They should get rid of the single largest socialist government expenditure on the planet (the US military) and then tell everyone they need to get Defence insurance.
Please stop saying the military is socialist. Please understand that socialism is about the relationship to the means of production and not just ‘exists because tax’
Uh, yes, but… Socialism!!!
It still baffles me how some Americans will fight against universal healthcare, like ??? Do you WANT to be put in debt cuz you had an easily-treatable illness??? I don’t get it, honestly
I have had arguments on social media with Americans. They are A) deluded, believing that paying a monthly premium and still having a deductible, that can be denied, is awesome because its tge best plan avaipable. B) are I got mine types, who have stated they got private insurance because they don’t want to pay for other peoples health care (they clearly don’t understand how insurance works) C) don’t want their taxes to go up one smidge, even though putting every american into a universal system would save so much money and would barely be blip in their taxes.
They are under the impression that what’ll happen is that their paycheck will go down by the cost of universal healthcare per person because the costs are taken out via taxes. Then they hear that some people will get it who don’t pay taxes and they get indignant that they’re paying and someone else is getting. Then they think about the difficulties they have with our current system, and picture putting something like the DMV in front of it, since that’s what a lot of people have as their biggest reference for what the government does.
That’s all because someone has a vested interest in making sure they understand it wrong, and no one is going to make a lot of money off universal healthcare so there isn’t the same degree of motivation to teach people a more accurate understanding.
“Against” has billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of jobs, and “for” has “human decency”, “efficiency” and “why are we doing this to ourselves”.People hear that your paycheck gets a bit bigger, you go to the doctor when you feel sick, bills are mainly to keep you from going to the doctor for free aspirin and are lower than your copay, and you just … don’t deal with the billing anymore and think that sounds unrealistic. Entirely missing that other countries have done it, that the government already has a medical billing system, and dealing with paperwork is something the government does even better than “moving stuff from one place to another”.
And then there’s other countries whose doctors still receive high wages… America just has a very selfish society in general, I’ve noticed. And, that paycheck argument they make is stupid, because if they have to pay off the debt then their wages will be a lot lower anyways?? Especially for more expensive operations (like transplants).
I honestly don’t have a lot to add, all of you replying to my comment have explained it perfectly. America’s run by idiots, for idiots www
I’d push back against idiots. It’s a little more complicated. It’s meticulously cultivated ignorance amongst many people, since that’s useful. People with money can help people with power maintain power if they help them make more money. So people with power have an incentive to keep people ignorant about things that threaten the bottom line (often. Some have principles and some see the electorate as a better way to maintain power. Obviously nuance exists)
So it’s not that the people who don’t support universal healthcare are always unintelligent, or that the leadership is. You’re not stupid for not understanding something you’ve never experienced, and only been told falsehoods about. It’s why intelligent people sometimes end up against it, and can jump through pretty significant mental hoops to justify that position: every experience says the belief is correct, and it agrees with what they were taught.
There’s a special experience that Americans sometimes get where they’ll travel to another country and get sick or injured. Depending on the country, they might be apologetically informed that because they don’t pay into the system they’ll need to pay full price for the procedure, only to be presented with a bill significantly lower than the fully insured price in the US. Or they just don’t get a bill, depending on the country. I’ve had this happen to two coworkers. One was given a bill for about $200 for a night in the hospital, antivirals, and several units of fluids and electrolytes. The person who presented the bill was adament that there should be a way to bring this down to something more reasonable. In the US that might be a $1000 bill with insurance.
Another had their kid break their arm on vacation, and when they tried to figure out how to pay the doctor just looked confused and asked why he thought they would charge to help a child in medical need. Said it made him realize how backwards our system has made everything, even though he already wanted universal healthcare. Seeing a system that actually put patient care first just felt weird.
My mom had a spinal fusion in the 90s which she got in debt for.
About 15 years ago my lung spontaneously collapsed. Several surgeries later, the bill was $315,000. I was on Obamacare because of the mandate, thank god. I paid $19.
My mom found out and told me I “deserved to go bankrupt” because people like her had struggled for so long with their medical bills.
I don’t speak to her anymore
I rlly don’t get ppl like ur mum… shouldn’t she be angry about being forced to pay extortionate amounts of money in the first place ??? Not at the poor person who got lucky ??? Jesus
It’s a cult.
Propaganda sold to us at an early age.
Obviously, transsexuals are a bigger concern. They are educated from birth the US has a superior healthcare system (by every measure, it does not). They are told that a lifetime of debt means they are good Americans .Also, most voters just assume one day they will be billionaires and never get sick.
Yeah… it’s fucking stupid
Americans are willing to give up everything they own if it means some hypothetical strawman isn’t “mooching” off of their propaganda headcanon.
Success is suffering and hard work and if everyone isn’t suffering then life isn’t fair. Fuck this entire viewpoint, but it’s one of the main American traits ruining socialist ideals.
If you don’t own a million dollar yacht that you use as a tender for your billion dollar yacht you are the hypothetical straw man mooching off the tax dollars of those who do.
I’m Canadian. I highly doubt I pay more than $15k in taxes to get my free healthcare.
I bet you get tons of free bonuses too: roads, public education, pensions… Damn, seems like this whole government thing is quite efficient, with the no shareholders taking profits and stuff.
Italian here: 5,000€
European healthcare is something like 6k€ per year and person, the USA is around 14k€ (because leechers and parasites in the system).
Source: some graph on the internet.
We also obviously do mutualise the efforts so even the bum living under the bridge gets the same treatments. We all put in an effort according to what we can, as we are living in a society. What a way to control the masses in the USA. Horrifying.
My friend got cancer and she lost her job. Luckily her parents pay for her insurance out of pocket. Even the treatments are covered, she still needs to pay for copay and deductibles. This is America. When you are down, we kick you further down. No developed country does that except us
but you’re forgetting that the other countries tax you more when you are doing exceptionally. Policies like that lead to meritocracy and reduce everyone’s chances of getting a yacht.
Everyone’s chances of getting a yacht? You mean a small nu.ber of people?
yes, a chance to get a yacht. Similar to how everyone that buys a lottery ticket has a chance to win.
And yet the same people won’t consider living in a better place for some reason.
You think it’s easy for people who are poor or in debt to uproot their lives and move to another country they have no connection to? People have families and other social ties they don’t want to leave behind as well.
Guess its not so bad then for most.
How can we move? Or roots are here. It is not that easy to move to another country.
Perhaps it will be easily to change people’s mind such as yours
Country depends on immigrant labor, citizens can’t imagine being an immigrant. Checks out.
My insurance premiums are closer to $12,000 a year (basically a hop, skip, and a jump from $1,000 a month).
It certainly isn’t the most expensive plan I found, but it was up there. I knew about all the shitty practices by insurance companies, but I tried to do my research to ensure that my prescriptions and doctors were covered, and I hoped that with a plan this expensive, I might be a bit insulated from the worst of it.
Then I had an emergency. Three things that my insurance did not cover really stood out to me.
The ambulance was considered out of network, so I am on the hook for 100% of the cost. You don’t have any choice about which service picks you up.
The doctor was out of network, so I have to pay 100% of his charges. I know he probably approved my treatment or reviewed my test results, whatever, but I never saw him and the only treatment I received came from the nurses.
I was given 2 ibuprofen. They cost me $45. I was given several different and conflicting reasons why, but ultimately, I’m on the hook for that.
I wouldn’t pay it. As of now, medical debt can’t hurt your credit score. When they send it to collectors, just deny the debt is yours. Refuse to give the collectors any info and don’t accept the debt.
Do you have any sources?
I tried to double check and all i found is that:
The three nationwide credit reporting agencies will generally not report medical debt on your credit report until the debt has been unpaid for at least 180 days (about six months).
I am preparing a pamphlet for getting and navigating US healthcare and that would be an amazing addition.
Apparently, 15 states prohibit it from hitting your credit. I was under the impression that it was nationwide.
By chance do you have a source to this?
It was a law from Biden that went into effect in January but trump had vacated in July, all this year. There’s a lot of confusion on this because of the flip flop.
https://www.nclc.org/resources/dont-add-further-insult-to-injury-medical-debt-credit-reports/
This was the story I saw. I know in my state, it can’t ding your credit.
Americans would rather spend $20k a year on useless health insurance, just to make sure their taxes don’t accidentally pay for black and brown peoples healthcare…
American Elites and conservative morons.
Not all Americans. The majority have wanted socialized Healthcare for a long time, but actual political results rarely match the popular opinion here.
At least 50% voted racism. There is no hiding behind the “Elites”.
I’m not referring to votes, but basically every pill or survey that asks people about these ideas. Most Americans generally agree with and want universal healthcare.
Also, a lot of voters are single- or few-issue voters. With limited choices, some will just vote anyways closest to their beliefs. That doesn’t necessarily mean they agree with the full package.
And yet sweet racism/homophobia keeps them from demanding universal healthcare.
50% of what? Wasn’t his tally closer to 30% of gen pop?
The nonvoting assholes add up to more than 50%.
Even the majority of republican voters want health care reform. It’s a cross-party issue, for sure. Trump even lied and said he had some beautiful, magical healthcare plan that’ll fix everything. People who believed him are clearly still idiots of course.
I am sick of this bullshit argument. The ‘majority’ of Republican voters can say whatever they want, but they vote for a party whose core values are against healthcare reform and will even take it away if another party tries to implement it. For 20 years or more voting republican has meant supporting racism and corporate interests above all else. Republican voters are getting exactly what they voted for. Stop trying to make them sound like victims.
It isn’t bullshit per se. It is by and large what they want when polled, but they’re too fucking stupid, too hung up on single issue voting, or too easily misled and naive and think the awful people they keep voting for will somehow not fuck them over some day
Follow the money. Find out which politicians resist healthcare and you’ll find who’s getting paid to resist it.
You are ignorant on this issue. Please do better before making generalized prejudice statements.
…and then piss and moan about fuel prices for their pick up trucks and SUVs with V8 motors.
Uh, plenty of Americans are black and brown
Mostly missing the point here. Yes some minorities also voted against health care, but the overwhelming majority of votes comes from white conservatives and the victims are proportionally higher minorities. Most of these voters claim they’re not racists but the results are a great example of systemic racism.
I’m pretty sure even the white population are in favor of socialized healthcare. It’s just that the insurance companies spend a crap on of money lobbying our politicians to make sure it remains private so they can squeeze out every single penny from us. Oh. And other companies in general to make sure you don’t switch job easily
No they aren’t especially if you combine 40+ or men with that statement.
The point is that “Americans” is a net that encompasses a lot of people, so generalizing like you’re doing is a hot garbage shortcut that smacks of the exact kind of xenophobic behavior you’re railing against.
It’s just bigots being bigots.
At this point, just put 15k in a high interest account and only use it if you need to
That’s basically what an HSA is.
You sign up for a high deductible plan where you pay for your own medical expenses, but document them, up until you hit your out of pocket maximum ($8300 for individuals or $16600 for families), at which point your insurance kicks in to cover the catastrophic bills you typically won’t have in a typical year.
Meanwhile, you are eligible to contribute $4300 per year for individuals or $8750 for families into an HSA, which has very favorable tax treatment (pretax money deposited, not taxed when taken out for health expenses, even after growing a lot), and allows you to invest everything above the minimum cash balance (varies by provider, usually something like $1000 or $2000).
That way in a year you happen to hit a $1 million illness or injury you’re still covered against catastrophic financial loss, but you generally pay your own way with tax-deductible funds that you’re allowed to invest for growth.
Goes beyond even that.
At a certain point, you can invest it like a 401k. That’s a giveaway to the stock market. Eventually, you can withdraw it for anything in retirement.
Where a 401k is invested with tax-free money now but gets taxed later, and an IRA is invested with taxed money that doesn’t get taxed later, an HSA is invested tax-free AND doesn’t get taxed later.
What I’m saying is that it’s a giant tax dodge masquerading as a band-aid for a broken healthcare system.
Do what you need to for taking care of you and your family. Maxing out an HSA is generally your best option right now. But just keep in mind that this is a system that shouldn’t exist.
some employers contribute to your HSA, such as matching the amount you contribute each paycheck.
when you contribute to your HSA from each paycheck, that amount is not taxed.
it’s possible to withdraw cash at an ATM from your HSA account if you really need it. no one really stops you from doing this. I saw someone buy weed using cash they withdrew this way.
There is also no time limit on bills that are eligible to be paid from HSA. So if you are able to, you can pay out of pocket now, keep a copy of the bill, and cash it in 15 years later.
Until you get some kind of chronic illness and run out of money after about three appointments, then I guess set up a go fund me? You are required to be stabilized but not treated.
the funniest part is that’s not even what socialism is.
“Socialism is when government does stuff like laws and currency.”
“Socialism is when they take some gold from the dragon”
really? i though it was when no iphone. (and sometimes vuvuzela)
Well, it’s not socialism but universal healthcare is a socialist policy and it has been won by various reformist socialist parties in most western countries.
some western countries usually can have such vast welfare state within capitalism because they are still extracting value from their colonies.
Ireland, Poland, Malta, Denmark, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Andorra, Luxembourg and Norway don’t have colonies. And the first three used to be colonies.
some of those you mention engage in imperialism on their neocolonies.
Of course someone from .ml would repeat the same buzzwords without thought.
I know. I came from a post-colonial/neocolonial country. But to treat all Western countries as monolith is utterly ridiculous. It is ironically being racist to dismiss white former colonies as neocolonialist like Poland, Ireland and Malta just because they arw white, isn’t? Frankly, the MLs patronise the global south as if they have no agency in the same way as neoliberal imperialists do. Ask Filipinos and Indians on what they think of CPP-NPA and Naxalites, respectively. MLs would actually get more respect and taken seriously if they aren’t being hypocritical like the neoliberals. ML is just another form of tyranny with a different mask.
of course someone from .world decides to be completely ignorant.
Sure bud.
Uncalled for.
You must be new to dealing with MLs. Nothing “uncalled for” for calling out MLs that keep harping about social democratic countries having neocolonies, when literally these countries have none and some of these countries even used to be colonies.
Can you not see them describing the government doing stuff?
18-39
As a millennial, I feel great not being called old.
Lucky you. My wife calls me old all the time. And she is older than me!
At 18 a guy in our group started dating a 19 year old. Another guy gave her shit about robbing the cradle to annoy her, which worked. To get him to stop driving the joke into the ground, I said, “Dude stop it. She’s not robbing the cradle.” She relaxed. “He’s robbing the grave.”
Damn, brutal.
This is why I want america to be screwed up completely. So Americans wake up and realize what theyve been enforcing on global south for decades.
Its tragic that the only way humans (as a whole) learn is when they themselves suffer.
What is it with Americans and this fear of socialism? Yes let’s have some socialism, what the hell is the problem with that?
Americans see China and think: “Oh no, very bad because of socialism/communism”
But as someone who was born in mainland China (I’m Chinese-American), PRC is nothing “socialist”/“communist” at all, its a horrible State-Capitalist Authroitarian Regime under the guise of Communist aesthetics. I don’t fear socialism/communism because they never truely existed, in fact, I’d say that Norway or Finland (based on what info I could gather anyways, never personally been to Norway or Finland so I can’t speak from experience) would be more closer to “socialism” than PRC, at least they actually have a social safety net, PRC doesn’t.
As for why Americans fear these terms, I think it’s because, for some people anyways, you can get labeled as an enemy of the state to even uttering “socialism”/“communism”.
(Legal disclaimer to the FBI Agent reading this, just in case I have to make this clear: No, I am not a “communist”, as in, I do not support the CCP or similar authoritarian parties, I just support a more egalitarain and democratic society however you want to call that, and my views are 100% compatible with the US Constitution, now fuck off FBI, stop trying to denaturalize me, maybe actualy investigate the traitor in the white house, for fuck sake)
Hear that boys? They mentioned egalitarianism. Round this user up, off to Uganda.
😭
Can we just invite the Trisolarians to get this over with? /j
Am Norwegian. We argue a lot of whether we live under socialism or capitalism, we have a pretty good mix of both I think. Also, I dont think they’re really mutually exclusive, it’s more like some parts of society like healthcare, trains and police make sense to do as socialism and other things like TV channels, grocery stores and construction make sense to do as regulated capitalism.
I would argue that the next step forward is to formally design an economic system that uses the principles of both. America’s Constitution was based on the Magna Carta and other concepts, but went a step further and made dedicated rules for how political power interacts. While badly dated now, those rules lasted 250 years for a nation that exploded beyond a mere 13 colonies into a continental superpower.
I think making a clean ruleset that incorporates socialism and capitalism would allow them to excel at the things they do, while keeping their worst aspects at bay.
My favorite lefty take to hit a capitalism/libertarian shill with is that I don’t really think a communist/socialist project like the Soviet Union is the future. And honestly, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who does want that.
Its becoming a pretty common take these days that capitalism is fine IF human and environmental needs are met first.
Its becoming a pretty common take these days that capitalism is fine IF human and environmental needs are met first.
That’s not ‘capitalism’. Those issues are handled exclusively by socialist policies. At no point does a capitalist economy worry about human or environmental needs. There is no place for them in the formula for profit. Even the countries balanced the closest to the middle between capitalism and socialism only invest into the environment when it’s profitable, or otherwise beneficial for the state (e.g., one of the biggest advantages of renewable energy being independence, and not environmental impact). And the main reason for that is so many people are aware of the ongoing climate catastrophe that governments can no longer easily ignore them.
In my opinion, it’s perfectly reasonable to say that some capitalist policies make sense, or to say that some socialist policies don’t work well. But this is the first time I encounter someone saying capitalism is fine if social needs are satisfied first. So basically, capitalism is fine if it coexists with socialism? I can agree, but that’s definitely not capitalism anymore. That’s the same thing as a mix of capitalism ans socialism suggested by other people here.
The way I get downvoted when proposing UBI for free necessities (shelter, basic car, basic food, utilities, healthcare, ect) and using capitalism for luxuries (boats, bigger house, gambling, vacations, ect), it often feels like that neither side of the aisle are happy about conceptualizing a hybrid.
Much like Newton, I feel that Adam Smith’s writings on Capitalism had limits, because there is only so much that he could observe and measure in his time. Ditto for Marx. Both seem valid, but the question is in what way, and how we can use them to put together a theory of economics that is actually helpful.
Smith’s main goal with capitalism was to create a system to distribute the wealth of the nation to the people of the nation to the betterment of all. In his time feudal lords sat in their huge estates, hoarding wealth and waged pointless war to the detriment of everyone else. Capitalism was a radically left wing ideology for its time.
I don’t disagree with that. He, like other great minds, had to work with the knowledge and methods available to him in his time. It is our task to stand upon his shoulders and see further, otherwise his efforts would have been wasted.
The trick is to talk to real actual human beings and not people terminally online enough to know about Lemmy.
Find a lefty book club and you’ll find reasonable people.
Its becoming a pretty common take these days that capitalism is fine IF human and environmental needs are met first.
It’s an easier sell to the hordes of people who grew up in a capitalist society who feel “It didn’t used to be this bad”, myself being one of them.
I know that workers rights are written in blood, and often earned by it too. But it still at least feels like there was a period where companies understood at least a little bit that their workers were people, and well cared for workers were better workers. That building a reputation for quality was better than planned obsolecence. That short term profits and growth at all costs was not the right path. That the resources they required to operate were not infinite.
Maybe I’m completely delusional and it’s all rose tinted glasses from not being as aware of things when I was younger. I’m sure that nostalgia for childhood days is a big component.
But my point is that “Capitalism could be better if human and environmental needs are met first” is a very intuitive idea for a lot of US people.
Honestly why would people be talking like it’s mutual exclusive, social-capitalism kinda balance both because the extreme end of one or another never bear good result
McCarthyism is probably the most succinct answer. The Cold War directly aligned us against the Soviet Union, and a key means of villainizing the USSR and its citizenry was to paint their core governing beliefs as heretical to the American way.
There is also no doubt in my mind that Socialism’s strong connection to Union activity in the US also incentivized Corporate Barons to lobby against Social Politics hard. I have not seen any specifics about that myself, though. Modern lobbying efforts are well-known, though.
Considering what weekend this is, you should check out the history of Labor Day and why the US celebrates it in September while almost the entirety of the rest of the world celebrates it on May 1st.
In short:
Canada’s Labour Day is also celebrated on the first Monday of September. More than 150 other countries celebrate International Workers’ Day on May 1, the European holiday of May Day. May Day was chosen by the Second International of socialist and communist parties to commemorate the general labor strike in the United States and events leading to the Haymarket affair, which occurred in Chicago, Illinois, from May 1 – May 4, 1886.
Despite Labor Day in the rest of the world being celebrated in recognition of an American union worker, socialist, and anarchist movement that limited working hours to just 8 hours a day (which was also a stopgap on the planned road for even shorter workdays, fun fact), in the US it’s a completely unknown history.
The date of May 1 (an ancient European folk holiday known as May Day) emerged in 1886 as an alternative holiday for the celebration of labor, later becoming known as International Workers’ Day. The date had its origins at the 1885 convention of the American Federation of Labor, which passed a resolution calling for adoption of the eight-hour day effective May 1, 1886. While negotiation was envisioned for achievement of the shortened work day, use of the strike to enforce this demand was recognized, with May 1 advocated as a date for coordinated strike action. The proximity of the date to the bloody Haymarket affair of May 4, 1886, further accentuated May First’s radical reputation.
There was disagreement among labor unions at this time about when a holiday celebrating workers should be, with some advocating for continued emphasis of the September march-and-picnic date while others sought the designation of the more politically charged date of May 1. Conservative Democratic President Grover Cleveland was one of those concerned that a labor holiday on May 1 would tend to become a commemoration of the Haymarket affair and would strengthen socialist and anarchist movements that backed the May 1 commemoration around the globe. In 1887, he publicly supported the September Labor Day holiday as a less inflammatory alternative, formally adopting the date as a United States federal holiday through a law that he signed in 1894.
And of course, the picture wouldn’t be complete without some good old American fascism:
Since the mid-1950s, the United States has celebrated Loyalty Day and Law Day on May 1. Unlike Labor Day, neither are legal public holidays (in that government agencies and most businesses do not shut down to celebrate them) and therefore have remained relatively obscure. Loyalty Day is formally celebrated in a few cities, while some bar associations hold Law Day events to celebrate the rule of law.
The elites own the media. We’re conditioned from birth to hate SoCiAlIsm/CoMmUnIsm/TaXes/ThEft/Etc. Repeat those terms 100 times a day over a lifespan and it becomes religion for 30% of the population.
If the government spends money on the little people, there’s less money to bail out the Too Big to Fails.
Privatize the gains, socialize the losses. The United States isn’t a country, it’s a corporation with a military.
cold war and the red scare once performed never went away
It depends on how the socialism is used. US corporations, farmers and the fucking MAGAts that abused Payback Protection Program like it a lot.
Socialism is democratic control of the factors of production. Crony capitalists paying each other isn’t socialism.
Umm. Ok. Normally when ppl talk about socialisism they’re usually more talking about state provision of the means to live for those who would otherwise be unprovided for; ownership and control of means of production is generally more associated w/ the word communism. Obvs both big tents, but still, odd defn IMO
Americans are pretty confused but that’s not what socialism means.
Sure, that’s why my phrasing was so specific about ‘usually when people say…’. I acknowledge your point and accept it as correct however.
Supporting the food supply and keeping jobs during COVID are both great examples where the government should step in. The problem is the hypocrisy, when people agree only when it benefits them, only when they can be “takers”.
Even the lack of safety features on the Payback Protection Program were good things - the money got out where it was needed much quicker.
The emergency is past so now we have the opportunity to go back and look for fraudulent use. We have time for the legal system to work. This is the money we need to “claw back”. This is the fraud we need to hunt down. And it’s not enough to just return the money for a free five year loan
fuck that, the government already requires taxes without consent. It should not be allowed to retroactively declare uses of money fraudulent.
As far as I remember a key feature of that program was to say what is was for but then to intentionally not implement bureaucracy to ensure that. If it was always fraud but getting the money out fast was a priority, then yes it’s very much a good thing to go back and rain justice down on cheaters
Did the government just make it rain money on people unprompted or did people fill in forms saying they needed it?
Probably stems from the Red Scare when people were rounded up and jailed/fired/blacklisted/exiled. It became the boogeyman. Through the last couple generations the fear around the word is still there, mostly because we haven’t heard positive things (let alone the truth) about socialist policies in the better part of a century.
I’ll just refer you to the above graph. That fear is greater among the elders who grew up in the McCarthy era, and the unfortunates who listen to them.
What Your saying is socialism, You commie!
Currently waiting to begin taking a medication my doctor prescribed because the pharmacy wouldn’t fill it without prior authorization from the insurance company, but to do that, they had to go back to the doctor to request the doctor fill out paperwork to send to the insurer.
During the appointment with the doctor, we already discussed that my insurer likely will not cover the medication, but looked up the retail price, which is not beyond my means or out of scale with the benefit I expect it to bring me. I’m okay paying out of pocket, but my pharmacy is locked into this process that has stretched out over a holiday weekend, so it’s likely I’ll get the medicine a week later than I otherwise would have.
This is more mental health related, and I’m okay physically, but if the blood tests and years of failed approaches from other methods are any indication, then this could show immediate and significant impact.
But I have to wait for the wheels of capitalism to grind on, so they can ensure maximum value extraction from a very expensive insurance policy.Guess what. I visit my doctor, for free, (or dentist for $$$) they give me a prescription, I go to a pharmacy and give them the slip, they take some time to fill it, explain how to take it, and then I pay a small fee (80% covered by employer health plan at no direct cost to me) and walk away. Canadian healthcare system at work.
Sure, I have to wait sometimes for major surgery based on the triage approach (most serious cases seen first) but it is painlessly easy to get the care I need when I need it. This is how most of the developed world works. Your country is cheating you.
Your pharmacy lied. There is no legal requirement to try to bill insurance first they presumably stand in many cases to bill them more especially if you cash paid only after coupons or patient assistance programs which are essentially coupons.
Thus they choose to follow this process and lie to you.
Oh, yeah. They didn’t even give me an option. Not even really a matter of them saying it was legal or anything. It was a quick awkward convo in which they were too rushed to really listen and I was too flustered to really make them.
I’m not all that annoyed at the pharmacy. They are trying to save me money. My comment is really more about how the insurer adds confusion and delays, because of their second guesses, insisting on verifications, etc.
If they don’t cover it, hit up goodRx. My insurance was fucking around with me one month, and I got my lamotrigine down to 20 dollars from 120 dollars using goodRx.
The US healthcare system is proof that more Mario brothers are required.
Glad to see that people distinguish socialism and communism.
