Idiots will tell you that free healthcare is of poor quality to dissuade you from ever wanting universal health care. I have friends who have flown to other countries, took a vacation, stayed in hotels, for the sole purpose of getting medical work done overseas and it was STILL cheaper than getting it done in their own home states. Same quality.

Don't EVER pay the first bill. Call billing and ask for an itemized bill. Then you can argue the ridiculous charges. I worked in health care for almost 50 years, thank God I have great insurance being retired- but yeah...ask for that itemized bill...

My wife and I (USA) own a business together, so we buy our own insurance. We pay about $1,300 a month (nearly as much as our mortgage) for coverage for our family of 4. For that money, we get one "free" well-check visit per year, and have to pay about $14,000 as a family, "out-of-pocket", before our costs are covered in any meaningful way. Sure we get a bit of a discount if we go "in-network". Last year was great! Because my wife had cancer, and breast reconstruction, we met our maximum out-of-pocket! I was finally able to go to see my dermatologist, and have some suspicious things removed and tested. Yay! we only had to pay $29,000 to get there. The US insurance system is a joke.

There is no way in heck that the hospital can justify a $10,000 bill of even $8'000 for that matter. A packet of Ibuprofen must only cost $1.00 if that. (Comparing to UK cost). I can see why the insurance company paid what it did; in truth surely that is what the treatment was worth

Don't call the insurance company, call up the hospital and tell them you want an itemized bill. Then nit-pick that bill. They are required to explain costs. Don't ask them what they would have billed to Medicare or Medicaid...ask them what Medicare/Medicaid would have PAID them for these items. Then ask them to explain why you are being charged more than they would have accepted from Medicare/Medicaid. You can usually knock 50-70% of the bill down just by being aggressive in asking questions. Also, do some research online. There is a woman that explains how she got her husbands hernia operation reduced from $43,000 to under $10,000 with just a few phone calls and well placed questions.

I feel sorry for Americans who need to stay in hospital for Covid related symptoms, only to thankfully get better, but be paying for the remainder of their lives this ridiculous, unnecessary debt back to the very medical institution that was meant to make them better in the first place.

Oh yeah, those high deductible plans will get you every time. Having "real health insurance" only means there is an eventual limit to what you'll pay. Tips for anyone who is new to health insurance: 1. Take the time to familiarize yourself with your new policy, including coverage, deductibles, networks, and out of pocket maximum. 2. Make sure you know what hospitals, urgent cares, and doctors are in-network. 3. Utilize urgent care whenever possible, rather than the ER (which sometimes, won't be avoidable, I know). 4. Look into an HSA. If you have a HDHP, you can put a portion of your paycheck into a health savings account. The money comes out automatically, before taxes, and if you don't use it, you do NOT lose it. 5. Take advantage of every free wellness benefit, including an annual physical with blood work, mammograms/colon cancer screenings, nutrition counseling, smoking cessation help, etc. Get your money's worth AND help prevent bigger bills down the road. GOOD LUCK!

I have had tje exact same injury. Went to the ER, got X-rayed, my arm was bandaged and that was that. Don't think I ever saw any bill. Ofcourse, I'm in Europe.

That's all we do is discuss it. Honestly I feel like that's all we can do. Yet nothing will ever be done about it. Because we are so beat up as people, well regular folks in this country. We have been made to feel worthless and less than and we kind of just accept that this is how it is. Then there are those incomplete denial about it our own people and tell us it's our fault that it is the way it is. Which is an entirely different subject. But I feel like because we've been so beat down and made to feel this way that's all we do is speak on it. We have enough courage to just speak on it but actually doing anything to change it or fix it is futile.

Insurance companies have brainwashed the American public into thinking universial healthcare is a terrible, scary thing where you're ot allowed to make decisions about your own care. It's not. Everyone gets the care they need no matter their financial situation. No one has to lay awake at night worring about paying for an xray. Americans deserve better.

How is it that Republican voters can think universal healthcare is such a bad idea? Why is sharing the tax burden so much of an issue for these people than spending billions building a wall or even worse, on war funds? So going to war to kill outsiders is ok but healthcare reform so everyone can be taken care of is socialistic and evil? Jeez

It is not about free medical care. There is no such thing. It is about sound regulation. The whole fact that if you ask them to itimize the bill, it can become to a level that comes in the vicinity of the actual cost is what you should be focused on. They want to charge the most to insurance companies, who in their turn charge the costs to large companies. Because that used to work. The extremes ar just now so far apart, because of this regulatory vacuum, that everything is escalating.

Before americans start whining about this post, there's a huge difference between being rightfully annoyed from constantly being reminded of facts you don't want to hear/see/understand, and complaining about people who comment on those facts that show your country is far for being as great as you've been brainwashed to believe. Btw, if you're constantly whining and throwing tantrums at all the "anti american posts", why do you keep visiting this clearly anti-murican site?

Ok, if you have insurance and you went to an in-network provider, they are not legally (in the U.S.) allowed to do what is called balance billing. That's where they charge you for the amount the insurance co doesn't pay. That's bc the provider (doctor, ER) has agreed to charge that amount. Doesn't meant they don't do it frequently bc people don't know and will pay the difference. Talk to your insurance and they should explain this to you.

Yup. Something very similar happened to me. Getting sick in America is a death sentence. The medical stuff I have been deal with it's a miracle I'm still alive. I made one simple mistake. I got sick. Almost year and a half later and I still don't have a diagnosis. Lovely!

people need to riot about that in America. that would be a good reason to raid the capitol! that! i would understand. maybe lower your military budget and get that to healthcare would help.

I had a kidney infection in January, was sent home then called back to the same ER 48 hrs later because of what they found in their labs, I owe them 8,538, it's literally cheaper to die in our country

The lesson here is don't go to the ER for a "sore arm"! It's for Emergencies!

My doctors office has told me, it;s going to be cheaper for me to not have insurance.

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I don't believe this for a second I don't have insurance and it's not that expensive not even close