Every time, I think of The Incredibles. So depressingly real.
"Are you saying we shouldn’t be helping our customers?
“The law requires that I answer ‘no’.”
The ambulance ride is $2,500 USD. It’s out of network, so you owe 100% on that, we don’t pay for it. No, you don’t get to choose which ambulance service comes to pick you up, you get what you get and you have to pay if it’s not in network. Oh, great news! Your emergency room is fully covered! But you haven’t met your maximum out of pocket, and you still have your co-insurance and deductible, so another $2,500 USD, please. So, uh, the doctor in the emergency room that you never even saw, he’s also out of network, so that’s an additional $900. And the ibuprofen they gave you, that’s $45 because we only cover 90 day prescriptions and those have to be pre-authorized. On the bright side, your share of the imaging is only only $1,800 USD. Pinky swear, we actually paid out $7,200 USD on that one.
When I got in an accident and was on the ground with a broken bone, the EMT asked if I had a preference about which hospital to go to. Like I was going to check out reviews with one working arm, from the pavement.
The US is a dystopia
Meanwhile, in our third-world country, the doctor recently ordered my mother to redo all her previous medical exams from last year, including an MRI, a Holter monitor, blood work, urine, an EKG, and everything else for free. Even her heart medication is free. The quality of care is top-notch, and the doctor is very attentive. We only pay with our time spent waiting in line for the appointment that was booked months in advance, because some things are honestly a mess. It sure as hell beats whatever is going on over there.
This is not to shame nor brag, but to hopefully show that these things are possible, affordable by the government despite what Republicunts say, and are worth fighting for.
Fun fact, we still have to book months in advance in the US.
In a sane world we would have affordable Healthcare. But we have fox News here, so we don’t. Literally fox News is responsible for 90% of our problems bcz some stupid high percentage of republicans only get their news from Fox, and they’ve demonized any kind of socialized medicine.
I was subjected to that shit today, and you know what they were ‘losing their minds’ (knowing it’s all fake outrage) over? Joe biden getting “too much ice cream.”
I fucking kid you not.
Fucking republicans not one redeeming quality from any of them.
Fox News are scumbags, no doubt, but most republicans are for med for all. Our scumbag politicians on both sides of the aisle are the ones who are fucking us over.
It’s a mystery how the US belongs to a select group of contries with homongous GDP but lower life expectancy.
Inequality is like some of the worst developing world countries
Inequality is soaring, with the 1% scooping up ever-larger shares of global wealth. These days, the US has a Gini coefficient – the most common international measurement of inequality – on a par with slave-owning Ancient Rome. Maternal mortality rates for American millennials are three times higher than those of their parents’ generation
Why is the US dollar always worth less than the pound and the euro, if it’s this great functioning economy? I’ve never been able to work that one out.
Because 1 apple isn’t equal to 1 banana.
Because the actual amount of money is somewhat arbitrary.
Like how if it is 77°F in the US it is the same temperature as it being 25°C in France.
And also the pill costs nothing to make
it’s literally meth with speed and can be bought for $10 at any corner in the “bad part of town”.
luigi did nothing wrong
This but unironically. Luigi Magione wasn’t the shooter.
No he was Oklahoma at the time. We were walking in the park talking about the latest video games at the time. I am willing to testify to that fact.
For real he isn’t the shooter never was.
I am Luigi.
We are Luigi.
We are all Luigi on this accursed day!
I really wonder exactly how many office towers are there full of people whose sole job is to deny healthcare claims. Think about if we paid those people to do something actually productive instead. This is the waste of for profit healthcare.
I saw a map on here how healthcare industry is like the the biggest employer in like 40 of the 50 states or something insane like that.
Healthcare, but not health insurance.
Anyway, if I had my druthers, I’d get together with a cabal of like-minded doctors, vote ourselves onto the state board, and revoke the license of any doctor working for health insurers. If the courts/cops had any balls, they’d then say any person or persons (and if it’s a computer, then the entire c-suite) rejecting claims are practicing medicine without a license and put them all in jail.
At this point those departments are now a bunch of AI and algorithms. That way no pesky emotions or ethics get in the way.
TIHI.
This is why I am a fan of the work of the Four Thieves Vinegar collective. they are making instructions on how to make at home versions of some of the most critical chemicals and medicines.
This is fantastic and I need to learn more. I would love to be a part of something like this. I always think about medicine, specifically to fight infection, in a world that you can’t just go get it at a pharmacy.
Thanks for sharing this, I hadn’t heard of it.
I’m reminded of the heinz dilemma (nothing to do with ketchup)
Post conventional anti theft view: he should steal the drug and publish its formula for the others who need it
If I had the money and the means I would probably smuggle insulin into the United States from countries where it’s reasonably priced, mostly just for the entertainment value.