Comment by petesergeant
2 years ago
That’s true of most rich countries. The big difference between the US and most rich countries is universal healthcare.
2 years ago
That’s true of most rich countries. The big difference between the US and most rich countries is universal healthcare.
Life and death kinda difference innit
Wikipedia suggests 0.01% of the US population dies each year (30-40,000) due to lack of health insurance. I’m sure the real number is at least double.
That is a very, very big difference.
It is, although it disproportionately affects people who are poor but not broke. If you’re truly broke, there’s Medicaid, if you’re old there’s Medicare, 4% by some form of military healthcare, many people covered by their employers, and so on. 90% of Americans are insured.
As a Britisher, obviously I’m in favour of universal healthcare, and I think the US system would benefit from it. But let’s not pretend it’s perfect there either
> 90% of Americans are insured
I'm one of those 90%. My health insurance (family of 4) costs more than my house payment, and the annual deductible is over $6000 (for one person). Either the premiums or my deductible goes up every year. In terms of total cost (monthly premiums plus annual deductible) it's also pretty much the least expensive plan that I can get.
It's not that health care here is bad, it's that it's ridiculously expensive compared to most other places in the world.
4 replies →
> f you’re truly broke, there’s Medicaid
Which you still might not qualify for, and may not get even if you do qualify for it (https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/apr/15/john-ol...)
> 90% of Americans are insured.
Which doesn't prevent nearly 40% of americans from being forced to put off needed medical care because of the expense they're still subjected to. (https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/20/americans-put-off-health-car...) Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy.
5 replies →