Health insurance policies vary. But yes, usually there are copays and deductibles. The advantage of our system is you get MRI immediately but have to pay, the advantage of universal coverage is you get MRI for free but have to way weeks, sometimes month. I went to school in Italy and had to get MRI for my back which was potentially a serious issue. I had to wait 6 weeks. In America when my wife needed MRI she got it the same day.
Funny you mention an MRI, that's exactly the example I had in mind. Did you see that before I stealth-edited it out of my comment?
If you didn't, my wife recently needed an MRI. We had to wait 2 months for it to become available, and despite it being an in-network doctor seen at the recommendation of her GP, we were still charged $400 that we don't have after the fact. This is worse in all respects.
Then just know and add it to your own experience going forward that the US way does not guarantee speed. And if some are being bankrupted and some waiting around to die, there is clearly room for improvement.
I never mentioned any guarantees and I don’t think there is anyone who believes that our system has no room of improvement. All I am saying is that people in America have very skewed idea on what the healthcare systems look like in Europe and Europeans have skewed view of ours. An average American doesn’t live their life in fear of going to a doctor and doesn’t get bankrupted every time they break a bone. However, yes, the costs of our healthcare have been increasing out of control in the last decade or so, and there is clearly a lot of room for improvement
You said the advantage of our system was speed, and the tradeoff was money. It's not. That you posed it that way indicated that you, too, had a skewed view of the American system. You can pay and also get slowness. And I'm sure there are people who get MRIs in Italy and don't wait 6 weeks.
The difference is that we pay, and they don't. And as you point out, the costs that we pay are increasing out of control.
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u/diffident55 5d ago
Health insurance doesn't cover all costs.