I met a women last year while traveling. Mid forties and was suffering hard times after the financial meltdown of 2008. She was faced with the reality of having to cancel her health insurance for a few months. Before she did she went and got a check up and a full health stamp of approval.
Insurance cancelled.
Two months later she had an anuerism. She spent a fair amount of time in the hospital. While she was recovering she was having to make decisions about accepting an aspirin/Tylenol while in the hospital bed because she knew she couldn't afford to pay for the treatment. Meanwhile the staff was just telling her not to worry about it the cost of the Tylenol it's your health - you can sort it all out later. In the end it was a 250k bill.
The only reason she didn't go bankrupt was due to the fact that she had a friend who was a lawyer who went to bat for her to negotiate with the private hospital.
He basically said to them - you either get this amount of nothing.
I was floored when I was told this story. As a Canadian I take our system a human right. I couldn't even imagine having to make a decision about going to see a Dr because of how much this is going to cost me. Refusing a Tylenol in care because each one was 12 bucks. Imagine the kind of stress that puts on a recovery. I find it absurd because I was lucky enough to grow up somewhere that has this available to its citizens.
In my opinion there is so much wrong with America and number on on that list is health care.
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Shameless self promotion
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