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Two personal anecdotes about the US healthcare system that may be useful to those in the UK who may not be that concerned about Boris Johnson and the Tory plan to slowly dismantle and privatize the NHS. /1
First, my partner he given birth to two kids in the US. Both natural, no interventions, no major complications. Under two different insurance plans, one good (low premiums, low deductible) and the other not so good. In both cases the hospital bill was in excess of $25,000. /2
Of which we paid, out of pocket, about $4,000-5,000 each time all told. Did this cripple us financially? Luckily, No. Did this make us seriously consider having our second child? Yes. Has it contributed to us deciding to not have another? Yes. That sucks. /3
Second. My grandparents lived in the UK most of their lives. And took NHS for granted. They moved to the US in their late 70s. They had to wait two years to get on Medicare. In this time both had serious illnesses. They had to buy private insurance. /4
This cost them several thousand dollars A MONTH in premiums due to their age & health. It wiped out most of their savings. My grandmother says to this day they shouldn’t have come. Only saved by the fact that they lived with my parents & my parents cared for them in old age. /5
Ok, three anecdotes. I lived in Prague for a while. One night, another American guy cracked his head open and was bleeding. In his bloody daze, all he could say is “don’t call the ambulance, I can’t afford it.” We had to remind him he wasn’t in the US anymore and it was ok. /6
So, in sum, the American healthcare system is so incredibly disfunctional and inequitable. Most of us crave anything even remotely close to the NHS. You don’t know how valuable it is until it’s gone. Vote accordingly. /end
Got reminded of another one. My BROTHER was laid off from his shitty service job many years ago and lost his health insurance. He then got appendicitis and didn’t go to the hospital, at least partially cuz he didn’t have insurance. It burst, he got sepsis, and almost DIED.
And the worst part about all this is that every single American (unless you are super rich I guess) has at least one of these stories. Probably many. If you want to ever dive down into the deepest depths of despair, go read the thousands of medical go fund me pages in the US
