First of all, it is obviously wrong to say that healthcare is free in the U.S. The reason why some people say this is because people on low income insurance can really get free treatment, and there's also the matter of giving birth to a child, so if you don't have a high income, you can give birth to a child and get all of the child's healthcare for free. But for most Americans, especially those in the middle class who are said to be poor or rich, it's particularly unlucky because not only do they have to pay a hefty insurance premium, they still have to pay a lot out of pocket for medical care.
For example, when my friend was a post-doctoral fellow at the university, he only had to pay thirty dollars a month for his insurance, which is a benefit for university employees who pay less in premiums, but by the time she had a baby and added the kid to her insurance, she had to pay three to four hundred a month in premiums!
Blue Cross Shield, a very well known health insurance company in the US
Does it cost nothing to go to the doctor after you pay for insurance? Not really! First of all, there is copay, the cardinal sin, which we can understand as a registration fee! It costs $40 copay to see a general practitioner, $94 to see a specialist, and $337 to see an emergency room. $337 is no small amount of money, and two visits would buy you an IPhone 11!
In addition to copay, the cost of medical treatment and testing fees are to be paid, my friend had a baby from front to back spent $4,000, her insurance plan is a 20% deductible, deductible is $2500, that is, each natural year, if the medical expenses are $2500, then you have to pay $2500, if you spend $5,000, then the first payment! 2500 dollars, the other 2500 just need to pay 20% on it, that is, the total **** to pay 3000 dollars.
Another benefit of insurance is that it can save you from most costs. For example, you don't have to pay for a flu shot, and you don't have to pay $40 copay to see your family doctor, provided you don't take any of those high-tech tests. But the medications prescribed by your family doctor will still cost you extra.
My friend went to do a MRI for a herniated disc and paid $900 for it!
As for spending a thousand dollars on a cold, that's probably for a severe case of the flu, needing to test this and that, especially if you go to the emergency room, no matter what the case is, $1000 hits the bottom. The common cold to see a family doctor is also pay a few dozen dollars copay it.
In the U.S. routine to see a doctor need to make an appointment, for example, to see a family doctor need to call to make an appointment, but many times can only be booked to a week after the meeting, or even a month later is possible, so that the American people's ability to self-healing is very strong, for example, if you have a cold or where it hurts, make an appointment to go to see a doctor, but wait until the day you make an appointment, you may be sick on their own!
Some people ask what to do if it's too late for an emergency. If it is the kind of sudden fainting, limb breaks, these at first glance is a life-threatening problem, then you must go to the emergency room! Emergency room charges are extremely high, and if it is not an emergency then you have to wait in line for four or five hours. The emergency room is for those who are critically ill, but in the US there are some low-income people, old people and homeless people who don't want to pay, so they go there even if they have a headache, which makes it more crowded and slower.
In addition to the emergency room does not need to make an appointment to see a doctor, the United States also has a place called urgent care center, called urgent care, do not need to make an appointment, but the registration fee is two or three times higher than the ordinary family doctor's clinic, but the cost is still a lot lower than the emergency room, and the queue is not long. But the cost is still much lower than the emergency room, and the queue is not long. The level of urgent care is limited, and those with life-threatening illnesses and accidents still need to go to the emergency room.
The high level of medical care in the US should mean the high level of top medical care. For diseases that involve life, US doctors and equipment may be more advanced, so rich people can go to the US to renew their lives, but the cost is also sky-high. But the level of general medical care in the U.S. is not necessarily that high. Doctors here pay more attention to the use of instruments, and the number of patients they see in a week is not as much as the number of Chinese doctors who see half a day's worth of patients, so their experience is far less than that of Chinese doctors.
The U.S. healthcare system is not efficient, and the population is growing rapidly, but the number of doctors is not increasing, leading to a strain on U.S. healthcare resources, so why wait a week or a month for a doctor's appointment?
So I'm worried that the US will be able to play an efficient role in dealing with the new coronavirus outbreak and contain it, and I hope that the US community will reflect on its own healthcare system after this virus.
We need to look at this issue in two ways, because the reimbursement of any country's healthcare system is complex, and the reimbursement rates for different groups of people can be different.
So we can't say that American healthcare is completely free, and we can't say that the price of medical care in the United States is sky-high, because there's no such thing as absolute.
We all know that the United States is a developed country with a huge gap between the rich and the poor, and that healthcare, as a daily necessity for the public, is naturally included in the government's governing framework.
In the United States, if you are living on state assistance, the state does tilt the medical insurance for this part of the population, so the people who are living in difficulty can get free medical treatment.
Because we will find a problem from the American movie, that is, often an American hero can save the whole world, and this heroic plot is also reflected in the care of the disadvantaged.
But as the middle class and above in the US, it is clear that they are not included, and not only do they need to pay and buy insurance, but also the cost of going to the doctor is a lot of money.
Some people say that if you do not have commercial insurance and health insurance, in the United States to see the doctor really will have a minute will make you go bankrupt, in order to this question I tried to organize the information.
In the U.S. to see a doctor is usually the first to see the doctor and then pay, so if you meet the low quality of people, even if it is renegade hospitals must serve the patient, because the hospital will stand in the humanitarian considerations.
If a patient is in serious condition and has no money and needs to be hospitalized, but does not have insurance, the patient's hospital fees are generally borne by the government, hospitals and other public institutions **** with.
This situation directly raises the cost of hospitals in the United States, and hospitals have to raise the cost of emergency room visits in order to maintain their normal operation, which is one of the reasons why emergency room visits in the United States are so expensive.
Similarly, the U.S. health care system is also very complex, with a wide range of commercial insurance, which means that the higher the amount of insurance you buy, the better the health care services you will enjoy.
Usually the American workplace pays part or all of the premiums, and many good companies buy full health insurance for their employees as part of their benefits.
That is to say, in a capitalist country, "money" is the key to solving health care problems, and usually the poor have to pay the least for health care, and often the most stressful thing is the middle class in the United States.
1. My daughter's family of four settled in the U.S. for many years, enjoying the U.S. medical benefits, sick, give birth to a child, do routine medical checkups, oral health care, etc., about their own private doctor, to the hospital on the lookout for the conditions of the service is also quite good, indeed, do not have to spend money on payment of fees, checking out the bill, as if it is a penny does not cost free medical care, in fact, it is not it! They work in the United States, every year is to pay a high amount of medical insurance, good big company units to employees to pay a part of their own to pay most of the insurance mechanism is perfect, living in the people there have a strong sense of insurance, do not need to go to the door of the insurance sales, consciously on the payment, or in advance on the deduction, which is also known as the doctor do not pay, in fact, the money is the first to give,
They have to pay a lot of money, but they have to pay a lot of money. 2. We went to the United States in 2005 to visit relatives, my husband was sick there, because there is no insurance, but must see a doctor, no way to go to the hospital, where to see a doctor beforehand is not charged, seems to be very humane, humane, service attitude, quality of care are satisfactory, see directly home, but not for nothing, you wait to send the bill, the cost is very high, and then go to the bank to pay with the bill. That year, my daughter was still in graduate school and did not have any income. In this case, you can state the reason and apply for a reduction, for example, a reduction of 20%, 30%, 40%, 60%, and after repeated discussions and verification that there are really difficulties, the Government will finally pay for the bill and that's it. But if we know at the beginning but so expensive, perhaps not to look at the shoulder, or return home early, really do not want to take advantage of others.
3. There is also no charge for medical institutions, is a church hospital, specializing in serving the poor, not only to see the doctor to get medicine does not cost a penny, there are also relief items, including adults and children's various types of food, nutrients, clothing donated by individuals, blankets, shoes, hats, toys, etc., after registering a name and then casually receive. But there is one thing, the medical service is the most basic and simple, only some common drugs, want to do deep examination is not possible.
4. Relative to other countries, the United States for infants and young children, young people's health care services benefits are very generous, section of the medical examination, most of the supply of nutritious food is free of charge, in those years, we often take the check regularly sent to the child to go to the supermarket to buy powdered milk, chicken Dan, juice, milk, puree, and so on, and very little money out of their own pocket, until the two children were raised to the elementary school.
The US healthcare system is free, and the cost of healthcare is very expensive. I understand the following points:
First, the United States is divided into two lines of public and private health care, public free, private is very expensive. The best hospitals are basically private hospitals, such as the Mayo Center, which is ranked first in the world.
Second, the U.S. public healthcare system implements a strict hierarchical diagnosis and appointment system. Patients need to make appointments at each level to see a doctor. The first is the community hospital or family doctor, appointment, wait, see the doctor, treatment, if not cured, can only be transferred from the community hospital to a larger hospital, the above procedures again. It is difficult to go directly to a large public hospital or see a doctor on the same day as in China, in the United States.
Third, private medical care is high and expensive, even with insurance. A few years ago, I went to the United States, coordinates Massachusetts, peer buddy acute appendicitis, sent to the church hospital, anesthesia over the hospital, before and after the three days or so, 15,000 knife, insurance reimbursement of more than 80%, the rest of the self-care. Another colleague, coordinates North Canada, basketball knocked out the teeth, dental implants, spent nearly 20,000 knives, reimbursement of more than 80%, the rest of the self-care. The first thing you need to know is how much you're going to pay for the insurance, and how much you're going to pay for it.
Fourth, personal opinion, although the U.S. public health care is free, but to wait for an appointment, hierarchical diagnosis and treatment, minor illnesses do not have to be treated, major illnesses can not afford to wait. Private health care is too expensive, even with insurance is also expensive, coworkers pre-tax annual salary of more than 100,000 knives (U.S. median household income of about 60,000 knives), dental spend spend a lot of money to spend a lot of heartache.
In short, I personally feel that having the ability to earn money is the king's way, no money to go anywhere are suffocating. [
The United States has a health care system, and the vast majority of people have paid for health insurance. If people who are already enrolled in health insurance are free to a certain extent and time, but the condition is serious, they still have to bear some of the costs subsequently.
First, here will be my understanding of the situation with you, to the United States in Houston, for example:
1, acupuncture in Houston is included in the scope of health insurance, normal acupuncture a charge of 100 U.S. dollars (the same below), equivalent to the domestic 100 yuan RMB.
2, has bought health insurance to acupuncture, the first 8 times a month is free of charge by the government to pay. The government pays for the first 8 times a month. The cost is settled directly between the acupuncturist (the owner) and the insurance company.
3, after 8 times if there is no good still need acupuncture, the rest of the need to pay out of pocket, that is, acupuncture once on the spot to pay 100 yuan. This price operator can not just increase. If there is no other items provided or not before the patient's consent, can only charge 100 yuan. If reported, they must be fined.
Second, so in the United States in Houston (I believe that other cities are the same), acupuncture is basically set a week for a course of treatment, that is to say, as far as possible, to be in the first 8 times to cure each other, otherwise there is no repeat business, unless special cases. Because everyone wants and needs to be free.
Third, we can see that if you do not join the health insurance, to the U.S. medical expenses to settle, a serious cold to spend thousands of dollars is very normal.
Fourth, there are a lot of people who take the currency for granted, which is actually not true. The reason for this is that 100 dollars is equivalent to 100 RMB in the United States. As the title of the 1000 U.S. dollars is equivalent to spending 1000 yuan in the country, at home and abroad to treat a serious cold to spend thousands of dollars is not a big surprise.
Let me answer this question. My classmates' daughters and sons-in-law are in the United States, they are buying health insurance, so they see the doctor is a medical insurance, the specific proportion is how much I do not know, but basically and our current employee health insurance is almost the same. I don't know exactly what the rate is, but it's basically similar to our current employee health insurance. Because our current employee health insurance is modeled after the U.S. health care so engaged. But those who don't have health insurance are in deep trouble. My classmate and his wife go to the US every other year to help take care of their children, and they take a lot of common medicines with them. In their words, if they have to pay out of pocket, it's better to buy a plane ticket and go back to their home country.
In the U.S., there are public **** medical services, if you pay the health insurance, you can enjoy this part of the service, and still free, but the premise is to pay the health insurance. The United States is divided into public health care and private health care, rich people can enjoy very good private health care, but must pay a high cost.
Recently, the United States new crown pneumonia epidemic is spreading, to which a number of countries in the world has been proposed this disease is free treatment, due to the United States is not particularly serious, so the U.S. government has not responded to the United States, that is to say that the Americans want to spend money on treatment, on the detection of a nucleic acid will have to spend 3,000 U.S. dollars, and therefore met with a lot of opposition to the Americans are now ready to write a petition, the United States is now ready to sign the petition. As long as the number of signatures exceeds 100,000, the U.S. government will have to respond, and Americans want free treatment for the epidemic.
There are only 160 cases of the new coronavirus in the United States, but there have already been 11 deaths, and the problem lies with the CDC, which can only test patients with severe illnesses because it doesn't have enough reagents to test them, leading to high mortality rates as mild cases become severe after delays. For this reason, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence recently said that as for nucleic acid testing, anyone can do it now, and the CDC's approval authority is decentralized, private companies can also produce nucleic acid testing reagents. And the disease is also covered by Medicare.
The U.S. health care system was burdened by a severe outbreak of influenza last year, which infected 26 million people and killed 14,000 others, and is now faced with a new coronavirus that has caused the current U.S. health care system to be overwhelmed, and so the U.S. Senate allocated $8.3 billion to deal with the new coronavirus today. The U.S. Senate today appropriated $8.3 billion to deal with the new coronavirus.
I've never been sick in the US and have no experience. But in Spain (a western country similar to the US), I've had problems with public vs. private hospitals.
Last May, I was traveling in Spain and was accidentally bitten by a dog in a place called Salamanca. I was nervous and rushed to find a hospital to get treatment and vaccinations. Since I was not familiar with the area, I turned to the owner of a local restaurant for help. A woman introduced me to two hospitals, one public and one private. I asked her what the difference was. She told me that the public one was free, but the cost of medication and other materials was not known at the time, and the hospital would send you a bill afterward, which might be more expensive than the private one and not reliable. Private hospitals are expensive, but the prices are clearly labeled, so you know how much you are spending at that time. After hearing what she said, I decided to go to a private hospital because I didn't want to take advantage of the free treatment offered by public hospitals. I went to a private hospital and spent 104.7 euros on registration, which is equivalent to nearly 800 yuan. Then I had to wait in line for more than 4 hours before my turn came. Due to the different national conditions, their countries are to vaccinate dogs, so the dog is considered safe (the dog that bit me does have a pet passport, annual inoculation records), do not give me rabies vaccine, only prescribed a little anti-inflammatory and painkillers, these medicines I have their own did not pick up in the local pharmacy (hospitals do not have a pharmacy, but also have to go to the pharmacy outside to buy), I think it is very expensive to buy in the local. It was more than 100 euros just to register, which is quite expensive for the locals, who earn an average of 1000 to 1200 euros per month. The average monthly salary of the local people is 1000 to 1000 Euros. With this experience, I realized that it is still convenient and cheap to go to the doctor in China.
The U.S. healthcare is free? Miami will tell those envious poor eyes, do what the big head dream? The United States to spend thousands of dollars to treat a cold? Americans will tell you, rely on it!
The bill, the American, in fear of their own travel was infected with a new crown pneumonia, the initiative to apply for a check, learned that their monthly payment of $ 400 health insurance quota is not enough, canceled the CT scan program, only to do a kit test, the result is just a confirmed diagnosis of influenza received the bill, after their own share of the health care insurance reimbursement, he still need to pay 1,400 dollars. Of course we don't know what the cost of that kit was, because at the moment of this epidemic we have that cost paid for by the state, but at least it also proves that healthcare is free for Americans, and that's a bragging fart for some purpose by some Americans!
From this small case, we can also roughly estimate that if an American does not pay that $400 a month health insurance, to treat a cold to spend a thousand dollars on the claim, it is more reliable, that is an average government employee in the United States of America's five days of salary, of course, than our patchouli to treat the cold is too expensive, the country and the people of the situation is different, and there is no need for us to be compared with others.
But this small matter, but from another side reveals, CDC released the U.S. new crown virus infection diagnosis, there are still only 158 cases, but reached 11 deaths of this 7% of the real reason for the number of people, the new crown pneumonia diagnosis of such a high cost, if it is not the new crown, the whole family of the cost of living for most of the month how to do? In case of an unfortunate diagnosis, how much will the treatment cost? How can we live in the future? The government's attitude of not caring too much about the outbreak will undoubtedly make the people think that the disease is nothing more than that and can be cured without medical treatment, so why take the risk of bankrupting the family? And yet, damn it, this new crown menace is far from that! That's why there's that low number of confirmed cases, five or six percentage points more than in Korea, and a high death rate, as posted by the CDC.
In this case, should we be envious of the American people? Or are we glad we were born in our own country? There should be a more reliable perception, right?
The U.S. has never had free healthcare in the "broad sense", it's all just a bunch of bullshit.
The US has free healthcare for "minors" and people over 65, including people with disabilities, and the rest of us need to pay for our own insurance.
In the US, if you don't have insurance, you'd better pray to God that you don't get sick, otherwise the cost of going to the hospital is not something that the average person can afford.
My niece works and lives in San Francisco, USA. My sister-in-law went to see her daughter, and because of her age, she stayed there for a while, and went to the hospital to do a "full set of checkups" because my sister-in-law is not a US citizen, and she had to pay for her own checkups, which totaled $20,000 for a full set of checkups.
I went to the US on a business trip with my colleague, who drank wine at dinner, and when I was riding in the car, my brain was not enough, and when I closed the car door, I cut off one of my fingers, and it cost me 3,000 dollars to go to the hospital for treatment. Although this is a work-related injury, it can be reimbursed after returning home, but we can see that the cost is huge!
The U.S. is a country where the elderly, the weak, and the disabled have better welfare policies, and the rest of us need to earn our keep. The rest of the normal people need to "earn their own living" in order to make money.
There are many homeless people on the streets of American cities, and if you pay attention, you will realize that these homeless people are basically "young and middle-aged", because the elderly and children, as well as people with disabilities, are taken care of by the U.S. government.
These "young and middle-aged homeless people" are too lazy to work! So they go wandering around. They beg on the streets and even sleep on the streets, so why doesn't the U.S. government care?
Not the U.S. government does not care, is that these homeless people do not want to live in the government or charitable organizations to run the "shelter" to go, they like to sleep on the street, they feel so free and comfortable, and feel that living in the "shelter" inside the constraints are not free, and some shelters have drug addicts. Some of these shelters have drug addicts in them.
I'll show you two photos of shelters in the United States:
This is the "dormitory" of the shelter, and the dining room of the shelter.
This is the "dormitory" of the shelter, and below it is the dining room of the shelter. But the homeless just don't want to go!
Every city in the United States has a "food bank" where poor people go to get free bread, ham, peanut butter, jam, drinks, powdered milk, vegetables, fruit, and so on. The U.S. government also issues food stamps to poor people who qualify for them, so they can buy food at the supermarket.
But the "food bank" absolutely does not supply alcohol and tobacco, "food stamps" in the supermarket can not buy alcohol and tobacco. Therefore, some beggars in the United States will beg in the "advertisement" frankly: "Why cheat? I want beer" (Why lie? I want beer). Some are "subtle" and say: "Need cash for alcohol research" (Need cash for alcohol research).
There are also many philanthropists in the US who regularly give food to the homeless and to beggars.
Look at this homeless person all "brand-name" ah, in the United States on the street beggars can generally earn 20-30 dollars an hour, the United States ordinary office workers "minimum hourly wage" is only 15 dollars. The first thing you need to do is to get your hands dirty.
So these homeless people in the US don't deserve any sympathy! They make more money than you do!
In short, America is not as good as some people think, nor as bad as some people think! People need to be objective and not be brainless!