240

How much do Americans actually pay for healthcare? (pawb.social)

submitted 2 months ago by savvywolf@pawb.social to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

218 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Hey all, I'm British so I don't really know the ins and outs of the US healthcare system. Apologies for asking what is probably a rather simple question.

So like most of you, I see many posts and gofundmes about people having astronomically high medical bills. Most recently, someone having a $27k bill even after his death.

However, I have an American friend who is quick to point out that apparently nobody actually pays those bills. They're just some elaborate dance between insurance companies and hospitals. If you don't have insurance, the cost is lower or removed entirely. Supposedly.

So I'm just asking... How accurate is that? Consider someone without insurance, a minor physical ailment, a neurodivergent mind and no interest in fighting off harassing people for the rest of their life.

How much would such a person expect to pay, out of their own pocket, for things like check ups, x rays, meds, counselling and so on?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] acetanilide@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

Absolutely agree. I was a teen when it passed so did not really experience beforehand. But now I've been looking at pet insurance and the preexisting thing is crazy! I don't know if it's the same as it used to be for us, but the pet stuff is set up so even if you had one company the entire life of the pet, if you try to change companies the new company won't cover any issues that the old company did because now they are pre-existing 😒 and a few months ago an insurance company dropped like everybody from their company so they couldn't really get a new plan because now everything is preexisting. And it wasn't even their choice to move. I think only 1 company allowed people to switch and honor what the old company covered.

Not to mention for us, long term disability insurance also doesn't cover preexisting conditions. I think most life insurance doesn't either.

this post was submitted on 13 Aug 2024

240 points (98.4% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26753 readers

1286 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world

Rules: (interactive)

1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them

2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?

3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.

4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].

5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.

Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.