At least in Denver we give enormous amounts of food away to poor people, and the policy at hospital ERs is to treat people regardless of their ability to pay.
But sure, keep pretending that we cut people off from healthcare and food. Gotta feed that narrative, regardless of the truth.
… But you still charge everybody into debt bondage for saving their lives. Here I do not pay for health insurance and have never walked out of the ER with a bill. I legitimately fear my American friends getting hurt in a way that simply does not apply to my domestic friends because I know that their lives won’t be impacted financially long term. From what I have gathered from information about their wait times for surgery there isn’t that much difference except for joint and mobility related stuff and even then it’s not that far off.
The fact that employers are allowed to control what healthcare you receive and coerce you into staying with them or else you enter a dicey period where you have to cover you or your family yourself in any way just seems fucking exploitative and bonkers from a Canadian perspective.
So as a traveling American I had some health trouble and needed to see a doctor in Canada. This was not through any health insurance but as a completely uninsured person.
People keep apologizing to me about the cost and the whole series of uninsured visits and medicine was less than and single co-pay would have been under my coverage.
It was absolutely eye opening to see exactly how much things cost when they are billed without profit factored in.
the policy at hospital ERs is to treat people regardless of their ability to pay.
Have you ever been in that position? I have. It took me over a year to pay off the resulting bills.
Yes, they will still treat you regardless of your ability to pay. Yes, sometimes they can decrease the bill for those without financial means. However, that doesn’t mean the treatment is free (or affordable) - you will still be billed, and saddled with any resulting debt. That’s a huge difference between the US and almost every other country, and it’s a crucial distinction.
Do i think American hegemony is in decline? Sure, but this is c/LateStageCapitalism and they tend to overblow things. As with the fall of the Western Roman Empire, life actually still went on despite the Gothic invasion. For many Romans, it is simply being under a new management. Those from us and the future tend to look at history as if everything happened in a flash. The same is happening right now with the gradual erosion of democracy. Events happen not with a bang, but with a whimper. The real creatures in a simmering pot with gradual increasing temperature are not frogs-- it is us: the humans. Literally and figuratively as we head into the slow descent into unknown of post-climate change world, civil strife and oligarchy. Some things may be better or alright, but the overall picture for humanity will be ugly.
At least in Denver we give enormous amounts of food away to poor people, and the policy at hospital ERs is to treat people regardless of their ability to pay.
But sure, keep pretending that we cut people off from healthcare and food. Gotta feed that narrative, regardless of the truth.
Bro I’m fucking living that narrative, like millions of others! Fuck out of here with that bullshit!
Like most Americans you need to travel more, and listen when you do.
… But you still charge everybody into debt bondage for saving their lives. Here I do not pay for health insurance and have never walked out of the ER with a bill. I legitimately fear my American friends getting hurt in a way that simply does not apply to my domestic friends because I know that their lives won’t be impacted financially long term. From what I have gathered from information about their wait times for surgery there isn’t that much difference except for joint and mobility related stuff and even then it’s not that far off.
The fact that employers are allowed to control what healthcare you receive and coerce you into staying with them or else you enter a dicey period where you have to cover you or your family yourself in any way just seems fucking exploitative and bonkers from a Canadian perspective.
So as a traveling American I had some health trouble and needed to see a doctor in Canada. This was not through any health insurance but as a completely uninsured person.
People keep apologizing to me about the cost and the whole series of uninsured visits and medicine was less than and single co-pay would have been under my coverage.
It was absolutely eye opening to see exactly how much things cost when they are billed without profit factored in.
you are not going to get the cancer treatment you need through the emergency room
Have you ever been in that position? I have. It took me over a year to pay off the resulting bills.
Yes, they will still treat you regardless of your ability to pay. Yes, sometimes they can decrease the bill for those without financial means. However, that doesn’t mean the treatment is free (or affordable) - you will still be billed, and saddled with any resulting debt. That’s a huge difference between the US and almost every other country, and it’s a crucial distinction.
Do i think American hegemony is in decline? Sure, but this is c/LateStageCapitalism and they tend to overblow things. As with the fall of the Western Roman Empire, life actually still went on despite the Gothic invasion. For many Romans, it is simply being under a new management. Those from us and the future tend to look at history as if everything happened in a flash. The same is happening right now with the gradual erosion of democracy. Events happen not with a bang, but with a whimper. The real creatures in a simmering pot with gradual increasing temperature are not frogs-- it is us: the humans. Literally and figuratively as we head into the slow descent into unknown of post-climate change world, civil strife and oligarchy. Some things may be better or alright, but the overall picture for humanity will be ugly.
Love some T.S. Elliot with my morning coffee, cheers