I fell off my ebike and broke my collarbone. In the immense pain and fear I was in I went to emergency clinic that forwarded me to an ER. I received no care at this ER and only sat in a bed for 4 hours before they discharged me. I’ve been refreshing my claims page for my government subsidized insurance for abt a month waiting for the other foot to drop. I have to pay $620 dollars in copays I don’t have. How is the American healthcare system so broken? Also why would any doctor recommend going to an ER? I will also loose my benefits if my premium rates rise since Trump and Congress want to give tax breaks to the ultra wealthy. I knew the system would come for me eventually, there is no escape.
Private healthcare is how. It’s a system the prioritizes profits for investors over care for patients. It influences every recomendation. It’s why doctors prescribe what’s advertised in their offices. Never forget that a doctor is a business and what’s best for you isn’t what’s best for their bottom line. You go to them in vulnerable state and they seize that opportunity.
People dont realise that businesses exist to make a small amount of [usually rich] people richer. There are Brits that say “well at least Americans get seen quickly and have a decent standard of care”. LOL.
Also, “quickly” in US can be 8+ months before you even get a basic assessment by a specialist. Things get worse? Might as well go straight to the ER. Urgent “Cares” were a band-aid for general/family practice groups not having space for sick visits. Word is a regional network now won’t even be doing stitches at urgent care. ER required.
Brits don’t go into debt or have their finances ruined after receiving care though.
Not yet we haven’t. But we are slowly privatising the NHS, and theres a political party getting too close to power that would like to speed that up a lot.
A friend of ours had breast cancer, got treatment, it went into remission. Fast forward a few years, she thinks it might be recurring. She calls her doctor. Four month wait for the test. She decides to go South to the US. Pays a chunk, gets the test right away, yep, cancer confirmed
What would have happened if she had had to wait four months for a diagnosis? Would it have been too late?
The way health systems work now only makes sense in the context of profit and expense. People are used to going without so that either taxpayer funded systems can squeeze their budgets as tightly as possible, or for-profit systems can milk the last nickel from anyone in need.
It’s a disgrace. Whether the government budget is squeezed to control debt and deficit levels or people are abused and mistreated for profit, it comes down to this filthy, unfair, colonial system based on monetary and banking systems introduced in the later years of the British Empire.
People should be rioting at the treatment that the billionaire class deems acceptable for them. There is no practical reason other than greed for any of this.
The really weird part is, a friend of mine on Medicare with supplemental private insurance was recently diagnosed with a mass in an area known for developing rapidly metastasizing cancer and had to wait several months to be seen by an oncologist, who confirmed they do indeed have that form of cancer. They were then scheduled to begin radiation a month out but for some reason had to wait an additional month. I’m betting your friend got immediate treatment because they paid much better than Medicare does.
Only stupid and ill-informed Brits.
Unfortunately, that may be the majority of us.
Yup. Scary times init?