Hey all, I’m British so I don’t really know the ins and outs of the US healthcare system. Apologies for asking what is probably a rather simple question.
So like most of you, I see many posts and gofundmes about people having astronomically high medical bills. Most recently, someone having a $27k bill even after his death.
However, I have an American friend who is quick to point out that apparently nobody actually pays those bills. They’re just some elaborate dance between insurance companies and hospitals. If you don’t have insurance, the cost is lower or removed entirely. Supposedly.
So I’m just asking… How accurate is that? Consider someone without insurance, a minor physical ailment, a neurodivergent mind and no interest in fighting off harassing people for the rest of their life.
How much would such a person expect to pay, out of their own pocket, for things like check ups, x rays, meds, counselling and so on?
I read something from last year that said about half a million Americans go into bankruptcy due to medical debt each year.
That’s it, that’s what happens. You lose everything and you start over, if you’re healthy enough.
Protect your NHS.
The real truth of what happens is substantially more complicated due to America being made of 50 states. The medical debt numbers are highly debatable (Related Snopes) and do not account for Regional differences. In some states such as New York there are catchalls/emergency funding so that usually anyone making below low six figures can get their bills paid. Other states make collections difficult such as New Jersey not allowing reporting to credit agencies, making ignoring a debt kind of a non-issue. Then there are states such as Florida that require the barest of insurance to keep rates low and provide no patient protections, so when an accident does occur out of pocket costs can be huge as your insurance covers nothing. In all these events the Hospital assumes that big pocket insurance is paying first so they break out the expensive menu, when they realize they can’t get blood from a stone they are grateful if you cover their wholesale price.
Funny you should mention New York actually, that’s where my friend lives so I guess it explains why he thinks it’s not that bad.
Thanks for the reality check. It’s definitely a horrendous situation to have a for-profit medical sector, whatever the exact figures are.
That’s a huuuge shame for a country that calls itself civilized and developed etc.
Nobody sane who lives there calls it that
Because otherwise they do …what…to him? :)
But yes, I have heard some people from there who understood it right.
Luckily there doesn’t seem to be any large desire in the general population to move away from the NHS. Even the most conservative people I know support it (and I live in a pretty conservative area).
Some of our political parties however seem to pretend like they support it while quietly trying to undermine it. Let’s see what Labour do in the coming years.
Undermining it is how conservative parties will get rid of it. Keep decreasing funding. Do more with less. Quality drops. Wealthier people start moving to health insurance. Jobs start offering health insurance. Funding decreases further. People start to wonder why it’s even needed.
Have those people actually lost everything or is it just some scheme to pay less?
Bankruptcy is an expensive and not-fun process. Basically, similar to what happens on death all creditors are carefully listed out and prioritized, assets beyond the bare minimum to live are liquidated to pay creditors what they can and of course the bankruptcy lawyers fees don’t help with the mountains of debt and costs. Certain debts cannot be discharged through bankruptcy so basically you trash your finances, mental health and credit for a shot at maybe being able to fix your finances with less debt payments
https://apnews.com/article/medical-debt-legislation-2a4f2fab7e2c58a68ac4541b8309c7aa
I’ll let you figure it out.
Some people kill themselves (either actively or by refusing treatment) so that their families won’t be in debt and will have a place to live, that’s how lost everything it can get.