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At times I wonder if medically assisted suicides are frowned upon due to not being able to further drain the money out of patients and their extended credit lines.
You don't have to wonder any longer. You've figured it out. Take the morality out of many political decisions and you have the right answer. Abortions? -- nobody gives a shit about those children. It's a convenient cover so they don't have to say "Mothers are killing the thing that we will enslave and drain later on in the economy!" Everyone says that they care about the child until it's born -- they don't even care before that point. And the lack of care/suffering/poverty of the child afterwards is the point of exploitation. So the system is working as intended. They need more workers, they need to siphon every ounce of production out of those workers.
They're also frowned upon because it's pretty cruel to tell someone "well, you could just die" because they can't afford medical treatments or a place to live.
I remember when we bought a house 8 years ago (seems like a lifetime now) talking to the mortgage broker and he basically said they straight-up ignore medical debt because everyone has it and nobody would ever get a loan if it was considered. It's utterly insane to me how the wealthiest nation in the world can't keep its citizens healthy and out of debt.
They can, but the current system is far more profitable.
the wealthiest nation in the world can't keep its citizens healthy and out of debt.
But it can. The wealthiest nation in the world per capita is Luxembourg; then Switzerland. I think Norway finishes the top three. Excellent medical systems.
CUBA's consolidated single-payer healthcare system beats the US's #30 rank. And does it far, far cheaper. https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/best-healthcare-in-the-world/
As Jeff Daniels says in the first act of the first episode of Newsroom, " Yosemite?"
That's lucky of you. Many do take it into account.
What's nuts is that the majority of people declaring bankruptcy because of medical debt have insurance.
The credit agencies do this, too. Medical debt is either not counted against your credit score or is weighted so little it won't affect much.
It makes perfect sense, because it's not an accurate depiction of your credit seeking habits. It is debt that you did not choose to take on.
The US healthcare system is a for profit death cult ran by racketeers
~~The US healthcare system~~ America is a for profit death cult ran by racketeers
FTFY
It always has. IIRC the biggest reason for bankruptcy in the US has been medical bills, for a while. Our greed driven system is garbage.
Michael Moore made a whole damn documentary about it in 2007, 16 fucking years ago.
Nothing has changed.
They eliminated pre-existing conditions and maximum lifetime payments for health insurance, so that's not nothing.
But they failed to pass a public option which means health insurance companies have a captive audience for their rent-seeking.
And the Democrats still just talk about getting people affordable "coverage" and not affordable "care."
And hospitals are still understaffed and mental health care has six month waiting lists.
Where I live, all care has a six month wait list. I started a new job with new insurance back in April, still haven't been able to get in anywhere to see a new PCP. My dentist canceled an appointment on me last week and rescheduled it for February.
People say socialized medicine leads to long wait times to see doctors. Well, I'm not seeing them now anyway, so at least it's less or of my pocket.
Mental health care is also often just excluded from coverage. My current job is the first time in my life I've had insurance that would cover therapy rather than be like "Look, we gave you one 60 minute session with our free crisis line, what more do you want? If you really need it, it's only $450 a session if it's that important."
I had to call thirteen different therapy offices before I found one that could take me before summer.
Of course, my health insurance website showed them all as "Accepting New Patients"
Not just the biggest, the biggest by far. Two thirds of bankruptcies are due to medical debt.
It amazes me how people went to work sick as if it was normal. Of courses some bosses were assholes and "wouldn't let you go home" or "needed you at work". Sure boss let me sneeze in my hand before I shake everybody else's hand.
Now these days woah big scary covid. If you're not feeling good please stay home. We should've been staying home like 30 yrs ago,
Went
They still are.
I have a 103 fever and here I am. At work.
I'm not sure what places you are working that kept the COVID era scare.
Medicine is so polarized I can't even tell my coworkers I tested positive for COVID. One of them will go on a violent rant for hours. '"Yep, I'm definitely a crisis actor. They don't pay much these days. This is my second job"
Literally all my coworkers still come to work sick despite having sick leave. Gets everyone else sick.
Stop paying medical bills. A debt strike would be easier than a general strike.
Well part of it 8s not going to hurt your credit score anymore:
https://www.cnbc.com/select/medical-debt-credit-report/
Any bills under $500 in collections won't be going against your score. Debts larger than that in collections have to be there for at least a year to be on your credit score and disappear once they are paid.
We could fix all this shit by having the cheaper Medicare for All solution.
Aetna pulled out of my county for five months. I ended up in a ICU for three days, which is about a $50,000 bill.
So now I'm on the hook for an $8,000 out of network deductible.
Fuck U.S. health insurance.
My wife had to go to the ER a few years ago. The hospital we thought we were going to was in network. Unfortunately the ER is a separate entity that was not in network. That was a nice $1000 bill.
$500 is nothing. My son fell and hit his head and had a small seizure from the fall.. took him to the ER, ct scan, medical exam, anti nausea medication, costed $750 out if pocket AFTER insurance. It was like a $3k medical bill before insurance. For like 2 hours at the ER and a scan... it's ridiculous.
I've been seeing this headline for more than twenty years.
Another 20 years and people might be fed up enough to do something about it.
Yet COVID vaccinations are down...
And "essential workers" are right back to being expected to work while sick...
This is fine.
Nothing changed for "essential workers". The only reprieve they received was guaranteed time off if they contracted Covid. We still had sick people working, they were the wrong kind of sick.
can't get sick if you can't afford the diagnosis.
The next obvious evolutionary step.
I'm American. When I get cancer I plan to have one or two good months and kill myself.
I was at a work training in the US with someone from Japan. She said she had only been to the US one other time but that she had gotten sick and spent 2 weeks in the hospital.
I don’t know what Japan’s healthcare system is like, but I can’t imagine being someone from another country and unfamiliar with our shitty system and getting that huge ass bill.
Most probably it was still covered by here Japanese insurance. A friend of mine broke an arm while in US and some insurance he bought in Poland paid for everything. You don't have to be familiar with American system. It's just like any other insurance.
Traveller insurance can often offset it.
It's NOT like any other insurance.
Case in point: I rolled into the hospital with a sore arm. X-rays and an arm cast. But I left my wallet at home because my ride showed up early. "just phone down with your health number, if you could, so we can update the right file. Thanks!". 0$
Non-US case2: I felt a wave of dizziness on the way to work and almost browned out while driving. Pulled over. It passed and I drove 2 blocks to the hospital. Related my story and spent 8 hours in test after test, room after room. I got the full workup. $0
Non-US case 3: my dear friend collapsed while this wife was out getting Starbucks. Dumbstruck and in pain. He could only speed dial her number: 911 was too complex. She does 911 and races home (xkr-s) as the first ambulance arrives and lets them in. They stabilize while the specialized cardiac bus is arriving. "Follow us in. Look. We're gonna try for surrey but if he crashes we'll divert to rch(trauma center). We're gonna hit the lights, siren and punch it. Don't feel you need to-- [spots jaguar idling] okay. So keep up only if it's safe. We're going." SGH spotted something, not sure. Admitted for obs. Something was something, so it was a hot and loud bus to RCH anyway because it was serious and if he coded in traffic it would kill him. Heat up the trauma center o-r on a Sunday morning to apply 5 stents and prevent death by Widowmaker heart attack. He lives. Goes home in 2 weeks. $0
We're not even paying monthly premiums anymore. But I would. I'm at the top end of the income-based sliding scale and I'll pay it every damned month.
US example: dude rolls into wrong hospital while unconscious after soccer collision. Concussion. Tylenol. "Go home. Don't fall asleep". $80k(trauma center)+$10(Tylenol).
My US example: IT. Great insurance as they like us (Unix dev). Northgate Hospital in WA as I'm an H1b imm'grint takin-yer-jerb. Roll in for a simple procedure to alleviate spinal pressure when a sinus (not that kind) isn't draining by itself. Advise the doc it's a common thing for me, and a local and a horse-needle will get it back in line. Doc lays in with a scalpel and butchers me. Charges $500 for the pleasure but the invoice of arbitrary charges I didn't have to pay was insane. Came home when my first h1 was up. Not looking back.
Americans have normalized low-key medical fear and avoidance that they don't realize; and they are missing chances to catch things before it costs them their house or their life; and defending medical-induced bankruptcy (which can't be discharged through bankruptcy) while completely blind to the fact that no other g8 is this objectively cruel to its own people.
The Repblican health care plan since 2009:
Man, where's Alan Grayson when you need him?
We are so baffled in Europe about how a country that preaches human rights around the world revels in denying its own people one of the most fundamental human rights. Truly mind boggling.
I view medicine in the US similar to video piracy. If you are going to make access expensive and difficult to obtain, then I have no issue with stealing it. Medical debt is handled differently than other types of debt. IANAL, but I have no qualms with running up a 700k medical debt for life saving treatment then bouncing on the bill.
Ehrlichman: “Edgar Kaiser is running his Permanente deal for profit. And the reason that he can … the reason he can do it … I had Edgar Kaiser come in … talk to me about this and I went into it in some depth. All the incentives are toward less medical care, because …”
President Nixon: [Unclear.]
Ehrlichman: “… the less care they give them, the more money they make.”
President Nixon: “Fine.” [Unclear.]
Hey I just a had a thought. We should have a vote on student loan debt. If you vote against a blanket clearing of the debt you automatically go on a list of people who can't declare bankruptcy due to medical debt.
But the strong economy...
Clearly these people have not seen The Statistics™