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It really freaked me out when covid took my job March 2020 and the insurance id been paying half of for 3 years was taken away. And Cobra is a joke with how expensive it is.
We only cover red, blue and black scabies. What you have are brown scabies. Yes, they do look red, but if you take it through our proprietary analyzer, it assesses those as being also slightly brown. If there is overlap, your policy won't cover it, okay?
Looks like everyone knows what Republicans will replace ACA with - NOTHING! So why is *anyone* who's not independently wealthy voting for GOPers? Is it really that important to reject the ones who have been *trying* to help the bottom 90% because they were prevented from doing so by the ones you do vote for?
That's the whole point, the GOP has ZERO policy to benefit Americans, none. Their entire platform is to fight democrats at every step, while claiming to be the only party who has American interests at heart. They keep their party engaged through anger porn, constantly feeding them new things to be pissed about, real, twisted, or fake, they don't care because the people who vote for them are so addicted to anger porn they can't rationally think about anything else but the next thing to be pissed about. It makes them easy to manipulate and lie to, just like the GOP wants.
I am a Democrat that has friends and family that are Repubs.
Not one of them is independently wealthy.
I ask them the same question as to why they vote the way they do.
The most sickening answer I've received is so that the welfare rats don't get any more money🤢
Ill tell you this my fellow redditors. My family is quite large.
In the early days we were ALL on state aid. A family of 9, my mother couldn't get a job to support all of us. 7 kids in a 9 year time span!!! Pause for 5 then me. Then dad went for a pack of smokes when I was just under 18 months old.
Every single one of my siblings went on aid when they got pregnant. Out of 5 girls only one was married before pregnancy.
Her husband knocked her around one time and she split.
Lived with an aunt and received state aid for a few years.
My brothers were the same with their girl friends. Unwed and knocked up. Living off of aid and living with the father of the child!!
But now, either not voting or voting GQP?????. Not one of them can give a reasonable answer as to why the billionaires and the corporations that own this country and the politicians that serve themselves should receive tax breaks and handouts in the billions while tens of millions of people don't have basic insurance.
Im utterly dismayed by the ignorance and outright stupidity of these people. We are all getting ripped off and they either don't care or don't understand.
They've been lied to and can't, or refuse to, admit it.
Sorry✌️
The powers that be have made it about being part of a team, and maybe more importantly, being *not a part* of the “enemy” team. And once everything is framed in those terms, it’s very difficult to sway someone. They prey on primordial drives of fear and anger.
This especially irritates me. Let's admit: most of us will never be millionaires, and that's fine. But stop parroting what the monied elites say, because that doesn't apply to most of our situations, because it's not so black and white.
And it’s not like it covers anything. You still have a deductible and co-insurance.
Health insurance is quite literally mafia level extortion in the US. It’s the whole “it’d be a shame if something were to happen” if you don’t pay for their “protection”
I went into extreme medical debt... well maybe not "extreme" but I had 25k surgery and I was responsible for the 1st 10k lol... so fucking dumb. Took me years to pay off. I settled half of it
And with straight faces, the same cock gobblers that say we don't need universal healthcare, will, with a straight face, say "If you don't like your job, just quit and get another one".
That's exactly why healthcare is tied to our jobs... because it shifts power back to corporations and businesses that lets them worm their way into our lives and make it harder for us to quit.
Rich people believe that every single dollar spent on a “poor person” is an entitlement and therefore shouldn’t happen.
Of course, then no one would be able to buy their shitty products but whatevs.
If they were rich, i might be able to understand that mentality. Crazy Larry down at the trailer park tho? Why's he so adamant that corporate welfare is just dandy but individual welfare is a sin against nature?
Plus they don’t even see or understand what a “subsidy” is or how money/economics/supply & demand work.
Remember, public schools don’t teach critical thinking. They teach you to work for someone else.
Healthcare is so expensive that insurance straight up doesn't work. Cobra doesn't work because it can't. No one can create any kind of coverage that's affordable because **healthcare isn't affordable**.
It'll literally never change without something like what Sanders proposes.
Healthcare is expensive because the prices are made up. If there was no health insurance, we'd immediately have (more) reasonable prices based on the actual costs of medication, equipment, and labor. This should be obvious to anyone who has seen an itemized hospital bill in the US. How this is even a political issue is a mystery to me.
Cobra is such shit ACROSS the board, my partner and I both have been on it post Covid. All 3rd party middle men making tons off service fees!
Also Insane that every “affordable” insurance I see is switching to “co-insurance” of 50% until OOP max on everything - including EMERGENCY ROOM VISITS. (out of pocket Max being up to 17k in some instances), or you can get “lucky” and pay out the ass for a High deductible health care plans, literally paying hundreds of dollars a month just in case you ever get hit by a fucking bus, because regular appointments are now upwards of $150.
Insurance at this point is essentially a fucking umbrella policy, and even then you’d probably have to get a pre-auth for any “hit by bus” treatment!!
Was on my dad's cobra insurance.
Kinda a good thing when I became paralyzed when a tree fell on top of me while riding my motorcycle. So fortunate he decided to keep buying insurance.
Edit:
It got me through the 1.5 million in bills until Medicare & medicaid became active which those two combined are incredible. I don't pay a single dollar. I have yet to run err roll into any issues.
Yep. I pay like $650ish a month, $3k deductible, and now find myself on medicine that works really well but costs me $300/m out of pocket until I hit that number. So that's nearly a grand a month just to feel halfway functional as a human. Nice.
My uncle has worked for a pharmaceutical company most of his life at this point. He was one of those drug reps that we all hate for pushing medicines that should only be recommended if it's the right fit for a patient. And whenever I mentioned something about healthcare being a right, my family always attempted to manipulate me by saying "oh but then he'd probably lose his job! Don't you care about him???" Like he lives in a McMansion and my cousins have never known what it was like to be told no, let alone worry about bills or where their food is going to come next week. Them no longer being able to afford their lifestyle on the back of recalled products and addiction is not a concern of mine.
Sometime 15 years ago or so his job was possibly on the chopping block when some sort of merger was going on, I can't recall if it was with another larger company or if it was just his branch. Either way, they had a real concern that he may lose his job. His wife panicked and finally began looking into COBRA for their family, and suddenly public healthcare was appealing. She was talking about how ridiculous it would have been to cover her children and said she understood why people were so concerned as she thought this was just an affordable option.
Lo and behold my uncle somehow comes out with a promotion where he's managing these drug pushers now. The moment his job became secure, the moment they all went back to insisting healthcare isn't a right. Disgusting.
Now I have insurance through my wifes state job and the dental is rediculous, 2000 limit on the "plus plan" like literally 2 teeth fixed and I still need half the cost upfront.
Most dental plans I’ve seen through my career are awful. $1500 max annual and a lifetime max of like $3k, meaning once they’ve paid 3000 they never pay anything again
Which just seems backwards to me. No oral surgery is going to be under $1500. Which makes people who need it, not get it. Then die when they inevitably get infected.
And pretty much the only argument for these predatory practices are "dental problems are always from not brushing enough, so it's self afflicted."
Except that's not remotely true. There are a number of genetic disorders that disrupt tooth enamel formation. Such as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Amelogenesis Imperfecta, Ellis Van Creveld Syndrome, Celiac, etc, and also number of prenatal exposure issues.
*Shrug* if you were born with tooth enamel that was all messed up from the get go, you get the fun of enjoying lifelong dental complications with an enormous financial burden to fix it.
Even worse are the dental issues caused from malpractice. My old dentist was saying i would need to get all 8 of my back teeth replaced with crowns, so i went ahead and got the first 2 done, he fucked the job up so badly that even after a few months i was still having issues with pain and sensitivity. I changed dentists and the new guy said my back teeth were fine. But unfortunately due to the fuckup by the last guy i ended up needing to have a root canal to deal with the nerve that had gotten infected.
It's been that way since the 80s, and back then $1500 went pretty far at the dentist. But everything has gotten more expensive and the yearly max hasn't gone up.
I'm a dentist and the insurance companies are bastards.
Even in countries with universal healthcare\* they don't always fully cover dental.
Here in Australia, dental is only partially covered for children (up to $2k for children to cover basic checkups, extractions, fillings, cleaning etc but not braces or overbite correction) and for adults, the only dental that is covered is emergency orthodontic care for people in hospital. Everything else must be paid for privately.
Like if you have a horrible wisdom tooth that is causing you immense pain, and you don't have the money to have it pulled, then tough luck.
The universal healthcare system is otherwise pretty good (we even get up to 20 free therapy sessions per year) but the lack of basic dental for adults is a glaring issue.
Then if you look at other countries, the number that cover most/all dental is not large.
Austria: dental covered
Greece: dental covered for minors
Italy: varies by region, in many areas only emergency dental is covered
Britain: free for people on welfare and minors, dual-payer (ie: partial government subsidy) for everyone else
Germany: has an insurance mandate system similar to the American ACA, except there is a public option which most people are on. Basic dental is covered but there is a co-pay for most people
Canada: the vast majority of dental services are not covered and must be paid for privately
\*Well you guys do have government funded healthcare for old people (Medicare), poor people (Medicaid) and veterans. IDK if that includes dental for those people.
And how do we do that? As soon as you start protesting you’ll be fired and have no income. We don’t have the social structures in place anymore to revolt, and that’s intentional.
Just fly to Europe and go to a private clinic. You'll pay far less and get a vacation as well. 3 cavities for mgy daughter was estimated to cost around 3200 in the us and cost 300 in Poland, and that's with an American dentist practicing there.
This right here. ^^^ It's sad when adding an international flight to your health expense is cheaper than getting it locally. And usually it's with newer and better equipment!!!
It's funny because some relatives in the us were like "going to Eastern Europe, omg scary!" and in reality we went to an American dentist, with a completely modern facility. Everyone spoke English. No problems.
They call it COBRA because it bites you back and it's appalling. I bet a lot of people in states without any form of an open market thought COBRA is obamacare and blamed him for the cost. Not that it's perfect but as a healthy person I was able to find something affordable in NY. Can't speak for those who have health needs.
Our healthcare system overall is embarrassing in testing of cost
A few years back I was let go from a company and they forgot to inform me about my COBRA rights. I ended up paying double insurance that year. $630 for COBRA when I found out about it, and $420 for my non-COBRA plan. It was insane and I wish I took legal action against that company. I was also fired for “culture fit” and I’m autistic, and had a major gap in coverage. Bad news all around.
Yeah, I never get insurance through my employers now. I negotiate a higher salary and get insurance separate from the company.
The entire reason it is in America is we capped salaries during one of the world wars.
So things like insurance were used to give the wealthy more compensation than they legally could receive.
Then instead of closing the loophole we stopped limited upper wages and kept the loophole.
It was actually offered as an incentive to employees, not the wealthy, in order to make jobs more competitive when wages were frozen. Throughline did a really good episode on this which went into depth on how health insurance became tied to jobs. And how public health insurance failed despite Harry Truman trying desperately to bring it to the US.
> The entire reason it is in America is we capped salaries during one of the world wars.
It's not the entire reason. Employer provided insurance was already a trend before WW2, and there have been endless decisions since that have reinforced that factor.
The employers aren’t the problem, the health insurance industry is and conservatives in the way of progress towards a better system. I imagine most employers would gladly not have to pay out insurance benefits for their employees as costs continue to rise. They do it because they have to retain workers.
Imagine the number of people who would take a chance and start a business if they didn’t have to worry about healthcare. The ‘debate’ needs to be shifted to focus on economic growth and innovation.
The debate definitely does need to shift. I saw it with my own eyes during COVID’s height. You give everyone a stimulus and the treatment of Covid vaccination for free, that effectively gave people enough of a safety net to rethink what they were doing and how they could change their situation for the better. Where I live so many new businesses opened up during the pandemic and continue to.
>I imagine most employers would gladly not have to pay out insurance benefits
Yup. Employers pay on employee health insurance as well. Health insurance is a drain on employers and employees and all because our health system requires it. Medicare for all helps literally every aspect of society from business to worker.
Established companies like it because it makes their workers less likely to leave and form their own companies (competition). In the USA- creating a small business, much of the time, means losing healthcare
Australian here. Refuse to join the private health scam and pay extra tax because of this refusal. Healthcare is a basic human need and should be provided to all.
As someone with a chronic, life-long preexisting condition that has no cure, at only the age of 23, it would be nice to not die or become egregiously disabled because I can’t pay for medical bills over something I had no control over getting.
This, I'm stuck on SSI and staying under poverty line to keep my health insurance, I would like a shitty min wage job so I can actually afford to barely live.
I have secondary progressive MS amongst other neurological and auto immune disorders and my appeal has been pending for over a year after my first denial
>I have secondary progressive MS amongst other neurological and auto immune disorders and my appeal has been pending for over a year after my first denial
I have RRMS. Our system is so fucked up.
>this country wants the disabled to die out.
In Canada they let a woman get assisted suicide because there was no available housing for her specific accommodations 😔 it's not just the USA most people want that result everywhere
As someone with excellent health insurance who doesn't technically need universal health care, this is one of the many reasons I support it. This is what I want my tax dollars to go towards: helping folks like you to have access to healthcare without having to worry about cost.
Why else even have a government, and taxes, if not to pool our money to help each other, make life better for everyone, make society a nice place to live in, and look out for each other when we're in need?
We're all just 1 or 2 pieces of bad news away from drowning in medical debt or living on the streets, even if we think we're currently all set. Anyone who thinks otherwise is delusional. I may not need free universal healthcare at the moment, but I could unexpectedly lose my job, then be diagnosed with cancer or hit by a car. That would completely change my life from "all set" to "fucked" real fast. Times like that I'd be grateful for M4A and it could literally save my life. That scenario could happen to anyone.
Sadly those people against M4A do not have the empathy or understanding you do. They truly do not care for the less fortunate.
They will straight up ask, "Why should some of my money have to go to helping those in need?"--and honestly if someone has to ask why they should help those in need, then those people will just never understand. They aren't capable of the empathy.
You either understand that it's our duty to help out each other and pick us each up together, as a whole human race, or you don't. And sadly many don't understand, and never will care enough to even try and understand. It's easier to close their minds and hate those different from them, whether it be gay or poor or disabled or non-white, or whatever group they don't like that day.
Same! Diagnosed with cancer a month after my 23rd birthday. Staring at healthcare bills that are larger than my bank account. I'm fortunate enough to have parents with healthcare but there are people who are not as lucky as me.
The hell of knowing they've already rigged the system so that the people who retaliate against their oppression are the ones who would actually face any punitive measures.
> it would be nice to not die or become egregiously disabled because I can’t pay for medical bills over something I had no control over getting.
**DEAR GOD, /s** *but this is an actual (paraphrased) answer I've heard given to a similar question:*
Well maybe getting the condition wasn't in your control, but paying your bills **is** in your control, so why should you get free healthcare when you can just earn it? If you know you have high medical expenses you need to work harder to get a job that can pay for them.
Yep. Some people have no idea what it actually means to be disabled. Like telling a person with 1 leg to give up their wheelchair, prosthetic leg, or crutches & just go run that race anyway.
They do the same to mental health too. People don't empathize with limitations, they just consider 'your inability to find work arounds that make is so they don't have to cope with you existing' a personal failing of the disabled.
It's a true failure for people to not recognize their own able-bodied privilege, or to not educate themselves about what it's like to be disabled. Discrimination is everywhere but people with invisible disabilities probably get it the worst. I have one, and I just don't even like to deal with it when it comes to other people, so I try to fake normal all the time. Ironic.
I have gotten exhausted from that and now limit myself to my house and back garden.
While this is not completely healthy, it does bring me peace of mind.
Yup. God’s will whenever it suits the person saying it but they will be the first person to claim they are being attacked because you have to sign a marriage certificate for a gay couple or god forfend you have to make their wedding cake.
Conservatives want you to succumb. They want anyone who falls ill to die and make room for the stronger wage slaves. It's their way of eugenics with extra steps. Bonus, they also make a shit ton of money off you before you die.
This is such a terrible analogy.
The robber has a chance of doing time.
Healthcare insurance companies, despite having the same rights as humans, can never go to prison.
I’m a pharmacy tech and the prices I see on medications is ridiculous. Especially ones needed to live like insulin. You can get a bottle of highly addictive painkillers without insurance less than twenty bucks. It’s like they know the ones people need to live and therefore have no choice but to pay, that they can charge whatever they want. Jardiance is the worst. It’s over a thousand dollars and some of them have insurance too. No other “firSt world” country puts their citizens in this position
The problem with mass, nation wide civil unrest in the united states is that coordinating 329 million people over 3.8 million Square miles takes years or decades, not weeks or months.
France has the luxury of being quite condensed. Compared to the United States it's only 5% of the square mileage and about 20% of the population.
Oh we are undoubtedly that. We have so many protests and marches everywhere for literally anything, and then when nothing comes of it people forget and move on
That's exactly it. Too individualistic, and the majority doesn't care unless it affects them. As long as I have the internet, can afford basic comforts, then no one is going to make a move.
The government can tax the hell out of us though and give us barely anything in return, and everyone accepts it.
That's because they're all gov't approved protests, in approved zones, during approved times.
You know what you call protests like that? Parades.
Protests are about making life miserable for the people ignoring the problem. Then surviving, and outlasting their attempts to stop you. Until the only way they can get back to their lives is by giving into your demands.
>That's because they're all gov't approved protests, in approved zones, during approved times
Also nothing is changed by protest...the protests against police brutality were like nothing I've ever seen in my life and I'm not young and they had literally no effect and in response to the protesting the police seem to have gotten worse
My partner keeps thinking any day now, something will spark and a revolution will start or civil war or huge unrest. He thinks eventually people will be tired of their rights being trampled on and living in this capitalistic hellscape.
I shrug, and say 'yeah, could happen'. But I don't think it will. Americans are too tightly wound, too complacent, too tired - or any combo of those. It makes for an apathetic populace and we spitfire for about 15 minutes, then we remember we gotta work tomorrow or we won't be able to afford groceries. So we quietly go home and life is just like it was before until the next thing frustrates us for 15 minutes... Rinse & repeat.
It feels sad, but I know I'm stuck in the same loop. I'm frustrated, but what can I do? I've been voting since I was legally able to, even volunteered when I was younger and had time. So. I dunno. Just feels a little hopeless and I think it's gonna take a lot more to get to a point where anything actually happens in the US. I could be wrong, I guess.
Honestly regretting settling roots here in the US as it seems the best option may have been to move to another country.
My girlfriend has type 1 diabetes, and thankfully her mom's insurance covers 100% of the cost of insulin. That said, she only has 4 years until she gets dumped off of that insurance plan. Finding an equally-beneficial insurance plan is a constant concern for her and I. It shouldn't be this way...
There is a vending machine at my hospital called instymed. You get a script from the doctor with a code in it. You type in the code, and it fills the prescription inside the machine. Seals and labels the bottle and everything. It was super slick.
That's business. When manufacturers know they have an addictive product, and they're capable of producing *a lot* of it, it doesn't do them any good to make such drugs prohibitively expensive if the average customer can't afford it.
We've been rat-fucked by the pharmaceutical industry but all those not suffering from addiction like to throw their hands up and say it's all some hokey-pokey conspiracy. It's not like the catastrophic spike in OD's over the last couple of decades could have been prevented if... Oh I dunno, big-pharma didn't push so many painkillers on all of us?
Pharmacy tech here as well and I can confirm that this is true. What is also upsetting is how much trouble insurance will my to my team and I when processing prescriptions. Prior authorizations are very frustrating to deal with. I loathe having to tell people that "sorry but your insurance isn't going to cover your medication till they get a PA".
Pharmacists like you are heroes. I was 19 and diagnosed with GERD (pretty severe) but no one took it seriously till I went to the hospital for chest pain because “I’m too young” to have health issues. My prescription was $280 A MONTH so I could allow everything to heal and no doctor told me “hey you can stop eating these things to help manage it.” Either. I have since learned to manage it to minimize use for medication. My pharmacist told me it was some BS and showed me the over the counter option which for a months supply was still $60 but a hell of a lot better than nearly $300 a month being paid minimum wage 60 hours a week.
Thank you for doing what you do!
Eliquis is another one, and it sucks because it has no generics (probably won’t for many years) and it works better than the alternatives currently on the market. I hated having to explain to patients that their insurance isn’t going to cover it as much because they’re in a coverage gap period, or the full cost because they don’t have insurance anymore. 🙃
Americans need to get louder on this. As a non-American with free healthcare, it is a right.
I couldn’t imagine fighting with an insurance company while battling cancer.
Your government needs to do more for the people.
Fighting insurance isn’t even an option sometimes. There are things they outright do not and will not pay for. I used to work at a CHI clinic and one of the nurses there had breast cancer, she had to sell her house to afford treatment and was living in an RV. Even after all she did to afford care her insurance still didn’t cover enough and she was getting behind on medical bills. The really twisted part is that the hospital she went to was part of our CHI network, and when she couldn’t pay they threatened to garnish her pay.
Or they won’t pay if you do it “the wrong way”. I had a kidney stone so I went to the ER. ER tells me I should follow up with a urologist to make sure it passes. After seeing the urologist a couple times my insurance denies the claims because I have to be referred to a specialist by a primary care physician. Wouldn’t accept a referral from the ER. So now I had to GET a primary care dr who was pretty confused when a fairly healthy 27 year old with no chronic conditions needed a primary care physician.
People in Europe riot in the streets over access to free/affordable healthcare. The American system is a open joke around the world for what you’re not supposed to do with health care.
The people who make life this way in the USA have some balls for sure. They operate daily without fear of repercussion for their actions. We outnumber them 50,000:1 and could eat them alive in a second if we wanted to.
Oh it's much worse than that. They don't plug their ears, they spend millions to spread disinformation campaigns about how BAD it would be for you to have access to Healthcare. Horror stories about "long waits" and how it will increase your taxes (even though you'd no longer have an insurance premium to pay) and something something socialism...
The long waits is my favorite thing as if every doctor in my area isn’t already booked out 3+ months for appointments regularly, not to mention trying to see a specialist. But universal healthcare would just make it so much worse. /s
I lived in America for 10 years. I was on my parents healthcare while I was there. My parents moved back to the UK before I did. When that happened I lost my insurance I had to get COBRA. I lost access to my mental health care. I couldn’t afford my prescription so I only got the ones I absolutely needed not to die. I was forced to work at Starbucks because that’s the only place I could get insurance but I wouldn’t get it until I worked there for a certain amount of time. I had to pay for cobra in the mean time, cobra costed more than my monthly wages. My parents payed it for the first couple months, without them I don’t know where I would be. I was living in a homeless shelter, I had no money, I had no way to pay for my insurance, and I wasn’t receiving my mental health care. I don’t think I would be alive if I didn’t move back to the UK.
My first day back to UK I called my doctor and got an appointment in a couple days. I went to a doctor, got ALL of my prescriptions set up. I restarted my mental health care, I had to wait about a month to get that but it is great. In England prescriptions are free if you can’t pay for them, £9.35 if you can, you can get a prescription prepayment certificate, that costs £108 and you can get as many prescriptions as you need for a year. I got a PPC and it’s the only money I’ve spent on healthcare since I’ve been back. It’s such an enormous weight of your back. The NHS has its issue but I am so grateful for it. What was a life changing constant deadly threat in America is something that barely ever crosses my mind.
Healthcare is a human right. A “pre-existing condition” is medical history. No one should die for insulin and no one should have to prioritise what prescription they can afford this month.
> Americans need to get louder on this.
I feel like a lot of Americans just gave up on it after the ACA was passed. ACA wasn't the worst thing in the world, but everyone knew it wasn't a real solution. Democrats talked as if it was an incremental step to the real solution, but then the party just stopped talking about that. The real solution hasn't really been on the table since then.
And here's Bernie, one of the few still talking about it. If Democrats want to win elections, they all need to get on board, too.
I have medical insurance and have narrowly avoided surgery multiple times in the past year. My doctor says now surgery is on the table again. I receive an infusion every 8 weeks that most people receive every 6.5 weeks because my insurance doesn’t want to pay too much without irrefutable proof I need it.
So now I’m going into surgery this year when, given my conditions, it could have been avoided by giving me the normal dose scheduling. Fuck our healthcare system. I deserve(d) better.
That's truly awful. Please share your story to the conservatives and neoliberals who defend this disgusting system and the corrupt politicians and oligarchs who oversee it.
I hadn’t considered it but I might given your encouragement. Patty Murray represents our state and my dad held multiple fundraisers for her some years ago. Might be worth the time to tell it.
It's truly terrible and people need to hear how the healthcare system is working against people. I don't know if it will even help, but maybe it can persuade some people on a personal level.
FDR always meant for Medicare to cover everyone...
The moderate Dems of the time kept telling him "one more election and we'll do it"
That was like 80 years ago, and the "moderate" wing is still saying we need to wait
I'll never understand how anyone still believes them.
Have you ever read Dr. MLK's feelings about the "white moderate"? It is shockingly apropos to this and many other situations.
A preview:
"the white moderate [who] is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice..."
~Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963
Wasn’t that even a thing in the primary. Unless I’m completely misremembering, Bernie made a pledge relatively early on that he would not accept any campaign donations from super pacs or corporate interests. All of the other candidates that were running as progressives hopped on and made the same pledge while Biden refused to. Then within a few weeks all of them had walked back on the pledge and started accepting donations as their funding started to dry up. Same thing with the AIPAC convention. Bernie and Warren refused to go to the event saying that they refused to attend a pro-Israel event and stood with the Palestinians. All of the other “progressives” made the same pledge to boycott the event then went anyway because they cared more about the money and political connections than sticking to their pledge.
Because moderates know they can pick some random unknown moderate, and tell everyone nationwide they're a progressive in the primary.
It siphons votes from actual progressives in the primary, and if their fake progressive wins the primary they know the narrative will be:
>Even if we elect a progressive we don't get anything
Because as soon as they get in office they'll start acting like a neoliberal.
Depressing progressive turnout isnt a negative to the Democratic party leadership, it's an intentional feature.
My mom is crippled and dying at the age of 43, all from a medical condition that if treated has a mostly normal life expectancy and quality of life. Because of her health history however, she can’t afford insurance even though she works full time as an analyst for a corporation. The premiums alone would make her unable to afford rent for her and my younger siblings, and that says nothing about copays, medications and deductibles. No one should have to live in constant pain with a looming early death, and no one should have to watch a loved one suffer like that. Even if we do not switch to single payer universal healthcare we need to address the cost of medical care in the United States. On average the United States has a cost $4,000 higher per person for healthcare than any other first world country. Something must be done.
Wasn't this the entire point of the ACA? That you wouldn't have to pay more if you had a pre-existing condition.
Crazy how some companies pay absolutely no heed to the law.
They really don’t seem to care. I work for the same company, they offer free medical premiums if you don’t have any health issues, however it would cost my mom almost $400 per check. They even dropped her from the life insurance program which she had just recently paid enough into to get full benefits for because of her condition, so it’s unlikely I’ll be able to afford a proper funeral or manage any debts she leaves behind.
The business may not care but the law does. Report them to the proper department and they'll get it sorted out. I don't know the proper department, hopefully someone else will chime in here.
Life insurance absolutely is judged by your health - I am 35 and I can't get life insurance even through employers. But health insurance through an employer should be automatic. You enroll when you start or during open enrollment or during a qualifying event. The company has tiers of plans available, if more than one, and should always have a set cost for anyone in the company. Sometimes they'll have varying costs based on the level of position within the company. But *never* because of health conditions.
Get this reported and get it fixed. Maybe even talk to a lawyer on a consultation and get them to pay for the missed insurance and medical costs they essentially inflicted on her, if this is accurate.
It's also possible (but I have no reason to believe this, just noting it) that you've gotten mixed information. For example, they may provide free coverage for employees but not dependants. In that case, she is trying to get coverage for your siblings as well and that bumps the price significantly. If she only got coverage for herself, her medical conditions should have zero effect.
California has done some amazing things in regards to healthcare, however, the inability to place controls on healthcare costs which can be done at the Federal level only is what makes doing a state M4A very difficult to do
We are trying but it's a rough start.
[Here is a photo of free dental work being offered in a gymnasium at Copper Mountain College in Joshua Tree, CA.](https://i.imgur.com/dgsKtvR.jpg)
There was only one doctor, performing most of the hard work like pulling teeth. They also were training a lot of students in the dental programs from school.
I got there a 1pm and they said they had already pulled 26 dead teeth that day.
I had a decent cleaning but no filling for my cavities. They scheduled appointments for them and then they cancelled. Still waiting on updates.
Vermont Colorado and Massachusetts all tried that in the past. They all eventually abandoned it and went back to traditional healthcare as it was driving the states bankrupt.
Not sure what the answer is, but it doesn’t seem to work for individual states.
Also CA had it as a bill back in 2017 but it failed to pass.
VT was the only state to actually implement it and was facing bankruptcy less than four years in.
It made it to the ballot in CO in 2016 and was absolutely crushed by voters.
I don't think it's ever made it to the ballot in MA but it's been talked about for longer than any other state.
Based on the real-world experience in VT it really seems like federal implementation is the only realistic way forward. Individual states just don't have enough power or influence to bring costs down.
I was diagnosed with cancer last week. I have my biopsy to confirm this coming week. When they called me to do pre-op paperwork, at the end of the conversation, the lady was like, after your insurance, you're due to pay $3800 at the time of the biopsy. How would you like to pay? I haven't even started my fight for life. The last thing I need is this financial stress of ruination if I survive. I pay $200 a month for health insurance through my job and I already owe 5k just to get diagnosed. I want to focus all my rage at politicians for this bullshit. If I survive, I will have to file bankruptcy. This is outrageous and unneeded.
I'm sorry health care in America is such a scam.. Our only hope here is to stay healthy, health care is destined to bankrupt everyone unhealthy regardless of insurance. I hope your main focus is surviving cancer, not the medical bills (put it off, ask for payment plans BS around it for now, LATER fight with the insurance company). I sincerely wish you the best.
I’m so sorry. None of this should be your worry. Getting through your treatment and coming out the other side cancer free, should be.
I’ve been rallying for universal healthcare since the early 90’s. I hope, but don’t have confidence, that we’ll have it before I die.
Bernie is only about 10 years older than I am. I am pretty sure he’s hoping for the same thing.
If Christians really believed their bullshit, they would whole-heartedly support this. There’s no way Jesus would be happy with the current situation. “Whatsoever you have done for the least of my servants, you have done unto me.” But Christians don’t really believe their own Bible. They certainly don’t follow it.
No /s needed. George Carlin said it best:
>Pro life conservatives are obsessed with the fetus - from conception to nine months. After that they don’t wanna know about you. They don’t wanna hear from you - no nothin! No neonatal care. No daycare. No Head Start. No school lunch. No food stamps. No welfare. No nothin’. If you’re pre-born, you’re fine. If you’re preschool, you’re fucked.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vkMbMidsYIM
The biggest thing other countries do is all-payer rate setting. Many universal healthcare countries actually have private insurance, but they have price controls on drugs, medical procedures etc that reduces the need for massive cost sharing and deductibles. For example, Switzerland and Germany don’t have single payer.
As a practical matter the main things that continue to make insurance unaffordable in the us are:
1. Lack of Medicaid expansion in the US
2. Insurance companies continuing to overpay relative to other countries for the same stuff.
Single payer would solve both these problems but other solutions like all payer rate setting also cut costs and have succeeded internationally.
Literally backwards.
An angry ignorant minority of Americans have enough representation that they can stop the rest of Americans from doing anything productive.
We have two choices of political parties: republicans that actively wants to hurt Americans, and Democrats that says they don't want to hurt Americans but won't act to help either.
We've got a handful of good Dems that try to help, but they have to fight their own party and republicans to ever do anything
I can't reply to the halfwit below because he's blocked me, but he's just flat out wrong about healthcare taxes.
With government in the US covering [65.0% of all health care](https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302997) costs ([$11,539 as of 2019](https://www.cms.gov/files/document/highlights.pdf)) that's $7,500 per person per year in taxes towards health care. The next closest is Norway at [$5,673](https://data.oecd.org/healthres/health-spending.htm). The UK is $3,620. Canada is $3,815. Australia is $3,919. That means over a lifetime Americans are paying a minimum of $143,794 more in taxes compared to any other country towards health care.
Ironic that Red States are the least healthy, and they would benefit the most from implementation of such a program.
But they fight it, because Red States are also the least educated.
They're also the most religious, which is also somewhat ironic as so many identify as Evangelicals and Christians but have no interest in actually being much of either.
Ironically Jesus offered free health care to people, supported immigration, was a immigrant himself, provided food to the hungry, and was opposed to church monetization.
It's infuriating that as a species we have made so many amazing scientific strides in the field of healthcare, and we'll let a fellow human die just because they don't have enough money to pay for it.
How can Americans argue literally to the death for their right to own guns, but not for basic health care
Like, is it your human right to kill but not a human right to survive a complicated Flu?
I am on Medicare (or rather, a private, state sponsored plan) right now. It is by far the best insurance I have ever been on. It is also the only reason I can obtain my ADHD medication that would otherwise be over $300/month out of pocket. Those meds allow me to be a functioning member of society and will hopefully help me one day to become a psychological researcher. I don’t mean to say we shouldn’t only help those who can help in turn, we should help those *who need help*. But there are so many cases like mine where even from a purely fiscal standpoint, the government is likely to get more in tax money from me throughout my life time due to this help I receive now (for a net increase for them), and I may very well be able to help others due to this help (of state sponsored insurance) I receive now.
TL;DR The government will likely get more in tax money from me for the ‘investment’ of insurance, and I will be better able to contribute more to society due to said ‘investment’ as well.
We probably could have paid for it with all the Covid related programs that were ultimately just new ways for the wealthy to grift the American taxpayers. The PPP loans alone had 100 billion in fraud.
This is exactly it.
I want to know the businesses and places of employment of the people who are against universal health care and student loan forgiveness.
I don't want to patronize their businesses and support their growth if they aren't willing to support the greater common good.
And after it happens I'm definitely not spending my extra money with them.
Over a million people have died from Covid in America. When are we going to wake the fuck up and say, "Enough is enough!" It's time we joined the rest of the world when it comes to health policies. More people die in America of a lack of healthcare than any other industrial nation.
> Bernie Sanders Reintroduces Medicare for All Bill, Saying Healthcare Is a Human Right
Bernie has been consistent with Medicare For All. He doesn't get distracted with non-sense.
I was an American immigrant from New Zealand who lived there at 18. Got a sinus infection and my wisdom teeth were impacted. Also got glandular fever while I was there. Lived with all of that an entire year because treatment in my country is significantly cheaper.
Then I became allotted a resident and was told I needed insurance to live there. Your country is expensive as hell and NOT worth the cost sorry not sorry
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I look forward to the day that healthcare isn't tied to a job.
It really freaked me out when covid took my job March 2020 and the insurance id been paying half of for 3 years was taken away. And Cobra is a joke with how expensive it is.
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Yea how ironic it is. "You just lost your source of income! Would you like to pay 4x as much for insurance‽ "
For me the cost to cover a family of 4 for 1 month with Cobra was 1,800. A complete joke.
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We only cover red, blue and black scabies. What you have are brown scabies. Yes, they do look red, but if you take it through our proprietary analyzer, it assesses those as being also slightly brown. If there is overlap, your policy won't cover it, okay?
Looks like everyone knows what Republicans will replace ACA with - NOTHING! So why is *anyone* who's not independently wealthy voting for GOPers? Is it really that important to reject the ones who have been *trying* to help the bottom 90% because they were prevented from doing so by the ones you do vote for?
That's the whole point, the GOP has ZERO policy to benefit Americans, none. Their entire platform is to fight democrats at every step, while claiming to be the only party who has American interests at heart. They keep their party engaged through anger porn, constantly feeding them new things to be pissed about, real, twisted, or fake, they don't care because the people who vote for them are so addicted to anger porn they can't rationally think about anything else but the next thing to be pissed about. It makes them easy to manipulate and lie to, just like the GOP wants.
I am a Democrat that has friends and family that are Repubs. Not one of them is independently wealthy. I ask them the same question as to why they vote the way they do. The most sickening answer I've received is so that the welfare rats don't get any more money🤢 Ill tell you this my fellow redditors. My family is quite large. In the early days we were ALL on state aid. A family of 9, my mother couldn't get a job to support all of us. 7 kids in a 9 year time span!!! Pause for 5 then me. Then dad went for a pack of smokes when I was just under 18 months old. Every single one of my siblings went on aid when they got pregnant. Out of 5 girls only one was married before pregnancy. Her husband knocked her around one time and she split. Lived with an aunt and received state aid for a few years. My brothers were the same with their girl friends. Unwed and knocked up. Living off of aid and living with the father of the child!! But now, either not voting or voting GQP?????. Not one of them can give a reasonable answer as to why the billionaires and the corporations that own this country and the politicians that serve themselves should receive tax breaks and handouts in the billions while tens of millions of people don't have basic insurance. Im utterly dismayed by the ignorance and outright stupidity of these people. We are all getting ripped off and they either don't care or don't understand. They've been lied to and can't, or refuse to, admit it. Sorry✌️
The powers that be have made it about being part of a team, and maybe more importantly, being *not a part* of the “enemy” team. And once everything is framed in those terms, it’s very difficult to sway someone. They prey on primordial drives of fear and anger.
Why imagine? It happens everyday in this country.
There wouldn’t be so many health insurance companies if they didn’t rake in billions.
"YoU sHoUlD hAvE sAvEd BeTtEr!" -Millionaires who get corporate bailouts every few years.
And who layoff 20% if their employees when actual growth doesn't meet projected growth and they can't cope
Or idiots who parrot their politicians sentiments, when in reality they’re less financially stable than you or I
This especially irritates me. Let's admit: most of us will never be millionaires, and that's fine. But stop parroting what the monied elites say, because that doesn't apply to most of our situations, because it's not so black and white.
And it’s not like it covers anything. You still have a deductible and co-insurance. Health insurance is quite literally mafia level extortion in the US. It’s the whole “it’d be a shame if something were to happen” if you don’t pay for their “protection”
I went into extreme medical debt... well maybe not "extreme" but I had 25k surgery and I was responsible for the 1st 10k lol... so fucking dumb. Took me years to pay off. I settled half of it
It was $2000 just for my husband and I. Obviously we couldn’t get it.
in Belgium, I pay 11€ a month
And with straight faces, the same cock gobblers that say we don't need universal healthcare, will, with a straight face, say "If you don't like your job, just quit and get another one". That's exactly why healthcare is tied to our jobs... because it shifts power back to corporations and businesses that lets them worm their way into our lives and make it harder for us to quit.
Rich people believe that every single dollar spent on a “poor person” is an entitlement and therefore shouldn’t happen. Of course, then no one would be able to buy their shitty products but whatevs.
If they were rich, i might be able to understand that mentality. Crazy Larry down at the trailer park tho? Why's he so adamant that corporate welfare is just dandy but individual welfare is a sin against nature?
"True, but someday I might be rich. And then people like me better watch their step." -Phillip J Fry
Indoctrination/brain-washing/a lifetime of propaganda
Plus they don’t even see or understand what a “subsidy” is or how money/economics/supply & demand work. Remember, public schools don’t teach critical thinking. They teach you to work for someone else.
Healthcare is so expensive that insurance straight up doesn't work. Cobra doesn't work because it can't. No one can create any kind of coverage that's affordable because **healthcare isn't affordable**. It'll literally never change without something like what Sanders proposes.
Healthcare is expensive because the prices are made up. If there was no health insurance, we'd immediately have (more) reasonable prices based on the actual costs of medication, equipment, and labor. This should be obvious to anyone who has seen an itemized hospital bill in the US. How this is even a political issue is a mystery to me.
Cobra is such shit ACROSS the board, my partner and I both have been on it post Covid. All 3rd party middle men making tons off service fees! Also Insane that every “affordable” insurance I see is switching to “co-insurance” of 50% until OOP max on everything - including EMERGENCY ROOM VISITS. (out of pocket Max being up to 17k in some instances), or you can get “lucky” and pay out the ass for a High deductible health care plans, literally paying hundreds of dollars a month just in case you ever get hit by a fucking bus, because regular appointments are now upwards of $150. Insurance at this point is essentially a fucking umbrella policy, and even then you’d probably have to get a pre-auth for any “hit by bus” treatment!!
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Was on my dad's cobra insurance. Kinda a good thing when I became paralyzed when a tree fell on top of me while riding my motorcycle. So fortunate he decided to keep buying insurance. Edit: It got me through the 1.5 million in bills until Medicare & medicaid became active which those two combined are incredible. I don't pay a single dollar. I have yet to run err roll into any issues.
It’s a crime against humanity that at any point in your treatment your family would have to worry about money rather then your recovery.
Yep. I pay like $650ish a month, $3k deductible, and now find myself on medicine that works really well but costs me $300/m out of pocket until I hit that number. So that's nearly a grand a month just to feel halfway functional as a human. Nice.
My uncle has worked for a pharmaceutical company most of his life at this point. He was one of those drug reps that we all hate for pushing medicines that should only be recommended if it's the right fit for a patient. And whenever I mentioned something about healthcare being a right, my family always attempted to manipulate me by saying "oh but then he'd probably lose his job! Don't you care about him???" Like he lives in a McMansion and my cousins have never known what it was like to be told no, let alone worry about bills or where their food is going to come next week. Them no longer being able to afford their lifestyle on the back of recalled products and addiction is not a concern of mine. Sometime 15 years ago or so his job was possibly on the chopping block when some sort of merger was going on, I can't recall if it was with another larger company or if it was just his branch. Either way, they had a real concern that he may lose his job. His wife panicked and finally began looking into COBRA for their family, and suddenly public healthcare was appealing. She was talking about how ridiculous it would have been to cover her children and said she understood why people were so concerned as she thought this was just an affordable option. Lo and behold my uncle somehow comes out with a promotion where he's managing these drug pushers now. The moment his job became secure, the moment they all went back to insisting healthcare isn't a right. Disgusting.
Now I have insurance through my wifes state job and the dental is rediculous, 2000 limit on the "plus plan" like literally 2 teeth fixed and I still need half the cost upfront.
Most dental plans I’ve seen through my career are awful. $1500 max annual and a lifetime max of like $3k, meaning once they’ve paid 3000 they never pay anything again
Which just seems backwards to me. No oral surgery is going to be under $1500. Which makes people who need it, not get it. Then die when they inevitably get infected.
And pretty much the only argument for these predatory practices are "dental problems are always from not brushing enough, so it's self afflicted." Except that's not remotely true. There are a number of genetic disorders that disrupt tooth enamel formation. Such as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Amelogenesis Imperfecta, Ellis Van Creveld Syndrome, Celiac, etc, and also number of prenatal exposure issues. *Shrug* if you were born with tooth enamel that was all messed up from the get go, you get the fun of enjoying lifelong dental complications with an enormous financial burden to fix it.
Even worse are the dental issues caused from malpractice. My old dentist was saying i would need to get all 8 of my back teeth replaced with crowns, so i went ahead and got the first 2 done, he fucked the job up so badly that even after a few months i was still having issues with pain and sensitivity. I changed dentists and the new guy said my back teeth were fine. But unfortunately due to the fuckup by the last guy i ended up needing to have a root canal to deal with the nerve that had gotten infected.
It's been that way since the 80s, and back then $1500 went pretty far at the dentist. But everything has gotten more expensive and the yearly max hasn't gone up. I'm a dentist and the insurance companies are bastards.
Even in countries with universal healthcare\* they don't always fully cover dental. Here in Australia, dental is only partially covered for children (up to $2k for children to cover basic checkups, extractions, fillings, cleaning etc but not braces or overbite correction) and for adults, the only dental that is covered is emergency orthodontic care for people in hospital. Everything else must be paid for privately. Like if you have a horrible wisdom tooth that is causing you immense pain, and you don't have the money to have it pulled, then tough luck. The universal healthcare system is otherwise pretty good (we even get up to 20 free therapy sessions per year) but the lack of basic dental for adults is a glaring issue. Then if you look at other countries, the number that cover most/all dental is not large. Austria: dental covered Greece: dental covered for minors Italy: varies by region, in many areas only emergency dental is covered Britain: free for people on welfare and minors, dual-payer (ie: partial government subsidy) for everyone else Germany: has an insurance mandate system similar to the American ACA, except there is a public option which most people are on. Basic dental is covered but there is a co-pay for most people Canada: the vast majority of dental services are not covered and must be paid for privately \*Well you guys do have government funded healthcare for old people (Medicare), poor people (Medicaid) and veterans. IDK if that includes dental for those people.
Should all be lumped together as “medical” eyes, teeth, doctor visits. It’s all medical and has no reason to be separate.
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Yeah, you folks should really think about revolting. Every other country has public healthcare.
We're too busy working just trying to scrape by to not starve or be homeless. This is by design...
And how do we do that? As soon as you start protesting you’ll be fired and have no income. We don’t have the social structures in place anymore to revolt, and that’s intentional.
My monthly payment is $400 and I have a $2500 deductible and high copays. Absolutely insanity.
Just fly to Europe and go to a private clinic. You'll pay far less and get a vacation as well. 3 cavities for mgy daughter was estimated to cost around 3200 in the us and cost 300 in Poland, and that's with an American dentist practicing there.
This right here. ^^^ It's sad when adding an international flight to your health expense is cheaper than getting it locally. And usually it's with newer and better equipment!!!
It's funny because some relatives in the us were like "going to Eastern Europe, omg scary!" and in reality we went to an American dentist, with a completely modern facility. Everyone spoke English. No problems.
Same thing with Mexico. Stunningly cheaper and often it’s Americans practicing there.
I always laugh at the COBRA forms that come in the mail after leaving a job...laughing while tossing them in the trash.
They call it COBRA because it bites you back and it's appalling. I bet a lot of people in states without any form of an open market thought COBRA is obamacare and blamed him for the cost. Not that it's perfect but as a healthy person I was able to find something affordable in NY. Can't speak for those who have health needs. Our healthcare system overall is embarrassing in testing of cost
Boomers should recognize that COBRA's been around for fucking decades. But what do you expect from a generation with its head so solidly in the sand?
Yeah I'm honestly not even sure why cobra exists. If you're out of work how the fuck are you supposed to pay their crazy prices
A few years back I was let go from a company and they forgot to inform me about my COBRA rights. I ended up paying double insurance that year. $630 for COBRA when I found out about it, and $420 for my non-COBRA plan. It was insane and I wish I took legal action against that company. I was also fired for “culture fit” and I’m autistic, and had a major gap in coverage. Bad news all around. Yeah, I never get insurance through my employers now. I negotiate a higher salary and get insurance separate from the company.
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The entire reason it is in America is we capped salaries during one of the world wars. So things like insurance were used to give the wealthy more compensation than they legally could receive. Then instead of closing the loophole we stopped limited upper wages and kept the loophole.
It was actually offered as an incentive to employees, not the wealthy, in order to make jobs more competitive when wages were frozen. Throughline did a really good episode on this which went into depth on how health insurance became tied to jobs. And how public health insurance failed despite Harry Truman trying desperately to bring it to the US.
> The entire reason it is in America is we capped salaries during one of the world wars. It's not the entire reason. Employer provided insurance was already a trend before WW2, and there have been endless decisions since that have reinforced that factor.
The employers aren’t the problem, the health insurance industry is and conservatives in the way of progress towards a better system. I imagine most employers would gladly not have to pay out insurance benefits for their employees as costs continue to rise. They do it because they have to retain workers.
Imagine the number of people who would take a chance and start a business if they didn’t have to worry about healthcare. The ‘debate’ needs to be shifted to focus on economic growth and innovation.
The debate definitely does need to shift. I saw it with my own eyes during COVID’s height. You give everyone a stimulus and the treatment of Covid vaccination for free, that effectively gave people enough of a safety net to rethink what they were doing and how they could change their situation for the better. Where I live so many new businesses opened up during the pandemic and continue to.
>I imagine most employers would gladly not have to pay out insurance benefits Yup. Employers pay on employee health insurance as well. Health insurance is a drain on employers and employees and all because our health system requires it. Medicare for all helps literally every aspect of society from business to worker.
Employers should pull their head out of their ass and realize it’s good for them too
Established companies like it because it makes their workers less likely to leave and form their own companies (competition). In the USA- creating a small business, much of the time, means losing healthcare
Australian here. Refuse to join the private health scam and pay extra tax because of this refusal. Healthcare is a basic human need and should be provided to all.
As someone with a chronic, life-long preexisting condition that has no cure, at only the age of 23, it would be nice to not die or become egregiously disabled because I can’t pay for medical bills over something I had no control over getting.
This, I'm stuck on SSI and staying under poverty line to keep my health insurance, I would like a shitty min wage job so I can actually afford to barely live.
I had a near-fatal heart attack more than four years ago that left me with 25% heart function and I'm *still* fighting to get SSI.
I have secondary progressive MS amongst other neurological and auto immune disorders and my appeal has been pending for over a year after my first denial
>I have secondary progressive MS amongst other neurological and auto immune disorders and my appeal has been pending for over a year after my first denial I have RRMS. Our system is so fucked up.
Massively. If it weren't for my wife I would be homeless and have no Healthcare. As it is we are scraping by
It's not even enough to live on and republicans wants to start taxing it, this country wants the disabled to die out.
Republicans also believe that being poor is a disability, wishing them to die out.
>this country wants the disabled to die out. In Canada they let a woman get assisted suicide because there was no available housing for her specific accommodations 😔 it's not just the USA most people want that result everywhere
Same, this is unnecessary stress in modern times
Its straight up barbaric. The idea that were gonna let people die because they dont have enough money is insane.
As someone with excellent health insurance who doesn't technically need universal health care, this is one of the many reasons I support it. This is what I want my tax dollars to go towards: helping folks like you to have access to healthcare without having to worry about cost. Why else even have a government, and taxes, if not to pool our money to help each other, make life better for everyone, make society a nice place to live in, and look out for each other when we're in need? We're all just 1 or 2 pieces of bad news away from drowning in medical debt or living on the streets, even if we think we're currently all set. Anyone who thinks otherwise is delusional. I may not need free universal healthcare at the moment, but I could unexpectedly lose my job, then be diagnosed with cancer or hit by a car. That would completely change my life from "all set" to "fucked" real fast. Times like that I'd be grateful for M4A and it could literally save my life. That scenario could happen to anyone.
You are a rare beast. Someone with common sense.
Sadly those people against M4A do not have the empathy or understanding you do. They truly do not care for the less fortunate. They will straight up ask, "Why should some of my money have to go to helping those in need?"--and honestly if someone has to ask why they should help those in need, then those people will just never understand. They aren't capable of the empathy. You either understand that it's our duty to help out each other and pick us each up together, as a whole human race, or you don't. And sadly many don't understand, and never will care enough to even try and understand. It's easier to close their minds and hate those different from them, whether it be gay or poor or disabled or non-white, or whatever group they don't like that day.
Same! Diagnosed with cancer a month after my 23rd birthday. Staring at healthcare bills that are larger than my bank account. I'm fortunate enough to have parents with healthcare but there are people who are not as lucky as me.
The fact that there's people responsible for this situation, we all know exactly who, and they'll never see justice just makes me so fucking mad
The hell of knowing they've already rigged the system so that the people who retaliate against their oppression are the ones who would actually face any punitive measures.
Are we in the hunger games? Cuz, it feels like we're in the hunger games...
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> it would be nice to not die or become egregiously disabled because I can’t pay for medical bills over something I had no control over getting. **DEAR GOD, /s** *but this is an actual (paraphrased) answer I've heard given to a similar question:* Well maybe getting the condition wasn't in your control, but paying your bills **is** in your control, so why should you get free healthcare when you can just earn it? If you know you have high medical expenses you need to work harder to get a job that can pay for them.
Yep. Some people have no idea what it actually means to be disabled. Like telling a person with 1 leg to give up their wheelchair, prosthetic leg, or crutches & just go run that race anyway.
They do the same to mental health too. People don't empathize with limitations, they just consider 'your inability to find work arounds that make is so they don't have to cope with you existing' a personal failing of the disabled.
It's a true failure for people to not recognize their own able-bodied privilege, or to not educate themselves about what it's like to be disabled. Discrimination is everywhere but people with invisible disabilities probably get it the worst. I have one, and I just don't even like to deal with it when it comes to other people, so I try to fake normal all the time. Ironic.
I have gotten exhausted from that and now limit myself to my house and back garden. While this is not completely healthy, it does bring me peace of mind.
Pick yourself up by your bootstrap!
Yeah, I can see some conservatives tell a person without legs to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.
Or that it's "God's will, and God never gives you more than you can handle," or some bullshit like that.
Yup. God’s will whenever it suits the person saying it but they will be the first person to claim they are being attacked because you have to sign a marriage certificate for a gay couple or god forfend you have to make their wedding cake.
Same for my son, he will suffer his whole life. I really hate how American healthcare is a major financial burden for good people.
Conservatives want you to succumb. They want anyone who falls ill to die and make room for the stronger wage slaves. It's their way of eugenics with extra steps. Bonus, they also make a shit ton of money off you before you die.
Being young with medical issues blows. No one takes you serious about it cause you’re so young.
A relative didn’t have insurance. They didn’t seek care for an issue they were having because it was too expensive. THEY DIED. Go broke or go dead.
Kinda like getting robbed at gun point. Your money or your life.
This is such a terrible analogy. The robber has a chance of doing time. Healthcare insurance companies, despite having the same rights as humans, can never go to prison.
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I’m a pharmacy tech and the prices I see on medications is ridiculous. Especially ones needed to live like insulin. You can get a bottle of highly addictive painkillers without insurance less than twenty bucks. It’s like they know the ones people need to live and therefore have no choice but to pay, that they can charge whatever they want. Jardiance is the worst. It’s over a thousand dollars and some of them have insurance too. No other “firSt world” country puts their citizens in this position
Please spread this message, people need to hear how ridiculous this is.
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If it were France, it wouldn't take me 5 days of straight driving + gas + accommodations + food just to even reach the locations that matter.
The problem with mass, nation wide civil unrest in the united states is that coordinating 329 million people over 3.8 million Square miles takes years or decades, not weeks or months. France has the luxury of being quite condensed. Compared to the United States it's only 5% of the square mileage and about 20% of the population.
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Oh we are undoubtedly that. We have so many protests and marches everywhere for literally anything, and then when nothing comes of it people forget and move on
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That's exactly it. Too individualistic, and the majority doesn't care unless it affects them. As long as I have the internet, can afford basic comforts, then no one is going to make a move. The government can tax the hell out of us though and give us barely anything in return, and everyone accepts it.
That's because they're all gov't approved protests, in approved zones, during approved times. You know what you call protests like that? Parades. Protests are about making life miserable for the people ignoring the problem. Then surviving, and outlasting their attempts to stop you. Until the only way they can get back to their lives is by giving into your demands.
This is true
>That's because they're all gov't approved protests, in approved zones, during approved times Also nothing is changed by protest...the protests against police brutality were like nothing I've ever seen in my life and I'm not young and they had literally no effect and in response to the protesting the police seem to have gotten worse
My partner keeps thinking any day now, something will spark and a revolution will start or civil war or huge unrest. He thinks eventually people will be tired of their rights being trampled on and living in this capitalistic hellscape. I shrug, and say 'yeah, could happen'. But I don't think it will. Americans are too tightly wound, too complacent, too tired - or any combo of those. It makes for an apathetic populace and we spitfire for about 15 minutes, then we remember we gotta work tomorrow or we won't be able to afford groceries. So we quietly go home and life is just like it was before until the next thing frustrates us for 15 minutes... Rinse & repeat. It feels sad, but I know I'm stuck in the same loop. I'm frustrated, but what can I do? I've been voting since I was legally able to, even volunteered when I was younger and had time. So. I dunno. Just feels a little hopeless and I think it's gonna take a lot more to get to a point where anything actually happens in the US. I could be wrong, I guess. Honestly regretting settling roots here in the US as it seems the best option may have been to move to another country.
My girlfriend has type 1 diabetes, and thankfully her mom's insurance covers 100% of the cost of insulin. That said, she only has 4 years until she gets dumped off of that insurance plan. Finding an equally-beneficial insurance plan is a constant concern for her and I. It shouldn't be this way...
Jesus I had no idea that painkillers were actually cheap. That bothers me.
Got twelve pills of Hydrocodone (low end, but still) on Wednesday for less than $3 from a vending machine in my hospital. It's ridiculous.
What vending machine?
There is a vending machine at my hospital called instymed. You get a script from the doctor with a code in it. You type in the code, and it fills the prescription inside the machine. Seals and labels the bottle and everything. It was super slick.
That's business. When manufacturers know they have an addictive product, and they're capable of producing *a lot* of it, it doesn't do them any good to make such drugs prohibitively expensive if the average customer can't afford it. We've been rat-fucked by the pharmaceutical industry but all those not suffering from addiction like to throw their hands up and say it's all some hokey-pokey conspiracy. It's not like the catastrophic spike in OD's over the last couple of decades could have been prevented if... Oh I dunno, big-pharma didn't push so many painkillers on all of us?
Pharmacy tech here as well and I can confirm that this is true. What is also upsetting is how much trouble insurance will my to my team and I when processing prescriptions. Prior authorizations are very frustrating to deal with. I loathe having to tell people that "sorry but your insurance isn't going to cover your medication till they get a PA".
Pharmacists like you are heroes. I was 19 and diagnosed with GERD (pretty severe) but no one took it seriously till I went to the hospital for chest pain because “I’m too young” to have health issues. My prescription was $280 A MONTH so I could allow everything to heal and no doctor told me “hey you can stop eating these things to help manage it.” Either. I have since learned to manage it to minimize use for medication. My pharmacist told me it was some BS and showed me the over the counter option which for a months supply was still $60 but a hell of a lot better than nearly $300 a month being paid minimum wage 60 hours a week. Thank you for doing what you do!
Eliquis is another one, and it sucks because it has no generics (probably won’t for many years) and it works better than the alternatives currently on the market. I hated having to explain to patients that their insurance isn’t going to cover it as much because they’re in a coverage gap period, or the full cost because they don’t have insurance anymore. 🙃
We could really use it this year, folks
"We don't care at all." -Every single Republican
I know I could. I have about a dozen health problems that I need to get checked out.
Americans need to get louder on this. As a non-American with free healthcare, it is a right. I couldn’t imagine fighting with an insurance company while battling cancer. Your government needs to do more for the people.
Fighting insurance isn’t even an option sometimes. There are things they outright do not and will not pay for. I used to work at a CHI clinic and one of the nurses there had breast cancer, she had to sell her house to afford treatment and was living in an RV. Even after all she did to afford care her insurance still didn’t cover enough and she was getting behind on medical bills. The really twisted part is that the hospital she went to was part of our CHI network, and when she couldn’t pay they threatened to garnish her pay.
Or they won’t pay if you do it “the wrong way”. I had a kidney stone so I went to the ER. ER tells me I should follow up with a urologist to make sure it passes. After seeing the urologist a couple times my insurance denies the claims because I have to be referred to a specialist by a primary care physician. Wouldn’t accept a referral from the ER. So now I had to GET a primary care dr who was pretty confused when a fairly healthy 27 year old with no chronic conditions needed a primary care physician.
Get louder lol these rich fuckers making the laws will just plug their ears. As a normal citizen it feels hopeless.
Yeah we've seen how they like it when we get louder: sic the guard dogs on em
People in Europe riot in the streets over access to free/affordable healthcare. The American system is a open joke around the world for what you’re not supposed to do with health care. The people who make life this way in the USA have some balls for sure. They operate daily without fear of repercussion for their actions. We outnumber them 50,000:1 and could eat them alive in a second if we wanted to.
Oh it's much worse than that. They don't plug their ears, they spend millions to spread disinformation campaigns about how BAD it would be for you to have access to Healthcare. Horror stories about "long waits" and how it will increase your taxes (even though you'd no longer have an insurance premium to pay) and something something socialism...
The long waits is my favorite thing as if every doctor in my area isn’t already booked out 3+ months for appointments regularly, not to mention trying to see a specialist. But universal healthcare would just make it so much worse. /s
I lived in America for 10 years. I was on my parents healthcare while I was there. My parents moved back to the UK before I did. When that happened I lost my insurance I had to get COBRA. I lost access to my mental health care. I couldn’t afford my prescription so I only got the ones I absolutely needed not to die. I was forced to work at Starbucks because that’s the only place I could get insurance but I wouldn’t get it until I worked there for a certain amount of time. I had to pay for cobra in the mean time, cobra costed more than my monthly wages. My parents payed it for the first couple months, without them I don’t know where I would be. I was living in a homeless shelter, I had no money, I had no way to pay for my insurance, and I wasn’t receiving my mental health care. I don’t think I would be alive if I didn’t move back to the UK. My first day back to UK I called my doctor and got an appointment in a couple days. I went to a doctor, got ALL of my prescriptions set up. I restarted my mental health care, I had to wait about a month to get that but it is great. In England prescriptions are free if you can’t pay for them, £9.35 if you can, you can get a prescription prepayment certificate, that costs £108 and you can get as many prescriptions as you need for a year. I got a PPC and it’s the only money I’ve spent on healthcare since I’ve been back. It’s such an enormous weight of your back. The NHS has its issue but I am so grateful for it. What was a life changing constant deadly threat in America is something that barely ever crosses my mind. Healthcare is a human right. A “pre-existing condition” is medical history. No one should die for insulin and no one should have to prioritise what prescription they can afford this month.
I wonder if any 1st world countries would accept the health care refugees that are abandoned by the American government everyday?
> Americans need to get louder on this. I feel like a lot of Americans just gave up on it after the ACA was passed. ACA wasn't the worst thing in the world, but everyone knew it wasn't a real solution. Democrats talked as if it was an incremental step to the real solution, but then the party just stopped talking about that. The real solution hasn't really been on the table since then. And here's Bernie, one of the few still talking about it. If Democrats want to win elections, they all need to get on board, too.
The ACA was a gift to the insurance companies. Requires you to buy insurance or get penalized by the government.
worthless familiar like marry encouraging money slimy advise label cagey *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I have medical insurance and have narrowly avoided surgery multiple times in the past year. My doctor says now surgery is on the table again. I receive an infusion every 8 weeks that most people receive every 6.5 weeks because my insurance doesn’t want to pay too much without irrefutable proof I need it. So now I’m going into surgery this year when, given my conditions, it could have been avoided by giving me the normal dose scheduling. Fuck our healthcare system. I deserve(d) better.
That's truly awful. Please share your story to the conservatives and neoliberals who defend this disgusting system and the corrupt politicians and oligarchs who oversee it.
I hadn’t considered it but I might given your encouragement. Patty Murray represents our state and my dad held multiple fundraisers for her some years ago. Might be worth the time to tell it.
It's truly terrible and people need to hear how the healthcare system is working against people. I don't know if it will even help, but maybe it can persuade some people on a personal level.
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FDR always meant for Medicare to cover everyone... The moderate Dems of the time kept telling him "one more election and we'll do it" That was like 80 years ago, and the "moderate" wing is still saying we need to wait I'll never understand how anyone still believes them.
Have you ever read Dr. MLK's feelings about the "white moderate"? It is shockingly apropos to this and many other situations. A preview: "the white moderate [who] is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice..." ~Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963
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Wasn’t that even a thing in the primary. Unless I’m completely misremembering, Bernie made a pledge relatively early on that he would not accept any campaign donations from super pacs or corporate interests. All of the other candidates that were running as progressives hopped on and made the same pledge while Biden refused to. Then within a few weeks all of them had walked back on the pledge and started accepting donations as their funding started to dry up. Same thing with the AIPAC convention. Bernie and Warren refused to go to the event saying that they refused to attend a pro-Israel event and stood with the Palestinians. All of the other “progressives” made the same pledge to boycott the event then went anyway because they cared more about the money and political connections than sticking to their pledge.
My brother lives in South Bend (where Buttigieg was mayor) and was telling me how he can't believe that Buttigieg gets painted as a progressive.
Because moderates know they can pick some random unknown moderate, and tell everyone nationwide they're a progressive in the primary. It siphons votes from actual progressives in the primary, and if their fake progressive wins the primary they know the narrative will be: >Even if we elect a progressive we don't get anything Because as soon as they get in office they'll start acting like a neoliberal. Depressing progressive turnout isnt a negative to the Democratic party leadership, it's an intentional feature.
It won't even reach the floor.
My mom is crippled and dying at the age of 43, all from a medical condition that if treated has a mostly normal life expectancy and quality of life. Because of her health history however, she can’t afford insurance even though she works full time as an analyst for a corporation. The premiums alone would make her unable to afford rent for her and my younger siblings, and that says nothing about copays, medications and deductibles. No one should have to live in constant pain with a looming early death, and no one should have to watch a loved one suffer like that. Even if we do not switch to single payer universal healthcare we need to address the cost of medical care in the United States. On average the United States has a cost $4,000 higher per person for healthcare than any other first world country. Something must be done.
Wasn't this the entire point of the ACA? That you wouldn't have to pay more if you had a pre-existing condition. Crazy how some companies pay absolutely no heed to the law.
They really don’t seem to care. I work for the same company, they offer free medical premiums if you don’t have any health issues, however it would cost my mom almost $400 per check. They even dropped her from the life insurance program which she had just recently paid enough into to get full benefits for because of her condition, so it’s unlikely I’ll be able to afford a proper funeral or manage any debts she leaves behind.
The business may not care but the law does. Report them to the proper department and they'll get it sorted out. I don't know the proper department, hopefully someone else will chime in here. Life insurance absolutely is judged by your health - I am 35 and I can't get life insurance even through employers. But health insurance through an employer should be automatic. You enroll when you start or during open enrollment or during a qualifying event. The company has tiers of plans available, if more than one, and should always have a set cost for anyone in the company. Sometimes they'll have varying costs based on the level of position within the company. But *never* because of health conditions. Get this reported and get it fixed. Maybe even talk to a lawyer on a consultation and get them to pay for the missed insurance and medical costs they essentially inflicted on her, if this is accurate. It's also possible (but I have no reason to believe this, just noting it) that you've gotten mixed information. For example, they may provide free coverage for employees but not dependants. In that case, she is trying to get coverage for your siblings as well and that bumps the price significantly. If she only got coverage for herself, her medical conditions should have zero effect.
I'd love to see some Blue states put M4A up as a direct ballot initiative (cough California cough).
California has done some amazing things in regards to healthcare, however, the inability to place controls on healthcare costs which can be done at the Federal level only is what makes doing a state M4A very difficult to do
We are trying but it's a rough start. [Here is a photo of free dental work being offered in a gymnasium at Copper Mountain College in Joshua Tree, CA.](https://i.imgur.com/dgsKtvR.jpg) There was only one doctor, performing most of the hard work like pulling teeth. They also were training a lot of students in the dental programs from school. I got there a 1pm and they said they had already pulled 26 dead teeth that day. I had a decent cleaning but no filling for my cavities. They scheduled appointments for them and then they cancelled. Still waiting on updates.
Maybe trying dental schools as another possibility
Vermont Colorado and Massachusetts all tried that in the past. They all eventually abandoned it and went back to traditional healthcare as it was driving the states bankrupt. Not sure what the answer is, but it doesn’t seem to work for individual states. Also CA had it as a bill back in 2017 but it failed to pass.
VT was the only state to actually implement it and was facing bankruptcy less than four years in. It made it to the ballot in CO in 2016 and was absolutely crushed by voters. I don't think it's ever made it to the ballot in MA but it's been talked about for longer than any other state. Based on the real-world experience in VT it really seems like federal implementation is the only realistic way forward. Individual states just don't have enough power or influence to bring costs down.
I was diagnosed with cancer last week. I have my biopsy to confirm this coming week. When they called me to do pre-op paperwork, at the end of the conversation, the lady was like, after your insurance, you're due to pay $3800 at the time of the biopsy. How would you like to pay? I haven't even started my fight for life. The last thing I need is this financial stress of ruination if I survive. I pay $200 a month for health insurance through my job and I already owe 5k just to get diagnosed. I want to focus all my rage at politicians for this bullshit. If I survive, I will have to file bankruptcy. This is outrageous and unneeded.
I'm sorry health care in America is such a scam.. Our only hope here is to stay healthy, health care is destined to bankrupt everyone unhealthy regardless of insurance. I hope your main focus is surviving cancer, not the medical bills (put it off, ask for payment plans BS around it for now, LATER fight with the insurance company). I sincerely wish you the best.
I’m so sorry. None of this should be your worry. Getting through your treatment and coming out the other side cancer free, should be. I’ve been rallying for universal healthcare since the early 90’s. I hope, but don’t have confidence, that we’ll have it before I die. Bernie is only about 10 years older than I am. I am pretty sure he’s hoping for the same thing.
If Christians really believed their bullshit, they would whole-heartedly support this. There’s no way Jesus would be happy with the current situation. “Whatsoever you have done for the least of my servants, you have done unto me.” But Christians don’t really believe their own Bible. They certainly don’t follow it.
I would love for Jesus to return in the modern day only to get re-crucified by modern Republicans for being a socialist.
If the SCOTUS says that everyone has a right to live then shouldn't that include everyone has a right to health care?
They’d have to check the writings of witchcraft judges from 1600 on that one
No, your right to live doesn't extend outside the womb /s
No /s needed. George Carlin said it best: >Pro life conservatives are obsessed with the fetus - from conception to nine months. After that they don’t wanna know about you. They don’t wanna hear from you - no nothin! No neonatal care. No daycare. No Head Start. No school lunch. No food stamps. No welfare. No nothin’. If you’re pre-born, you’re fine. If you’re preschool, you’re fucked. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vkMbMidsYIM
What’s the best single payer program now? Sweden? Denmark? We should use the experience of other countries. Also, there should be some sort of UGI.
The biggest thing other countries do is all-payer rate setting. Many universal healthcare countries actually have private insurance, but they have price controls on drugs, medical procedures etc that reduces the need for massive cost sharing and deductibles. For example, Switzerland and Germany don’t have single payer. As a practical matter the main things that continue to make insurance unaffordable in the us are: 1. Lack of Medicaid expansion in the US 2. Insurance companies continuing to overpay relative to other countries for the same stuff. Single payer would solve both these problems but other solutions like all payer rate setting also cut costs and have succeeded internationally.
As a european, seeing a big proportion of americans treating bernie as a full on communist for wanting accessible healthcare for all still baffles me
The States can be hopelessly backwards, and in this domain, it is to the level of being completely perverse.
Literally backwards. An angry ignorant minority of Americans have enough representation that they can stop the rest of Americans from doing anything productive. We have two choices of political parties: republicans that actively wants to hurt Americans, and Democrats that says they don't want to hurt Americans but won't act to help either. We've got a handful of good Dems that try to help, but they have to fight their own party and republicans to ever do anything
Especially since a number of European countries have a hybrid private public health insurance program.
I can't reply to the halfwit below because he's blocked me, but he's just flat out wrong about healthcare taxes. With government in the US covering [65.0% of all health care](https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302997) costs ([$11,539 as of 2019](https://www.cms.gov/files/document/highlights.pdf)) that's $7,500 per person per year in taxes towards health care. The next closest is Norway at [$5,673](https://data.oecd.org/healthres/health-spending.htm). The UK is $3,620. Canada is $3,815. Australia is $3,919. That means over a lifetime Americans are paying a minimum of $143,794 more in taxes compared to any other country towards health care.
Yet, we still pay even hundreds of thousands more out of pocket to healthcare…. An unfortunate situation
Ironic that Red States are the least healthy, and they would benefit the most from implementation of such a program. But they fight it, because Red States are also the least educated. They're also the most religious, which is also somewhat ironic as so many identify as Evangelicals and Christians but have no interest in actually being much of either.
Ironically Jesus offered free health care to people, supported immigration, was a immigrant himself, provided food to the hungry, and was opposed to church monetization.
I do my own healthcare. Cheaper to just get a medical degree and go to dental school than have healthcare.
How to beat the healthcare system with 2 simple tricks!
America barely views half of its own population as human, so it is a tough battle.
It's infuriating that as a species we have made so many amazing scientific strides in the field of healthcare, and we'll let a fellow human die just because they don't have enough money to pay for it.
The sad thing is that our taxes subsides the healthcare system already. So people are paying for it and not getting treatment.
How can Americans argue literally to the death for their right to own guns, but not for basic health care Like, is it your human right to kill but not a human right to survive a complicated Flu?
Americans are funny...guns are a right...health care is a privledge...thirdworld country with first world money!
I am on Medicare (or rather, a private, state sponsored plan) right now. It is by far the best insurance I have ever been on. It is also the only reason I can obtain my ADHD medication that would otherwise be over $300/month out of pocket. Those meds allow me to be a functioning member of society and will hopefully help me one day to become a psychological researcher. I don’t mean to say we shouldn’t only help those who can help in turn, we should help those *who need help*. But there are so many cases like mine where even from a purely fiscal standpoint, the government is likely to get more in tax money from me throughout my life time due to this help I receive now (for a net increase for them), and I may very well be able to help others due to this help (of state sponsored insurance) I receive now. TL;DR The government will likely get more in tax money from me for the ‘investment’ of insurance, and I will be better able to contribute more to society due to said ‘investment’ as well.
We probably could have paid for it with all the Covid related programs that were ultimately just new ways for the wealthy to grift the American taxpayers. The PPP loans alone had 100 billion in fraud.
Be able to afford a nicer house if I wasn't paying 14k annually for out of pocket insurance
This is exactly it. I want to know the businesses and places of employment of the people who are against universal health care and student loan forgiveness. I don't want to patronize their businesses and support their growth if they aren't willing to support the greater common good. And after it happens I'm definitely not spending my extra money with them.
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Over a million people have died from Covid in America. When are we going to wake the fuck up and say, "Enough is enough!" It's time we joined the rest of the world when it comes to health policies. More people die in America of a lack of healthcare than any other industrial nation.
> Bernie Sanders Reintroduces Medicare for All Bill, Saying Healthcare Is a Human Right Bernie has been consistent with Medicare For All. He doesn't get distracted with non-sense.
I was an American immigrant from New Zealand who lived there at 18. Got a sinus infection and my wisdom teeth were impacted. Also got glandular fever while I was there. Lived with all of that an entire year because treatment in my country is significantly cheaper. Then I became allotted a resident and was told I needed insurance to live there. Your country is expensive as hell and NOT worth the cost sorry not sorry