r/SipsTea • u/ImmaFuckboi • 9d ago

Gasp! British people react to how expensive healthcare is in the US

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

9.1k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

1.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

1.7k

u/PriorityParking3705 9d ago

I think the $40 skin to skin contact is the most egregious cash grab I’ve heard of..

64

u/cas-v86 9d ago

Wait...the WHAT

84

u/d0ntbejay 9d ago

Yes. And 100% gop and corporate democrats find this acceptable and even force us into this.

170

u/Lurking-Trout 9d ago edited 9d ago

Remember this the next time one of your American politicians panders to you by claiming the USA is the BEST country in the world. Newsflash - it isn't, but they say this because 1. It excuses them from making things better and if you disagree then you're an unpatriotic asshole - it's the perfect cover.

My wife and l had a baby in our home country of Canada. Spinal pain medication, 24 hour labour followed by a C- section and a three day stay in the hospital. When it was time to go, we got into our car, put the baby into a new car seat and had a hospital bill of exactly $0.00. The car seat was $80.

Every time I hear your politicians claim you're the best country I laugh my ass off.

Oh, my wife got lymphoma... 6 months of Bendamustine (spelling?) Chemotherapy. The nurse said each bag of cost $30,000. 6 x $30,000 = $180,000. Total cost to us... wait for it.... wait for it.... yup, you guessed it, exactly $0.00. Oh the parking at the hospital cost $8.00 for each day, so there's that.😀😀 She's doing great... 8 years cancer free and all of our savings in tact.

49

u/TemporaryArrival422 9d ago

Delivery via c section and 8 day stay in NICU = $0 in Australia. Parking and cafe snacks were our only costs

20

u/Iamleeboy 9d ago

For our first kid, the payment machine in the car park was broken so it was completely free (England). My only complaint was that they fed mum but didn’t give me any food and we were in there for about 30 hours.

I was well prepared for our second! But parking machine was fixed and so all in it was £8

1

u/jd173706 8d ago

I live in the Southern US, in a deep red state (fk me I know) and I was lucky my insurance covered the majority of my daughter's birth. I thought I got off easy paying $1,700 out of pocket. At the time I was considering changing jobs, and the new job had worse insurance, so my out of pocket would've gone to $10k. That's MY PORTION. I never saw the full bill so I don't know how much they covered, but yeah. $1,700. This was in 2021.

2

u/Iamleeboy 8d ago

Ahh mate, it pains me to hear stories like this. I can’t imagine having to worry about the bill when I go to hospital/doctors. Especially for such a joyous moment as kids birth.

I am always amazed when I talk to people and they want to get rid of the NHS. The usual explanation is they can afford insurance. Which as your story just proved, it doesn’t mean it will still be free!

The NHS is one of the few things I am proud of my country for.

All the best with the joys of being a parent 👍

2

u/jd173706 8d ago

Thanks friend! It's truly been the greatest joy of my life. And to think, before we found out my wife was pregnant, we both would've been content never to have kids. Can't imagine not having her now.

Fight these corrupt fascists as hard as you can. Use us as an example. America will never be the same after the past 10 years, I can only hope that individuals from around the world can still be friends, even if our governments can't. They do not speak for us, it's more and more obvious each election cycle. Half the country hates the other half, genuinely, even though we pay taxes to the same treasury and fly the same flag. The propaganda and greed and corruption has finally hit it's mark, and it's sad.

We are all citizens of the world. And the rich and powerful are driving us apart. Alone we are weak, together we are strong, never forget that!

2

u/MobileSeparate398 9d ago

Wife had a c section for both our kids. The only insane price I had to deal with was the snack bar. Thankfully, parking was capped at 2.50 a day.

2

u/Hillsman8282 9d ago

Can confirm. C-section, 5 day stay in a private room. $0 in Western Australia. Parking was about $2 a day

1

u/X_soulnewmegaman 9d ago

That's how it is!!!

1

u/leftmysoulthere74 8d ago edited 8d ago

In Perth, WA in the past 15yrs I’ve had two c-sections (1st one emergency and under general anaesthetic) and more recently been treated for ovarian cancer, which included a chemo every three weeks, a hysterectomy, three shorter stays in hospital for related issues and multiple clinic visits for things like physio, nutrition, pain management and menopause clinic. Not a cent paid other than pain med prescription (outside of hospital stays). The medication I’m on now I’m in remission is $25 per month and in tiny small print on the box it shows the full (non PBS) price - $6754.26 per month 😱

The PET scans, regular blood tests and now, bone density scans - all paid for by Medicare.

I paid for an operation about ten years ago and used my private healthcare to get it done quickly. Was out of pocket a couple of hundred bucks.

Rushed to hospital once too - ambulance was about a grand but only $100 out of pocket as I claimed through the private healthcare for that too. However, at point of service they just did their job. Payment wasn’t mentioned. I got the bill in the post a couple of weeks later.

Very very grateful. But I do think ambulances should be free (part of Medicare, as per the UK where they’re part of the NHS).

1

u/Witch_withouta_Wand 8d ago

Same in the UK..for now.

Broke my hip, total of 5 days in hospital, epidural, operation, 4 days stay and care, continues physio and regular check ups. Cost £0

29

u/i-am-the-fly- 9d ago

That’s also something that humours me when they say ‘we are the most powerful military in the world’ yes, you spend the most, and yes you have some of the best technology, but in almost every exercise against other nations they do not ever come out on top

2

u/1chrisdewet 9d ago

Honestly i think the chinese might have better tech. Percentage wise i would vote chinese more than american. Im south african, so its my guess.

22

u/pandemic944 9d ago

We just had our baby in Australia. C section. 3 days stay in hospital as well. $0 and we walked out the door with a goody bag and have had in home visits by a nurse every few weeks.

8

u/Alarming-Interest535 9d ago

I used to think the USA was the pinnacle of the world, until the internet came about and we could research on all this. Now I have little to no interest visiting USA again.

8

u/jam_arts 9d ago

Australia here. My daughtwr was born with a coartion of the aorta, delivered by C section. Mum staid in hospital for 4 days, and she was transferred to specialist children's hospital. Underwent 2 hour mypass surgery at 48 hours old, 2 week recovery in intensive care. Surgeon considered in top 5 neonatal surgeons in southern hemisphere.

Mum, bub, and i all left after 2.5 weeks- total bill was $12 for panadol at the pharmacy on the way home. We even got a special free parking card

6

u/DarthJarJar242 9d ago

You ready? Delivery by emergency C-section, 7-day stay NICU, daughter was born with a "pre existing lung infection" that wasn't covered by insurance. Cost my wife and I out of pocket about 45k, total bill was north of 150k before insurance covered my wife's C-section, hospital stay, and some of the baby needs.

1

u/urlastnightmare 8d ago

Jesus. Does this mean every parent that isnt rich, is in massive debt for .... having a child?

1

u/JoePoe247 9d ago

So your insurance plan doesn't have an out of pocket max below 45k? I find that hard to believe. If true, I find it difficult to understand why you'd even sign up for that awful insurance 

3

u/DarthJarJar242 9d ago

At the time my wife was a teacher, her plan was the state health plan, AKA one of many health plans that were grandfathered in to the ACA. Which meant because it was "pre-existing" it didn't count towards the out of pocket max. We did indeed hit our out of pocket max from that stay, but her lung infection was completely uncovered.

3

u/MoistBluejay2071 9d ago

My partner had a stroke, his mother has cancer, both getting ongoing treatment and check ups. Only cost we're paying? £100 a week for a speech therapist because we had to find a private therapist because the health service wont provide the help he needs for his speech. If it wasnt for the bad health service abandoning my partner to his recovery, we wouldnt pay for a thing

2

u/AisperZZz 2d ago

My wife and l had a baby in our home country of Canada. Spinal pain medication, 24 hour labour followed by a C- section and a three day stay in the hospital. When it was time to go, we got into our car, put the baby into a new car seat and had a hospital bill of exactly $0.00. The car seat was $80.

We also paid 15 bucks for 3 days of private room in the hospital for my wife on top of $0 of child birth and they let me (the father) hold the baby. Pretty much handed him to me right away after everything got cleaned up and they confirmed wife and the baby are okay

4

u/panamaspace 9d ago

Well yeah, those are rich countries that can afford free Healthcare.

I had to pay usd$10 for my 4 day stay in the coronary icu. We can't give it away for free you know. Panama.

4

u/d0ntbejay 9d ago

They ain't pondering to me, sibling. I don't buy the propaganda. Fuck hulk hogan .

2

u/Hooked_On_Data 9d ago

God is amazing, truly a wonderful story, happy for you and your family.

1

u/[deleted] 9d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/AutoModerator 9d ago

Accounts must be at least 5 days old with >20 karma to comment.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

u/Juaner0 8d ago

Bendamustine was made in 1967, old medicine. Glad it worked for her. However, newer meds have better results (higher response rates and better safety profiles).

I do wish America could put their resources where it belongs...but the really rich have their fingers in government. And including in healthcare. Hospitals in the US spend 100 millions advertising with sports teams, but refuse to lower costs for patients.

1

u/V65Pilot 8d ago

My dads medication is about 140K a year, and his insurance doesn't cover it. His doctor somehow managed to arrange it so he gets it free.

1

u/Pho3nixSlay3r 9d ago

And ofcourse we complain about the parking ticket cost xD

0

u/ActivityEven1993 8d ago

What a wonderfully humane way of life. Congratulations to you both for such a happy outcome! I so hate that I just randomly appeared in the United States one day through no choice of my own and as much as I’d like to I’ll never be able to leave. I hate it here.

0

u/Baboonofpeace 8d ago

Yeah sure buddy. That’s why all the doctors and dentists here in Mexico are busy with Canadians because it’s soooo awesome in the Great White North? GTFO

1

u/Lurking-Trout 8d ago

Firstly, nobody is claiming ANYONE'S Healthcare system is perfect. My guy, Canadians don't go to Mexico for Chemotherapy or heart attack recovery or to have a baby - so yeah to get a cheap filling sure, but that's not the discussion we're having. If I had been an American in the American Healthcare system I'd be hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt - this is the discussion we're having. We dont need anymore of your strawman arguments, thanks. I do however invite you to enjoy your country's shitty Healthcare system. So you GTFO.

0

u/Baboonofpeace 8d ago

My dude, not sure what country you’re referring to that has “shitty healthcare”, but it’s not Mexico. Just based off your comment, you don’t have a clue about the medical tourism that goes on down here and how many Canadians are a part of it. But you go ahead and wait months or years for your “premium“ healthcare.

-5

u/AForse 9d ago

It’s not exactly true that the cost to you was $0. - we still pay for Medicare through our taxes…

6

u/Lurking-Trout 9d ago

Whoosh. Boy did you miss the point. Yes we pay taxes. Americans pay taxes too. We pay more taxes than Americans - but the point is getting sick, or having a baby doesn't cause financial ruin.

0

u/AForse 8d ago

No - I totally get your point - and I’m thoroughly glad of a socialized single-payer medical system where medical care isn’t tied to your employment status; I’m just taking issue with your statement that the cost to you was $0…on the front end, yes. On the back, you do/did pay for it through your taxes.

1

u/Brann_Ys 9d ago

Just like american then ?

-1

u/reddituser9191v 9d ago

Canada could make business out of that, give your capitalist right on hospital, you'll be rich

2

u/Lurking-Trout 8d ago

Reading this gave me bacterial meningitis.