Nope, I have never lived and worked for a longer time in the US, therefore, no first-hand experience. I have relatives who lived and still live in the US, and so far I haven’t heard anything to the contrary.
I did have the joy of almost having to pay a non-trivial hospital stay out of pocket here due to some insurance shenanigans, and a (iirc) 5-day stay with 3h surgery and a bunch of extras (due to “Privatversicherung” rates, difficulty, MRI, CT etc.) came out to less than 10k€. I don’t remember the actual costs, since in the end the insurances did finally agree on who had to pay, but it must have been something like 6-7k total. From what I heard, that is roughly similar to US out-of-pocket costs, except that due to insurance, I paid 0€.
If you have a good argument against my point, I’m happy to hear it. As I said, our health care system is a mess right now. The boomer generation retiring is going to make things very difficult. Bureaucracy is exploding, for several reasons. The two-class system with private and public insurance is disgusting bullshit and quite the opposite of what I believe “social democracy” should be.
I dont suppose I have an argument particularly. I can tell my experiences for what they are worth.
In 2015 I was in a traumatic car accident and a 3 month hospital stay, then 1 month physical rehab. I got a bill from the hospital for 250k, then a week later my insurance paid it. PHEW! So, I guess if I hadn’t had insurance id be paying that the rest of my life? Thats a terrible prospect. I also wonder, if I hadn’t had insurance, would i have got the same level of care in the hospital? I think maybe not… maybe.
Another story, this was like 20 years ago, but I was in Mexico and my thumb almost got chopped off my a machete… anyway, I went to the little clinic, and we called the Dr. Because he wasnt there at the moment, but he came in 10 minutes and cleaned and stitched the wound. He gave me antibiotics and it all cost me… 10$ cash!!
So, that said, if one wants good health care in America, one needs insurance.
Nope, I have never lived and worked for a longer time in the US, therefore, no first-hand experience. I have relatives who lived and still live in the US, and so far I haven’t heard anything to the contrary.
I did have the joy of almost having to pay a non-trivial hospital stay out of pocket here due to some insurance shenanigans, and a (iirc) 5-day stay with 3h surgery and a bunch of extras (due to “Privatversicherung” rates, difficulty, MRI, CT etc.) came out to less than 10k€. I don’t remember the actual costs, since in the end the insurances did finally agree on who had to pay, but it must have been something like 6-7k total. From what I heard, that is roughly similar to US out-of-pocket costs, except that due to insurance, I paid 0€.
If you have a good argument against my point, I’m happy to hear it. As I said, our health care system is a mess right now. The boomer generation retiring is going to make things very difficult. Bureaucracy is exploding, for several reasons. The two-class system with private and public insurance is disgusting bullshit and quite the opposite of what I believe “social democracy” should be.
I dont suppose I have an argument particularly. I can tell my experiences for what they are worth.
In 2015 I was in a traumatic car accident and a 3 month hospital stay, then 1 month physical rehab. I got a bill from the hospital for 250k, then a week later my insurance paid it. PHEW! So, I guess if I hadn’t had insurance id be paying that the rest of my life? Thats a terrible prospect. I also wonder, if I hadn’t had insurance, would i have got the same level of care in the hospital? I think maybe not… maybe.
Another story, this was like 20 years ago, but I was in Mexico and my thumb almost got chopped off my a machete… anyway, I went to the little clinic, and we called the Dr. Because he wasnt there at the moment, but he came in 10 minutes and cleaned and stitched the wound. He gave me antibiotics and it all cost me… 10$ cash!!
So, that said, if one wants good health care in America, one needs insurance.