While the United States has largely considered itself as the greatest country in the world for the last few decades, the statistics tell us that there are areas where things can definitely be improved.
In military might and defence spending the U.S. is undisputedly number one. But in other areas, more important aspects of human wellbeing such as education, life expectancy, happiness, gender and income equality and healthcare, there are more mixed results.
The U.S. healthcare system in particular is a continuing source of bafflement for many, who are accustomed to a degree of protection against the double disaster of poor health followed by financial ruin.
While American hospitals and medical facilities are world class, they are also incredibly expensive and available only to those able to afford them. We at Bored Panda have compiled a list of examples that highlight the inadequacies of the current healthcare system, while polarised politicians continue to argue about their vision for its future. Scroll down to check them out below, and stay healthy over there in America, y’all.
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US Healtcare System
I Had To Pay $39.35 To Hold My Baby After He Was Born
The "Radical" Idea Of Universal Healthcare
A Copy Of The Bill We Got When Our Daughter Was Born In Canada
Medical Treatment Is A Privelege
No, That’s Unamerican
All You Need To Know About American Healthcare System Is That There's A Popular TV Series Where A Man Turns To Cooking Industrial Quantities Of Crystal Meth In Order To Pay For His Hospital Bills
Almost A Dystopian World Where People Wear Tags Like That
At Least We’re First In Something
We Dressed Up As Universal Healthcare For Halloween. In America, This Is Terrifying To Half Of Our Population!
If "Breaking Bad" Had Been Set In Anywhere But America
American Healthcare
Healthcare Tip
Why Americans Are So Friendly
American Health Care System
Abortion Is Murder And Every Life Is Precious But You Should Definitely Get A 3rd Job If Your Baby Is Sick
Universal Health Care Disasters
The American Healthcare System Be Like
American Healthcare Reality
Future Of Healthcare
Guess I'll Die
Important Questions
As A Brit, This Is How I Plan To Dress When I Visit The US After Reading About The Cost Of Simple Healthcare
Pro-Life
Universal Healthcare
Crowdfunding For Health Care
We Would Like Healthcare Too
American Healthcare
Healthcare...
I Work In A Hospital Laboratory. I Ordered A Pack Of These Cheap Plastic Rulers From Ebay For About $6. Our Medical Supplier Charges More Than $80 For The Exact Same Rulers. This Is Why Health Care Costs Are Out Of Control
Reproductive Health App
Everyone Will Be Covered
Nice Hat, Though
People Are Calling Uber To Be Taken To The Emergency Room Instead Of Ambulances
Fantasyland
Paul Ryan Gives Presentation On Trumpcare
The Only Insurance I Can Afford In America
This Is The Cost Of A Rattlesnake Bite In America
American Healthcare In A Nutshell
Hard To Choose
Everything Would Be Well Funded And Work Perfectly
Paid By Taxes
Welcome To The Usa
I Forgot My Meds And Had An Anxiety Attack At Work. My Boss Freaked Out And Called 911. Just Got The Bill Today, For Less Than 2 Hours Of Care And A Xanax. F*ck American Healthcare
Affordable Healthcare
Insert Almost Every Flag On Earth Instead Sweden
My Cousins Child Birth Bill From The Hospital In The USA. Never Seen Anything This High
When You Can't Afford To Get Shot In A Mass Shooting
1.5 Bottles Of Insulin Costs About The Same Amount As A New Iphone
American Health Care
You're Doing It Wrong
My Dad Celebrating Because He Finally Has Health Insurance And Is Able To Afford His Heart Medications
My Buddies Medical Bill For A Month-Long Stay In The Hospital After Being Hit By A Driver High On Heroin
GOP Stance On Healthcare
This Is How I Imagine The USA Health System Works
In The United States, This Is What $14,714.49 Of Medication Looks Like
American Healthcare, Explained
My Buddy's Son Ate A Penny, This Is How Much The Hospital Charged For A 5 Minute Procedure To Get It Out
Healthcare Level: USA
The Reality
Obamacare And Trumpcare
Another Picture From The American Healthcare Twilight Zone
I Work In A Hospital. We Use These Simple Metal Baskets To Process Tissue Specimens. Our Hospital-Mandated Supplier Charges Us $700 Apiece For These. Seven. Hundred. Dollars. This Is Why Healthcare Costs Are So F*cked Up
The USA Provides Free Health Care
Award Winning American-Canadian Science Fiction Author, William Gibson On Canada’s Universal Healthcare System
Good Healthcare
Universal Healthcare - I Think This Supports The Argument, Why It Is Good For The People
“This Is About Profits, Not People”
GOP Health Care Plan
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia On Health Care In America
Injured?
I'm An American, I'm Awake So Here's My Medical Bill. The Occupational Therapy Is Particularly Amusing. She Handed Me A Toothbrush
Peter Parker Had No Health Insurance
Choose Your Own Healthcare Adventure
Drug Prices In Canada's Health Care System Vs Prices In America
Same
Who Knew
When You Don't Have Health Insurance
"We Don't Take That Insurance"
Avoid Any Unnecessary Stress
Mindset Of Americans
Preparing In Advance
Insurance Agent Discovers Client Has Pre-Existing Condition (2017, Colorized)
The American Healthcare System Is A Eugenics Program
Complete Disregard For Human Life
I Never Truly Understood How Much Healthcare In The US Costs Until I Got Appendicitis In October. I'm A 20 Year Old Guy. Thought Other People Should See This To Get A Real Idea Of How Much An Unpreventable Illness Costs In The US
Trumpcare
Republicans Reveal The Heart Of Their Health Care Plan
US Healthcare
Got Just A CT Scan. F*ck American Health Care
Americans Spent 2.5 Times As Much On Healthcare As Citizens Of Other Rich Countries - But They Die 1.7 Years Earlier
This Bill Is For Someone Who Was Hospitalized For About Four Weeks
Senator John Mccain, Everyone
My Brother Fell While Rock Climbing And Broke His Neck, Back, And Ankle. This Is What The Bill Looks Like For Two Surgeries, A Week Hospital Stay, The Neck/Back Braces, And Ankle Cast
American Dream
Six Months Ago, At Age 25, My Wife Was Diagnosed With Cancer. Her Last Chemotherapy Treatment Was Yesterday (She's Now Cancer-Free). Cost Of Healthcare: $97,247.56. This Is Why You Need Insurance
This Is The Actual, Official Name Of The Republican's New Healthcare Bill
God Bless The Usa
"Everyone Deserves Healthcare"
The Tests Show
Good Thing My Dad Had Insurance
Grim Fairy Tale
US Healthcare Bill
On The Bright Side
The State Of American Health Care These Days
Insurance, You're The Greatest
The Republican Health Plan
US Healthcare System
I’m Going To The Hospital For A Minor Procedure. It’s Called It A “Wallet-Ectomy.”
I Finally Figured Out The Logic Behind The American Healthcare System...
My Father In Law's Hospital Bill After 2 1/2 Days In The Hospital For Observation
I Want That Universal Healthcare, Morty! It's My Season Arc!
Bottle Of Eyedrops, $20 After Insurance. 'Murica
How I Feel With Strep Throat And No Health Insurance
US Healthcare In A Nutshell
American Health Care System
The "Affordable" Care Act
Hot 2017 Fashion Trends
For me, this is one of the biggest (and saddest) paradoxes in the world. That a country that tends to claim how wonderful and great is, can't take a proper care of its citizens and considers this the way to do things. This to be right. It's ridiculous, cruel, unfair, heartbreaking.
It's also a country that says you have no freedom the bear arms. It's also the county that tries to take away your freedom of information and of the press, just so that multi-billion dollar companies make more money. It's also a country where, if you learn one of its secrets, sues the s**t out of you until you go quiet. After moving from Russia to America to Germany, I can say that Germany is better, along with many other foreign countries. Don't get me wrong, we have the right idea, but we and our government are not enforcing it.
Load More Replies...This is so depressing. I still can't understand why my brother insists on living in the states with his wife and three small children when they can live in Canada and avoid the ever looming massive debt from a random slip and fall.
Well the ankle surgery from a slip and fall cost my friend $2,000 with the now destroyed Affordable Health Care act. As a blue collar worker who makes around $25-27,000 per year she has to pay almost 10% of her income for ONE ACCIDENT. That is WITH COVERAGE. She paid monthly to have access to the care, she fell, the surgery cost over $20,000 and was sent home with no instructions and no assistance. No rehab. Thank goodness I'm an OT and I could set her up to take a shower without falling again, and buy her own equipment so she could get around. It's appalling. Oh- and with her blue collar job guess what her 6 months of income was due to being out because she could not walk? $0. No paid sick days, no paid vacation days. She serves food to the 1-2% and the rest of us. Tip well people.
Load More Replies...The actual problem is that Americans still believe they have to exist according to a constitution written on a piece of paper over 200 years ago, and instead of modernizing it or adopting a new one (like any normal country) in the world they literally rape it with ridiculous mendments thinking everything's fine.
Not all of us believe in it. Don’t treat us as though we’re all the same. MILLIONS of us Americans would LOVE universal health care and we’ve been fighting to have what every other country has.
Load More Replies...For me, this is one of the biggest (and saddest) paradoxes in the world. That a country that tends to claim how wonderful and great is, can't take a proper care of its citizens and considers this the way to do things. This to be right. It's ridiculous, cruel, unfair, heartbreaking.
It's also a country that says you have no freedom the bear arms. It's also the county that tries to take away your freedom of information and of the press, just so that multi-billion dollar companies make more money. It's also a country where, if you learn one of its secrets, sues the s**t out of you until you go quiet. After moving from Russia to America to Germany, I can say that Germany is better, along with many other foreign countries. Don't get me wrong, we have the right idea, but we and our government are not enforcing it.
Load More Replies...This is so depressing. I still can't understand why my brother insists on living in the states with his wife and three small children when they can live in Canada and avoid the ever looming massive debt from a random slip and fall.
Well the ankle surgery from a slip and fall cost my friend $2,000 with the now destroyed Affordable Health Care act. As a blue collar worker who makes around $25-27,000 per year she has to pay almost 10% of her income for ONE ACCIDENT. That is WITH COVERAGE. She paid monthly to have access to the care, she fell, the surgery cost over $20,000 and was sent home with no instructions and no assistance. No rehab. Thank goodness I'm an OT and I could set her up to take a shower without falling again, and buy her own equipment so she could get around. It's appalling. Oh- and with her blue collar job guess what her 6 months of income was due to being out because she could not walk? $0. No paid sick days, no paid vacation days. She serves food to the 1-2% and the rest of us. Tip well people.
Load More Replies...The actual problem is that Americans still believe they have to exist according to a constitution written on a piece of paper over 200 years ago, and instead of modernizing it or adopting a new one (like any normal country) in the world they literally rape it with ridiculous mendments thinking everything's fine.
Not all of us believe in it. Don’t treat us as though we’re all the same. MILLIONS of us Americans would LOVE universal health care and we’ve been fighting to have what every other country has.
Load More Replies...