This entire article is soooo weird to read from any country other than the USA. Last year my mom had a serious medical emergency and she was in the hospital for 3 months and nearly lost her leg. Had to meet with numerous plastic surgeons to rebuild the leg. Multiple teams of doctors. A nurse still comes every single day to her house. To this day we have paid $0. If I lived in the states my mom would have died. There is a serious issue here.

The bill might be valid, but the entire US health system certainly isn't!

The question about whether it's worth it or not to live in the U.S. bothers me. I can't even afford a plane ticket to visit another state, much less another country; not to mention that you would have to be able to find a job in another country, be granted a work visa, have the savings to move, etc. And from my understanding, a lot of the places with really great healthcare are very strict about who qualifies and who can get a visa to work/live there. People who recognize there's a problem with the American healthcare system are usually the ones suffering under it through extreme medical bills, and are the ones who can least afford to move somewhere else.

As a European, I truly can't understand how it's possible that (some) Americans still argue that that's the best healthcare system and that to have access to it you "only" have to pay an insurance... How on earth do you justify having to pay 700$ for literally NOTHING!!!

F*****g ”medicine” in America, taking the term practice to a whole new low. She needs to fight this

A little under half the U.S. population thinks we have the best healthcare in the world and the majority of them don't even have health insurance. Nothing is going to change in the near future here. Health care is like at the bottom of our collective concerns. We get the govt' we deserve.

Yay! Capitalism and corrupt politicians!

Please tell me she's contesting this.

To answer the question about living in the US... This is literally why I left. I had insurance through my work but didn't want to live in a country anymore where things like this happen. There were other reasons as well, but the fact that I could lose my job, have a medical emergency, and spend the rest of my life in debt is too horrific to consider. I've lived in multiple countries since and to be honest, European medical systems aren't perfect either - but at least I can get the care I need without relying on employment or going into debt.

I went to the ER and we talked to by a doctor and out the door in less than 20 min. Basically,I over reacted about something and was told it was nothing to worry about. Literally received no treatment of any kind. Spoke to a doctor for less than 5 minutes. They billed my insurance $2850! And they actually paid $1200!

God bless our NHS! Everything is free at the point of delivery, paid for by a VERY SMALL progressive tax (called National Insurance). Only prescriptions are charged for, and some optical & dental care, & then only the wealthiest pay. But £10 (us$13) for a WHOLE MONTH'S WORTH of Insulin, America? Doncha just hate that Socialist democracy system...xxx

I don't know if it happened here, but many times, they perform many tests before you see a doctor. Other doctors were assessing the problem, even if you never met with them. The tests cost money, the specialist reviewing the tests (radiologist, cardiologist, etc,) spends time reviewing them and making assessments or ruling out problems. I did several tests over a six hour period (xray, several blood tests, ekg, COVID test, etc,) before the doctor met with me and told me I was having a bad asthma attack. I was given a breathing treatment. But at least they ruled out many other things that could've caused the symptoms (was having chest pain.) Like I said, this woman may not have had any tests done but many times the tests add to the cost.

It is chocking. Should be a civil right with reasonable health care. In Sweden where I live, I payed 20$ for prostate check up, investigation, surgery and over night stay with observation. And return after two weeks for chek up. And yes I pay a 30% tax on my sallary

I am from Canada and we have free healthcare. However, there are multiple problems with it and not everything is covered. Biggest problem: Not enough doctors (my province has a wait list to get a GP - can't really switch if you don't like the one you do get), long wait times in ER (almost always), VERY long wait to see specialist. Items not covered: Eye care, dental care, ambulance, prescriptions. My question is to other countries with health care - do you face similar issues as us or do your countries actually have these things figured out? Are there other problems with the healthcare system? At the end of the day, even with our issues, I would still prefer what we have than what the US has to deal with. That boggles my mind.

I hit my head, laid on the floor for ~36 hours, unconscious, until my sister found me. Hospitalized for 5 weeks, don't remember most of the first 3. Was finally released to come home. I can't work, have no insurance...got a bill for $65K. My credit was already crap from bad decisions, so I just told the hospital billing dept. the truth. They set me up with Medicaid, and I never heard another word from them.

2005 My husband went to Kaiser with chest pain. They gave him medication for acid reflex and sent him home. He died that night, it turned out to be a blood clot to his lungs.

I received a letter charging me 100 euro ambulance fee (Ireland) and I wasn't even treated in hospital, so I went home. It seems they don't always charge you either. I was so pissed off when the letter came a few weeks later. I ignored it. I got another "final warning" 2 weeks after that. I've since moved so they can piss off. And are they really gonna take me to court for 100 euro? Maybe if they can find me.

Sorry about unfortunately?

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Same story in many countries, only people don't know because they never see what's being charged. I was in ER for 2 hours just to see some doctor in training for 5 minutes and I'm quite sure they'll charge me in excess of 300 euro. Want to see a GP outside office hours? It'll cost 160 euro's versus the 10 they normally get. But again, you don't see it so most people act like it's not their problem. No one in their right mind would accept that service level and those prices in any other service industry. But hey, healthcare is completely regulated into oblivion, and unless you devote 12 years of your life to the guild you will not be allowed to share in the spoils. Funny how less informed people always seem to think that this stuff is due to "private" healthcare, as if that exists for anything except esthetics.