I know most of you are from the USA
what is health care like there ? You have private health care ? If so how much a month For a average person ?
If you don’t have private than what happens if you get hurt ? Break a bone need surgery ? If your say middle class working family

 

For most people it is employer based as a benefit. Said employer normally subsidizes 80 - 100% of the cost. Your share could be a few hundred a month for a family.

If you are self employed then you are on your own to buy what you can afford. For a family that could be anywhere from $600 to $1200 a month depending on what you are planning on using it for.

The cheaper your premium the more you pay the provider out of your pocket.

If you plan to use insurance for every little thing, that costs alot. If you hardly have any medical issues and only plan to insure against major illnesses then the lower cost options make sense.

If you don't have insurance you can certainly pay cash and many doctors make such arrangements.

If you can't pay cash you can negotiate a payment plan...

Or you can stiff the hospital, block the calls, and have bad credit for several years but ultimately the bill will be written off.

 

My health care is 50% taken care of by my employer. For me alone it is a little over $400 a month out of my pocket. Right now I have none at all, after 15 years with my employer, I was furloughed back in march due to Covid and now I am officially laid off until work picks up again.

 

It's a ridiculous stupid employer based healthcare system. I work for the Federal Government so I have some of the best insurance out there. Even with the plan set at my lowest cost available, it's still 540 a month for my wife and I. A few months ago I cracked one of my arm bones while working on my truck (dumb move on my part). I went to a quick care place (no ER fees which can be thousands of $$) w my top tier insurance. A few x-rays and a splint/brace later....it cost me 498 out of pocket.
Universal Healthcare is gonna raise my taxes...but it'll save every one hundreds a month on premium and out of pocket costs that inevitably come up during a medical situation.

 

Mine is 100% employer funded, no copays for me period, and none for my family if they go to the directed providers

 

So what happens if you don’t have a good job that doesn’t pay ?

 

you pay out of pocket for insurance or for your medical care

 

but if your only making 20-30 k a year and you get cancer or have to have major surgery are you going bankrupt or is there forgiveness
Ive heard stories that some bills can add up to 100-200 k.

 

Lol. The bills can add up to way more...and there is no forgiveness..no matter how little you make. Unless you file bankruptcy

 

...actually, there are programs to help people out if they don't have insurance. The local hospital here helped a colleague's boyfriend who didn't have health insurance. He had to have open heart surgery and qualified for assistance.

I don't count on anybody or anything. If you live in the USA it's up to you to make sure you have your bases covered - no one else. I had really good insurance with my previous employer but was let go in May due to Covid. My husband and I bought insurance through the marketplace in order to have some kind of 'catastrophic' coverage so we don't go bankrupt if we need help. The premium scale is based on your income and any combined household that makes over $68k per year will end up paying near $700/month for a basic coverage plan. If you make less than that it can be 'as little as' $170/month for 2 people. I have mixed feelings over healthcare and my husband and I discuss it frequently because he grew up in a Socialist country with a national healthcare plan. He has told me horror stories of having examinations in one big room with other people and was quite impressed with a private room for appointments here in the US. He has also told me stories of doctors taking a look at him when they walked in and flat out refusing him service for something that was important to him - citing he didn't have enough muscle for it to work. I got wind of that and scheduled an appointment with a doctor when he came over for a visit here in the States (prior to our marriage) and they told him that he was the perfect candidate for the services he wanted. I can't tell you the difference it has made in his life.

We go round and round with this conversation and I know that each of us can see the other's side..... there are pros and cons to both systems. Does it suck right now that we don't have a good employer paid package? Yes. Do I think that everyone is entitled to good healthcare? Yes. Is there a happy medium? I don't know...