This is why many of you claim the Taiwan National Health system to be "good and cheap"

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/07/02/woman-got-her-leg-caught-gap-orange-line-train-and-then-begged-for-ambulance-because-cost/q6gBPV8ujcfH0qLrQ6HjEJ/story.html

Oh my :scream:

Not just the ambulance, she’ll have to sell a kidney to pay for the hospital bill thats coming.

Well let me put the US Medical system within some reason.
The truth that never gets told is There are “Free Hospitals” for low income/ poor people with no insurance

You can literally go to USC Medical center which is a large hospital and get good medical attention and if you are low income literally pay zero at the cashier. This is available every major US City, and smaller cities have free clinics too. You can go as many times as you want and take advantage of that system too and pay nothing, just show you are low income.

The problem is, if she has a decent job she doesnt qualify for the low income free health care. The people who are in this category get screwed as some employers don’t provide health insurance.

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Hospitals in the US are not obliged to treat you if you are low-income. They are only required to stabilize you medically. And your idea of being “stable” might not be what theirs is.

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My friend in US came back from hiking trip and started feeling really odd about a week later. He ended up in an clinic where they did an MRI. He found out later the cost was US$10,000 for his visit with MRI. BTW…Later at work while working through the insurance issue he questioned the person in charge of insurance about the codes used in the insurance coverage as to what is covered and what is not. They would not tell him what the codes represented…nor would the clinic.
About this same time I had an MRI done for NT500 in Taiwan.
Oh yeh, he finally ended up being diagnosed with a rare insect bite that causes all sorts of pain and discomfort.

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I had a colleague in the US who was bankrupted.

She had a Brian tumour and her insurance covered the surgery supposedly.

But it didn’t cover the anesthesia which cost something like 60k USD. And yes she didnt know about this cost ahead of time.

Which is crazy but that’s what she told me !

You’re talking about your friend or your wife? :smiley:

O_o That’s a scam.

You been drinking again?

This is most Americans. The poverty line is stupid-low considering housing costs.
Insurance is NT$15k minimum per month for cheap coverage with an annual deductible of $300k BEFORE they cover any costs. This is why I pay the penalty each year. I went to see a specialist this week and had tests run. It cost me $5k. In the US, that would have been at least 75k. F the US!!

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Well, if I had a cancer of Brian, I wouldn’t be happy either…

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I didn’t say all hospitals. Of course you can’t walk into any hospital and expect what I said above. I said certain hospitals in each city. I used USC Medical Center in Los Angeles as one.

Agreed, theres a lot wrong with how the US Medical system and insurance, Big Pharma is run, not debating that at all.

Americans seem to fuck themselves. Obamacare was gutted and back to square one ?

The problem is insurance companies and medical groups taking control of the entire system. Why do you need a private insurance company as a middleman for patients ? Of course they are going to take a big cut.

Apart from that it seems there’s almost no limit as to the sticker price they can hit you with!

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Damn I went to H.S. right by that station. Mass Ave… the good ole days.

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To pay the shareholders!

It’s far from “each city”. Hospitals that treat anyone for free are few and very, very far between.

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I recently had a major surgery done in the US. I got a bill for (among other things) $65 for blood typing and another $45 for determining the RH factor. Um, I seem to remember this is something you do in high school biology lab? And to make things even more insulting, I have had three (3) previous surgeries in this same hospital, and they have the records. I’ve never heard of anyone’s blood type changing. I don’t even want to think about what the total bill was for the whole thing if the pre-surgical testing was US$1300 (which it was – and my private insurance through my husband’s employer paid for it all. But there are millions of people who are not as fortunate.)

I once went to an allergist to get a skin test. I was told I was getting the cash-pay discount. A friend went for the same test. Her bill was cheaper with insurance. We compared bills. The insurance company was able to negotiate down some charges whereas me as an individual was not. Total BS.

Blood types do change temporarily in rare circumstances. Well, at least u know your hospital was being careful, or maybe they lost all your records and had to do everything all over again.

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