American healthcare is oppressive and wasteful. I got a preview of that when I was in a car accident last summer in Michigan. I am in the process of immigrating from Canada to the US so I don’t have American heath insurance yet. Luckily my healthcare was covered by my Canadian insurance.
But the wastefulness! Just breathtaking. $800.00 for a 3-minute ambulance ride. $30.00 for 2 Tylenol pills.
The best part was the extortion. I needed surgery for my injury. I was given no real indication of the true cost of the surgery until the day before my operation. The hospital phoned to tell me the estimated cost. It was a truly breathtaking amount that I would have to pay out of pocket and then apply for a refund for. You would think that they would agree to send me a bill considering the circumstances. But no, they tightened the screws by telling me that the already outrageous amount would double the next day if I didn’t pay immediately. They called it the “early pay discount.” Positively Orwellian. Needless to say I maxed out my credit cards in order to get the great “discount” they were so generously offering me. I got the money back eventually, but imagine someone in that situation who didn’t have the resources I had but also didn’t qualify for Medicaid? Medical debt? Permanent disability from an untreated injury? It’s just inhumane and uncivilized.