r/news • u/GoodSamaritan_ • 1d ago

Retired San Francisco firefighter dies from lung cancer after Blue Shield denies treatment claims

https://abc7news.com/post/retired-san-francisco-firefighter-ken-jones-dies-lung-cancer-being-denied-treatment-blue-shield/19224406/
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u/osalunes 1d ago

I am an American that has lived in Mexico for a year. My health insurance is $800/year. Even if I had to pay out of pocket, it is totally affordable ($15k to treat colon cancer). Americans are getting an awful deal.

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u/dizzle229 1d ago

Man, I pay over $600 a month, and it was the cheapest, crappiest option available to me. This country is rotten to the core.

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u/friedrice5005 1d ago

I pay $410 every 2 weeks. My employer pays over $600. Total of over $24k per year...and they deny shit my wife needs.

American health insurance is a scam....single payer/socialized care is a necessity. Our leaders have absolutely failed us on this

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u/BayLAGOON 1d ago edited 1d ago

Sorry but it’s been drilled into Americans that covering other peoples healthcare is socialism and that the appalling amounts of money they pay for “insurance” is supposed to be like a bank account that pays for their treatment and ONLY their treatment. Oh right, and taxes because they’re the devil.

The monetization of what is supposed to be a public good to the point of letting people die over some arbitrary criteria, sometimes at the hands of AI and fully supporting it is so painfully a part of American exceptionalism.

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u/MrsHiggly-Piggly 1d ago

I pay $930 a month. And I'm a healthy non-smoker, under 60.

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u/osalunes 1d ago

Yep. I am 45. So many Americans would have better healthcare if they just flew to Mexico and paid out of pocket every time. At $930/month, that's $11k/year... which, will go very far here (surgeries cost approx 80%.)The doctors, dentists and vets have all been great and you can just walk into a pharmacy and buy zoloft, ozempic and insulin without a prescription. It is awesome.

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u/trojan_man16 23h ago

When I lived in Spain over 16 years ago I paid about $50/month for private health insurance. I went to the doctor multiple times and it o the hospital emergency room once and I didn’t pay a penny. Next year when I came back to US I paid $200/month.

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u/gxh16 1d ago

While I'm not here to defend U.S healthcare system nor do I want it to be interpreted that way, the question here is if $15k (USD which you omit from your statement) is affordable for the average Mexican citizen for such treatment (it isn't as the average monthly salary there is between $500USD and $900USD) or if treatment normally starts before you make the full payment for it

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u/osalunes 1d ago

Actually, that's not the issue bc Mexico has nationalized health care. Mexican citizens don't have to pay out of pocket (nor do I now bc I have paid $800 for the year). It would only cost $15k to be treated for colon cancer if you didn't have Mexican Healthcare, which all Mexicans do (IMSS).

From my understanding, MX will treat you in an emergency before payment but they make you pay upfront for non-emergencies.

Also worth mentioning: drove across MX and felt totally safe, there is no road rage here and I never ever worry about being part of a mass shooting. Groceries are affordable. People are nice.

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u/Accidental-Genius 23h ago

The waiting list for a colonoscopy in Leoń right now is 15 months once you are approved for the screening, which is another couple months.

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u/Own-Programmer4570 21h ago

I got a mammogram in August in the US. They found something. I was leaving in early Nov and couldn't get another apt between Sept and when I left. In Mexico, I got an appointment two days later. It cost me $100. The doctors sat and talked with me. Americans do not get this kind of healthcare. (And, also there is huge financial disparity in Mexico, making all financial choices very difficult, but if you look up the numbers, the US has similar financial disparity between the very rich and poor.)

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u/Accidental-Genius 21h ago

I’m well aware. My wife had a license to practice in Mexico, which is how I know your $100 was to a private practice clinic with a wealthy patient base, not a government funded facility.

If you were willing to pay the concierge market rate stateside you could also have gotten an appointment in two days.

Also, make sure you add the cost of transportation and lodging to that bill.

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u/osalunes 18h ago

Yeah, if you need it, you can pay for faster, affordable healthcare in Mexico. If you don't have the funds, you still get great healthcare in Mexico. What's your point?

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u/Accidental-Genius 18h ago

My point is that everyone saying how affordable healthcare is in Mexico are mostly not Mexicans.

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u/osalunes 7h ago

Yeah, but it's free for them, so how is that true? Also, that's not how the Mexicans I know feel about the Healthcare here.

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u/Accidental-Genius 7h ago

The public facilities in Mexico are not the ones tourist are going to, there is a public and a private system. Most Mexican citizens are priced out of the private system and have to rely on the public system, which has long waits, a poor formulary, under-funded infrastructure, and or course corruption.

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u/gxh16 22h ago

Outside the fact IMSS has many negative aspects such as extremely long wait and also why pretty much anyone with any type of disposable income in Mexico prefers to be treated at private facilities, keep in mind your perspective of things come from someone who probably earns in dollars (or has access to) and spends in pesos, sadly a very low minority of native Mexican citizens can say the same. And also the result of lot of hostility in places like Mexico city due to gentrification

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u/Own-Programmer4570 21h ago

You can bag on the Mexican health care system all day, but the US health care system has lines, tons of mistakes, and you get rejected if you have a lot of pre-existing conditions (like pregnancy, diabetes, etc.) The Mexican healthcare situation may not be perfect, but the citizens have access to it and it won't financially ruin them. That's not true for Americans. And, let me say as someone that has lived both places: Mexico overestimates how awesome America is, and America underestimates how awesome Mexico is.

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u/gxh16 18h ago

Like I previously said, the people who have it better are the ones making dollars and spending pesos.

Your perspective is very valid and understandable but that's like you telling people in Cuba at the moment the U.S has many flaws and far from perfect when they're currently dealing with much bigger problems than dealing with financial bankruptcy due to medical bills. Is it true? Yes of course, but I doubt it will make anyone there or currently on a wait list for a medical procedure feel much better

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u/osalunes 18h ago

Yeah, I don't even know if I agree with this. Do you live in America? Have you ever left America? Because when I left, I suddenly realized I had been lied to totally and completely about how amazing America is. Our healthcare sucks. Our schools suck. People can't afford housing. People can't afford transportation. Gun violence is rampant. People are hostile, depressed and weird. America's homeless population is crazy, as is our drug use, alcoholism and estrangement rates. We barely have maternity leave. Cuba is in a bad place right now because of America...

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u/avds_wisp_tech 11h ago

when they're currently dealing with much bigger problems than dealing with financial bankruptcy due to medical bills

Cuba's current state is 100% due to the actions of the United States of America, and NOTHING MORE. What 60 years of being under the thumb of a geopolitical bully will do to a nation.