On the internet, we always hear how bad healthcare in the US is. High prices, non-inclusive insurance, and so on. So, people living there have to get creative when it comes to taking care of their health.

One of the best examples of healthcare creativity is the video of how a woman brought her friend to a festival to check his sore throat. Apparently, going to the festival was cheaper than going to the doctor’s office.

More info: TikTok 

Getting healthcare is important, but what to do when you have to choose between getting it and going to a festival? You get healthcare at a festival

Image credits: camisplaylist

Last month, a TikToker went viral after she posted a video about how her friend got his sore throat checked at a festival because he couldn’t afford healthcare

Image credits: Bárbara Oliveira (not the actual photo)

Image credits: @camisplaylist

Image credits: Thirdman (not the actual photo)

Image credits: @camisplaylist

Image credits: @camisplaylist

You can watch TikTok video here

@camisplaylist no literally is cheaper to go to a music festival then the hospital and you get a concert as a lil treat after so • #wwwyf #music #festival #emo #alt #bands #fyp #whenwewereyoungfest ♬ Benjamins Deli – JRitt

Back in October, TikTok user @camisplaylist, also known as Cami, shared a video about a funny and at the same time sad situation she found herself in. Cami is a Brazilian TikTok creator who usually posts various videos about her life. On the platform, she has over 17K followers.

In the viral video, the woman wrote that she brought her friend to the When We Were Young music festival, where they had free medical tents, to check his sore throat. This measure was taken as the friend cannot afford healthcare in the US otherwise. The TikTok user even wrote in their caption that it “is cheaper to go to a music festival than the hospital.”

For instance, in 2023, if you don’t have insurance, a simple visit to a primary care specialist would cost you about $203. And certain factors might influence a rise in this cost, like the place where you go, or if you need a lab test. Some doctor’s offices even charge extra if you are a new patient. 

The price of a ticket to a music festival usually starts around the same price as a visit to a primary care specialist’s office. But as the TikTok video creator mentioned, “You get a concert as a little treat after.” So, it’s no surprise that people prioritize going to a concert or festival, where they can not only get a concert experience but check their health for free in medical tents. 

Later the TikTok user clarified the situation in an interview with Buzzfeed. The friend got a sore throat on the first day of the festival. They knew it wasn’t COVID-19, but he still wanted to have it checked, so the plan was to go to the hospital. But then, Cami, as a joke, suggested that he could get his throat checked at a free medical tent at the festival.

Image credits: Gustavo Fring (not the actual photo)

And that’s what he did. Fortunately, inside the tent, there was a real doctor, who checked in on Cami’s friend and gave him medication. The whole test took around 20 minutes.

When talking about prices, Cami said that general admission tickets to the festival were $200. And while waiting, they got to listen to the rock band Blink-182. And you wouldn’t get a live performance of a rock band in the waiting room at the hospital.

If you’re like this TikToker’s friend, who cannot afford to get proper healthcare, or just prioritizes other things instead, there are some ways you can get medical help without going to a festival’s medical tent. You can visit community health clinics or find out if there are ways to make a call to a doctor’s office, which is usually cheaper than going in. Although, if you feel very bad to the extent that you might need urgent help, it is better to go to the emergency room. And, of course, the best thing would be to find a way to get insurance, so you don’t have to look for interesting ways to get help, again, like in festival tents.

Commenters under the video were fascinated by the idea of getting a sore throat checked at a festival and took it as a new format for a joke. A lot of them shared their health-related “experiences” that they have had at other festivals, such as “I got my chemo at Woodstock 1999.”

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However, not everyone was as amused as the people making memes were. Some got mad that Cami’s friend decided to risk other festival attendees’ health by possibly exposing them to some illness. Others just bugged them to get insurance instead of attempting this kind of “adventure.”

Lastly, let’s just say that the negative peeps were muted by those who were proud of the TikToker and her friend for coming up with such an idea. These people added that it actually could be cheaper to go to a concert in another country instead of getting medical help in the US. And that’s, well, just sad and funny at the same time.

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