A student asked if it's expensive to see a doctor in the US. It's not expensive, it's super expensive. Many people will hear people online complaining about the high cost of medical care in the U.S. before they go abroad, so how expensive is it to see a doctor in the U.S.? I'm sure many of you have heard of the saying, "The last thing you say before you pass out in the U.S. is: don't call an ambulance...".
When you see it, you may think it's a bit funny. But the cost of calling an ambulance in the U.S. is really more expensive than you can imagine. It usually starts at $500, and the worst part is that American ambulances also charge by the mile. ....... I've heard that a 15-minute (9-mile) ambulance ride cost $1,772, but he wasn't in a critical condition, he was just swimming and knocked out a tooth before the staff called an ambulance. The high cost of ambulance service often leaves the sick and injured feeling helpless, with no choice but to worry about whether they can afford it.
Besides the ambulance, walking to the hospital to see a minor illness can also lead to shocking medical expenses. For example, fever, dislocation, playing ball broken foot, finger cut by the knife knife and other minor illnesses and injuries. A single inattention, all will make you receive a life-threatening medical bill.
Even Gao Xiaosong once spouted off in a program that American medical bills are really expensive.
This problem is not unique to international students; even American tycoons have spouted off about the cost of medical care in the U.S., casually impoverishing themselves from illness. So it's not hard to understand why so many international students wait for vacation to go back to their home countries to see a doctor. Because even after round-trip airfare is factored in, it's still cheaper to see a doctor at home than it is in the US.
While international students generally have health insurance at their schools, not all health insurance services cover the full cost of an ambulance, and they generally still have to pay a portion of the bill themselves.
And there are many reasons why health care in the United States remains so high. The main reason is the following four aspects:
The U.S. practicing physician threshold is high. U.S. doctors training cycle is not only very long up to 12-15 years, and the cost of education is also very high. The high threshold of the profession has resulted in a serious shortage of doctors, which of course corresponds to the high income of doctors. Even the most skillful doctor can hardly guarantee that he or she will not misdiagnose 100 percent of the time. In the U.S., the cost of litigation for patients is very low, and in the event of an accident, not to mention the damage to a doctor's career, the amount of compensation is unaffordable to doctors.
In order to minimize this situation, the doctor's most risk-averse approach is to try to follow the insurance company's standard procedures, standard prescriptions, standard dosage of medication, according to the rules of the game, not to take risks.
The U.S. has a "humanitarian" health care system. In the United States, there are laws that require hospitals not to turn away patients, and nurses and doctors not to kick patients out of hospitals because they are poor, so the fee-for-service model in the U.S. is generally a first visit, and then a payment.
And this directly leads to a lot of illegal immigrants and low-income and even no-income people abusing medical resources. The hospital is a great place to get a morphine drip, and you can't afford to pay for a meal, so you have to be hospitalized. These are the kinds of people who can't afford to pay these high fees, and most of their medical bills don't go anywhere. And these high consultation fees are either filled by the hospitals themselves or reported by the government. The healthcare organizations are trying to keep the books balanced, so they have to spread the cost from the insured, income-earning population.The price of health care in the United States is not transparent. The cost of different treatments can vary dramatically from hospital to hospital, and most importantly, the patient, as the "consumer," has no way of knowing how much a particular treatment will cost until he or she decides to have it.
Of course, there are many other things about the U.S. healthcare system that have been criticized as contributing to the high cost of healthcare in the United States. In short, in the U.S. really ....
For Chinese students, it is especially important to ensure their safety abroad and learn to help themselves. If you have a big injury, you should go to the hospital, but if you have a small illness that can be solved by your own medication, don't bother to go to the hospital.
What kind of medicine should I bring to the United States?
The U.S. has strict rules regarding the purchase and sale of medicines, and many medicines are not allowed to pass through customs. The cold, cough, sore throat and stomach ache in the country would have used western medicine, so these drugs do not need to bring. At the beginning of the United States to bring some bruises, pain relief and itching of the topical medicine will be more often used, these in the United States is relatively difficult to find, some local medicine is not very good. Strongly recommended to bring some Ma Yinglong, dermatitis and other creams, Hong Kong's Wanli chasing wind analgesic paste can also prepare a little.
The United States generally does not have a specialized pharmacy. So where exactly can you buy medicine?
Major chain stores?
Most commonly used medicines are available in the drugstore section of large chain stores at reasonable prices. These "pharmacies" are staffed by pharmacists who have graduated from regular schools and are certified to do so. So, if you tell the pharmacist about ailments such as acidity, stomach pain, back pain, headaches, etc., they will quickly find the right over-the-counter medication at an affordable price to relieve the pain.
Convenience stores
I've seen a lot of convenience stores like CVS Pharmacy, Rite Aid Pharmacy, and Walgreen Pharmacy on the street, and if they're labeled as a pharmacy, they're usually selling drugs. When you enter a convenience store, walk straight in, past the food and general merchandise aisles, and you'll see the drug aisle and a drug counter with a pharmacist filling prescriptions.
Gas stations
If you're feeling sick and can't find one of these stores nearby, don't worry. Gas stations in the United States are equipped with convenience stores, often open 24 hours a day, early in the morning or at night to buy things here is very convenient, and the price is not too expensive. In addition to selling coffee, beverages, food, cigarettes, and automotive supplies such as motor oil and antifreeze, gas station convenience stores generally sell commonly used over-the-counter medications.
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