. Parent's insurance? Medicaid? Financial advisor at hospital? Financial advisor at Dept. of Human Services in your state, County, City? That's nuts that would block you. Keep looking for solutions.
@@EmiliaArden same. thanks for understanding.
@@maxhanson3012 Okay that's a bit too difficult to achieve though 😂. Just focus on yourself for now. But you right, everyone should have the right to free healthcare, food, housing, education, etc.
I live in Canada and yes I've had to wait at the emergency room to get stitches when I cut my arm, but that's because my injury wasn't life threatening. I'd rather wait 2 hours than get a bill for thousands of dollars, tbh.
Exactly! And it's not like you still wouldn't wait 2 hours in the USA! I've waited in ERs here for ages.
Seriously, I do not understand how this is an argument that people legitimize.
I'd gladly work 2 hours to make even just 1 thousand dollars, so yeah worth it
Who wouldn't
@@g.d.graham2446 That's what I'm saying. Who wouldn't?
A friend of mine went to Japan, he had a heart attack while over there. They billed him......a little over 1K USD. In the US the same treatment would cost him over 200K. He actually found it cheaper to fly back to Japan to see the doctor for a 6 month followup than to see his doctor here and the tests here.
bbonner422 your mom wouldnt be dead, youd guys just be in debt. is it bad and unfair yes but she wouldnt be dead, shed get the treatment
@@behappy5869 "just be in debt" for who knows how many dollars... surely, you can pay that in no time and you wouldn't experience any kind of anxiety or psychological fears in face of a looming financial ruin, on top of living with cancer... and after all, what is the cost for a life?
Human Resources the hospital cant turn you away, they have to treat you. is the health system here unfair nd put many in debt? yes but to say people wont get treatment is a disingenuous argument
Tim G a German guy had a rare illness regarding is movement, the only successful doctor who could do a surgery was in the US, the cost of the treatment, 300.000€. Guess who paid it, Germany’s Universal Healthcare System (SHI)
i lived with an aunt in japan back in 04 (we're both black californian natives), she got very sick and needed numerous tests and treatments. our neighbors were concerned about how expensive it would be. We were worried because japan or at least osaka was an expensive place to live .In the end it cost the equivelant of $60 and they were shocked that it was so expensive
He shoots down every objection but left one important thing out. The primary reason so many employers keep millions of people permanently part time is to avoid having to provide heath insurance.
This should've been brought up. I've known too many people working an hour short of the insurance cutoff. Total insanity.
Yeah true!
That's because it would give people another reason to refute excessive government interference, which is the number one argument of the right. "Why do they have to provide health insurance in the first place? Companies shouldn't be forced to do that. See what happens when government overregulates?"
That is also changeable. Here in Germany you don't have to pay for health insurance if you don't earn more than about 500$ per month, no matter the source/how many jobs. So, it is just up to your goverment how to regulate the non-payer-limit.
I mean, here it is also a topic eg among students, maybe also among very low income, but not really a topic if you can make 650$+ in a month.
The employers also use insurance as leverage/power over their full time or union employees. See GE threatened to take away insurance from their employees after the employees were striking for better wages- forcing them to go back to work. Imagine how much freedom you would have if your health care wasn't tied to your job.
I’m Australian, less than year ago when I was 15 I woke up with no vision in my right eye. I spent a full week in hospital, saw several specialists, and since have had 2 MRI’s. The loveliest people, best doctors and nurses, and accomodation + food in the hospital, and it didn’t cost a cent. My eye is all good, but I can’t put into words how much respect I gained for my country’s Medicare system. It works America
mate im sorry to tear down a fellow aussie but im struggling to contain how pissed off I am that you included food in that list as something that was a positive
I ate nothing but fruit during my stay last year lol, shit was nasty
"BUT IT IS SOCIALISMZ!!!!!!" ;-)
As a Canadian, sure you wait a lit more. Sure if it's just for a cold you might not get to see a doctor. But the fact that you can go to a walk in clinic for free for a COLD and that people actually do it without worrying about how much it will cost is awesome. And if it is truly urgent, you won't wait. People here don't wait until they collapse to see a doctor, which means you may have a better prognosis (for instance cancer discovered early is better).
@@Aurorasr91rs91 indeed. In sweden our right wing government is working hard to change our old system to a more US-esque one. Because why not let people die needlessly if you can make a profit.
I'm Aussie too. The thing that drives me crazy about the "long wait times" argument is the insular and selfish nature of the thinking around it. "I have to wait longer" actually means "others are getting treatment before me". Meaning others who would otherwise have suffered and died can now enjoy the opportunity to get healthcare. I'm currently waiting my turn for ankle surgery, because people who need surgery more urgently or who have been waiting longer are getting their turn first. These are fellow human beings and every day that I wait is a day somebody else has waited for. There's got to be a sense of solidarity with your fellow human beings before there can be true change. The USA is getting further from solidarity every day. It's like watching a car crash in slow motion. The democratic party is asleep at the wheel while republicans are driving on the wrong side of the road on purpose. It's fuckin scary.
I’m Canadian, from Quebec. I watched this episode and another one in November 2021 while waiting for a colonoscopy at the hospital. They apologized for the delay, I said, it’s 8000$ in the USA. I couldn’t afford it, so I don’t mind waiting a bit. Especially during a pandemic. The nurse was surprised and thanked me. No need, I don’t mind waiting 60 mins under a warm blanket to see a specialist. Thanks to John and team.
I live in Québec too and I happy to know I won’t have to pay for a life saving surgery
My son’s insulin shouldn’t be $1000 a month when it costs less than $3 to make. Period. (Updated price in 2021: $2035)
Holy shit, thats like our rent. In Norway you pay $250 in total for the whole year, when its paid off all medical expences are free. Until its paid off you pay $20-35 per dr. appointments and up to $50 per medication you take out, no matter how much you take out. You dont have to keep track of anything, you will be refounded automatically if you pay too much and you can see how much you have paid in your online health account. There you can also see all your prescriptions (which any pharmacy can access too), get new prescriptions, DM your GP and much more.
I hope the US will see a change soon
youre damn right it shouldnt!
beter yet, how old is your son? Under 18 healthcare including dental is free in the Netherlands.
Abby the Spoon Lady Bernie will die before any Medicare for all plan gets through Congress, unfortunately.
@Trump TheTerrorist cause you need horses for that, as far as I know, but don't quote me on that
I don't think most Americans realize they are one medical emergency from bankruptcy. My 2 year old got pneumonia. The medications, doctors, urgent care, ambulance, ER visit, and 3 day hospital stay cost us close to $10k out of pocket, and we have insurance! If our insurance had decided the ambulance was unnecessary, it would have been double that. Even if you're insured, one car accident can wipe out your savings. One diagnosis, one surgery. We used up 7 years worth of our health savings plan in one weekend, and it was a short hospital stay with no complications. Even if our taxes doubled, that year would have been a hell of a lot cheaper with Medicare for all. Folks with chronic conditions pay that much every year. Life saving health care shouldn't be this expensive.
Guess I'm privileged for thinking 20k in your savings as an adult over 30 is possible
@@rayxr You are. Most Americans have less than $10k in savings, for a variety of reasons, chief among those is stagnant wages
Didn’t you have an out of pocket maximum? Was it really $10k?
@@holovoid_ I'm a big believer in personal responsibility, so I apologize if I'm a bit too jaded. But: Why should someone be obligated to pay for someone else's medical issues?
This might be a fringe case, but if someone chooses to smoke 10 packs of cigarettes a day and develop lung cancer, I don't think it's fair that I should fit the bill for that. Thoughts?
I had a friend who got sick last November with pneumonia which weakened her immune system and she contracted another illness that basically put her with kidney failure. She was in and out of the hospital basically the whole month and luckily she had Medicare to help cover it but had she not have it would have cost her over $250,000 money that she a college student doesn't have. The costs are just mind boggling and I agree 100%, the amount extra or not for Medicare for all would be worth spending than having one incident that leaves you neck deep in debt or your loved ones should anything happen. People really need to weigh the pros and cons. Anyway, I hope your baby is doing better now!
2 weeks ago I had a STEMI heart attack. I live in a rural area in Australia. Ambulance to hospital, ambulance to airport, Air ambulance (helicopter) to larger regional hospital with a cath lab, 2 drug eluting stents, 3 days in ICU and a cab for the 1 1/2 hour home trip. Total cost was $67 AUD for my discharge meds. I love universal health care!
Let's get real, those who oppose affordable healthcare are those who have investments in insurance, pharmaceuticals or medical supplies companies.
And the politicians that they own...
And the people they have brainwashed
That’s basically everyone defending every problem this country has.
People forget that they are going to die and that stack of money is going to be ripped from them as they are dumped into a ditch.
Or they're inbred morons.
I wonder how many of the people who say that "Americans love choice" do not support choice when it comes to abortion...
Abortion is an seperate issue.
In Ireland it almost started a second civil war
Amy Klobuchar actually said exactly that, whilst also trying to ban abortion. Soooo, you're right on the money
@@theirishempire4952 wtf are you on about, it didn't almost start a second civil war here. There was a referendum, it passed, that was it. Some old religious people complained, that was it. Where the fuck did you pull that civil war bollocks from?
As if choosing not to want abortion isn’t a choice too, this is coming from a pro choice man in the US, you’re an idiot.
you will notice that only the liberal side of that argument uses the words choice. Conservatives create an argumentative narration around the principle of the protection of life. So whoever accepts the premise that a developing infant has to be covered under the principle of the protection of life could never accept a choice about this from a second party, not even the parents. Just as you aren't allowed the "choice" to murder your child after birth, because it has rights then just for being a human and infant-citizen, you aren't allowed to abort under this argument. The compromise is a result of chosing some arbitrary date at which it becomes not okay to abort. Personally I'd favor a model that allows abortion on demands up to the last trimester, but would involve a mandatory interview by a psychologist/psychiatrist. I would fund these people and then ask them what the root causes for abortions are. Then we can start a discussion on how to effectively do somehting about it. Because being pro choice doesn't mean I'm never thinking of all the unborn ones, especially in contrast to having so many elderly and foreign people around. However you slice it, it remains favorable not to kill people as it remains favorable to give people freedom of choice.
I live in the UK.
My dad had lung cancer. He had MRIs, Xrays, medication, radiotherapy, 3 operations to keep his airway open, an oncologist, surgeon and respiratory consultant, plus numerous stays in hospital.
It cost us nothing. Except the usual NI payments that are less than most US insurance payments. No doctor declined treatment , no one asked us for money, no one gave us forms to fill in for payment. No we didn't wait in a long line. No we didn't get substandard care, no we didn't have to crowdfund, remortgage the house or go bankrupt.
I am disabled. I have to have 14 different meds to stay alive. I pay around 15 dollars amonth for ALL my meds. And Brits consider that to be expensive.
The truth is universal healthcare works, is not as expensive as private and if looked after properly, saves money.
That's why every civilised nation has it.
But you still have private options
@The Artist Formerly Known as Darth Wheezius What I’m saying is, our socialists are liars. They keep putting all private or all government as the only choices forward.
@The Artist Formerly Known as Darth Wheezius By socialist, I mean those that posture themselves as such like Sanders whose called for complete abolition of private health care, which would lead to 100000 job losses in America, including my mother
@@oldmandeadpool1064 i dont think sanders plan is abolishing private healthcare. its just offering a basic, comprehensive healthcare plan that the govt pays for and its available to everyone. then if people want to add private healthcare on top of that, they can.
Fellow Brit here to prove OP's point; How do those meds not warrant a medical exemption certificate?
Also, hope you, your Dad and all yours are well. Stay safe. X
As a Nordic citizen, it is incredible to see how much private medicine and healthcare costs and how damaging it is to a society, because many low income families simply can not afford insurance or healthcare or have to opt out of certain parts.
And yet they have children knowing perfectly well in advance that they can't get them proper insurance.
Imagine not having to worry about health benefits when looking for a new job. That would be so cool
oh honey so many of us have no idea what that even means cuz we don't have to... american exceptionalism is a myth
I cant even think anything else between selling my house or get my appendicitis treated
I took a considerable cut in pay when switching jobs recently, because my new employer's health plan is that much better than the alternative
I have free healthcare as a vet... ngl its a massive relief.
I couldnt imagine being this entitled.
I'm British. My mum has been in hospital for the past 2 weeks recovering from a brain bleed. She had emergency brain surgery, MRIs and tons of medications. She's on the mend, and non of it has cost us a single upfront penny. Money hasn't even factored into the whole situation. The NHS is the most popular government program in British history. Nobody would change it for the world.
Amen. Love the NHS. It lets you get your treatment & medicine & get on with your life. *Long live the NHS!*
Except Nigel Farage, who is on film telling an audience that Britain must move to a U.S. style insurance system...
@@iain101010 and people listen to that guy. Insane really when all you have to do is look across the pond and see how that is going...
The NHS has been around since 1945; it's doing fine, regardless of BS media scare stories, & is here to stay. If the yanks won't vote for someone who'll deliver such a great service that improves their lives, fine, let them get ill, indebted, bankrupt & die needlessly. The choice is theirs.
Hope that the trade deal currently on the table between the US and britain dont become reality, as it state that all medicin used by the NHS need to be bought from the US. Good deal Boris :/
As an American, I NEVER cease to he amazed by how easily Americans can be talked out of their best interests. Its astounding and embarrassing. The people who need medicare the most are the most vocal about disliking it.
That is exactly my question. I am Japanese and I just don't understand. There must be a lot of poor sick Republicans, too. Why don't they want affordable healthcare?
@@asdfg78547 because the Republicans told them it was bad 😒
It’s identity politics from people on the right man... I’m critical of the left when I have to but it’s safe to say a HUGE majority of Republicans just vote because of party disregarding their best interest. As long as they “keep winning” they don’t give a shit.
Kay Suzuki Republicans/Libertarians would argue that it’s a matter of principal, not out of lack of compassion for those in need. It’s our belief that you’re guaranteed very few things in life just by existing and health care is not one of them. Again most of us would be happy to help pay for the health care of the people in my community if they needed it, via a consensual transaction, but refuse to accept that we can’t pay for our own private health insurance if we want it.
There millions of dollars in lobbyist money going towards convincing people against it. They give money to politicians, political pundits, and new anchors to spread pro corporate healthcare talking points. Don’t blame the people who get manipulated, blame the manipulators.
Katie Porter spelled out exactly how Medicare for all would cost so much less and allow doctors the freedom to spend more time with patients..Sounds good to me and I already have medicare.
I love the fact that John Oliver can be both happy and angry while at the same time screaming at his audiences to inform them about serious problems in the world.
I Love your format.
As a child I would stay up late to clandestinely listen to the BBC world service to avoid the brainwashing of the cult I was raised in. I believe this is why as an adult I desperately need regular injections of Angry Shouty Sad British Man Show to present reality to me, in a way that makes my IPR-craving kid bits and also my rage-craving socially conscious adult bits share a CZcams meal together.
A British thing.
None of this is informative. It's bad political and economic knowledge.
"we like to have choice in health care"
yeah that lady looked really happy choosing between a diabetic coma and a cardiac arrest
I know you like choice! But this is Yankee Schooner would like to have a national Healthcare System for all Americans!
@JamieLan2011 Bernie makes the same points constantly just minus the comedy.
If only that lady didn't make 40+ years of bad decisions to get these. DIET and EXERCISE are the best medicine.
@@Phafanapolis Diet and exercise! Guess no 1st world country needs a healthcare system anymore, thanks buddy you just solved the problem
@@Phafanapolis Fuck off.
As a european, I don't get why some americans are so afraid of Medicare for all. My country's system doesn't lose any money and we barely pay anything (except for comfort treatment which is payed by company health insurance). Not paying an ambulance to get to the ER seems the bare minimum in a civilized country.
America is a 3rd world country unless you're rich
Because America is trash can if you have no money. Even if you are in a six figure job you can still easily find yourself in some severe hard times with a single medical emergency. And yet year after year people allow politicians and corporations to continue to bend us over.
I heard somebody tried to use the population argument to try and shoot down health care for all. I'm not sure that has any Merit. Imo of cores.
The baby boomers don't get the problem because it's all fine and dandy for most of them. And those are the people at the steering-wheel ... for now.
its propaganda by insurance industry
As a Canadian, it is WILD to hear criticism from the United States about healthcare. Ya, I gotta wait in line sometimes but I have never needed to wait for my GoFundMe Campaign where I plead for my life to go viral! The number one comeback every Canadian has locked and loaded whenever Americans try to make fun of us is "Ouch, you really burned me there! Guess I better get this treated for free." It's basically part of our culture! Our healthcare is one of the things Canada is indisputably better at than the states. This is actually the first time in my 3 decades that I've ever heard anyone say otherwise, and of course it's coming from Fox News!
At least, here in canada, my mom wasn’t billed 21,891$ for just giving birth in hospital
Once I had to go to hospital in the states and the fact that they asked for insurance was so alien I literally had to be restrained. Like wtf you mean I need money? I need a doctor! It's supposed to be free! I had travel insurance but the very fact that I was asked for insurance BEFORE triage was insulting to the very concept of humanity.
I contribute about $100/yr to two US Americans I've never met for their life-threatening medical conditions. That's be no problem here in Canada.
I've been trying to get my Korean wife enrolled through Medicare. However, since I am a retired service member in Korea and my wife is Korean they said I have to go through the US Embassy in the Philippines. I started in March 2021 and some of the delay was sending certified mail to Manila. I did that through a military postal service. It took a month to get to Manila, the Philippines and sat there for 3 months due to a lock down. Finally around October the Medicare section in Manila said all the correct paper work was done and was sent to the US for processing.
My wife still hasn't received anything and now it has been 11 months and 2 weeks since we have started. I contacted Medicare in the US but they said I have to check with the US Embassy in the Philippines. However, the US Embassy says they have to wait for Medicare to finish in the US.
Talk about lazy, worthless and incompetent people. As a retired US Army service member, I was proud to serve my country. My only regret is that we also serve and protect those who could care less about us.
In Canada, wait times are only an issue if you are in the emergency room with a head cold, trying to push the guy in respiratory arrest out of your way. I'm never waited more than 20 minutes for anything important.
UK NHS is the same.
In Germany as well
Estonia as well
In Italy is the same
I work with ER charts in the Chicago area, the wait times are just as bad currently, if not worse. Some wait up to 6 hours just to be seen, a good majority just leave. I'm all for universal healthcare. It's a change and it's a scary one for sure, but in the long run it'll be much better.
The biggest mind boggle, to me, is this:
Americans would rather pay a for-profit company *more,* just so they can pat themselves on the back for paying the government *less.*
Jinx Dragon Truth!
The word taxes just strikes fear into the hearts of millions, even if they seem okay with being taxed for military expenditure. But damn if it's for education, healthcare, roads... Which, when you cut taxes, you hike up the deficit, and then the rationale to cut social programs is opened for you. Americans pay corporate taxes, which seems fine to them. The insurance companies, big banks, etc, may drain us dry, but goddamn if we have to pay some more to the government so they can provide us with things we need.
It's cause Fox New and other lobbyist give off the illusion of choice is better than single payer. They aren't listening to reasoning, they're listening to whack job pundit and fear mongering corporate lead propaganda media. Truth is, the rich will lose money. Insurance companies make massive profits keeping them privatized. As long as they can keep making money, they will pit the poor against each other. Crabs in a bucket, fighting for scraps.
it's a racism/classism thing. there's a lot of people that hate the idea of poor people or black abd brown people having access to services funded by taxpayers. there's this prevailing belief that only white and rich people pay taxes.
Sounds like someone who’d rather have the government have control over their very life. I’d prefer to have control over my own life.
I feel so fortunate to live in a country (Australia) that has a healthcare system that will assist homeless people when ill or injured.
So does the US
@@jsebby2284 It will not but ok.
When my appendix had burst, I went to the ER, got emergency surgery two hours later and went home after a week. My bill never arrived because you don't get a bill for that where I'm from
When my daughter was three years old we did not have health insurance. We fell into that gray area of making too much to qualify for medicaid, but not enough to pay for private health insurance. One evening she fell off our neighbor's porch and got a concussion. By the time the hospital saw her and gave her a CAT scan we were already looking at thousands of dollars that we couldn't afford. Then they wanted to hold her overnight to make sure she was ok. We had to sign a paper saying we were removing her against the Dr.'s wishes. I had to make a choice that night between my daughter's life and becoming homeless. No one should ever have to make a decision like that. I spent the rest of the night sick to my stomach crying and scared to death. We woke her up every 20 minutes or so to check on her. It is absolutely a fucking crime that the US does this to people.
I am sorry to hear about this sad story. It's heart breaking. No parent should be facing such a decission. I hope your daughter has fully recovered and is being well. As a european I can only shake my head about a discussion if free healthcare for all is a good thing. It should be a basic human right. But don't forget: You and your fellow people have a chance to make a change in the next election.
Frank is right. I've been thousands in medical debt for years and nothing more than a mark on my credit score has happened. They will fall off my report in two years.
@Frank Tank 50% of a nightmarish bill is still often more then most average people can afford. When a society has injured people begging bystanders to NOT call an ambulance because they cannot afford the trip to hospital, that society has a huge problem.
@Frank Tank, people when presented with a bill however ridiculous generally feel it is their duty to pay it. They don't think 'well I don't have any money I cant pay it, so I won't'. They think I have a couple of bucks I put aside for groceries I can do without food for a few days and make a payment.
If you did not have the income you would send in your documentation and become a charity case. I hope this is not a true story hopefully your daughter is OK
One thing I wish Oliver had brought up is that when the cost of an individual visit to the doctor is no longer an issue, lots of people would go see the doctor about minor health issues. This would lead to great many medical problems being caught and treated in early stages, and less people suffering from serious medical issues would be a net benefit to society.
YEP!
That's also why it needs to cover dental. Most people have no idea how much their dental health affects their overall health, that is until something goes wrong.
Also vision because you need to be able to SEE.
Maybe if we could get people to stop shoving those pineapples up their asses it might actually lower costs.
You are right... the best medicine is the preventive medicine
Yeah I've never seen an estimate of how much the treatment of overall health and preventative medicine would save.
@Jody Owen did the fact that roads that you drive on were built for "free" make you an irresponsible driver?
A wise man said "America is a third world country with a Gucci belt"
Sounds like a dumbass
and a diet coke.
@@jsebby2284 gucci belt and good infrastructure. The third world country still stands. [and yes, the first/third world means about the cold war and whose side you were on. but times change, and so does meaning]
@@pranavkondapalli9306 no
@@jsebby2284 why not
Almost five minutes in and I have to say...
As a German, who never even once in his life had to worry about "cost" of medical care, medicine and everything surrounding it, I can't believe what I'm seeing!
I'm seriously baffled, why americans are not marching through the streets by the millions to change that crazy system.
I'm chronically sick and need a lot of medication, but I don't pay more than 250€ (the same in $) a year and get back around a hundred dollars at the end of the year. And I never experienced any of the problems, that opponents of M4A have as talking points. Our hospitals are run well, I don't wait for months to get an appointment, I can visit every doc I want, we have very good doctors and medical staff and and and..
Are there problems? Of course, nothing is perfect. But I think not being insured or underinsured or DYING are much worse than these...
Edit: almost finished the clip and I have to say...
Everything above, but add disgusted rage!!
My brother had to go to a hospital twice. The hospital he went to required them to ride in an ambulance or they wouldn't accept the patient. Both rides individually cost $1100, which added up to $2200 together. That was just the rides to the hospital both times, before he actually received care.
@@thats-too-salty this is unbelievable! And he had to pay that, although he had insurance? How is that possible? (Almost) No one can pay that amount of money!
I have to ask, do you have to pay in the moment you use the ambulance or do you get a bill, later? And what about the hospital? Do you habe to pay for every pill, treatment and so on ?
@@RobHel The ambulance and hospital send you bills a week or two after. Every pill, IV injection, even a band-aid or a pair of gloves can be itemized for $1,000's. It's practically impossible to dispute these charges. Insured or not you're screwed. One hospital trip could mean a lifetime of debt.
The downside is that patients in Germany do not have any awareness about what procedures actually cost and there is no incentive to keep cost low. In addition, when I lived in Germany you had to wait forever at the doctor's and catch each other's germs in overfilled waiting rooms. I think it's different with private insurance, but my family was on the general public insurance.
This is all quite inefficient and the health insurance has a lot of trouble with fraud.
It's better than nothing, but not a shining example for the world.
@@erikt1713 sorry, but I never had to wait forever for an appointment. When I'm sick, I call at the doctor's office and get an appointment pretty quickly or sometimes just go there without appointment, wait a bit and see the doc. And I don't know anyone, who ever had that problem.
And I have no idea, what you mean by fraud? When did you live here and for how long?
And of course, there is an incentive to keep the cost low! Hospitals are run by private companies (Helios,Asklepios aso) and of course, they want to keep the cost low. Which is stupid, Hospitals shouldn't be used for profit motives...
And there's not that much of a difference, between private and public Healthcare. That's why not that much people use it.
The illusion of choice is basically the heart of late capitalism
this!
medicare for all is communism. Look at communist countries like Venezuela and China.
@@Predestinated1 "Communism is when the government does things. The more things government does, the communister it is" - Karl Marx while dunking on a liberal, apparently.
Pre destinated yeah we shouldn’t have the government pay for anything, let’s just get rid of taxes and have the companies run the emergency services and Congress. Screw the government 😡
@@Predestinated1 VeNeZuAlA & cHiNa
As a German I'm so grateful that my country has provided public health care since the 80s.
Btw I'm not talking about 1980s, I'm talking about the 1880s.
amazing from uk )))
Henning Wehn:
“We don’t do charity in Germany. We pay taxes. Charity is a failure of governments’ responsibilities."
@Conor 44 yeah 5 out of 140 years are rather tainted
@@hisdivinegraceimperialmaje4178 your health care sucks, still better the ours. Please don’t take offense,😃.
@@craftycrofty377
Exactly
America's healthcare system is horrific. I ❤ NHS 👏👏👏 You guys deserve so much more in the US
Tbf the NHS deserves so much more support than it’s getting here too
I couldn’t imagine living in a country where healthcare wasn’t a birthright.
Healthcare is a birthright in the US.
@@jsebby2284 a fantasy.
@@davidalves31057 well no - its true
@@jsebby2284 Let's get you back to bed, Grandpa.
@@Minumer let's get you to try and make an actual point, dumbass
Meanwhile in Norway, I broke both my legs a few years ago at a party passed out got picked up by an ambulance turns out I require immediate surgery, got the surgery a few hours after arrival got checked in and got a bed and care for a weak and then an ambulance got me home on my release day, the ambulance staff got me up the stairs and into my bed gave me a wheelchair and built a wheelchair accessible environment inside my house and even though I know that our health system is cheap I got scared about the cost only for them to tell me that I owe nothing because I've already paid for it in taxes, my god do I love my life and country
The people who drove you home in an ambulance altered your house so it's wheelchair friendly? Like did they move furniture and stuff?
"SOCIALISM" sure does suck!
You uh. You looking for a wife? Hahaha
@@chubbydawme yes, but only after I allowed them to
@@mohmu9
There's someone asking if you want a wife too, you know. Don't leave her hanging.
My mom needs a specific inhaler for her lungs.
My moms doctor has told her she needs it.
My moms doctor prescribed it to her.
My moms insurance told her she doesn’t qualify for the inhaler.
Welcome to choice and Freedom in America.
Yep. I could build my own clinic with the amount of medication rejection letters I’ve gotten even with the same situation you described.
I’m so sorry to hear that bullshit.
This! It's so hard to explain this to "healthy" people who've never been in this situation or something similar.
And that is legal is it? Man, I am glad I do not live in America.
There was a documentary about a decade ago where they took people to Mexico and bought those inhalers for about a dollar each.
Being opposed to people getting free or affordable health care is one of the most vile things I can think of, and that's saying a lot considering what vile crap people are capable of.
That’s because a lot of Americans are selfish. They all have the hurray for me fuck you attitude
Fox News in a nutshell:
Pick an unanimously undisputed subject and ask "What does that mean", then proceed to demonize that said subject.
I live in Sweden and my 8 year old sister had to get an heart surgery, she was in the hospital for 11 days, we didn't have to pay a single dollar. The fact that some Americans life can be turned upside down over a medical bill is insane and heart breaking.
edit: so this blew up....
To answer some of your questions. First yes in Sweden we don't have as large of an population as in the US but that also means we don't have as many tax payers. In Sweden only the people with salary over 195 dollars per year. The tax goes to our version of "state" from that you get free healthcare, free school lunch (good food) you can also get financial compensation if you are sick, home with children and more.
For a reference some one who earn 3079,26 dollars per mount would pay 756,78 dollars in taxes.
So there is not "the rich" who pay it's all of us.
The main difference is how much money the people pay and what it goes to. In Sweden we have good welfare but basically no army and you have it the other way around. I am not saying that you should do as Sweden but there is a way you can get free healthcare but still have what you have. I don’t know maybe if you higher taxes a little bit and take a little bit of money from somewhere else for example your military budget or space forces thing that money could go to free healthcare.
And also yes i know the change can't be done over night. Realistically if free healthcare is what you wont it would probably take at the vary least a decade to get to that point. But to start heading that way would yes indeed be the smart anything else is just stupid.
Some of them don't get hospital bills because they choose not to receive treatment because of the high out of pocket cost, or because they have no insurance. Which is even more heart breaking.
Helen E yeah I don’t get how it’s Evan an debate
The thing is, if my kids needed surgery, I'd go into debt making sure they're healthy. I'm still paying their NICU bills from when they were born. Meanwhile there's so many things I should see a doctor for for myself, but I can't justify the cost.
Farnes Family Scrapbook children always comes first BUT you deserve to be healthy too💕
I heard most sweeds arw rich
"To the privileged, equality feels like oppression."
When you quote, give credit to the ppl that came up with the quote. Thanks
“ I don’t want to work as hard as others, give me things I haven’t earned” - Victim Mentality
DIGITAL PIGEON Except insurance for all is near essential for Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
“I’m a self-righteous asshole who belittles other people for wanting functional healthcare because I was randomly born into better circumstances than most.” -DIGITAL PIGEON
@@digitalpigeon4570 Ah yes, the hard work of inheriting money and not having to pay taxes in the first place. So hard.
"But Sarah Palin's 4th attempt at cloning herself actualy has a point there" lmao. Nailed it.
He just said what I was thinking 🤷♀️ 🤣🤣🤣
Oh SUPER UBER BURNNNNNNNN 🤑🤑😆😆🤣😂🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
I am literally watching this from my free hospital bed where I have been for the past 3 days....pretty sure universal healthcare is a good thing.
hope you've recovered and are well
I'm Canadian and I will never forget the first time I learned, as a teen, that not all Americans want universal health coverage. I was sitting beside an American girl on the plane who was around my age who was telling me why having free healthcare would be bad and I was completely mind-blown. I grew up with the mindset that I could walk in to any hospital or clinic or call an ambulance and get high quality care without paying anything so I always thought the fact that healthcare is a human right was a no-brainer.
Sometimes it feels like Americans are like that girl who's only ever been in unhealthy relationships and when she meets a great guy, she breaks up with him because she thinks something must be wrong with him to be so good to her.
I read this joke once that Canada and America are England’s kids. Canada was the good kid who stayed close to mom and followed the plan. They ended up with a healthy country full of happy people. America was the rebellious little shit who spit in mama England’s face. America ended up with a country full of crazy people who want to go to war all the time.
Moral of the story is: be a Canada. Lol
@sleepypie roll tide
@joe 6pack They only charge you if you didn't really need it. You probably called for something non-urgent. Nobody I know has ever been charged for calling an ambulance
Ditto from Australia. Taking care of your population isn’t just the right thing to do, financially it works out way better in the end as well.
Bavo
I wouldn't have formulated it in a better metaphor.
Indeed, I am astonished how it doesn't come as suspicious for many Americans how proud they are of their system.
In a vulgar generalization I would say Europeans complain about their healthcare system, and even in Canada we know our system doesn't do as good as in Europe but we're proud that we're doing better than the US on many variables.
The US healthcare system has the single worst outcome among developed nations and yet Americans believe they're number one...speaking of a blue pill and a rabbit hole...unbelievable.
"Having a choice" isn't a good thing when the "choice" is Go Bankrupt or Die.
Yup, our system sucks. I say our since we Chileans have the same insurance scam here, thanks USA for all your "gifts".
you're right. it's not a choice, it's an ultimatum
a choice where one option is death is not a choice, it’s an ultimatum
Hey American freedom!! Pissed myself writing this 🙃 👌
My mother actually told me I would die before she went into debt...
There are so many groups out there fighting for universal healthcare in the US! We don't have to live like this. Keep calling and writing to all levels of government, and protect voting rights. This country could be amazing if it weren't crushed by greed. Healthcare is a human right, and we have to keep fighting for it! Fuck these insurance companies that prey on millions of Americans, this doesn't have to be normal!
Healthcare is not a human right. It is a commodity.
Your comment is great and incredibly important.
Keep fighting for a fair health care system.
Laws can be changed.
It's not impossible to fix this problem.
I have chronic and severe emphasema and although the hospital brought me the insurance paperwork so _they'd_ be reimbursed by Medicaid until I got it, and although I only had 85% O2 on room air after 20 paces they discharged me without 02 and with thousands of $s worth of scripts!
By state law anyone who falls below 90 % 02 qualifies for supplementary oxygen the social worker said "Yes, but who's going to pay for it?!"
I asked "So you're sending me out to suffocate?!"
She responded "I don't know what to tell you!?"
After being rushed out because I was slowly packing my things and stopping to catch my breath they had SECURITY come to my room
I said "I'm leaving but I just got over pneumonia and I can't breathe enough to go any faster"
After 11 months and probably a trip per month to the ER I finally got disability insurance but, if not for an asthmatic friend w/ a surplus of inhalers that I needed but couldn't afford, and an oxygen compressor that was my mother's but, she hadn't needed it in years that we still had I'd have certainly died 10 years ago!
The disability insurance application was denied twice before I saw one of _their_ Drs is so complicated that I'm sure it's rigged so that most applicants find it confusing or they die before actually receiving the insurance.
List every job you've had in the past 20 years and how much time you spent per day, walking, sitting, standing, crouching, kneeling, etc ...!
Now try doing it while you're sick, and untreated for your illness. For everyone who finally gets the insurance I'm sure there's another who couldn't get through the paperwork, make the several appointments (90 miles from my apt! To see a pulmonologist who's been approved by the state!
I was approved 3 days after seeing a pulmonologist who couldn't believe the condition of my lungs and treated me at the appointment before feeling comfortable with my leaving.
The frequent and completely available exacerbations and bouts with atypical pneumonia caused my lungs to get worse than when I first applied.
Influenza nearly killed me; having to be intubated twice. I was then under hospice care for a few years until being discharged 6 months ago.
I'm now living in a FOR PROFIT skilled nursing facility and these are unconscionably horrible places!
Nothing like you see in an "A place for Mom" ads !
The room I'm in is set up 2 to a room but, precovid it was 4 to a room! I've lived in 2 and they're all varying degrees of understaffed , unmotivated, horrible in every way imaginable!
If not for the pain meds I take for having a back surgery and the antianxiety meds I'd have lost my mind completely.
I don't know if socialized medicine is the answer but, our helth care system couldn't get any worse.
Having ironically been able to keep my mom out of a nursing home ; having the honor and the privilege of taking care of her for 15 years, after my back surgery I couldn't do the same for myself
Hospice (palliative care) is the best care but, its for those who are going to likely die in 6 months or less but, it procludes you from taking the physical therapy.
Now that I've been discharged from Hospice my legs have atrophied to the point that I can no longer walk
I'm going to try to walk again and get out of this place so I can get some semblance of a life back!
Maybe I'm ranting but, this one hit so close to home I felt I'd comment to a lesser degree but, now that I'm done I'll send it through emphasizing that I should be dead under the current system. If not for an asmathic friend and my mom's oxygen concentrator I would be I'm sure
Im also sure that not everyone will just happen to have such good fortune so something has to change when it comes to health care and for profit nursing homes and assisted living facilities in this country!
Lastly, I'm not bitter or angry normally. I'm super positive most of the time but, I do get depressed but, I think that's normal. By the grace of God I'm alive and breathing and that's hope!
If you've read all of this 🤣 you could have been looking for something decent on Netflix!
Do your best to take care of yourselves and I implore you...do everything in your power to keep your family members out of these for profit nursing homes!✌️❤️🎸🎶🙏
Stan in Miami
"We all too often have socialism for the rich and rugged free market capitalism for the poor." - Martin Luther King Jr. | Democratic Socialist
Are you really hating on Martin Luther King Jr? That’s like... hating a newborn. That’s just weird
@@thegreatkingofevilganondor1500 Uh no, he's quoting MLK to show that the rich that hate socialism, benifit from it
It's funny how socialism is acceptable when banks need a massive, taxpayer-funded bailout.
That is so well put and so true. See TARP for example
@@thegreatkingofevilganondor1500 Do you understand the quote?
No one on Fox New has ever said "But how are we gonna pay for that" when we send troops to the Middle East. Not once.
Great point. This is because they're bought off by the military industrial complex which is what Dwight D. Eisenhower warned the American public about 59 years ago.
Or on CNN or MSNBC.
@@tegridyfarms9972 Facts. Let's not pretend Fox is alone in this sin.
Cody Crouse they’ve been “bought off” because the US military is a lot more self-sustaining than most people think. That spending brings a lot of new tech. Tech that eventually reaches the public by the way of new and innovative products. And that tech is licensed/sold by the military, which brings sustainability to the system.
@@wiggy8912 Really? Tell that to the shitty GPS units and computers I had the entire time I was in the military.
It will never not resonate with me with that the base premise for one of our countries most popular shows of all time is “high school chemistry teacher creates meth empire after insurance company won’t cover costs of necessary medical treatments”
You realize the thing that resonates with you you just completely made up right?
@jsebby2284 Breaking Bad is a popular show, whether you like it or not
I was always so confused about this kind of motivation. I remember asking my parents during multiple movies "Why don't they just go to the hospital?"
It made absolutely no sense to me, how someone would need money for treatment.
Fun Fact -- After Medicare came in in Canada, the doctor's started to make so much money that it became a problem. The Insurance companies are still operating in Canada. The doctors and the insurance companies spent millions to try to keep Canada from getting Universal Healthcare and they even brought reps from the AMA in the States to help.. Canada told them to go "Pound Sand". The country was right and we have enjoyed the benefits for over sixty years and the whole plan has NOT gone "tits up" at all.
I can't believe you guys have to pay to call an ambulance. How cruel is that?
People are literally calling Ubers to pick them up to go to the ER instead of ambulances nowadays. It's disgusting.
And its usually costs $15,000. And if u dont have insurance thats covering u gotta pay that 15k
One of my family members had a heart attack and he called his friend to make him drive him to the hospital-just because ambulance costs are ridiculous (even with good insurance)
@@mj-np9sy Apparently you still get billed for the ambulance ride anyways even if you go Uber. You know why? Cause we're the greatest country on earth.
My son had a bad seizure. We called 911 like you do. We were billed full price from the ambulance because it was “out of network”. I looked it up and there are no ambulance services that are “in network” and I live in one of the most populated cities in my state. If this is not extortion I don’t know what you would call it.
As an Austrian, when it comes to HealthCare, I consider the USA to be a Thirdworld country.
@cnmmd qiuoo Take it from someone living in a country where it works. You have to put in the money. Ecosocial Economy, everyone has to chip in, whether he uses the services or not. The ones with money catch the ones without.
As an Australian, when it comes to healthcare, I also consider the USA to be a Third World country.
As an American, I consider my healthcare to be third world or worse
@cnmmd qiuoo what country is that?
You're right it's not all good and it needs funding and good management but it works very well and saves a lot of lives in most places.
As a Briton who recently had a knee operation and was severely ill a few years ago my experience of the NHS has been outstanding, excellent staff, facilies and costs our country very little.
I also had the misfortune of getting an infection in America. I spent a fortune to get a third rate service in a horrific clinic, no one else would touch me as my travel insurance didn't cover the USA (oversight on my part). It was a horrible nightmare and access was difficult to get, even though I had money.
Oddly I have experienced healthcare in Cuba (on holiday years ago) it was basic and the facilies were run down but excellent. Also in a country with a chronic concrete shortage due to sanctions the buildings are rubbish!
The NHS (UK) where I have lived most of my life.
Germany, where I worked for several years. Systems Nd facilities were amazing but the system was complicated.
Switzerland - spent one year and only visited the GP. Results were mixed but it was extremely expensive.
Since im living in Norway, we laugh about US and how the joke of a health care works.
And literally nobody cares
@@jsebby2284 Seems like you care
Same here in Denmark 😉
I too live in Scandinavia but laughing about the awful American health care system isn't funny at all. I just have the o utmost sympathy for the people
What's to laugh about? Is it how much we pay for deductibles or the tens of millions of people who are currently uninsured? Most of us want it changed because the pockets of the pharmaceutical and insurance companies are given priority over us. There's no punchline here, it's just sad.
I live in the UK and just so you know, we still have a private healthcare system too. If you have wealth you can pay to miss all of the waiting lists and have choice, if you are poorer you get care and it is free, it is the best of both.
However everyone is terrified that the NHS has been sold off to private companies. The service has been devastated the past 12 years by a pro privatisation, neo-liberal, government. We are desperate to keep it for the people even though it is not as good as it was.
This so much!!! High time, especially post-pandemic (though it's more back-end than true post) we gave our NHS more funding... A box of individually wrapped chocolates (I think they were Heroes aptly) for the staff vaccinating my local area a couple of Decembers ago (2021 I think - it's just started 2024) was the least I could do to say thanks xxx And I don't have much loot. Our government can do so much more...
If one more politician says it's too expensive, I want to ask them why Canada, England, New Zealand, Germany, France, ... can afford something we can't?
The difference is that these are democratic countries and america is more like russia.
Its the same psuedo-patriots who believe America is incompetent compared to every other developed nation and should pay more for worse results.
Run Nur america is an incompetent, third world shithole.
Expense apparently wasn't, and still isn't an issue when it comes to tax cuts for inordinately wealthy people and corporations or wars.
Just ask how are you going to pay for it when they want to go to war again.
"The waiting lines would be longer"
Oh so the solution is to make it too expensive for poor people to get help, so the rich dont have to wait. Great thinking there.
Yes, it's after all the rich that're paying for the party.
@@mr.thongsong8473 ...and it's exploiting the labor of the poor that made them rich in the first place.
@@mr.thongsong8473 The rich don't pay for shit. Take away their employees and the rich don't have a damn thing.
@@twentyarms Exploiting? Hahahah :'D You commies are ridiculous. You selling your labor is not you being exploited.
@@mandlerparr1 Of course they do. If their business model needs other people then you're right. What's your point? That there isn't one guy developing, making, marketing, selling and servicing the Iphone and that means that they don't own their money?
I live in Canada and my sister had cancer a few years ago, she is now cancer free, thanks to the timely chemo and we are not in debt. Thanks Canada.
Thank you so much John for spitting out some facts. I'm so tired of Republicans using the so-called long wait times as an excuse to hold us back from trying to get Universal Healthcare. I feel like it's time for a change in our health system ASAP!
"He drove me not to the closest hospital, but to the closest network hospital - the bill was 3000 dollars". This sounds so weird if you are from Europe and makes me appreciate our healthcare system even more. Can't imagine living life in fear of going bankrupt because my appendix has to be removed. If it has to, I go to the closest hospital and it costs exactly zero dollars. If I have a job or not. Welcome to humanity. America, go for it.
MarsIJOB I had a similar situation happen to me, except that I was charged $6k. Lost what little faith I had in our health care system.
Be careful... your conservatives are trying to move you into a system more like what we currently have.
@Tom Guadalupe What the fuck. "So you go bankrupt, big deal. You're in serious debt because of a sickness you could have not prevented in any way, but at least we're not communists like the rest of the developed world."
The problem is that big businesses use heath insurance as leverage against their employees, and the medical industry makes up about 1/3 of our economy, and 1/3 of Americans are part of what's called the Republican party which unofficial motto is "fuck americans , fuck america!"
@@Fuctmentality can you explain how companies use health insurance as leverage?
The cost of insulin for me recently went from $20 to $260.
As a T1 Diabetic, I will literally wind up in the hospital in a week, or die, without it.
Insurance company wasnt actually sure if I needed it or not. Yeah, "Choice."
See for us in Sweden, we'd pay about half that in full, then about half of the remaining for the rest. A little less since you're about 20-30 dollars into the 25% tier already with a 10% tier beyond that as well. Once the total, unreduced, cost reaches around $600 you wouldn't pay anything further. Reduced, it's lower than your monthly figure, though not by much.
For any prescription medication, including some other things like contraception.
Without messing with any insurance company or any other middle man beyond a doctor.
For a 12 month period.
Of course, the above is all moot since you wouldn't pay for Insulin in the first place. In Sweden we recognize your actual need for the medication to be able to live and don't charge for it and have since the 1950s.
well, I guess you could also try Keto diet. maybe that could help you in some way :S
I know my aunt is a diabetic, and she is doing better on keto.
also, jesus, that's one hell of a price.
@@svetlanasygiainen5339 keto works for type II diabetes, when the body still produces insulin. Type I diabetes patients have to have insulin injections, nothing else works.
Ouch, I feel for you, Lockstin. What choices do we have now? The 1 or 2 insurance companies who operate in your state? The single company that your Corporate boss chose for you? Not much choice for most everyone, unless they are rich.
Aka Kulebyaka damn, that’s so shitty ! Diabetes sucks. Dunno what else to say. Hopefully America will have Medicare soon. Sorry that I can’t help. :(
I can't understand anyone who defends this system. I am stuck at my job and stuck living with people I can't stand because my medical conditions are so expensive to treat.
Yes. The US healthcare non-system is ethically and morally perverted. Too many Americans fall for the smear and fear tactics, exaggerated claims and flat out idiotic statements like: Socialism!
@@8sun52 "non-system" is a perfect way to describe it.
@@TheGozeraye Glad you agree. Yeah this is part of the "great freedoms" in the US that these pundits talk about.
Yeah, riiight...
I was more involved with this issue years ago, going to meetings with a group of Medicare for All retired doctors.
I worked a little bit with Marilyn Clement's Healthcare for All campaign. She was a tireless activist and advocate. Her quote: "...Working for the common good is a wonderful way to live a wonderful way to spend a lifetime."- Marilyn Clement, June 7th 2003
Marilyn Clement 6/30/35 - 8/03/09
It's's just appalling the indifference so many Americans have with people in your situation. They really don't care. They have their health insurance. They don't even say "Yeah, we have to get everyone covered with comprehensive, affordable health insurance... De-link it from employment."
We advocates just feel terrible for everyone who's going through your situation or similar situations. And a lot of us including me are or were going through your situation, similarly or exactly.
It's just disgusting how too many Americans are indifferent to this issue as long as they have their health insurance.
They just better hope they don't get severely injured or a serious disease that could easily max out their insurance; or if they lose their job.
The documentary "Sicko", covers just this reality of the US Healthcare non-system.
Their attitude: "Everybody else, sorry about your health care issues or your predicament, but just stay away from my health insurance". "Socialism!"
In spite of everything I still have a lot of hope.
Take care...
A portion of every health insurance premium is used by insurance companies to pay lobbyists to prevent the implementation of universal health care.
and there you have it. And why do we still call it lobbying. It's downright corruption. Because. you know, why otherwise would anybody vote against a good honest health care system.
As a German it is unbelievable to me that people wouldn’t want health care accessible for everyone
We do want it. Our corporate masters dont.
moewkittylove probably half of those people think “I got mine, get yours.” The other half has been convinced that implementing a system like this one is another step closer to calling each other “comrade.”
A lot of Americans have been brainwashed by the ruling class
Brainwashed fucktards, half of them dying of preventable diseases themselves ... just sadly not fast enough to qualify for darwinism.
Rk0788 k lol why would anyone get fined for not having healthcare if everyone was given healthcare by default
I got a procedure a couple years ago! After TENS of calls to the doctor, Hospital and the insurance company to make sure everything was IN NETWORK, several weeks after the procedure, I GOT A HUGE bill in the mail. When I called the insurance, they said the ANESTHESIOLOGIST on the day of my procedure was OUT OF NETWORK!
I HAD NO WAY TO FIND OUT THAT OR CONTROL THAT, IN ANY WAY AT ALL!
Despite doing everything I could, I still ended up paying THOUSANDS!
The US healthcare system is a SHAM so the ULTRA RICH CAN PROFIT OFF of our hardship, suffering and disease!
MEDICARE FOR ALL! Bernie2020!!!
Btw, I have since moved to Canada and LOVE the universal healthcare system here! I can literally go to ANY DOCTOR OR HOSPITAL ANYTIME AND DONT NEED TO TAKE OUT MY WALLET AT ALL!
Please don’t buy into the scare tactics of the media and lying politicians, GO FOR MEDICARE FOR ALL! GO FOR BERNIE!
Same thing happened to my wife. In network hospital but out of network anesthesiologist. We had no clue and no one told us.
We appealed for a year and got turned down every time. We ended up having to pay and it sucked cause it was not our fault. Why would an in network hospital have out of network doctors? That is fucking stupid.
Imagine that a member of the one percent broke your back with his habitual drunk driving / attempted hit & run and you became bankrupt for life…
I don't have imagine it, as this has been my life since I was twenty two...
You can sue, but it will cost you $3 to $4 for each $1 you collect...
This is why I only collected $1100 from him, and the family of a medical student he put in a nursing home collected absolutely nothing...
F-you Mr. M. Sidhu & F-you Progressive too !!!
Progressive: You insured his Mercedes for more than his Liability because you are sick !!!
F-you CHP, as you demanded a blood sample from each of us and they were negative of intoxicants, but didn't breathalyze a habitual drunk driver !!!
So he caused a fifth injury accident !!!
I'm in Europe and I pay 250€ / month for healthcare.The only thing i need to pay is 5€ for each medication. Nothing for surgery, regular check-ups, psychotherapy, physiotherapy, ...
And beyond Bernie you guys need something to rally around after his term(s) are over.
And representatives that either honestly support, or paint themselves into the corner of, that vision for america.
And fixing the ouroboros political system of gerrymandering, two party system, media manipulation that lead to this mess in the first place.
Only way I see out of it is to build enough support for the causes to win by wide margins every time multiple times in a row on every level of governmen.
I had a similar problem with a shoulder injury. The doctor got so frustrated and i was in such pain he schedule the surgery and told me the office would take care of the insurance. The amazing thing is that they did and my bill was about 1,000.
The funny part about "oh no, we don't want to have this new healthcare plan because lines" is that you ALREADY have lines. I worked in an ER and during the busy times we had people waiting 6 hours for EMERGENCY care. So you still lose a day AND break your bank. In most countries with free healthcare you still have private practice, so if you don't have money you are covered by the free coverage, and if you do have money to spend you can choose to spend it or not. It's always better to have that choice than to just be forced to not buy food so you can go to a doctor.
I've heard countless people on the internet complain about NHS and then qualify it with "but I'm glad it's not the US Healthcare system"
Watching this as a German, I a) don't get why Americans put up with this and b) was shocked that a health aid organization, literally founded to help developing nations, saw a bigger need in the US and went there instead... oO
we don't want to put up with it, but so many of the politicians have been bought off by the insurance companies that we can't get anything through
why do we put up with this? Because we live in an oligarchy and the for profit insurance and pharmaceutical companies own our politicians, media, and government, and effectively brainwash our people to believe universal health care is impossible or won't work, despite evidence it works everywhere else in the world
Brainwashed to a point where it is purely a cult like population who are gladly screw themselves just to screw the other guy.
My friend in Germany says the same thing. Americans never vote for their best interest.
Rob Collins
Yep exactly this. It's frustrating and terrifying.
It's amazing how something as "radical" as Medicare for all is just common sense in other countries
@Larry Byrd Wow. I'm sorry mate. Longshot but I hope something works out for you. But you're story is exactly why we need Medicare for all
@Larry Byrd I'm sorry that happened to you
Everything that works in other countries is "radical" because murica....
@Larry Byrd I'm so sorry what happened to you..I was searching articles about Car-T until I read this comment.(My niece is in remission of ALL,We're Japanese)I found exactly "Trump Administration" made car-t available medicare benefit for "ALL"..It sucks.really sucks.Hoping there will be other way!!!!
You’re a badass, Larry Byrd, and our country has become a shithole meant for oligarchs over Americans.
"Medicare for All would be very expensive"
Audience: Laughs
Me: ??? Why is that funny.
As an Aussie I’m so proud of my country’s health care. When my little one was 3yrs old he was in an induced coma for 4 days and another 3 on the ward. Not too mention the ambulance trip included the normal ambulance and 2 MICA paramedics (mobile intensive care ambulance), the bill which I didn’t have to pay was $42k, and all the testing I have no idea how I could ever have paid for it. But instead the bill when He came home $0
*7 trillion on Middle East wars*
Media: *crickets*
*10 trillion + bailing out Wall Street*
Media: ...
Bernie proposes Universal Heath care like every other 1st world industrialized country
Media: WOAH THERE PAL
Man the USA spends 2 billion dollar A DAY for their military...
@@aljodomo Billion not Trillion. Still absurd.
Kelby Rock OMG MY THOUGHTS EVERY DAMN DAY!! They’ll pay for wars but fuck the health of AMERICAN CITIZENS!!🤦🏽♂️
Yeah I was waiting for Jake Tapper to ask them how we were going to pay for the war with Iran that this administration was trying to start. I mean he asks Bernie that question about M4A every time he sees him.
Bernie 2020! Thank God Oliver is back. All we had was that idiot Corporatist Bill Maher
German here: I can't believe America has this sort of problem.
What's the Medicare like Germany?
Neither can most of us.
Austria here, and it really is fucked up over the pond....
Believe it. I make 72k dollars a year and my premium is so high AND I still have to pay co-pays. The system is fucking ridiculous. I hate it so much. And on top of that, I still would have to pay a deductible and a percentage if I had a major surgery. Why do I pay a monthly premium if I still have to pay out of pocket before my insurance kicks in. What's the fucking point? It's the worst.
Germany doesn't have single payer. What are you talking about?
"When I hear healthcare is a right. What I hear is healthcare will no longer have choices" So you need a language course? I'd start with English 101! You can do it I believe in you!
I love how everyone living in the u.s is thinking they are on top of the world, in fact, even third-world countries are doing better in treating their citizens. It is pure comedy...
So true. Many African countries have a lower infant mortality rate than the US, but the way the US goes on about itself and looks down on everyone else, you'd think the reverse.
I Live in Brazil and moved to a city where Healthcare is poor, with a long waiting list. The system we have is very regional so while in areas like são Paulo and the south it gets really good as soon you get into the interior, like Minas, it gets laughable.
Not surprising, in this regions governers love to talk about "the American system" and how sus is terrible (while making it worst thenselves).
Most problems with health care are the basic small town corruption stuff than anything, and we still get all vacines at least
Americans would rather have the "freedom" to choose between treating their heart or their kidney than being forced to be able to treat both.
Being able to treat it all, takes away your choice, which in turn makes you a communist.
Stupid
@@autistiumhydroxide3614 That has got to be one of the stupidest fucking things I have ever heard anyone say in my entire life and I hope to god you were joking. But since this is the internet, I can't tell.
I know what choice do we have now? Which insurance company is gonna fuck us? Whether to go bankrupt or die cause you can't afford cancer treatment? I would rather choose the doctor I want (which M4A allows for cause everyone is gonna have it) than what name is on my insurance card.
I'm a nurse and it sickens me when I have a patient come in to the hospital because they blood pressure was through the roof because they couldn't afford their medications.
This needs to stop
Autistium Hydroxide yeah fuck communism, the government pays for the police too, and that’s communist as fuck, we should get rid of them
Joking about American healthcare is like joking about North Korea.
Incredibly funny until you realise how many people died for a punchline
Good point.
They didn't die so we can make jokes about it though. Humour is a good way to draw attention to a bad situation that people may ignore anyway, public humour and satire has been a force for good for centuries
This is so funny, I can't believe your comment doesn't have more likes!
Right on the money. Something I'm surprised that John Oliver didn't mention is how A: why is it that US life expectancy is *decreasing* with time (yep this shocked me to), and B: it spends the most on healthcare per person. I also feel very sorry for the people from the US who agree the "health system" is busted but have to endure the broad-strokes anti-US comments here.
@@clancyjames585 yeah true. Its so easy for outsiders to jump on the anti American bandwagon. Its not right not fair.
@@clancyjames585 I pity the USA,too.
Lets amplify and expand on your post:
"The U.S. continues to spend the most on healthcare per person, even though health outcomes and quality of care is not often ranked highest."
Translation: Its shittier healthcare for more money.
"Many European countries follow the U.S. in healthcare spending, but the big difference is most of that cost is subsidized by the government while the U.S. relies on costly, private health insurance plans"
Translation: Its a business. They want PROFITS! Pay or Die.
You are right,they are pathetic.
"Sarah Palin's fourth attempt at cloning herself"😂😂
As a French, I really don't understand why americans are so slow to make the right changes. Maybe in ten or twenty years you'll have NHS. We have it since 1946... Your system seems inhuman for us. Honestly, good luck to all of you.
Americans like choices Americans have only 2 political parties.
Does. Not. Compute.
Broken system. Its mindboggling for me as a german how a country with only 2 parties can even call itself a democracy.
There are other parties, but the first past the post creates a two party system. See CGP Grey's video about it.
Lmao! Or even to choose to have a baby
@@recklessroges Yeah, but voting for one of the other party is pretty much like "not-voting" since your votes doesnt do shit. That means that its almost impossible to punish a political party politicly after they fucked up. See the Trump Impeachement. If something like that happend in the US the Party simply wouldnt be elected in power again the next time, because we have more than 1 option. When you are a conservative you can vote like 3 different conservative parties and your vote will not be wasted. And corrupting the system (impeachement) like the GOP did would be almost impossible since its not one party, but a few and every one of them is slightly different. My english is terrible, I hope you get what I mean. :) / gonna watch the video
HELLOOOO!!! We have either A or B, that's choice, duh'.
John passed quickly over a point that needs to be expanded. Tying health insurance to people's jobs is a horrible thing. I know someone who is stuck in a dead-end crap job because a family member has a chronic condition. Changing to a better job would mean a gap in their medical coverage (there's usually a 3 - 6 month waiting period to get coverage with a new employer). They cannot take that risk. In a similar vein, a layoff or plant closure can mean that workers suddenly have no coverage. Health care should be PORTABLE.
You can change jobs and keep your former healthcare if you are willing to pay the extremely high COBRA premiums. Most people cannot afford them and that makes it virtually impossible to have portable healthcare in the U.S. for most employees. With the Medicare for all plan, that would no longer be the case for employees who would then suffer no loss of coverage when changing jobs as their healthcare would have no gaps or connection to any employer which is the only way to go.
Great point
Healthcare should be permanent.
Wait, healthcare plans in the US are tied to your jobs? That's fucked up...
Thank you for bringing this up. My mom was a slave to Cox Cable. She was a corporate slave. She hated her job, it affected how she felt about life, it affected what kind of mother she was and what kind of wife she was. Thank God she was able to retire. She's a completely different person, it's like I never knew her happy until recently. She lost all her young years to that company so her and her family could have health care. And we were healthy. It was so damaging to our family.
Thanks for spending the time to create and share this content 🙏🏾 We obviously got some tough work ahead of us this century and or next
9:08 Those people say, they don't want poor people to have access to medical care too, because *they* would have to *wait* in line then.
They put their *comfort* over the *health* of others.
This level of egoism should be a criminal offense and punished by law.
"Giving you $500 to go to mexico to buy drugs"
I literally cannot stop laughing
laughter turning into tears... yep :/
That’s literally my insurance and it’s one of the best around here... now I’m worried.
was it not paying the flight AND an extra 500? insane!
Son todos bienvenidos!!!, sobre todo con sus dolare$$$ :)
I'm on a Mexican radio. I'm on a Mexican whoa radio.
I went to the emergency room because I had a paranoid breakdown (I'm schizophrenic). They didn't give me medication, they didn't give me a room of my own. They propped me up in the waiting room between someone talking about homicidal thoughts and someone throwing things (great place to put the paranoid patient, sure). I was there for about 12 hours, during which I got to speak to a doctor for about half an hour but was given no treatment of any kind. They just waited for it to be over, which I could have done at home and at least then I'd have a cat to sit with.
I was charged over $2,000 for that AFTER insurance. Now my therapist is telling me if I feel paranoid or suicidal again I should call an ambulance. I'm like "Fuck no, I can't afford that, I'll just kill myself (or potentially someone else if I'm afraid of them for no reason) thanks."
That's the kind of health care you have in the US, the kind that leaves you at the mercy of people like me that can't always understand what the reality around them is. I should be in a fucking asylum, I don't feel other people are safe around me when I have episodes, but I can't afford it.
Oh but I can afford a gun, and they'd give me one if I tried to buy one because they don't check mental health history. So that's something.
so that's sorted, and cheap!
This makes me so angry and sad! Vote right (LEFT🤣) this year America! You have the right to universal healthcare! Some of my friends who aren't into politics can't believe that you don't have it. It's insane from a European perspective! All the best of luck to you!!!
I feel you there. I really do. I had several panic attacks and I went to the hospital for them too, the treatment I always got was kinda the same, then I just stopped to go there...I'm sorry for what you have to endure, but I feel that pain...I hope it will get better, I'm sure someday it will, killing yourself is not worth it, never. you can't know the future, at all. not worth to just end it, really
I'm a psych nurse, I'm sorry brother. You do belong with us. Paranoid schizophrenics are my favourite patients. To me you are heroes who bravely fight your own mind every single day. May I suggest Invega Sustana, or one of the other long acting prescriptions? If you go to the drug manufacturer's websites you can often get savings cards to help with the cost. I have to do that myself. Until then vote Bernie. #NotMeUs #PowerToThePeople
Thank you for sharing your story. NRA always blames mental health - but doesn’t lift a finger to help fix it. Thank you for being so brave, and facing the world everyday - and trying your best. I have been in very dark moments/places in my life too. It may be hard to visualize now, but trust me, life does get better.
Right now, insurance companies have little incentive to provide preventative care, or to intervene in a disease when it's early on in its progress and more easily treatable. Their incentive is to hold off as much treatment as they can for as long as possible. Why? Because in a few years, that patient will likely change insurance companies because of a job change or because their job changes carriers. Early treatment or preventative treatment is an investment - pay some now to avoid paying more later. But the attitude right now by private insurance carriers is: "why should I pay anything now so some other company can save money later?" Universal healthcare puts that incentive back into healthcare.
Years later and I still love this video. And we still don't have Medicare for All... and we won't anytime soon. Maybe ever.
"Honestly I can't see where the money will come from."
*spends trillions on defense and corporate subsidies*
Benjo Kazooie At the moment, the government has spent and obligated around $5.6 trillion on wars (the post-9/11 ones) and war-related efforts. About $716 billion of that is spent on paying the interest of the foreign debt. America has borrowed money because of emergency expenses related to overseas contingency operations by the State Department and the Department of Defense.
*massive companies paying zero in taxes*, *billionaires not paying their fair share*, *not legalizing cannabis, a booming industry*
Ding ding ding. The money is pretty much there already. Just have to make some cuts in the military, which already has way more than it really needs, and other areas and then add in proper corporate taxation and we should have it with no issue. Of course individual taxes will technically increase but if we can keep it around what people are paying in for insurance right now the "increase" won't be felt.
@@CurrerBellHooks I honestly don't understand how the US government does this. We pay for a shit ton of social policies in western Europe and meanwhile you're equally rich, if not richer, and struggle with just one element of that. And in the past we had even more social policies than today, plus much higher investment in the military. I just don't get it
Even worse, the argument falls apart because countries like Finland spend less government funding per capita on healthcare. Iirc only 4 spend more public money per capita. A lot of socialized healthcare systems are significantly cheaper than current US health budget.
And once you factor in private expenses for healthcare, the US system is so much more expensive than any other in the world, it is ridiculous.
"Americans love choices." Yea, right. Like last year FDA approved a gene therapy medication for SMA (Spinal muscular atrophy) called Zolgensma which is being priced for $2.1 MILLION per treatment. So if you are an American, and you or your loved one unfortunately has SMA, the choices for you is either paying $2,100,000 for the treatment or death. To me that's more like a hostage situation.
Here in Portugal a kid had that condition and since the therapy wasn't yet approved by our "FDA" the parents started a crowdfunding to get enough money to get it done in the US. It got so much media attention that the parents got their two million they needed, the therapy was approved, they did the therapy here in Portugal free of charge and used the money to create an institution that helps kids with the condition. I think two other kids also got the therapy since then. I cannot fathom how people can be against universal coverage.
It is a Hostage situation,
Eduardo Oliveira I can, it’s called Capitalism
"Choice" being used when talking against M4A is a dog whistle someone uses to say: you deserve to die in a ditch, as long as I can take home some of that sweet insurance company money hahaha.
It doesn't have to be anything so rare. Every year people die from being unable to pay for their insulin.
"The greatest country in the world"
*pppfffff LMAO*
Apparently a tooth extraction in the US can cost up to 4-fucking-thousand dollars.
I had one extracted last thursday for litterally not a single fucking dime ! (in france)
Yep. About 12 years ago the average price of an MRI in France was about $200. In the United States the same MRI, no difference, was about $1,200.
Reporting in for Germany.
Yeah, I never paid anything either other than another box of Ibuprofen
American here in Denmark. Let me tell you I gladly pay my taxes. Not having to worry about healthcare is a huge burden off your shoulders in life. Why shouldn't the US do the same? We call ourselves the UNITED States of America,but how unified is it to let our citizens die from lack of healthcare?
This is what shocks me the most. Even rats will stop and empathize if they see another rat hurting.
But didn’t Denmark just increase the amount of people private insurers can cover to offset costs and focus on the people that need the government healthcare
Aren't we the richest country in the history of the world? Didn't President Dwight D. Eisenhower - a Republican - warn the people of this country, in his farewell address, about what kind of problems a permanent military industrial complex would create? To anyone still on the fence regarding a one payer system in the U.S. because of financial reasons, look up our yearly military budget. Ask yourself if we couldn't squeeze enough cash from the DoD to pay for the whole thing - while still maintaining the most advanced fighting force on the planet. And whether THAT is still even necessary is a whole 'nother conversation...(no). We can launch a missile perfectly down a chimney from miles and miles away in often unjust wars on the other side of the planet, but first-time parents have to beg for money on the internet to get fucking eye surgery for their little girl. They were trying to raise ten grand, right? And they got $610.00? THIS is America.
If you want to pay taxes, that's great, but taxing people who DON'T want to pay them is literally theft as it is taking away their money without their consent!
I’ve had this conversation many times with ppl who are scared of the big S word, since it’s been embedded in our brains to fear socialism.
There's an old adage about gambling that goes like this: "They're not building casinos because you're winning, they're building them because you're losing." Well, same thing goes the health insurance companies. When insurance companies construct giant office buildings, when they pay their executives, and when they bribe politicians, they're doing it with the money they skimmed off of your healthcare. They are only make money when you're losing healthcare.
You're not "losing healthcare". It's called "being lucky enough to stay healthy". Either you need the insurance to pay for your medical bills, then it pays. Or you don't need them to pay. In that case, congratulations - you're healthy.
I've never heard a healthy person complain "Ooh, I paid all this money and now I'm not even sick!"
I did group travel for health insurance agents travel back in the 80's, sent one company, two movements of 800 people each to the Montreux Grand hotel in Switzerland at $550 a night, so 400 rooms for two weeks, $3M just for the hotel, include air, food, entertainment and all the planning and it was probably close to $10M. All from money spent to provide health care, this company did many other smaller but still expensive trips for it's sells force. We had a lot of insurance company business.
Consider the people who have gotten sick in our system and fucked over by it. That includes almost all of us. Those of us not lucky enough to have niche patronage in our private system are often crushed. Why don't you go talk to them?
Trine Langohr you literally have to sign up for healthcare during open enrollment, without knowing if you would get sick during the following year. So yes you do lose a bunch of money even if you stay healthy (hence insurance). I had health insurance for 1.5 year, i was lucky enough to have my appendix removed during, and only cost me 2,600 compared to 28,000 without insurance
Medicare for all is insurance and would still allow the arbitrary high prices but force everyone to pay them.
As a Canadian I love our universal health care. I had my gallbladder out in 2019 and I only had a 4 month wait after being diagnosed and I paid nothing! The only complaint I have is that it doesn’t include dental and eye care.
Of course you do, a true socialist loves using others hard earned money to pay the bills they should be responsible for.
As a German I can tell the system is better because you are insured and get what you need
Having our health care tied to our jobs is a visceral reminder that our lives hold no value if we cannot contribute economically
ding-ding-ding! You've cracked the code
Morgoth Bauglir that’s just called being fucking lazy everyone has to work and do something for a living
@@gc4104 So you're saying you prefer a world where everyone has to get a job or die to one where if someone wants to work, they can, and if they don't or can't, they don't have to.
@@gc4104 Tell that to the lazy fat turd in the white house.
@@SapphireDragon357 Yes.
This is the reason Europeans don't understand Breaking Bad. "Why didn't Walter just go to the hospital?"
PitLord777 😂
Exactly! Here if you need an ambulance you call an ambulance. No need to do the math. The American system is barbaric.
Yes, I am from Europe. I assumed the USA had what we have
Gerardo Not really. Hollywood bs aside. Whats wrong with US healthcare is too much government...not more! It’s estimated that the total price of healthcare would drop by 75%-85% if we turned free markets loose and allowed real competition to happen. Just think LASIK eye surgery. Most insurance companies don’t cover it so people are forced to shop cash and price shop. Result? In the past 20 years the price per eye has dropped as much as 96%. From $20,000 per eye to $800 today! At the sametime the heavy competition has driven quality of care way up. While the medicine, technology and care has improved, availability has increased too. The same thing can occur everywhere in medical care with more free markets and less government intervention.
@@andrewcarusone oh my god, you're a fucking idiot. You're part of the problem buddy.
The healthcare system is fucked up because of capitalism, nothing else. The reason it's so pricey is in part to a "chargemaster" which basically makes up fake prices so that insurance companies can get "discounts" on them.
You know, as a Brit with the NHS, it was a real comfort to know that when I got hit by a car and had to have multiple scans, our taxes paid for it. Or when my granddad's two week stay in hospital after surgery became a six month stay in three different hospitals in various wards including the ICU, our taxes covered it. My inhaler, my grandma's hyperthyroid medicine, my friends' anti-depressants and anti-psychotics.
I cannot stress enough how COMFORTING it is to literally not have to worry about your health all the time. Sure, there's a wait sometimes. But I would MUCH rather wait an hour in A&E, or half an hour at the GP, than know getting something I literally need to survive is going to put me out of pocket in the thousands.
4 years ago was about the time I got shot. An ambulance drove me a quarter mile($500) to a field where I was airlifted($30,000) to a hospital where I had surgery to repair my bladder and was kept for 9 days(5,000) my insurance refused to pay for any of it. The insurance that I had been paying $100ish every 2 weeks for 4 years. So yeah.