27-Hour Hospital Stay Leaves Parents Of A Killed One-Year-Old Not Only In Grief But Also In $175k Of Medical Debt
The American healthcare system has been refusing to leave the top of the headlines recently. But not for good reasons. Just think about it—the woman who was mauled by a bear said that the worst part of the horrific ordeal was dealing with health insurance providers. What about the time when someone shared an invoice of $39.35 for holding her own baby right after he was born? There have been one too many failed American healthcare stories that make our blood boil, but unfortunately, we seem to be far from the last one.
This time we are covering the horrifying story of Michelle DuBarry, a Portland-based writer, that shows how supposedly the greatest country on Earth failed its citizens at the darkest point of their lives. After DuBarry’s 1-year-old son died after being struck by a careless driver, she “sat at his bedside, his tiny, stitched-together body hooked to a million incessantly beeping machines, straining to recall what our deductibles were.”
Read DuBarry’s heartbreaking Twitter post below that will make you question everything you took for granted in life.
More info: Twitter
The woman shared her personal story on Twitter
Image credits: DuBarryPie
Image credits: DuBarryPie
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Image credits: DuBarryPie
Image credits: DuBarryPie
Image credits: DuBarryPie
Image credits: DuBarryPie
Image credits: DuBarryPie
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Image credits: DuBarryPie
Michelle DuBarry tells her story in detail on her personal website. “In 2010, my husband Eric and our son Seamus were struck by a careless driver in a crosswalk near our home. Eric sustained minor injuries, and Seamus died the next day after enduring two surgeries and a night in intensive care. Our hospital bills totaled $180,000, and though most of it was covered by health insurance, we still had thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket medical expenses.”
The family “soon learned that our health insurer was entitled to reimbursement out of these funds, effectively reducing our settlement to $0.” As a result, DuBarry initiated a bill that would match the laws in many other states where the injured party is “made whole” for all damages from the at-fault party’s insurance before the injured party’s medical insurer gets paid. The bill was signed into law last year on the 20th of June and now stands as Seamus’s legacy.
People around the world were left speechless
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This is what people had to say
My mother is in intensive care for a month, and it will last at least two months...we have to pay 0 (in letters: zero). The advantage on a good european health system.
I went to a hospital here in Strasbourg for a simple operation. The doctor did not finished it in a first run, telling me that he knows better what to do, so I had to come again, a week later, for more serious operation. During the waiting for the anesthesy drug to kick in I spend around 15 minutes in a bed. I was bored so I've tried to occupy my mind by reading everything around me. Well, almost all of the tubing on all apparatus in my vicinity had a sign that it should be replaced two years ago. I've tried to point it out to the medical stuff and I believe it started a big commotion there. Anyhow, I was presented with the excuses of the doctor who did the first operation (you can imagine how good are those) and the bill for 3000 and something that I had to send to my insurance company, which covered about 90% of the bill. Not exactly 0 as some of us describing it here. I am not saying it is bad though.
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As wonderful as our healthcare in Europe and other counties can be, can I point out how it must feel to be an American reading about our £0 bills while going through this. My deepest sympathies to anyone fighting with insurance over healthcare - you deserve better!
Exactly, our health care in Europe and Canada may not be perfect but everyone in America deserves so much better.
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Dear those who ask why we Americans don't fight this: we dont know how. Many aren't even aware of things. We're still taught in schools that things are better here then other countries, that we just have to work hard, and that stuff like Universal health care somehow violates rights. Some of us are starting to wake up, but we don't know how to fight it. Personally my friends and I plan to move countries as soon as possible. This country is complete c**p, and getting worse.
Vote for people who want universal healthcare, like Bernie Sanders, instead of for idiots like Trump.
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many american Don't want public healtcare. why? because they Don't want to pay for others. many are really greedy and selfish. many country have public healtcare where everyone who pay taxes give a part of that for others. in canada we have really high taxes, but at least i know i wont lose my house if i got injured in a car crash.
Which is pathetic, since Americans are ALREADY paying for others in so many ways. Everything public. Police, fire departments, military, public schools, roads and so on.
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The American dream only applies to big corporations like these insurance companies.
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The USA is such a strange country, I don't know what to say anymore...
Everyone against universal healthcare keeps saying "you pay in taxes", what are your tax percentages at $60K household income? Let's compare it with what we are paying for tax + insurance coverage in USA. Look no one is saying it's FREE FREE per se, I am paying for it now, I'll pay that into the new system what's the difference? I'd rather put in a system where most money goes for INSURANCE COVERAGE, not profit. If doing so helps someone in need who I will never know the existence of, I am fine with that, it's what a society is all about.
@Goli... When I make an Optholmologist appt with a specialist for my son waitlist is no less than 6 months. 2 months at least for a physical checkup. Getting an appointment for something like a high fewer is always about a day or two because it must be with a PCP. Universal Healthcare or not I am still waiting. I'll take my chances with healthcare for all.
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What is the flipping point of insurance if they can "claim it back". Why would that even be legal?? America is so messed up.
I've read hundreds of these types of stories and still can't understand how so many people in America (enough apparently, otherwise it would have been changed by now, right?) think that there's no better way to go about this.
Speaking as an American, I find that we don't have empathy for others. Unless we have experienced or know someone close to us that have experienced something negative like this, most of us do not care or, to put it more mildly, are able to ignore the plight of others believing that it could never happen to us.
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maybe if america drop they military budget by 5% they could easily pay for a public healthcare. but military corporation are too powerfull
Actually I read that switching to a universal healthcare system is cheaper than the one now. They don’t even have to take the militaries money to do it (though imagine what they could do if they did)
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Horrifying. America is horrifying in ways that so many Americans would rather pretend are “fake” or “liberal lies”. I’m not going to sit here reading all the nationalist pro-Murrika commentary from the minority contingent of resident libertarian/republican trolls who find Bored Panda to be their own personal mission to convert liberals to their mindless corporatist bootlicking. Patriotism = openly criticizing what’s broken and then doing what it takes to fix it (not excusing it and blowing off every other country doing it correctly).
... and still, there are people basically in a similar situation, regarding job and money and stuff, fighting against ANY reliable public healthcare payment system, claiming it would somehow threaten their freedom. Paramount of ignorance! Last, but most important - sorry to read about the loss. I doubt the woman writing this will read it anyway, but, as important money and economics and all that are - living things are irreplacable. Nothing will ever make up for that.
Because it's become a Hill To Die On for the regressive right. If they admit they're wrong about this, maybe they have to admit they wrong about... all the things they're wrong about like tax-cuts for the rich, the stock market IS NOT THE SAME AS THE ECONOMY, climate change, evolution, women and PoC being people. These are bricks in their little "I'm RIGHT" fortress and they will cut off their nose to spite their own face. Every. Single. F*****g. Time. That's what happens when your political ideology appeals primarily to narcissistic and arrogant morons.
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But universal healthcare is the devil, right republicans? It’s y’alls fault we continue to struggle with medical bills, treatment, and medicine. I had a customer once tell me he had to choose between paying his car or his medication that kept him alive. He decided to take a pill every other day so he could have both. That’s our great country. A country where we allow people to suffer all in the name of capitalism. It’s absolutely sickening. Health insurance is a joke.
The American health care system is thus: don't get sick. Compared to many, I have great insurance... what that means is that I only have to pay about $6k per year in premiums, and after my $2k per year deductible I'm only stuck with 15% of my bills. I teach... which in the US means that my wages are up to blowhard politicians. So: welcome to the US, don't get sick.
i am glad she got a law passed. it seems like it should have always been illegal!
The guy was refused treatment by his primary doc b/c of insurance? What kind of nazi bastard doctor does that? What kind of s**t hole country do they live in where this kind of thing goes on? Oh, wait USA! USA! When my doc no longer took my insurance, he treated me off the books until my new insurance went through. He didn't refuse to treat me. I can't get my head around the doc refusing treatment. damn.
Are we missing the very important point that the hospital can legally place a Lein on your home
Your story is both a tragedy and is insanity at the same time. I became ill 8 yrs ago and was initially paying cash for everything, as my husband worked for a company that didn't offer health insurance and and I worked with him as our own small business. At least when paying cash, the answers to your medical questions/tests come quick and easy without any BS. As soon as Affordable Care act went into place got that, still wasn't too bad, Trump came into office and made cuts, husband bailed couldn't deal with illness after 30 yr marriage, got Medicaid, now I can barely get a test, barely get a answer from my current provider, it's like pulling teeth from concrete to get a confirmed diagnosis on something. Like a sickening dance they play with you, to keep you in the dark and the medications you really need are never covered. They pay for one for a year, then stop, and try to tell you that you didn't use all the lower meds below it before that one, but you did, prior to their coverage, because you've had the problem for 7 years. You have test results saying it's imperative that you stay on this med, but they don't want to pay for it, but it's a fairly cheap med and yet they will pay for some other more nonsensical medication that costs more money, at least on the front end. So you wonder how can this be done? It's insanity. Nevermind that you can't eat without the medication. It's insanity.
The new plan we're on this year is trying to take away 2 of my medications so far... I'm on them because they work! This is not fun for me.
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Horror stories like this need to make the rounds. Keep this heartbreaker, and others like it, to shove in the faces of nincompoops that belch reductio-ad-absurdum B.S. about every wino getting a free liver transplant. Time and again I have read that 60-65% of personal bankruptcies are due to medical bills - and 3/4 of those people had health insurance. "Medicare For All" will be costly, but will it really be more costly than the profit-over-patients lunacy we have now?
Welcome to the Profit-driven Medical Care of the USA... And if you think paying more in taxes is worse, well, if we all pay taxes for it, then it's no different in principle than a risk pool in private insurance ----- without the risk of having conflicting policies, etc. But people freak out at the word "taxes" as if it's evil. Yet the US taxpayers are stuck with rotten health care, shoddy/irregular public education, and collapsing power grids/ bridges/buildings/etc. Sure, so much better than taxes. *eyeroll* Oh, and if there's an epidemic, do you really want to have no money available for government to do research, impose quarantine, etc.? ... Ah, but mustn't have taxation! *headdesk* B/c guess what? If there's no profit, the private sector will NOT do any of that. Ever. So you pay either way. I'd sooner pay taxes than pay Big Biz.
OMG I've been trying to bring awareness to this for months. Horizon has monopolized the healthcare system. As far as I know there isn't any other healthcare out there to compete with them so it's their way or the highway!!! How did this happen?? How did a woman's pap get kicked down to being covered every two years instead of every year. They don't call it the silent killer for no reason. The other scary thing is most people have a $3,000 deductible on top of their co pay. Medicare is no better when it comes to paps. When did they decide that & how can the Feds just do as they please with my medical care???? I'm infuriated. All this Trump BS is distracting us from everything else that's important. I'm not some crazy person but I always wonder if it's done on purpose??? Please tell me if I'm wrong but is there any other health insurance available to us besides Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield??? If so please tell me
For most Americans it really doesn't matter what healthcare provider has monopolized the system (mostly it is local monopolies) because your employer chooses your health care provider for you. This part really baffles me because one argument people trot out against universal health care is choice of insurance. Most people get that chosen for them by their employers. Not sure what choice they mean.
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My son was diagnosed type 1 diabetic when he was 13 years old. He has it pretty severe. He's had several life threatening complications that had him flown to Seattle Childrens hospital via medevac jet and airlifted from the airport by helicopter to the hospital. Two 2week stays there. 4 of which were in their ICU. 3 additional ICU admittances in our local hospital all in under 6 years. I'm not even going to tell you what that cost us. We're still paying for it. On top of all that there is his insulin, his insulin pump, pump supplies. He has to wear a glucose monitor too. The pump supplies alone are over a grand a month. I pray every night my 2 other daughter who are younger don't end up diabetic like my son. It's not genetic so it came out of nowhere. If it was, I probably would have thought twice about having additional children besides him tbh. Not that I regret having my younger 2. Never!!!! But we will be paying off our sons medical bills for the rest of our lives.
This is what it's like in the U.S. Also, when your life depends on a medication, they up the charge as high as they possibly can. It adds a lot of anxiety to illness. And even people with "good" insurance go bankrupt when they get an ongoing illness, like some kinds of cancer, where you need expensive treatment every year. Your deductible starts over every year.
Or spinal osteoarthritis.... I've already had 2 surgeries with probably 2 more coming this year.
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America the only "first world" nation to have not a little, not a lot, but a f*****g extremely worse healthcare system then even third world nations. FFS got worst western infrastructure, worst healthcare in the world, worst roads out of developed countries, food so unhealthy its only outdone by china and on and on
If you aren't rich as in top 1% rich this country will screw you from birth til death. Til after death apparently. It's insane. And so many people are brainwashed to believe it's ok. This country needs to start taking care of everyone, not just the rich. Makes me literally sick.
It is amazing speaking to regular everyday people in this country, how many of them will defend the rich and claim the rich have earned every penny they got. They don't realize the pay stagnation, and rising costs of everything. Our laws even allow politicians to be bought by the mega rich.
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Here in my European country the bill would be 0. On the other hand, if you are not happy with public healthcare system, you have a choice and can get treatment in commercial hospitals, nobody forbids you that. So I do not understand why middle class Americans can be against free healthcare. It is just insane.
If we are smart enough to elect Bernie Sanders, we'll be more like y'all. I just don't know if we're smart enough.
Load More Replies... It's heartbreaking to read about stories like Michelle DuBarry's, and it's not the first time we've heard of such tragedies. The fact that someone who just lost their child has to worry about healthcare costs is just unimaginable. It's clear that there is a need for significant reform in the American healthcare system, particularly in terms of access and affordability. Many families struggle to afford healthcare, and when faced with a medical emergency, they are forced to make difficult decisions that could impact their financial stability for years to come. It is essential for lawmakers and healthcare providers to work together to create a system that prioritizes the health and well-being of all Americans. This could involve measures such as expanding access to affordable healthcare, reducing the cost of prescription drugs, and providing more comprehensive coverage for mental health and substance abuse treatment. MagnaDoctors
I'm so sorry f or your loss. We lost our 15 day old to sids and are expecting a 2k bill all on our own. Death is a unnatural need in infints and children in general. We didn't f*****g ask for this. Our kids were brutally taken from us. We never asked for their medical bills and funerals ever. But we are stuck with them. It's a messed up system. There's no empathy or care for us. Ever.
That's what's wrong with the American Health system to this day, i would rather move to Europe where their health care is extremely cheap or so I've heard.
A big part of the story was missing. It was 11AM, The baby was in a stroller. The Dad was pushing the stroller and they were in a clearly marked crosswalk.
Didn't the driver's liability insurance cover it? Or was it an uninsured illegal alien driving?
I am a Canadian and can't understand why you are putting up with this horrible situation. You need to elect politicians who will do something to correct this situation and every single person needs to get on their feet in the streets to protest and demand change.
No one can put a lien against your home without a judgement from the court. That does not happen in a week. That happens, if it actually happened at all, months, if not years later, after non-payment on the debt and a court hearing. The same goes for taking any settlement money. This story is BS.
Dubarry never got a “pain and suffering settlement”. She got a liability auto insurance payment that did exactly what it was designed to do, which was cover the victim’s medical expenses. Anything beyond that is up to her to take to court.
Literally nothing about this story sounds truthful. She doesn’t name her “good” insurer, she tells us both that they paid out $175K in reimbursements *and that the bank put a lien on her home immediately, then she says “it turns out insurer’s have the right to recoup beneficiary payments”? Not unless the payment was fraudulent, they don’t. Who insured her? Was it the union? What hospital? Why wasn’t this fact checked before publication?
I had to file for Bankruptcy because of some unexpected hospital bills resulting from a car accident. Even with decent health insurance, I'm still having to pay large out of pocket expenses. Everyone is just so damn greedy.
if his happened in Cuba or Taiwan, no money worries at all. just a sad funeral for toddler
Even after paying our $6K out of pocket last year, we're still facing at least $50K in hospital, ambulances, emergency room visits, and rehab bills. I do NOT want to resort to bankruptcy due to medical care that Floyd was and is entitled to. @KaiserPermenent & @UHC
Sad story. In 2010 Obamacare was not the law of the land though. That didn't happen until 2014.
I am so sorry for the loss of you son + the inhumane way you were treated by the "insurance" companies.
Too many people in America think that paying taxes into a health care system that benefits everyone is "hard working people like me paying for lazy people to get health care." And that's why we can't have it.
Too many Americans say, "I'm not paying for someone else's medical bills" because they think that paying taxes into something that helps everyone is somehow stealing their hard-earned money to help "lazy" people get health care.
I feel like we should be calling these corporations vampires. The minute someone is bleeding, they all rush in to get their fill. I'm so so glad I live in Canada.
If we are smart enough to elect Bernie Sanders, we'll be more like y'all. I just don't know if we're smart enough.
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This story is so heartbreaking. Socialized heath care is a godsend for so many. My mother has had hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of medical treatment in Canada for the cost of parking. I livedand worked in the UK for 10 years and had to spend 2 months in the hospital due to a complicated pregnancy. Again, all we paid was for the parking. Taxes are high, but the rewards are great.
I agree that our health care system is disgusting, and shows just how low this country has sunk. Our system of government is a joke.
Stop worshipping at the f***ing Altar of Modern Medicine, people. It is not about health. It is about money. Your money.
Mom & wife here: I am so very sorry for your loss. The amount of b******t you've had to endure during one of the most difficult & painful times in your life is an absolute disgrace. Sometimes it's embarrassing to be an American.
I'm in Canada and to say that "our complete health care is covered for free" is an absolute lie, our doctor visits and most hospital stays are covered, but this is a long way from "complete" coverage, my husband was seriously injured in a hockey league and so far his rehab and care have cost us over $15,000.00 out of pocket, in just over a year. His condition will not improve beyond what it is now, they expect him to start deteriorating in the next 1-2 years, which will lead to more out of pocket costs over what's left of his lifetime, which has been greatly shortened by the injuries he sustained that day.
Makes me grateful for the Australian Medicare system. This would never happen here. You are entitled to free medical treatment which is always utilised for emergency treatment. If you elect to use private medical treatment in a private hospital then you do so knowing that there will be out of pocket expenses.
Only in Damn'Murica, making a stark contrast to Winland. https://www.boredpanda.com/maternity-package-finland-baby-box/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter
What’s amazing is just how many people want to come to America and become naturalized citizens. A healthcare system, e.g., NHS, which is “free” isn’t free at all; it absolutely has ITS drawbacks.
The same hospital would give the illegals free treatment. The citizens are paying for their free care. The hospitals and doctors over charge for the services are provided. IF Obama care was so great why then did the hospital put a lien on the family's house? Why did they have shop around to find a doctor for services?
For a 'Land of the Free' it sure is expensive Everyone is living the American dream except the people in America. They have been lied to for so ,long about universal health care that they dont realise it actually works and makes sense! A knock on effect will be that drug companies will drop their prices to compete with overseas suppliers because a generic metformin is a damn sight cheaper than a branded metformin. All it takes is for all the American people who vote but are not profiting from misery to stand up and vote for someone who isnt a power hungry idiot and demand a free health care system. It will never happen as universal healthcare such as the NHS is seen as the worse form of anti-americanism. Land of the free my a*s!
America, fix your fecking health system ffs..people like this woman in dire need are being screwed over every damn day..this is just awful! Wtf people? Y'all need a government who actually give a s**t..
My heart really goes out to our neighbours to the south - despite so much wealth in other forms, healthcare really should be a right to every single American. I think hearing the pain, and suffering of this mom / dad - unimaginable as it is, compounded by the fact that the system really doesn't care about them at all.
That is insane. In Estonia every single working person has health insurance. It is required by the law and the employee pays for it. Also we never get a bill for any treatment or an ambulance ride. We have a really good health care.
USA healthcare system and USA gun control.. I don't know which one is worse..
American mentality about life saving or simply civilized things: since there are a few examples of bad behavior, even though the majority of the cases are good, we should not have the thing! American mentality about life destroying things: there are examples of bad behavior but it is not the majority so we don't get rid of it. When it's guns, bad behaviors doesn't justify getting rid of the them but when it's about healthcare to help people, bad behaviors justify not having it... it's totally backwards. I see why there are so many "Christians" in the U.S., they live in a version of hell and they take it as proof of the afterlife :)
YES, Yes we know that the American health system is fvcked up. We know that in a developed country people are dying on cureable or treatable illnesses because they can't afford the costs of medicin or treatment. We know that a 3 minute ambulance ride will set you back $2000 and we know that your government doesn't care one bit. But Europeans can't change that. Only Americans can change it if they stop falling for the fearmongering of politicans warning them that a fair, and accessable healt care system would be too expensive to maintain and sustain. No it isn't. There's a whole world around you proving it. All Americans need to do is vote for the party that is in favor of affordable healt care for everyone.
For all of you saying it doesn't happen in this country (Australia) - it does. My mother was permanantly injured by a 17 year old driver. She luckily had full workcover insurance (was a contractor postal delivery driver) and the insurance covered the hospital, the amendments to the house, the medical costs. Fast forward to the court case where she got reimbursement, then was hit with a repayment bill from her insurance company for all they paid out. I think it was in the fine print. Worrying.
As a mother, I cannot even imagine how awful that must be. And what I mean by that is my brain literally won't let me picture it. That took a lot of strength to get through that and come out the other side. Oh, and as a side note, this is why I'm a democratic socialist. Bernie isn't crazy or extreme. He's just fighting for rights we should have had all along.
It's Almost like the insurance companies don't want to help you or something. Like, I don't know, a scam maybe? But no, surely they care more about people than their bottom line...
Between our system of legalized bribery, aka lobbying, and our politicians getting gold star insurance, the system will never change. There are too many ignorant Americans who equate universal healthcare with socialism or even communism and start screaming about 'murica being free. I think more and more are being educated and/or fed up with the current rapey system we have now and we're moving closer to shutting down these insurance and medical vultures. Simply take away the politicians' health insurance and make them scrounge like the rest of us and watch how fast everything changes. It really is that simple.
We have free healthcare in Brazil. F*****g 3rd world country which has been drowned in s**t for like forever. It sucks, but it's something.
There's health fairs for the uninsured all over the USA. Doctors and nurses flying from place to place to offer care, provide medicine for those who cannot afford it. There are millions of them. It's shameful. As such, the above article does not surprise me one bit. Health care with profit motive does this. It should not even be called care. It's just business.
The radical greed of the health care industry, insurance companies, and other corporations will , sooner or later, demand a radical response. After causing their own demise they'll be begging for a government bailout. And probably get it.
Did she say her 1 year old was hit by a careless driver in the cross walk? What was her one year old doing in the middle of a cross walk?
Why do people ignore the thousands of horror stories about socialist medicine and only focus on the “good parts”? In a 2004 study on medical imaging in Canada, it was found that Canada had 4.6 MRI scanners per million population while the U.S. had 19.5 per million. Canada's 10.3 CT scanners per million also ranked behind the U.S., which had 29.5 per million. Why? Socialist policies are made by bureaucrats, not entrepreneurs.
I have a Canadian friend who lost her father to cancer, due to the canadian "free" healthcare system. Turns out that older people get stuck on a waiting list for treatment, so they can free up room to treat younger patients. Her dad died, while waiting for cancer treatment. Sure, the younger patients are treated, but the older you get, the less your life is worth to the system.
If your on the us check your state https://www.mwl-law.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/HOSPITAL-LIEN-LAWS-IN-ALL-50-STATES-CHART-00215685x9EBBF.pdf
Yep. Thanks Obamacare! Worst law ever, worse legacy ever, worse POTUS ever. We were on Obamacare marketplace insurance when we acquired over $200K in medical debt from my husband's cancer. No other President has had a more tremendous negative, measurable, and real impact on my everyday life like that @55hole. Our wages were garnished from our paycheck to pay the medical bills in collections without our knowledge (it's called robo serving/suing) and we couldn't pay rent. We were evicted. We had to file bankruptcy. The best part was because of our financial delimma we dropped the insurance after his treatments (because it was an $800 monthly premium) and we were taxed for not being covered all year. Turned me from a middle of the road Democrat to a hard right conservative. The government needs to one thousand percent stay out of healthcare.
Bored Panda is very strongly democratic. This story was horrifying and sad, at fault of the health insurance company. As much as I support the idea of free health care, I was annoyed the last thing posted (as any journalist knows, usually the most important) was about electing Bernie Sanders. I await the many downvotes from those who adore Bernie Sanders (roughly 20 - 45 percent of America but 99 percent of Bored Panda.)
The government could simply put caps on prices. Competition clearly doesn't keep prices low in the US.
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Yeah, we pay like 40% in taxes, but please keep in mind that our minimumwage as an adult i 22 dollars or so. With the taxes comes free healthcare, free School AND we get paid to take an Education. We also get childsupport from the State and lower daycare (how much depends on your income).
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Yes, the secret agenda of this post was to support Bernie, let alone any candidate who supports universal healthcare. It's definitely NOT about a mother who lost her son in an accident and was then saddled with a massive bill as a result of an absolutely broken healthcare system.
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My mother is in intensive care for a month, and it will last at least two months...we have to pay 0 (in letters: zero). The advantage on a good european health system.
I went to a hospital here in Strasbourg for a simple operation. The doctor did not finished it in a first run, telling me that he knows better what to do, so I had to come again, a week later, for more serious operation. During the waiting for the anesthesy drug to kick in I spend around 15 minutes in a bed. I was bored so I've tried to occupy my mind by reading everything around me. Well, almost all of the tubing on all apparatus in my vicinity had a sign that it should be replaced two years ago. I've tried to point it out to the medical stuff and I believe it started a big commotion there. Anyhow, I was presented with the excuses of the doctor who did the first operation (you can imagine how good are those) and the bill for 3000 and something that I had to send to my insurance company, which covered about 90% of the bill. Not exactly 0 as some of us describing it here. I am not saying it is bad though.
Load More Replies... As wonderful as our healthcare in Europe and other counties can be, can I point out how it must feel to be an American reading about our £0 bills while going through this. My deepest sympathies to anyone fighting with insurance over healthcare - you deserve better!
Exactly, our health care in Europe and Canada may not be perfect but everyone in America deserves so much better.
Load More Replies... Dear those who ask why we Americans don't fight this: we dont know how. Many aren't even aware of things. We're still taught in schools that things are better here then other countries, that we just have to work hard, and that stuff like Universal health care somehow violates rights. Some of us are starting to wake up, but we don't know how to fight it. Personally my friends and I plan to move countries as soon as possible. This country is complete c**p, and getting worse.
Vote for people who want universal healthcare, like Bernie Sanders, instead of for idiots like Trump.
Load More Replies... many american Don't want public healtcare. why? because they Don't want to pay for others. many are really greedy and selfish. many country have public healtcare where everyone who pay taxes give a part of that for others. in canada we have really high taxes, but at least i know i wont lose my house if i got injured in a car crash.
Which is pathetic, since Americans are ALREADY paying for others in so many ways. Everything public. Police, fire departments, military, public schools, roads and so on.
Load More Replies... The American dream only applies to big corporations like these insurance companies.
Load More Replies... The USA is such a strange country, I don't know what to say anymore...
Everyone against universal healthcare keeps saying "you pay in taxes", what are your tax percentages at $60K household income? Let's compare it with what we are paying for tax + insurance coverage in USA. Look no one is saying it's FREE FREE per se, I am paying for it now, I'll pay that into the new system what's the difference? I'd rather put in a system where most money goes for INSURANCE COVERAGE, not profit. If doing so helps someone in need who I will never know the existence of, I am fine with that, it's what a society is all about.
@Goli... When I make an Optholmologist appt with a specialist for my son waitlist is no less than 6 months. 2 months at least for a physical checkup. Getting an appointment for something like a high fewer is always about a day or two because it must be with a PCP. Universal Healthcare or not I am still waiting. I'll take my chances with healthcare for all.
Load More Replies... What is the flipping point of insurance if they can "claim it back". Why would that even be legal?? America is so messed up.
I've read hundreds of these types of stories and still can't understand how so many people in America (enough apparently, otherwise it would have been changed by now, right?) think that there's no better way to go about this.
Speaking as an American, I find that we don't have empathy for others. Unless we have experienced or know someone close to us that have experienced something negative like this, most of us do not care or, to put it more mildly, are able to ignore the plight of others believing that it could never happen to us.
Load More Replies... maybe if america drop they military budget by 5% they could easily pay for a public healthcare. but military corporation are too powerfull
Actually I read that switching to a universal healthcare system is cheaper than the one now. They don’t even have to take the militaries money to do it (though imagine what they could do if they did)
Load More Replies... Horrifying. America is horrifying in ways that so many Americans would rather pretend are “fake” or “liberal lies”. I’m not going to sit here reading all the nationalist pro-Murrika commentary from the minority contingent of resident libertarian/republican trolls who find Bored Panda to be their own personal mission to convert liberals to their mindless corporatist bootlicking. Patriotism = openly criticizing what’s broken and then doing what it takes to fix it (not excusing it and blowing off every other country doing it correctly).
... and still, there are people basically in a similar situation, regarding job and money and stuff, fighting against ANY reliable public healthcare payment system, claiming it would somehow threaten their freedom. Paramount of ignorance! Last, but most important - sorry to read about the loss. I doubt the woman writing this will read it anyway, but, as important money and economics and all that are - living things are irreplacable. Nothing will ever make up for that.
Because it's become a Hill To Die On for the regressive right. If they admit they're wrong about this, maybe they have to admit they wrong about... all the things they're wrong about like tax-cuts for the rich, the stock market IS NOT THE SAME AS THE ECONOMY, climate change, evolution, women and PoC being people. These are bricks in their little "I'm RIGHT" fortress and they will cut off their nose to spite their own face. Every. Single. F*****g. Time. That's what happens when your political ideology appeals primarily to narcissistic and arrogant morons.
Load More Replies... But universal healthcare is the devil, right republicans? It’s y’alls fault we continue to struggle with medical bills, treatment, and medicine. I had a customer once tell me he had to choose between paying his car or his medication that kept him alive. He decided to take a pill every other day so he could have both. That’s our great country. A country where we allow people to suffer all in the name of capitalism. It’s absolutely sickening. Health insurance is a joke.
The American health care system is thus: don't get sick. Compared to many, I have great insurance... what that means is that I only have to pay about $6k per year in premiums, and after my $2k per year deductible I'm only stuck with 15% of my bills. I teach... which in the US means that my wages are up to blowhard politicians. So: welcome to the US, don't get sick.
i am glad she got a law passed. it seems like it should have always been illegal!
The guy was refused treatment by his primary doc b/c of insurance? What kind of nazi bastard doctor does that? What kind of s**t hole country do they live in where this kind of thing goes on? Oh, wait USA! USA! When my doc no longer took my insurance, he treated me off the books until my new insurance went through. He didn't refuse to treat me. I can't get my head around the doc refusing treatment. damn.
Are we missing the very important point that the hospital can legally place a Lein on your home
Your story is both a tragedy and is insanity at the same time. I became ill 8 yrs ago and was initially paying cash for everything, as my husband worked for a company that didn't offer health insurance and and I worked with him as our own small business. At least when paying cash, the answers to your medical questions/tests come quick and easy without any BS. As soon as Affordable Care act went into place got that, still wasn't too bad, Trump came into office and made cuts, husband bailed couldn't deal with illness after 30 yr marriage, got Medicaid, now I can barely get a test, barely get a answer from my current provider, it's like pulling teeth from concrete to get a confirmed diagnosis on something. Like a sickening dance they play with you, to keep you in the dark and the medications you really need are never covered. They pay for one for a year, then stop, and try to tell you that you didn't use all the lower meds below it before that one, but you did, prior to their coverage, because you've had the problem for 7 years. You have test results saying it's imperative that you stay on this med, but they don't want to pay for it, but it's a fairly cheap med and yet they will pay for some other more nonsensical medication that costs more money, at least on the front end. So you wonder how can this be done? It's insanity. Nevermind that you can't eat without the medication. It's insanity.
The new plan we're on this year is trying to take away 2 of my medications so far... I'm on them because they work! This is not fun for me.
Load More Replies... Horror stories like this need to make the rounds. Keep this heartbreaker, and others like it, to shove in the faces of nincompoops that belch reductio-ad-absurdum B.S. about every wino getting a free liver transplant. Time and again I have read that 60-65% of personal bankruptcies are due to medical bills - and 3/4 of those people had health insurance. "Medicare For All" will be costly, but will it really be more costly than the profit-over-patients lunacy we have now?
Welcome to the Profit-driven Medical Care of the USA... And if you think paying more in taxes is worse, well, if we all pay taxes for it, then it's no different in principle than a risk pool in private insurance ----- without the risk of having conflicting policies, etc. But people freak out at the word "taxes" as if it's evil. Yet the US taxpayers are stuck with rotten health care, shoddy/irregular public education, and collapsing power grids/ bridges/buildings/etc. Sure, so much better than taxes. *eyeroll* Oh, and if there's an epidemic, do you really want to have no money available for government to do research, impose quarantine, etc.? ... Ah, but mustn't have taxation! *headdesk* B/c guess what? If there's no profit, the private sector will NOT do any of that. Ever. So you pay either way. I'd sooner pay taxes than pay Big Biz.
OMG I've been trying to bring awareness to this for months. Horizon has monopolized the healthcare system. As far as I know there isn't any other healthcare out there to compete with them so it's their way or the highway!!! How did this happen?? How did a woman's pap get kicked down to being covered every two years instead of every year. They don't call it the silent killer for no reason. The other scary thing is most people have a $3,000 deductible on top of their co pay. Medicare is no better when it comes to paps. When did they decide that & how can the Feds just do as they please with my medical care???? I'm infuriated. All this Trump BS is distracting us from everything else that's important. I'm not some crazy person but I always wonder if it's done on purpose??? Please tell me if I'm wrong but is there any other health insurance available to us besides Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield??? If so please tell me
For most Americans it really doesn't matter what healthcare provider has monopolized the system (mostly it is local monopolies) because your employer chooses your health care provider for you. This part really baffles me because one argument people trot out against universal health care is choice of insurance. Most people get that chosen for them by their employers. Not sure what choice they mean.
Load More Replies... My son was diagnosed type 1 diabetic when he was 13 years old. He has it pretty severe. He's had several life threatening complications that had him flown to Seattle Childrens hospital via medevac jet and airlifted from the airport by helicopter to the hospital. Two 2week stays there. 4 of which were in their ICU. 3 additional ICU admittances in our local hospital all in under 6 years. I'm not even going to tell you what that cost us. We're still paying for it. On top of all that there is his insulin, his insulin pump, pump supplies. He has to wear a glucose monitor too. The pump supplies alone are over a grand a month. I pray every night my 2 other daughter who are younger don't end up diabetic like my son. It's not genetic so it came out of nowhere. If it was, I probably would have thought twice about having additional children besides him tbh. Not that I regret having my younger 2. Never!!!! But we will be paying off our sons medical bills for the rest of our lives.
This is what it's like in the U.S. Also, when your life depends on a medication, they up the charge as high as they possibly can. It adds a lot of anxiety to illness. And even people with "good" insurance go bankrupt when they get an ongoing illness, like some kinds of cancer, where you need expensive treatment every year. Your deductible starts over every year.
Or spinal osteoarthritis.... I've already had 2 surgeries with probably 2 more coming this year.
Load More Replies... America the only "first world" nation to have not a little, not a lot, but a f*****g extremely worse healthcare system then even third world nations. FFS got worst western infrastructure, worst healthcare in the world, worst roads out of developed countries, food so unhealthy its only outdone by china and on and on
If you aren't rich as in top 1% rich this country will screw you from birth til death. Til after death apparently. It's insane. And so many people are brainwashed to believe it's ok. This country needs to start taking care of everyone, not just the rich. Makes me literally sick.
It is amazing speaking to regular everyday people in this country, how many of them will defend the rich and claim the rich have earned every penny they got. They don't realize the pay stagnation, and rising costs of everything. Our laws even allow politicians to be bought by the mega rich.
Load More Replies... Here in my European country the bill would be 0. On the other hand, if you are not happy with public healthcare system, you have a choice and can get treatment in commercial hospitals, nobody forbids you that. So I do not understand why middle class Americans can be against free healthcare. It is just insane.
If we are smart enough to elect Bernie Sanders, we'll be more like y'all. I just don't know if we're smart enough.
Load More Replies... It's heartbreaking to read about stories like Michelle DuBarry's, and it's not the first time we've heard of such tragedies. The fact that someone who just lost their child has to worry about healthcare costs is just unimaginable. It's clear that there is a need for significant reform in the American healthcare system, particularly in terms of access and affordability. Many families struggle to afford healthcare, and when faced with a medical emergency, they are forced to make difficult decisions that could impact their financial stability for years to come. It is essential for lawmakers and healthcare providers to work together to create a system that prioritizes the health and well-being of all Americans. This could involve measures such as expanding access to affordable healthcare, reducing the cost of prescription drugs, and providing more comprehensive coverage for mental health and substance abuse treatment. MagnaDoctors
I'm so sorry f or your loss. We lost our 15 day old to sids and are expecting a 2k bill all on our own. Death is a unnatural need in infints and children in general. We didn't f*****g ask for this. Our kids were brutally taken from us. We never asked for their medical bills and funerals ever. But we are stuck with them. It's a messed up system. There's no empathy or care for us. Ever.
That's what's wrong with the American Health system to this day, i would rather move to Europe where their health care is extremely cheap or so I've heard.
A big part of the story was missing. It was 11AM, The baby was in a stroller. The Dad was pushing the stroller and they were in a clearly marked crosswalk.
Didn't the driver's liability insurance cover it? Or was it an uninsured illegal alien driving?
I am a Canadian and can't understand why you are putting up with this horrible situation. You need to elect politicians who will do something to correct this situation and every single person needs to get on their feet in the streets to protest and demand change.
No one can put a lien against your home without a judgement from the court. That does not happen in a week. That happens, if it actually happened at all, months, if not years later, after non-payment on the debt and a court hearing. The same goes for taking any settlement money. This story is BS.
Dubarry never got a “pain and suffering settlement”. She got a liability auto insurance payment that did exactly what it was designed to do, which was cover the victim’s medical expenses. Anything beyond that is up to her to take to court.
Literally nothing about this story sounds truthful. She doesn’t name her “good” insurer, she tells us both that they paid out $175K in reimbursements *and that the bank put a lien on her home immediately, then she says “it turns out insurer’s have the right to recoup beneficiary payments”? Not unless the payment was fraudulent, they don’t. Who insured her? Was it the union? What hospital? Why wasn’t this fact checked before publication?
I had to file for Bankruptcy because of some unexpected hospital bills resulting from a car accident. Even with decent health insurance, I'm still having to pay large out of pocket expenses. Everyone is just so damn greedy.
if his happened in Cuba or Taiwan, no money worries at all. just a sad funeral for toddler
Even after paying our $6K out of pocket last year, we're still facing at least $50K in hospital, ambulances, emergency room visits, and rehab bills. I do NOT want to resort to bankruptcy due to medical care that Floyd was and is entitled to. @KaiserPermenent & @UHC
Sad story. In 2010 Obamacare was not the law of the land though. That didn't happen until 2014.
I am so sorry for the loss of you son + the inhumane way you were treated by the "insurance" companies.
Too many people in America think that paying taxes into a health care system that benefits everyone is "hard working people like me paying for lazy people to get health care." And that's why we can't have it.
Too many Americans say, "I'm not paying for someone else's medical bills" because they think that paying taxes into something that helps everyone is somehow stealing their hard-earned money to help "lazy" people get health care.
I feel like we should be calling these corporations vampires. The minute someone is bleeding, they all rush in to get their fill. I'm so so glad I live in Canada.
If we are smart enough to elect Bernie Sanders, we'll be more like y'all. I just don't know if we're smart enough.
Load More Replies... This story is so heartbreaking. Socialized heath care is a godsend for so many. My mother has had hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of medical treatment in Canada for the cost of parking. I livedand worked in the UK for 10 years and had to spend 2 months in the hospital due to a complicated pregnancy. Again, all we paid was for the parking. Taxes are high, but the rewards are great.
I agree that our health care system is disgusting, and shows just how low this country has sunk. Our system of government is a joke.
Stop worshipping at the f***ing Altar of Modern Medicine, people. It is not about health. It is about money. Your money.
Mom & wife here: I am so very sorry for your loss. The amount of b******t you've had to endure during one of the most difficult & painful times in your life is an absolute disgrace. Sometimes it's embarrassing to be an American.
I'm in Canada and to say that "our complete health care is covered for free" is an absolute lie, our doctor visits and most hospital stays are covered, but this is a long way from "complete" coverage, my husband was seriously injured in a hockey league and so far his rehab and care have cost us over $15,000.00 out of pocket, in just over a year. His condition will not improve beyond what it is now, they expect him to start deteriorating in the next 1-2 years, which will lead to more out of pocket costs over what's left of his lifetime, which has been greatly shortened by the injuries he sustained that day.
Makes me grateful for the Australian Medicare system. This would never happen here. You are entitled to free medical treatment which is always utilised for emergency treatment. If you elect to use private medical treatment in a private hospital then you do so knowing that there will be out of pocket expenses.
Only in Damn'Murica, making a stark contrast to Winland. https://www.boredpanda.com/maternity-package-finland-baby-box/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter
What’s amazing is just how many people want to come to America and become naturalized citizens. A healthcare system, e.g., NHS, which is “free” isn’t free at all; it absolutely has ITS drawbacks.
The same hospital would give the illegals free treatment. The citizens are paying for their free care. The hospitals and doctors over charge for the services are provided. IF Obama care was so great why then did the hospital put a lien on the family's house? Why did they have shop around to find a doctor for services?
For a 'Land of the Free' it sure is expensive Everyone is living the American dream except the people in America. They have been lied to for so ,long about universal health care that they dont realise it actually works and makes sense! A knock on effect will be that drug companies will drop their prices to compete with overseas suppliers because a generic metformin is a damn sight cheaper than a branded metformin. All it takes is for all the American people who vote but are not profiting from misery to stand up and vote for someone who isnt a power hungry idiot and demand a free health care system. It will never happen as universal healthcare such as the NHS is seen as the worse form of anti-americanism. Land of the free my a*s!
America, fix your fecking health system ffs..people like this woman in dire need are being screwed over every damn day..this is just awful! Wtf people? Y'all need a government who actually give a s**t..
My heart really goes out to our neighbours to the south - despite so much wealth in other forms, healthcare really should be a right to every single American. I think hearing the pain, and suffering of this mom / dad - unimaginable as it is, compounded by the fact that the system really doesn't care about them at all.
That is insane. In Estonia every single working person has health insurance. It is required by the law and the employee pays for it. Also we never get a bill for any treatment or an ambulance ride. We have a really good health care.
USA healthcare system and USA gun control.. I don't know which one is worse..
American mentality about life saving or simply civilized things: since there are a few examples of bad behavior, even though the majority of the cases are good, we should not have the thing! American mentality about life destroying things: there are examples of bad behavior but it is not the majority so we don't get rid of it. When it's guns, bad behaviors doesn't justify getting rid of the them but when it's about healthcare to help people, bad behaviors justify not having it... it's totally backwards. I see why there are so many "Christians" in the U.S., they live in a version of hell and they take it as proof of the afterlife :)
YES, Yes we know that the American health system is fvcked up. We know that in a developed country people are dying on cureable or treatable illnesses because they can't afford the costs of medicin or treatment. We know that a 3 minute ambulance ride will set you back $2000 and we know that your government doesn't care one bit. But Europeans can't change that. Only Americans can change it if they stop falling for the fearmongering of politicans warning them that a fair, and accessable healt care system would be too expensive to maintain and sustain. No it isn't. There's a whole world around you proving it. All Americans need to do is vote for the party that is in favor of affordable healt care for everyone.
For all of you saying it doesn't happen in this country (Australia) - it does. My mother was permanantly injured by a 17 year old driver. She luckily had full workcover insurance (was a contractor postal delivery driver) and the insurance covered the hospital, the amendments to the house, the medical costs. Fast forward to the court case where she got reimbursement, then was hit with a repayment bill from her insurance company for all they paid out. I think it was in the fine print. Worrying.
As a mother, I cannot even imagine how awful that must be. And what I mean by that is my brain literally won't let me picture it. That took a lot of strength to get through that and come out the other side. Oh, and as a side note, this is why I'm a democratic socialist. Bernie isn't crazy or extreme. He's just fighting for rights we should have had all along.
It's Almost like the insurance companies don't want to help you or something. Like, I don't know, a scam maybe? But no, surely they care more about people than their bottom line...
Between our system of legalized bribery, aka lobbying, and our politicians getting gold star insurance, the system will never change. There are too many ignorant Americans who equate universal healthcare with socialism or even communism and start screaming about 'murica being free. I think more and more are being educated and/or fed up with the current rapey system we have now and we're moving closer to shutting down these insurance and medical vultures. Simply take away the politicians' health insurance and make them scrounge like the rest of us and watch how fast everything changes. It really is that simple.
We have free healthcare in Brazil. F*****g 3rd world country which has been drowned in s**t for like forever. It sucks, but it's something.
There's health fairs for the uninsured all over the USA. Doctors and nurses flying from place to place to offer care, provide medicine for those who cannot afford it. There are millions of them. It's shameful. As such, the above article does not surprise me one bit. Health care with profit motive does this. It should not even be called care. It's just business.
The radical greed of the health care industry, insurance companies, and other corporations will , sooner or later, demand a radical response. After causing their own demise they'll be begging for a government bailout. And probably get it.
Did she say her 1 year old was hit by a careless driver in the cross walk? What was her one year old doing in the middle of a cross walk?
Why do people ignore the thousands of horror stories about socialist medicine and only focus on the “good parts”? In a 2004 study on medical imaging in Canada, it was found that Canada had 4.6 MRI scanners per million population while the U.S. had 19.5 per million. Canada's 10.3 CT scanners per million also ranked behind the U.S., which had 29.5 per million. Why? Socialist policies are made by bureaucrats, not entrepreneurs.
I have a Canadian friend who lost her father to cancer, due to the canadian "free" healthcare system. Turns out that older people get stuck on a waiting list for treatment, so they can free up room to treat younger patients. Her dad died, while waiting for cancer treatment. Sure, the younger patients are treated, but the older you get, the less your life is worth to the system.
If your on the us check your state https://www.mwl-law.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/HOSPITAL-LIEN-LAWS-IN-ALL-50-STATES-CHART-00215685x9EBBF.pdf
Yep. Thanks Obamacare! Worst law ever, worse legacy ever, worse POTUS ever. We were on Obamacare marketplace insurance when we acquired over $200K in medical debt from my husband's cancer. No other President has had a more tremendous negative, measurable, and real impact on my everyday life like that @55hole. Our wages were garnished from our paycheck to pay the medical bills in collections without our knowledge (it's called robo serving/suing) and we couldn't pay rent. We were evicted. We had to file bankruptcy. The best part was because of our financial delimma we dropped the insurance after his treatments (because it was an $800 monthly premium) and we were taxed for not being covered all year. Turned me from a middle of the road Democrat to a hard right conservative. The government needs to one thousand percent stay out of healthcare.
Bored Panda is very strongly democratic. This story was horrifying and sad, at fault of the health insurance company. As much as I support the idea of free health care, I was annoyed the last thing posted (as any journalist knows, usually the most important) was about electing Bernie Sanders. I await the many downvotes from those who adore Bernie Sanders (roughly 20 - 45 percent of America but 99 percent of Bored Panda.)
The government could simply put caps on prices. Competition clearly doesn't keep prices low in the US.
Load More Replies... Yeah, we pay like 40% in taxes, but please keep in mind that our minimumwage as an adult i 22 dollars or so. With the taxes comes free healthcare, free School AND we get paid to take an Education. We also get childsupport from the State and lower daycare (how much depends on your income).
Load More Replies... Yes, the secret agenda of this post was to support Bernie, let alone any candidate who supports universal healthcare. It's definitely NOT about a mother who lost her son in an accident and was then saddled with a massive bill as a result of an absolutely broken healthcare system.
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