Koreans React To US Healthcare Costs | Street Interview
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- Опубліковано 8 чер 2024
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DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this video do not represent that of Asian Boss or the general Korean public.
0:00 - What Koreans know about the US healthcare system
0:47 - Koreans react to the cost of calling ambulance in the US
2:09 - Koreans react to the cost of visiting a doctor
4:24 - Koreans react to the cost of birth in the US
6:00 - Why do Koreans visit doctors so often?
8:41 - Korea’s annual health checkup system
10:43 - Does universal healthcare mean lower quality?
12:20 - Would Koreans live in the US with high healthcare costs?
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Can you do a street interview about Miss Japan 2024? I see the issue of white complex finally get a spotlight after the contest.
Asian Boss come to Aotearoa we have a large Asian community.
@AsianBoss If you haven't already, please do this in Taiwan as well. :)
The average Korean visits the doctor 14 times a year. Meanwhile I've seen and helped people put stitches in because they couldn't afford the trip to the doctor.
y'all call yourselves asian boss when everything is just about japan or korea, why don't you cover the israel-hamas war which is still in asia huh? or any other events apart from near east asia region
True story in Korea. I went to an emergency room with no insurance, and the hospital staff warned it will be expensive. I was in such pain that I didn’t care about the cost. I had 30 min consultation with the doctor, received my prescription meds, and finally came the bill. It was just $12. When I asked them why they warned it would be expensive, the staff said if I had insurance it would be $3. 😅 meanwhile in the US even with insurance, I had to pay a $1,500 deductible for an emergency room visit with the doctor 10min tops.
My kid needed stitches after colliding w the hotel coffee table- same thing, they warned us itd be exp without insurance (we had it). But even without it, ambulance, xrays, ketamine sedation, stitches etcetc it was around usd$300 😂 (also, its completely free here in NZ, even without insurance).
I just sent a post too. I'm grateful not to live in a country where survival depends on your wallet.
It's not just about free or not free, US healthcare is ridiculously overpriced
True, it's so expensive.
Currently my emergency room visit in America is $500 with insurance. If I want to keep my insurance I have to work until 65. This is why I am retiring early and moving to places like Korea. I can pay $12 and tour the world. Koreans also walk around a lot more. Americans drive too much.
What most people fail to grasp is that the objective of the U.S. healthcare system is to generate profits. The aim isn't to provide healthcare for free. Around 35,000 to 40,000 Americans die per year from lack of healthcare services.
@@Ph3r0 There is no free healthcare, but capitalizing health is evil when health should be investment for economy.
The problem is not how much money poured to healthcare, but the system is the biggest problem. And the unwillingness of government to intervene
@@Ph3r0
Americans pay taxes, but there's no safety net either. Civilized societies like most of Europe, Australia, Japan, S.Korea, and Taiwan provide Healthcare for those who cannot afford it. Sometimes people have catastrophic circumstances, and need help from their central governments. American citizens pay taxes but they get very little in return for their tax money. It's quite possible there won't even be enough money to fund Social Security by the mid 2030s. The U.S. is on the verge of failure as a society on many levels if drastic changes aren't made soon. But since the two party system is broken, it's quite probable that Americans will have to hit rock bottom before they wake up from their apathy.
The US government seems to think that providing healthcare for free is communism. You know, the "free for all" stuff. In capitalist America, they say, "You want healthcare? Well, earn it, kid! No free lunch for everyone. This ain't Soviet Russia! Raaah!"
The other problem is healthy food costs too much while processed food is way too much. Government needs to look out for citizens
US has a higher average salary compared to South Koreans. 92.5% of people in the US are insured. Remember US protects most of Europe and some asian countries so that costs us social welfare needs. The US landmass is also 99x bigger than south korea and we have 6x that amount of people.
As an American, I feel confident saying that those that are opposed to a universal healthcare system don’t actually understand how it works. If American companies were the savvy capitalists they claim to be then we would have had universal healthcare long ago. A healthy population is a productive population.
Yeap, a single unified payer system is way more efficient. Currently, All the costs are needed to support the bloated health insurance companies with their seperate workforces.
It seems that in American system, it requires the population to be unhealthy for the healthcare related companies and services to make the most money. 🤭
As an American, I also agree. But… There is a caveat. If America, as a capitalist country, tried to have a truly, universal healthcare, they would still create it based around profit. Profit of the hospitals, profit of pharmaceuticals, profit of medical supply, etc. There is no way, in my opinion, that America that is run by corporate lobbying would ever be able to create a universal healthcare that would not still be 100% influenced by money. This would either still cost Americans a lot, or it would decrease the quality and amount of care you would be able to get.
The elites oppose any types of socialism. Billions of dollars have been sent to Middle East to give Israelis military equipment and universal healthcare, while the US citizens have to pay dearly for medical treatment
I wouldn't oppose universal health care if you didn't act like everyone opposing it was an "evil" idiot.
I died when that one girl said she visited the doctor just to skip class. In the US, I could never. 😂😂😂
True, imagine paying $5,000-$10,000 just to skip 2 weeks of classes
Right, we didn’t even hardly go to the nurses office in school.
I do it now to skip work lol
@@JohnnyJohnJon83 If you’re losing $5,000-$10,000 from missing just 2 weeks of work, you’re making good money. I’m sure there’s one out there, but I’ve never met a college student that could afford missing that much
Same here in the Philippines. We don’t have a very good healthcare system, but seeing a doctor is affordable even for those that are lest fortunate. For private, it may cost 4USD to 5USD only. End if you have Philhealth and/or HMO, it can be free of charge if not discounted depending on illness.
a legend in usa once said, if an accident doesn't kill you, the hospital bill will
That legend must not have known that you can get insurance for a few hundred bucks a month...
Seriously, just take the money you're hoping get taken out of your check to fund a universal system, and buy insurance.
ㅋㅋ
I’m from Canada and have lived in Korea for a number of years. What I’ve observed is the same as what the interviewees have all mentioned. Koreans tend to go see the doctor frequently for any minor health issues; headaches, stomach aches, cramps, common colds, etc. There are plenty of clinics that are easily accessible and also very affordable. Minor health concerns can be addressed immediately and bigger issues are booked no more than 3 weeks out (unlike the 3 month wait for a Canadian general checkup). Generally clinics are on an upper floors of the building with each floor specializing in a certain health issue. You go to the floor that matches your health concerns. Once you’ve received your consultation and prescription (same day), you go down to the pharmacy on the first floor, hand them the prescription, and the pharmacist will hand you your medication in a bag, along with a receipt and sheet of paper explaining each medication. The sheet has photos of the medication along with the dosage, name, strength, and some more extra information. They portion everything out into a string of little easily tearable plastic bags, each containing the perfect dosage. It’s super convenient for children who go to school or adults who go to work as it’s easy to carry and pre-portioned.
Also, Koreans tend to have one major full checkup (I mean EVERYTHING all together) once every 4 or so years at a larger hospital. Korea definitely has an extremely robust healthcare system, everything digitized and easily accessible for both doctors and citizens. The health reports from the full checkups are emailed and/or mailed to you within a month detailing all your results.
Feel free to correct me if I made a mistake with anything :)
It's the same as here in Japan.
그리고 학교 빠질려면 병원 진단서가 필요해서요..ㅠㅠ
It takes around 3 months to see a family doctor if you aren’t already under their care in the US so lots of people go to urgent care. I realized Urgent Cares don’t seem to exist In Taiwan because you can afford to go to a regular doctor with 0 wait time, even specialists can be seen within a day or the ER if needed but in the US everyone is terrified of needing to go to the hospital because of the cost.
as a US citizen who's also been living in Korea for a few years, healthcare is definitely one of the reasons i'd consider staying longer... it's just so convenient and affordable ㅠㅠ
Where did you live in Canada for a 3 month wait time for general check up? I live in Toronto specifically Mississauga. We normally get an appointment from our family doctor the next day if not the same day and it's free.
4:46 You know something is overpriced when a Korean man suddenly starts speaking English.
quite strange that a country that advocates for human rights excludes health as a human right
The US is a nation founded on slavery and genocide, and is literally helping Israel to commit a livestreamed genocide right now. The US has never stood for human rights.
Because it's a paradox of stupidity. The same people preaching human rights are asking for universal health care when they don't even want to front the bill. Even their shitty politicians are big talk but no action.
Gitmo is proof the country does not care about human rights.
Oh, I could write a whole essay on countries like the USA’s actual status when it comes to human rights.
@@haruzanfuucha Wasn't slavery almost always banned in the Northern states where almost all of America's industry, growth, and economic prosperity was? Genocide I agree with, it's like the same situation with countries like Turkey and China as well.
Went to Korea with my wife and we both caught the Rona. Went to an ENT specialist with no appointment btw and . We both had IV bags with vitamin C and fever reducer along with some consultation with the Dr. Whole session took 30 mins. She paid $4 (cause she's a Korean citizen) and I paid $70 as an American. That's when I decided to retire in Korea. 😂
my first child cost over $25,000 for a natural birth, with epidural, 3 days-2 nights.. and that was AFTER insurance
My first was born by c-section + 4 nights 5 days stay, all the after care and breakfast, lunch and dinner included included and I paid 25 dollars (which is just the paperwork administration fee). This was in Sweden. (My income tax is 22%, the high income tax thing is a myth it only affects millionaires)., Girl, it would have been cheaper for you to fly to Stockholm and have your baby here and fly back, for real.
@@ME-bv4td 😂 I would’ve taken that advice back then too! 🥹
@@ME-bv4tdwill you be provided with free healthcare in Sweden if you're a tourist? That sounds like a system that could easily be abused.
I don't get it, did you not know the policy you picked or your insurance didn't cover what you understood was supposed to be covered? Cuz I thought such high payments can only be on a really shitty insurance, most insurances have their out of pocket max cap at a couple of thousands. Good insurance is when it's a single copay of $1000.
@@privettoli they covered what they covered 🤷🏻♀️ I don’t think there was a copay at the time.. and my deductible would’ve been like ~$5k. I set up a monthly payment plan which was like $300/month
I moved to Korea from the US for work and get medical insurance through the national healthcare system. I remember thinking 'how much it was going to cost?' to get simple check up at the OBGYN and trying to plan out my expenses for the rest of the month in case it was expensive. When the receptionist said the cost for the appointment that day was 20,000 won, I almost had to reboot my brain because that same appointment in America would have cost me close to $200.
Lol wtf? A check for you is $200 where did you live?
@@wifi961 That's how much it costs without insurance or with bad insurance. With insurance, it would be around 10~50 depending on how good it is. Sometimes free, as it would be fully covered.
We'd all die if we lived in the US. It's insane in this day and age in premier first world country that healthcare is not covered by taxes.
It funds the destruction of innocent human lives. It's really twisted.
People don't want to pay extra in taxes to pay insurance for people they don't know. I think it's selfish. We all deserve quality healthcare no matter where you are financially.
@@aznmochibunny but, you know, those people are also supposed Christians...
i've been saying this and I'm still saying this now. There's so many fake Christians in America. @@MarvelGeekify
@@aznmochibunnyI think it's more about culture. I actually feel glad if my taxes went to saving people lives instead of being used for stupid shits done by government. People are generally way more selfish in the U.S. If everyone contributed to a universal health care, it could be made cheaper at the same quality of private insurance because the user base of subscription would be bigger.
I live in the U.S. and even I’m surprised by the high cost of the healthcare system. I’m so glad I have a form of insurance. I’m also a nursing student and seeing such a high cost infuriates me because so many people can’t get care.
tack on some prior authorizations and deductibles too.
I just sent a post too. I'm grateful not to live in a country where survival depends on your wallet.
This would explain why south koreas average life expancy is so much higher than the US. Forget about suicides, at least koreans can actually afford an ambulance when they need it.
There's something like a dozen health related companies in the top 100 revenue list in America. That doesn't sit right with me cuz these "health" companies are based on profit, not patient outcomes so it's actually in their best interest that Americans stay sick.
What's worse is that we (taxpayers) end up footing the bill anyway as people who can't get healthcare wait until their condition gets worse and end up at the emergency room. What could've been fixed will require expensive medication and medical treatment as the problem was allowed to fester for a long time.
THIS IS ABSOLUTELY WILDDD 💀💀
What's even more wild are the people in the U.S. who think they have the best healthcare system in the world and why its so expensive, damn brainwashed sheeples.
The state of healthcare in the U.S. is absolutely shameful. It’s a highly complex issue but part of the reason we make no real progress is that a certain proportion of the population thinks universal healthcare is ‘socialist’ (which is like a bad word to many), it’s not the government’s problem, everyone should take care of themselves, etc. I have a good job and insurance. I recently had to go to the emergency room and the bill was more than $14,000. I had to pay $1,600 myself, even though I’d already met my deductible for the year. Fortunately, I was able to pay it, but it did impact my budget for a few months. Imagine if you had a lower income-even if you had insurance, that kind of bill coming out of the blue could be devastating.
Bro I've had emergency medics tell me "Are you sure you want to take the ambulance? It will cost $2k."
I just sent a post too. I'm grateful not to live in a country where survival depends on your wallet.
Anything that is an emergency would be costly in the American perspective.
Time = Money for doctors in America.
I remember when I was in a lot of pain, I had to check to see if the hospital I was going to was part of my health insurance’s network. Forget about ambulance, I took an Uber. Thank god for Uber and Lyft. 😢
People should not be thinking about affordability when they are in extreme pain. What a shame.
It says a lot about how badly the demonization of comunism has affected the US. Universal healthcare is not restricted to comunist countries. Also, the US has public education (before University) too so how come they can accept THAT but not healthcare? Also, I can understand if they want to keep paying for their healthcare but how come they don't protest about THE COST?!!!!
Living in Wisconsin, United States. I took an ambulance on November, and it cost ₩2,138,896 ($1,600) without insurance.
It’s absolutely ridiculous in the States 😢
Well everything is totally out of control over there now pretty much - I think medical costs might be the least of their worries :P It is utterly insane though - and staggeringly greedy - it seems almost inhumane
Capitalism baby. USA is no communist.
@@astrafaanIt is inhumane here. You can’t even get insurance that covers you nationwide. You can leave your state for healthcare without paying even more. It’s insane!
@@astrafaanOh it is inhumane. I have had a tumor growing in my adrenal gland for years now and am just waiting to see if it kills me at this point because I can’t afford to do anything about it lol I am 34 years old. I am also missing almost half of my teeth because I can’t afford the dental care and have a condition that makes my enamel weak. ☠️
@@sweetReaper It's scary just to hear it.. Consider medical tourism to another country..
India is often shown poorly but India the ambulance is free, you can see the doctor for $2, generic medicines costs $1 or less, and there is $3000 health insurance free for everyone and on top of all that there is also free public hospitals though most people use private hospitals. Even private hospitals are relatively cheap compared to their foreign counterparts.
That's fair, but also 220 Million people in India survive on less than 40 cents per day of expenditure. They'd have to save for 5 days to go see a $2 doctor.
@@fierzali6297 for them there is public hospitals where there is no fees at all. $2 is private consulting. Government hospitals dont charge you any money for consulting or treatment.
You should tell them how much insurance costs and the reality of how many americans die each year due to being unable to afford health care or insurance. Also tell them the cost of non-prescription medications.
Non prescription medications here in the US are usually cheaper than in other countries, because you can buy them in bulk. Like acetaminophen for example, in other countries you can only buy bottles of maybe 50 or 100, here you can buy double packs of 500 each bottle for very cheap.
I love their innocence with their guesses. "Is it [insert low cost number here]?"
Yup! I laughed. Then I cried.
@@MilkByCow breaks your heart to hear the interviewer say “could you guess a higher number, please?”
It's not innocence, its what most countries pay. Paying such high costs as in the US is absurdly high. Unconceivable. No one would ever guess that it is so high in the US.
In Australia visiting your doctor is free, under Medicare.
Ambulance is free if you have private health insurance, which most people have. If someone doesnt have private health then then can opt to get ambulance cover for an annual fee.
I thought you had Medicare in the US? And Obamacare? And Medicaid? How is it that all these govt health funds dont cover the entire cost?
I'll take $400/month over an oppressive percentage of my paycheck, any day.
@@NotKimiRaikkonen - dunno the logistics of it but it’d be interesting to see a dual healthcare system - individual and social - and the citizen has the freedom to opt in/out at their will.
Or an entirely different system where not all treatment is covered under social healthcare which would lower taxes theoretically.
Whatever the case, I’m sure people would agree that the ideal solution is somewhere in between.
>”I’d die!”
We do.
As a US citizen I’m so jealous! It cost me thousands to stay in the hospital last year. Korea, you sound lovely! I want Universal Healthcare here so bad. Honestly we’d probably need advice how to implement it.
Edit: I have insurance too.
Nothing is free. They (South Korea) pay for via their higher tax rates per citizen
@@swoopes7777and they still end up paying less for it.
They also have longer life expectancies because of diet and excellent universal healthcare, as do the Japanese and Singaporeans. Life expectancy correlates with comprehensive and advanced healthcare.@@swoopes7777
@@zerrot5302 the minimum wage and overall pay in Western countries with universal Medicare is much lower to compensate. A white collar worker there would get much less than here
@@swoopes7777we pay for it in our taxes (as most insurance companies rely heavily on government programs) AND we pay for insurance. there is no defending this
My parents immigrated to the US bc they bought the idea of the "American dream". Now we're all trying to get out of this nightmare...
From which country?
@@cakeyummy2401 From Turkey. They wanna move to Europe now and I want to go back once the current gov is gone.
@@edilee5909 Me too. Quality of life has gone downhill. It’s no longer safe. Prices are insane. It’s depressing. A nightmare indeed.
Watching Hollywood growing up I too bought that idea. Americans need to travel more or at least watch foreign videos. So many options out there.
@@edilee5909 The quality of life nowadays in Turkey is terrible, that's why they all moved to Germany. Even under the current administration here in the US is bad right now.
The high cost of healthcare is one of the main reasons lots of people where I live travel to Mexico for meds or to get checked by a dr. All I would have to do in Mexico is go to the pharmacist, explain my symptoms and the pharmacist will prescribe what I need.
Ohh… so is this what it’s really like in the US. We have the same here in the Philippines when you said about that pharmacist thing. Same here in the Philippines. We don’t have a very good healthcare system, but seeing a doctor is affordable even for those that are lest fortunate. For private, it may cost 4USD to 5USD only. And if you have Philhealth and/or HMO, it can be free of charge if not discounted depending on illness.
Viva Mexico! I cant wait to retire early and check out Mexico for longer than a few days. I don't have enough vacations.
@MarkEdisonAlviz-official in Mexico I would go the pharmacist for non life-threatening illnesses or the common cold. If I see the Dr here in the states (if you don't have insurance) it could cost (in my area at least) $75-$200.
Lived in US 20+yrs and moved back to Korea 5yrs. At the beginning when asked about US life I kind of bragged about the 'excellent' insurance my company offered as I did in US. Of course it didn't take long to find out what a miserable idiot I was. I'm proud to be an American but absolutely ashamed of US healthcare system.
The ambulance, even with private insurance or Medicare, is out of pocket. A doctor's note that the transport is medically necessary does absolutely nothing to reduce the cost either with the carrier, insurance company or Medicare. If the transport requires an RN medic + vitals monitor + O2, then add another $800-1,000 on top of the $1,000 for a round trip of up to 10 miles. Medical transport made BANK during COVID.
If you just drag out the ambulance bill or send them a letter of financial aid they'll usually just drop it. This has been the case with my previous visits
I'm still paying off my ambulance ride a year later because the insurance compny decided it was out of network. I was having what I thought was a heart attack but I was supposed to stop and ask what insurance they take? it's crazy living in the US. I'm also still trying to pay the bills for that hospital visit but it's in the bill collectors hands.
And yeah.. we have decent insurance but with the costs.. it doesn't matter.
@@polkastriaMy brother just went to ER because he had some allergic reaction to something. His bill was around $3000 before insurance after insurance around $670. They basically gave him Benadryl and charged $1.99 for the medication. 😳. It happened at midnight so his regular doctor or urgent care was not available at that time.
@@keimorgan5654, sounds like he had decent insurance at least. But to go through all that just for an allergic reaction that could be treated with benadryl...ouch. I hope he figured out what triggered it.
@@polkastria you should ask him how long he has to wait in the ER, I wouldn't mind if it's high cost, but it's a good treatment. My experience with the ER was awful, the people were rude and asked for all the insurance information before they treated me. My hand went from bleeding all over to completely dry before I got treated, and that's 4 hrs wait time.
In some SEA countries, we visit the doctor just to get a day medical leave. Because sometimes I feel lazy to go to work.
As an indonesian i feel attacked 😅😂 so relatable
In vietnam it cost higher than others south east Asia 😢😢
I almost did that today 😂
@@yummy77777 Maybe we have different cultures. It's not really laziness. When you are at work, do your job and do your job well. But sometimes, you need a mental break and rest, just a day. As an employee, you have your entitlements and your rights that you can and you should take if needed.
@@khairuljaffar5979 Thank you for explanation☺️🙌 . I was misunderstanding🙏 Your working environment seems really good for me. Flexible
*Its mind blowing both ways hearing what others pay and them hearing what we'd have to pay*
I appreciate Asian Boss covering this topic so much. Many countries, in addition to S. Korea have excellent, crazy affordable healthcare. Many years ago we had to admit a friend to the ER while in a “developing” nation. The facilities were more advanced and nicer than anything we had ever seen in the U.S. and the overnight bill was only $7usd!We thought it had to be a mistake and insisted on paying more but the Dr. Laughed and explained that healthcare is a right for all in their country. A few months ago I went to the pharmacy and I watched the pharmacist tell a senior that Aetna was no longer covering their prescription and there was no cheaper alternative, they paid $250. I watched another senior be told that United was no longer covering their prescription and they paid $200. A woman, with two young kids had to pay $600 for her sons meds (it was absolutely not covered), and she is a local nurse with one of the biggest healthcare providers in our state! the horror of her situation literally ended in tears. I saw all of this in just one pharmacy visit! A standard ambulance ride is $2500here (I had that bill several years ago) and even major insurance often does not cover the cost. I am now hearing, from people in a nearby state, that United Insurance (one of the largest providers in the U.S.) has dropped their local healthcare providers and so they have expensive insurance but no where to go to use it. I thought I was doing so well these past few years but last year had an incident that was well over $6000 after coverage. I first had major medical debt, years ago, when I was a 20 year old student, and I was so proud when I paid it off in less than 2 years, but I realize that’s an insane way of thinking! I should have been outraged at the cost. It gets worse every day. I am saving like crazy so we can literally escape. I just said last week, “we have to get out, our lives depend on it.” I fought so long and hard to fix this problem, but I’m exhausted, I don’t want my child to go through this, and there is just a completely impenetrable wall of stupid and corrupt, here, that no amount of reason can change.
My colleagues in Taiwan told me to go to the doctor for a cold. It was such a culture shock. I was planning on doing the American thing and just toughing it out with OTC meds. But, here they go to the doctor for even minor illnesses and it only costs around $5-$8 USD. Even specialists. I can’t understand how America allows people to suffer so much.
It is a country for rich people. They exploit the unfortunate ones. They have to stop doing that.
Capitalism. And a brain-washing culture against “socialism”
Just came back from a year of study abroad there. Caught a cold the last week I was supposed to fly out, it sucked but at least the bill for the medication was relatively inexpensive. Love it there, wish I could just move but unless there's a quality job offer or a spouse, it's like impossible.
1:32 Whenever I hear how much it costs to get an ambulance in America, I think of the video "This guy jumps out of an Ambulance and runs away!!"
Yep, in America we rely on our employers to insure us. You normally expect that, but it's actually a really big deal in deciding a job offer. Our government has very interesting priorities.
Yep. Moved from the US to the EU and the access to healthcare blew my mind. I also had better peace of mind overall knowing that an accident wouldn't financially cripple me for life. Asthma inhalers were around $5 instead of $300. I knew a university professor in the US who gave birth--normal with no complications--and despite having insurance it was like 10k. The kid was several years old before she paid off his birth.
Here are some stats to add more context (currency used is USD):
_Healthcare expenditure per capita, 2019, per WHO; adjusted for differences in cost of living, but not adjusted for inflation_
United States: $10,921
Germany: $6,738
Canada: $5,520
France: $5,492
United Kingdom: $5,087
Japan: $4,587
Singapore: $4,102
Spain: $3,989
South Korea: $3,521
China: $880
_Life expectancy at birth, 2021, per UN_
Japan: 84.8
South Korea: 83.7
Spain: 83.0
Singapore: 82.8
Canada: 82.7
France: 82.5
United Kingdom: 80.7
Germany: 80.6
China: 78.2
United States: 77.2
With insurance, a basic doctor visit still cost me 30-100 dollars depending on what kind of doctor and if the doctor is in network or not. I rarely go unless I have to, and haven't really gone except for if I'm really sick in many years.
What is in network? So even if you have an insurance but the doctor is out of network, you still need to pay in full? 😮
@@SiTetehSundayou're just not going to doctors not in network in the first place.
@@SiTetehSundawhen you're buying insurance (for example on state health plan marketplace), you enter your doctors and drugs, and they'll let you pick the insurance which covers both. Good companies have insurance where almost everyone would be in network, some cheaper employers will give you shitty insurance.
I just sent a post too. I'm grateful not to live in a country where survival depends on your wallet.
@@TrixifromVienna it actually happens in majority of poor countries with single payer systems, where you need to pay up to the corrupted government institutions to get health care. In the US your life will be saved and then you'll get a bill, depending on your financial situation you might come up with very small payments or a bankruptcy but your life will be saved. And this will happen only if you don't have insurance which is not as common as some posts online make it sound (unemployed, not on benefits from the state government because of additional income, etc).
Americans will say the insurance will cover it all... We don't even pay insurance and still we don't pay 0.01% of the cost😂
Well, this says a lot about the US LMAO
The US is in a spiraling downfall. Good luck with your brother's up north when we're gone.
They are such a backwards country 💀💀
Explains why so many Americans are weird, simply bc they out of touch with the rest of the world's reality
@@hanien6230 I agree. Our military is over there protecting your countries border while ours is wide open.
@leswhite3846 what do you mean? Im not Korean btw.
Here in the Philippines, we don’t have a very good healthcare system, but seeing a doctor is affordable even for those that are lest fortunate. For private, it may cost 4USD to 6USD only. And if you have Philhealth and/or HMO, it can be free of charge if not discounted depending on illness. Still, we are hoping to see more improvement in healthcare system in the future, including better compensation to our health professionals.
I've been to an emergency room outside Manila. Great service. Pay as you go. I remember my bill was low compared to my American restaurant bills.
@@jeretsoI’ve been to an emergency room in both Thailand and Cambodia. In Thailand, I paid around $40 at a public hospital. In Cambodia, I paid around $200 for a private hospital.
So good to know! Though I am Filipino Canadian, I am still very glad that healthcare is now affordable in the Philippines.
I really like and appreciate your channel, its always to hear different perspectives from around the work
Korean government charge a lot of health insurance premiums from the rich, limit medical fees to force lower medical costs, and collect a 10% self-payment fee to prevent excessive hospital visits. In Korea, all of the most talented people apply to medical school, so the doctors are very skilled.
I lived in Korea and Japan were their systems are similar but my relatives live in USA and I heard stories that depending on insurance there are hospitals that don’t take you and stuff and same with medicine?
Sounds very stressful… 😥
in malaysia,you only have to pay Rm1 to see a doctor..Thats 282.51krw and 0.21usd😂
including the medicine😂
Yeah, malaysia is one of the best if not the best advance health care system with government subsidy. That's something we feel proud about being Malaysian citizen
I’m indonesian and i thank Malaysian for providing such a good healthcare system 😂 ours not bad but our medical institutions are just not sufficient enough to handle our big population so some of us go to Malaysia for faster treatment. Even my Indonesian insurance cover medical treatment in Malaysia and (for fancier option) Singapore😂 so, thank you!!
@@SiTetehSunda yeah i know,i have a lot of indonesian friends that travel to malaysia only for the healthcare,not for holiday😂. your welcome🤭
@@MrLobak-ny8iu we commonly go there for 2 days of medical treatment and spend 1 day of vacation (especially in Penang), and Indonesians are famous for shopping very consumptively so spending our money buying Malaysian products is our token of gratitude😂🤣 I hope indonesia can learn from Malaysian healthcare system in terms of its efficiency and accessibility.
@@MrLobak-ny8iu Never heard of that
My wife needed urgent medical care and the tiny rural hospital didnt have the facilities to help her and the nearest hospital that could was a state away with a 3 hour drive. Never felt more hopelessness in my life when I told her we faced losing a work vehicle to pay the cost as my insurance had stupid high limitations for ambulance care.
Why didn’t you have insurance?
You took a risk and got burned. Your fault. Take responsibility. Your wife married a loser.
I never knew about the Korean healthcare system. I wish we could implement Korean health care system in India too.
i saw another comment on this video explaining the pros of indian healthcare (cheap costs, free public hospitals, etc) though?
I had personal debt of around $4000 at the start of last year, and a gallbladder removal with no insurance later I am $60,000 in the hole. How in the hell can I even be this poor and not qualify for welfare medical benefits, ffs. I am literally out of work. I'd have to go out and get pregnant to get covered. And while being treated for my gallbladder, the MRI they ran found I have atherosclerosis in one artery and ovarian cysts. Guess what is NOT getting taken care of any time soon.
I hear you. I have arthritis, I've had it since I was 19 years old and I'm 55 now. In any other sane country, I could have had my hip replacement surgery and had a pretty decent life. However, I can't afford the surgery and hospital costs as well as rehab. So I bought a wheelchair on amazon and that's how I get around now. That and extra strength Tylenol. High doses of Ibuprofen did a number on my stomach and so I had to stop using it and other decent pain meds. The US medical system is a joke.
Sorry😢 to hear that. In my case I am very sick to my stomach all the time and cannot afford to visit a specialist for the stomach. I am in pain every day, 22 Georgia f USA
@@Meurieza, I sincerely hope they work out a better plan for medical services in the US long before you are my age. We need a universal health care system here.
@@polkastria I read The Nordic Theory of Everything - Anu Partanen, and was blown away by some of the Scandinavian systems available. Finland especially. If South Korea can make affordable health care happen with no set backs for doctors/hospitals (they still bank), idk why or what is holding up the same system in the US. Like wouldn't they make MORE money/or same if more people could afford to visit the dr even had a lower cost.
@@Meurieza It's horrible, even where I live there are some "free clinics" but they don't cover everything, and if you need a specialist if there isn't that type of one that is offering free services to that clinic you're out of luck.
I’d be seen by a doctor within 5 minutes at a local clinic in Korea. The local urgent care checked my ID, insurance card, had me fill out multiple forms, answer the same questions online again, and take pics of my insurance card then upload. I just returned the paperwork and came back home. I was the only patient in the waiting room as well. It’s just not practical for no reason. For specific appointments, it’d be faster and cheaper for me to fly to Korea then fly back.
I do find it a little strange how so many Koreans seem prepared to go to doctors for relatively minor ailments tbh - I thought it was kind of a meme really :) I go maybe once a year - probably less on average - and it's totally free. Their check-up system though is great. Usa is utter insanity though
In Korea, you need a doctor's certificate to skip school. So I went to the hospital 10 times a month because I didn't want to go to school..
🤝👍@@fromthedarksideofthemoon5666
American here. As a parent of a two year old, it’s common for my husband and I to get sick if she gets sick. But my husband and I will never visit the doctor. Because we want to save the money to pay for her to see the doctor instead. (And yes we have insurance. Even with the insurance my daughter’s last appointment for a cold was $96).
To be honest, Korean healthcare system is among the best in the world. It's the golden middle between the all-private for-profit and ineffective free healthcare from the government.
The government healthcare isn't ineffective. People from those countries are quite happy about it. Truth told, all the reasons for government healthcare being bad are just objectively false.
Like the classic "You'll have to wait forever for non-emergency situations." Like I'm not having to make appointments 2 months in advance, and get denied surgery for 6 months.
Or the other classic "You'll have less freedom." Despite the fact that our private insurance restricts care to a select few locations, employers are always shopping for new private insurance every 2-6 years anyways, and you largely are restricted to what your employer gives you.
I just sent a post too. I'm grateful not to live in a country where survival depends on your wallet.
because there are different types of universial healthcare system. South korea has single payer universial health 'insurance'. People have to pay montly fee based on their income and copay whenever they visit a doctor. Also the insurance covers only between 70~100%. So there are money you still have to pay out of your pocket. The national insurance org(NHIS) are funded by those montly fees from the people and subsidary from the government. The comtemporary politics in parliament can hardly affect the funds, hence the NHIS can decide their own budget depends on actual demends. While UK's health care 'service' would be seemed like totally free, its budgets are always dictated by the parliament and they can never catch up the actual demends. Also people tend to abuse the system when it is concieved as 'free', even though they pay it with taxes, but it is 'invisible' to them.
An interesting fact is that not only South Korean healthcare is more cheap, but also doctors are much smarter than American doctors. Many people think that the smartest people in South Korea go to Samsung, but that's not true. In South Korea, all the smartest people become medical doctors, and all students study to become doctors.
I heard or read somewhere Korean healthcare quality is one of the highest in the world.
@@bakurachan Maybe behind some European countries
I'm from the Netherlands and I always thought we had a excellent healthcare system, but since I've been living in Korea I realised. Korea's healthcare system is on another level, even Europe can't compare.
The old man said it all .I guess the middle class can't afford to live in America . That's it in a nutshell folks.!
I pay $500 US dollars every month just for my two kids to have insurance. And the insurance doesn’t cover everything, if I want it for myself it would be almost $1000 a month cause at work I don’t have benefits. My parents go to Mexico just to get dental work done cause here in the US it’s ridiculously expensive.
I get my dental work done in Asia when I visit family . It’s like 80% cheaper and no drop in quality either.
@@JohnnyJohnJon83 My family is Mexican so when they go visit my grandparents they do the same. It’s a vacation/doctor trip.
😂 fly to Korea to get healthcare and the ticket and the doctor fee are still probably still cheaper then going to a doctor in the US.
I remember here in Japan that once, our american colleague told us that in USA people could potentially go bankrupt over healthcare and education.
We were shocked! Imagine that people could actually go bankrupt over a basic necessities such as healthcare and education. In the richest country of the world !
I just sent a post too. I'm grateful not to live in a country where survival depends on your wallet.
it doesnt get rich by giving out free stuff
@@iio77 I feel sorry for them.
@@fromthedarksideofthemoon5666 None of these are basic human rights there. I don't even know what they consider basic human rights. Something something equality something something freedom something something constitution.
As a US citizen living on the European system i have to say i would never go back to the US system!
Going back to the US system after what i know now would be like voluntary going from a mansion to cardboard box under a bridge.
I visited family in the USA in 2023 and my wife had a small accident (dislocated shoulder) which from my training was not hard to correct, but we decided to go to an emergency room after i took care of the dislocated shoulder just to be safe.
We like most everyone visiting the USA from Europe or anywhere else get 'vacation insurance' which is needed when visiting developing countries that do not have a real healthcare system... which unfortunantly includes the USA.
The cost for just seeing a doctor and getting an x-ray was 1,100 dollars we paid, which the insurance re-embursed us. The point is i never pay when i get an x-ray in Europe.
When my dad passed away, he was airlifted to a hospital and my mom received a 20k bill for just the helicopter ride. Thankfully my dad had full health insurance at the time so we didn't have to pay anything, but I can only imagine how many families have been financially destroyed from just an ambulance ride. I'm not sure what can fix our health care system at this point. Free healthcare seems like it would just further overload the hospitals, while big pharma and the hospitals would just hike up rates even further at tax payers expense.
If I am dead and I see that expenses, I might just just ressurect myself to work and die again just to pay that expenses..
@@esense9602lol!
I'm curious where these numbers came from. From someone who lives in the U.S. the way it works is if you have a job, you have insurance. The insurance has a deductible & max out of pocket. Once you hit that it's free. For example, my deductible is $500 and my max out of pocket for my family of 4 is $2,000. Once that 2,000 is hit everything is free for the rest of the year. That $18,000 pregnancy bill would be free. The ambulance ride would also be free along with everything else. Also, any preventative visits like shots, annual check ups also free even if deductible is not met. For the few that don't have a job in the U.S. they are covered by Medicaid (state government insurance) which makes it free for them as well. That's the truth of how it works. Any questions, let me know.
I spent $1500 one year on some heart scans (ended up not having any heart issues), and I had health insurance. Every 10 min visit to the cardiologist who didn’t even know how to read my results was over $100 with insurance.
It's wild to me that we complain that we pay too many taxes, but also don't force our government to at least give us free basic healthcare from those taxes. But most of us Americans don't actually study what's happening outside of our country for comparison.
The cost problem is nothing compared to .... I hurt my shoulder and couldn't move it. Great pain. The BEST US hospitals told me I needed emergency surgery. I didn't trust them, so I flew to China to visit a Chinese medical massage doctor. It took him ONE minute to fix my shoulder by moving it around and pushing some pressure points. Korean traditional medicine has the same practice.
So, you go broke paying for "medicine" that messes you up.
😲
The number of doctor visits blows my mind. I have free healthcare too but I've only visited a doctor a handful of times in my adult life - all for serious stuff. I do visit the dentist once every 2-3 years though.
The only time I've ever been thankful to live in the rural south was when I've been without insurance. We have a clinic here where they have what's called a sliding scale that your prices are based on several factors like employment, how many people you live with, etc. At my lowest point I was living with just my mom and had no job, so my appointment fee was $25 and that included things like labs, x-rays, etc. My prescriptions were more expensive than the doctor visits back then. As soon as I got a job though it shot up to $150 per visit. It is 1000% a racket
Add to that the car loans, student loans, mortgage, credit card debt...
But it's all worth it because of all that freedom they've got!
What's more wild is the lack of understanding or explanation why the US Healthcare costs are so high.
It is obvious that Americans doesn't pay taxes, so government cannot afford to fund healthcare...🤭
They can't have that. You need to understand that health care is what "good people" would support. They need to make America look bad.
More profits for shareholders and CEOs
UA-cam deleted my comment lol.
@@sleepandrelaxation3395 Other way around, the large big pharma companies control the whole medical market and set prices.
I had liver and kidney transplant. It cost a total of a little over 1m total. I live in California, USA. This doesn’t include the cost of years of treatments and medication. This total is only the cost of the surgery of the two transplants.
OK I am an American and it is incorrect at $600 just for doctor visit. for a regular doctor visit without insurance will cost between 100 and $200 not 600
How come the USA, the land of freedom and opportunity is so farrrr behind my third world country, Indonesia, located somewhere in southeast asia. Though we’re not the most advanced country in terms of medical technologies and our national heathcare system is not perfect, but almost all medical treatment, ambulance, small & big surgeries, childbirth, check-ups, CT scans are covered and mostly free. I have a father who is now 72 y.o with many health complications (cardiovascular, heart surgery, liver problems, etc) and in total for more than 10 years we only pay maybe ~5mil rupiah (~$320 USD) and monthly fee of 120,000 rupiah ($7). Heck even i often went to the doctor to get a sick letter just to skip work for 1-2 days on the day i feel too lazy to work 😭 i feel bad for Americans, seriously you guys need a reform 😢
Because a bunch of them are from lousy democrat run states with lousy policies that make everything worse.
American healthcare is insanely expensive but still the best quality in the world. We do the best medical research and have the most unique and rare surgeries and treatments, along with the best facilities. But it's all so unbelievably expensive it will put you into debt unless you have good healthcare. Big pharma companies here are to blame. If they could be taken down and free competition could occur again, the prices of medicine would significantly drop. Also, healthcare and the right to life should be a basic human right anyways and the government should guarantee at least basic free healthcare.
@@cakeyummy2401 agree with you. What’s the point of having the best medical research, facility & technology when most people can’t even afford it :’( how many portions of tax is allocated to healthcare? Compared to military for example? I suppose there’s a huge gap on that
Free basic healthcare? Americans don't want that because they think its socialism XD XD XD XD @@cakeyummy2401
i have seen many americans come to india just for health purpose ( especially in southern part of india )
Lots of Americans travel to Mexico for dental purposes too. Specifically Los Algodones which has over 300 dental practices in it. The tiny border town solely exists to provide dental care to foreigners.
Hi, paramedic here in the US, just know that 1800 is just for the basic life support ambulance (EMTs). If you need paramedics, its another 3500 in my state for me to touch you hence the reason we are separate entities. However we dont drive ambulances so you need both of us so its 5300 for a transport to the hospital plus what ever you incur at the hospital. This is why its the emts responsibility to cancel us if you are not sick enough to need medics.
In the last 10 years, I've only seen a doctor around 4 or 5 times. I have liver disease and can't even see a hepatologist, because my insurance doesn't cover anyone around here, and the insurance you get is decided by your employer, so there's not much I can do. Two years ago I had a single test done, it took 10 minutes and cost $4000. Things are rough.
The guy at 5:07 is almost right - people don't go for home births, we're just not having kids anymore. Not as bad as Korea's birth rate yet, but my generation and the generation after mine are having less kids than any generation in a long, long time.
I recently had an appt. to just meet a new doctor, just talking, no treatment. Doctor was not on my insurance network. I paid $350. Yes, I'm in the US. Medical care here is very expensive.
Wow what did you get? A bunch of exams? Shots?
ambulance costs is correct (sadly could be the low end). doctor's checkups are usually around $150 in my HCOL area. childbirth ive heard that its that high, but i cannot fathom thats actually how much most people pay, since childbirth rates are higher amongst lower-income families. maybe covered by medicaid.
From what I heard and read on other sites, people just don't pay the childbirth costs. Hospitals also just write it as a tax write off or something similar.
My personal experience with Korean healthcare as an Korean American immigrant is wild
I was having really bad reactions to the mosquitos there and my late grandmother told me to go to the clinic despite my protests (I thought it would be expensive). I got a vaccine + medication from the pharmacy below and it all totalled up to 34k won which is roughly uhh $30 USD? And this was without insurance
Mom and I were super shocked at the receipt
I went to culinary school and one day a classmate practically chopped most of his thumb off, after the class went into panic. The guy refused to have our chef call an ambulance. He called an Uber to take him to the Emergency room. An ambulance would add $1,000 more to the ER Bill.
One of the reasons why health insurance in our country is robust is that insurance companies of national scale can negotiate with pharmaceutical companies.
The original price of zolgensma, famously expensive, is 2.1 million USD, but through negotiations, Korea's national health insurance agreed to a tracking and observation arrangement at a cost of around 1.4 million USD. If there is no observed effectiveness, a refund is negotiated. Patients then pay approximately 600 USD to 4,000 USD based on their income.
Americans: "We don't trust government, instead we trust corporations because we are smart"
I want to bring up that some insurance providers also provide televisits and those are usually free. From my experience if i didn't have a televisit as an option it would cost me $90 to see my specialty doctor. The visits usually only last 15 mins and they would ask how I feel with the new medications and etc.
There is also laboratory visits (blood draws and urine) and the costs is per visits. I pay $55 a visit.
There is also deductibles to meet. Mine is 2,500. So if you have not met the deductible and need a major surgery done you are responsible for the cost up until your deductible is met. Once your deductible is met you are still responsible for a certain % before the insurance kicks in...
My medication only has 1 distributor in the nation and it would cost be over $16,000 a month with out insurance.
Life of an american - go to the doctors and suffer or don't go to the doctors and suffer.
Australia not far behind either. Ambulance bill for my mum recently was$1200 aud. 😮
The video "A terrible guide to the terrible terminology of U.S. Health Insurance" by Brian David Gilbert gives a good insight into the absurdity of getting health insurance in the US.
Remind me to move back to Korea.
I moved from an Asian country to the U.S and the healthcare is one of the biggest problems my family faces. The cost is too high without insurance and it also costly to pay for insurance as well. Family doc visit without insurance is around $300-400 dont even mention specialist. When you have insurance need to go within network, that is another challenge. Limited doc, have to find one accept patient, the wait. Just on and on with the stress. In U.S, the system is to take money not to cure your illness. Sadly!
Can someone who live in US to verify this video ? Is that true that expensive?
It's bad. Like, it's really bad.
accurate without insurance. For ex: went to ER for stomach pain that ended up resolving but the CT Scan cost me about $1200 (and this is with decent health insurance)
i had to call for an ambulance once... they took me less than a mile down the road to the hospital and it ended up costing me over $3,000! and this was over 10 years ago
It’s over reacting. If you have no income or low income you can get free health first insurance as long as you are legal. Even illegals, CA is giving free insurance to migrants. If you are middle income, get insurance from the company, you just need to pay co-pay.
@@honoroller81😮😮😮😮 i’m from a third world country in southeast asia but CT scan is free here. Though the technology is not the most advanced one but almost all medical treatment and big surgeries are free the using a national healthcare system with monthly fee for only ~$7🥲 i hope everyone in the US got a good health always!!! But seriously you guys needs a reform😭😭💪🏻
I would hate to have to see a Dr just to purchase cold medicine that would suck. But I’m curious how Korean wait times relate to wait times in Canada. Canada has universal healthcare and their wait times for surgeries is really long I work in the medical field and they’re a lot of Canadians that come here to the United States and self-pay for surgeries because the wait time in Canada is too long, so how on earth is Korea getting their wait times down I’d really like to know
Agreed, as a Canadian whose had to wait in Emergancy for 12 hours +. I want to know with their high population how they get wait times shortened
Korean here. Never had a major surgery, although I've had gastroscopy, X-rays, various scans, and full-body anesthesia surgery for a broken nose. Usually waited less than an hour, provided you have a reservation - which you can usually make happen within a week. For emergencies - never been there but I don't think you have to wait for that stuff?
To prevent patients from visiting hospitals with too mild symptoms, approximately 10% of medical expenses are collected from patients.
I injured my leg in Vietnam and went to the ER to see if it was broken, it only cost $50 to get an X-Ray. After I got back from the States, went to the doctor again and got another X-Ray and it cost almost $800.
It varies by different cities. I know in Newark, N.J., it was $4,000, in Phoenix, AZ, it was $3,000.
It’s not just the cost of a doctors visit that keeps us from not going so often. But also, there must be a lot more doctors in Korea. For a general practice doctor, you can typically make an appointment to see them within a day or two. But if you need to go to a specialist like cardiology or gastroenterology, etc., typically you have to make an appointment 4 to 6 months ahead of time. Because the doctors appointments are already booked that far into the future. There’s absolutely no way people could go to see a doctor that many times in a year. They’re just would not be enough appointment times available with all of the doctors in our country for all of our population.
Not to mention that, after Covid, less people are applying for medical school than prior. There are residencies that are going unfilled every year because they’re just not being applied for. Which is unreal. That means the current supply of doctors in this country is going to be going down as the current supply of doctors retires. Because the future supply of doctors is fewer.
In the Seoul Capital Area, probably yes.
Outside the Sudogwon, hospitals are becoming understaffed, since everyone is moving to Seoul or the US.
@ianhomerpura8937 your right but number of Korean going to states is decreasing a lot as we speak.
I also moved back.
But you have to understand that that's a US self inflicted problem. As someone who was originally planning to go through the medical route, the US is because of regulations, lobbying and all this money influence to protect doctor's interests and health insurance companies meddling, the shortage of doctors is literally self-inflicted. Americans are pretty brainless about how much rampant meddling there is by health insurance companies and how brainwashed they have been.
Actually, quite the opposite. Korea has many general practice doctors running small clinics throughout Seoul. Outside of Seoul there are basically *ONLY* a few general practice doctors in small clinics. Specialists are few and far between. You can wait over a month to see a specialist if you live in Seoul. If you live outside of Seoul, you need to travel to Seoul and probably come the night before and stay the night in a motel to get to the hospital early for your appointment. If you need surgery, you need to wait at least a month or more. Then you have to take 2hr+ bus rides to Seoul and back home for all your follow up appointments. If they're morning appointments, stay the night in a motel again. If you're hospitalized, you need to have a friend or family member stay in the hospital with you to take care of you as national health insurance won't hire enough nurses to do more than basic care to make sure you're not dead. If you can't get a friend or family member, you have to pay a private nurse out of pocket. Nurses are overworked and underpaid. They can't even take their lunch breaks or go to the restroom. The doctors union limits the number of students accepted into medical school despite the country's lack of doctors so that their patient count doesn't dwindle hurting their paychecks as they can't charge more than the government set rate. Interns choose general practice or plastic surgery as they have no reason to go into specialties for not much more pay, but way more work and malpractice risk.
@@JaySee5 I wonder how they are keeping up with the demand then with a few of the interviewed people on the video saying that they go to the doctor 10 times or more per year.
My husband and I pay over $700 dollars a month for our family of 6, and thats considered very good insurance. We usually still have to pay a $30 copay for any visit as well. Our healthcare and insurance systems are ridiculous in the US.
I think it depends on your insurance plan/coverage. I live in the US and my medical insurance coverage is through work. Well care visits are annual, it's free. Specialists costs are $25.00 each visit. Prescriptions range from free to less than $10.00. I must say that I do have very good coverage.
i think that's pretty brainless consideration though. That means your work place is covering for it. MEANING, your salary would have been THAT much higher if they didn't have to provide your extreme health insurance costs. And guaranteed, it costs a lot more for the company to cover your health insurance costs. Americans don't think it through at all.
These prices are not what people actually pay; they're misleading. Insurance and other programs help to drastically reduce these costs. I had brain surgery in 2011 and hardly paid anything. My mother is lower class and gets her doctors appointments for free and pays $3 for her medical using Obamacare--$12 a month. Children have CHIP, the elderly have Medicaid, hospitals have charity programs, and by law, you can pay $5 a month and not get penalized for any outstanding fees after that. And, unlike Korea, U.S. hospitals can't refuse life or death treatment with no payment (from what I heard per a friend). The prices that you listed aren't what actually gets paid. Universal Healthcare is socialism, and the U.S. isn't a socialist country.
How much did you pay for the brain surgery out of the total cost? What kind of insurance did you have?
@AinzWoolGown Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas and I'm not sure what I paid. It was in 2015. I know that I had to pay something up front, but it couldn't have been much because I was a college student and only have a mother who worked at Wal-Mart at the time. What did cost me were the follow-up appointments. Those were $20-$30 depending on their specialty, and gas to and from--I lived nearly 2 hours away. My MRIs were, and still are, anywhere from $60-120 after insurance, but I pay those in payments if I can't pay up front. I was diagnosed with elipsey soon after, and still have medical issues. I still have BCBS thru my employer and have no issues, though the co-pays did increase.
I understand full well that people fall thru the cracks, but if you know how to work the system, then really the system works for you. My mother is proof of that.
I swear so many Americans have Stockholm Syndrome when it comes to their healthcare system.
Many countries that aren’t socialist have universal healthcare, that was just an excuse used by US politicians and doctors to not lose profit off themselves.
Do this same set of questions for Indians, both near government hospitals and private clinics please. It'll be interesting
With insurance, I still had to pay more than $500 for two doctors visits because of a "rash". First one was in the office with me for no more than 2 minutes total, told me it was a "non-descript rash" and sent me on my way with a prescription for prednisone (which i found out my body doesn't tolerate well). About a month later i went to see a different doctor when the rash didn't clear up. This doctor spent a bit more time with me, maybe 10 minutes, and told me it was "viral exanthem" because I was recently sick with a cold, he said it would clear up on its own within a week or so (since i already had it for a month). Those two office visits, maybe a total of 15 minutes being seen by the doctors (if I'm being generous), was more than $500 out of pocket with insurance.
The kicker is that it wasn't even a rash. Found out that the new home we just bought, our first ever home, was infested with bed bugs and i react strongly to the bites. So not only did we spend a bunch of our savings on a new house, I also got diagnosed with sleep apnea shortly after moving in and had to pay $1,500 for a CPAP, then i get hit with the $500+ doctor bill, and then we find bed bugs and got quoted $5,000 for pest treatment (opted for self-treatment because we couldn't afford that, and we are finally rid of them after about 10 months).
But if you want to add more cost to it, our spring for our garage door snapped and the cost was $700 to have someone replace it. Then our water heater burst and when plumbers came to replace it found about 10 code violations they also had to fix before city inspector would sign off on new water heater (2 issues were causing carbon monoxide to leak into the home and plumber said if our master bedroom had been downstairs we likely would already be dead) fixing everything cost $2,500. And exactly a week after moving in our basement started flooding and we found major foundation issues after all the snow and ice melted....we would need about $5,000 or more to fix our foundation but we can't afford that right now so we've just filled as many of the cracks as we can for now, so eventually we would like to get that fixed. Plumbers also told us that our furnace and ducts need some major cleaning, so that's another $1,000 or more coming up.
Idk how us Americans are supposed to survive. Everything in this country is bleeding us dry, taking every cent we worked for. But if you dare complain about it or advocate for something to change, you're told you're just being dramatic and expecting a hand out. We're supposed to just pull ourselves up by the bootstraps, but society keeps ignoring the fact our laces are tied together. Currently, I have no money to put in savings until I pay off my Credit Card (on track to pay it off by September), but let's say I'm able to save $150/month ... that's just $1,800 a year! That can easily be wiped out with a single emergency. Now imagine there are 2 emergencies during the year
... where does the rest of the money come from? You take out debt...then for the next year you are paying off your debt and not contributing to your savings and so you get stuck in the cycle of taking out debt to pay for an emergency, having another emergency, not having the savings to pay up front, so you take out more debt and you have to wait even longer to contribute to your savings. It's ridiculous. Oh, and one final cost for you....2 weeks before we closed on our house, my student loan interest rates went up and I pay an extra $150 every month because of that (ontop of my already crazy high student loan payment).
They should tell them how much health insurance costs, which often only covers 50-80% of the cost and is like $500-$900 a month for an individual (if you are not reimbursed by your job).
What most people fail to understand is that in a country that have ''free healthcare(cause its far from being 'free") like canada for example, someone can legit wait 2 fkg years for an operation. A friend of my friend waited 20 months for an operation that he needed to have his leg amputated, AND on top of that they amputated the WRONG leg. I know some people that litterally just died because of the wait.
That's insane. Lots of countries with "free healthcare" (incl. South Korea, many European countries) have reasonable waiting periods.
i think that might have something to do with a country's population
in malaysia (much less developed than canada but having a much smaller population) where medical bills at government facilities ranges from RM1 (0.21 USD) to dirt cheap, the waiting time still isn't as bad as people dying from the wait
the urgent cases get to cut queue over the patients that can afford to wait. those patients will just have to wait and be thankful that they are not so close to death that they get emergency priority (i've heard of cases where a non-urgent patient who has already been wheeled into the operation prep room having the surgery postponed right before being put under because someone else is about to die and will die without the surgery and there's only that 1 slot available to cut queue at)
even so, for the types of surgeries you mentioned, those patients still don't have to queue that long
As someone who works at a orthopedic clinic in Sweden I'm baffled. I can't understand how they waited that long to amputate a leg, usually amputations is an urgent matter and a last resort.
I have insurance, and I paid a total of around $2600 for a very minor and extremely common surgery last year and I have "Gold" health insurance. The uninsured cost would have been over $12,000
I just sent a post too. I'm grateful not to live in a country where survival depends on your wallet.
When the old man said "If you have no money, you die". That hit hard, I paid over 15k out of pocket for healthcare and that doesn't even include the premium. The cost of health in the US is no joke.
As an American, I’m extremely proud that I knew these prices off the top of my head
I'm no socialist... But boy, americans sure need a bit of it...
Bro, the socialist are causing the problem!!!!
In my country government hospital don't demand payment unless for Dental braces or cosmetic operations or operations related to dieting , all are free of charge ,everything health related