I get really confused when americans, when talking about universal health care are like ‘yeh but it’s not free sweaty :) :) you have to pay it through taxes :) so gotcha!!’
and I’m like ….???? That’s the whole point??? Everyone pays their fair share so that no one has to be turned away because they don’t have insurance??? And no one has to set up a Fundraiser page just so that they DONT DIE???? So people don’t put off going to the doctor because they’re scared of going bankrupt?? Because healthcare is a RIGHT and should be free at the point of access?!?
“So no one has to be turned away” she says hahaha go to a universal health care country and get a necessary operation in less than a few years and come back and talk shit.
Look at the cure rates compared to mortality rates in universal health care countries and compare them to ours, then talk shit.
Tear your ACL in a universal health care country and see what the people say if you should go to their hospitals or go to an American hospital, then talk shit.
I do live in a universal health care country, actually. And I HAVE had a necessary operation here myself. I broke my arm years ago - the ambulance came within 5 minutes. I was seen in A&E by a doctor within 20 minutes. And I had the operation to put my arm back in place within hours - despite my condition not being life threatening. Hmm, don’t see what was so hard about that? And oh yeah, it was all free of charge.
You don’t seem to understand about how it works. Firstly, operations are prioritised. If someone comes in with an emergency, such as a ruptured aorta and bleeding out - of COURSE they will get an operation STRAIGHT AWAY. Like what do you think doctors do here, twiddle their thumbs while patients die?
And if someone has something that is not quite an emergency, but is serious, such as a bowel cancer, they will have their surgery within 1-2 weeks of seeing a specialist. And it’s free. The poor patient who is already stressed and worried sick about their cancer, will NOT also have to worry about insurance and bills and going bankrupt.
Sure, some operations that are not quite as urgent will have waiting lists. My gran just had her cataract operation - this is something that isn’t life-threatening, not causing her pain at all, but of course is still affecting her life because she couldn’t see very well. She had to wait a few months, which of course in an inconvenience, but she still got her operation, and she definitely didn’t have to wait years (and I have never heard of anyone waiting years for an operation, and as a med student I have talked to a LOT of patients) so I don’t know where you got that from (probably some right-wing american media, I assume). And like, I’m sure most people would rather wait a bit longer than have to pay, or not ever get their operation because they can’t afford it?
And I’m not sure what you mean by your last bit. Are you really implying that countries other than the US couldn’t repair an ACL tear? Like, really? Do you think countries with universal healthcare have no resources or money? Sorry to burst your deluded bubble, but other countries can handle an ACL tear, and many other operations (even neurosurgery - shock horror!), just fine thanks. I’ve never seen a patient shipped off to America.
“I’ve never seen a patient shipped off to America” daamn, i love this post
Not to mention that in countries like Australia, there are *also* private hospitals. If you *want* to spend tens of thousands of dollars to avoid waiting, you can?
As someone who would be dead, many times over, without universal health care, GET FUCKED.
And for the record: the only private hospital in my hometown (apart from taking quick non urgent NMR because the ones in the public hospital have quite a long queue) really sucks. For every important/urgent/non-basic procedure you have to go to the public one, which is considered btw a national reference in certain departments. Years for an operation? Nop. Months, one year and a few months tops for non-necessary surgeries. Urgent and necessary? Hours.
Oh and about the talking shit thing…
But sure, the US wins it over in one thing: healthcare spending!
So yeah, tell me again why should i pack my things and move right away to the US where i’d die unless i’m shitting gold like a freaking Lannister.
Reblogging because I love this reply
My favourite was that free health care would create death panels where people would judge if you were allowed to have the life saving operation that you needed.
Like
Dude
You guys have that there already, and it’s called fucking insurance companies.
I live in Australia and at the end of November last year it was discovered that I had a fairly large and aggressively growing brain tumor. The only reason that I didn’t have neurosurgery until the very start of January (a whole month! after my diagnosis!) was because I requested to delay it until after Christmas for my family’s sake. Otherwise I would have had it sooner.
Look up how much acoustic neuroma surgery costs in the US. Wait no, I’ll save you the trouble – it’s $100,000 USD. My mother would have lost her house, be hugely in debt, and I would have had a lifetime of guilt.
Except! I wouldn’t have even KNOWN I had a tumor in the first place, because in the US the doctor would have gone “I can’t justify an MRI for these symptoms on your insurance plan” (yes, even if I’d been insured) and that would have been that, unless I felt like coughing up thousands for the test myself, which I wouldn’t have done because eh, if the doctor thinks the symptoms are nbd then it’s fine, right?
I would be dying of a totally treatable disease right now if I lived in the USA, and I wouldn’t even know it. Or if by some miracle I did find out, my 68-year-old single mother would have no savings and no home now so that her daughter could have surgery.
So shut the fuck up.
^^^ this
I wish we had universal healthcare back when my lung collapsed a few years back. Even after both my mother and fathers insurance kicked in, it was expensive as all hell. between my car insurance and car payments, I couldn’t pay medical bills and my father had to do it for me. Also, just this year, I needed serious work done on my teeth but my dental ran out ¾ of the way through getting my teeth fixed so I still have a fourth that I can’t do until next january.
Coconuts have only been in the Caribbean for 500 years. They just….floated on over from Asia and took root. That’s…hilarious.
Wait really? I always thought they were if not native at least brought over on purpose
Right??? I’m watching this nature doc and when the narrator said that I nearly spit my drink giggling. They’re remarkably buoyant and just bob their way to a new shore. So carefree. Truly a fruit destined to be in the Caribbean.
are you suggesting coconuts migrate
They do indeed. They’re apparently an invasive species.
It was a busy Saturday early afternoon, my mom and dad and I went to a shopping mall to grab some groceries and do some errands. We bought some pastries too from a bakery and was walking back to our car to head home.
The entire parking lot is full and there were several cars circling around trying to find a spot. This fancy blue Porsche spots us leave the mall entrance and follows us to our car. Instead of waiting and just signalling like normal people, they started honking at us while we were loading groceries into the car.
“Omgthedaka don’t put the pastries in the trunk, bring it in the car”. My dad said as he climbed into the car. I climb into the car and put the seatbelt on. Teenage me is embarrassed by the honking and just want us to leave asap so the fancy car can just leave us alone. My dad asks me for the pastry box and he starts opening it. He pulls out a piece of cake and starts eating it. Mortified that we’re not leaving, I open my mouth about to protest when my mom shoves a piece of pastry in my hand and says “eat this dear”.
2 minutes later, the passenger from the Porsche climbs out of the car and comes up to us, tapping at the driver-side window. “Hey are you leaving or what, we’ve been waiting for like 10 minutes”. My dad doesn’t say anything but reaches into the pastry box and grabs another cake, slowly peels the plastic film off and stares at the guy as he takes a savouring bite. The guy gets frustrated, wacks the hood of our car and goes back into the Porsche. They drive away. Or so we thought. 3 minutes later, they circled back hoping we were gone, but my dad just kept staring the Porsche down while he finished the box of cakes.
After, my dad insisted we go back inside the mall to stretch our legs after eating in the car. We walked back to the mall and passed the Porsche which was still circling around looking for a spot.
