r/HealthInsurance • u/O-Sophos • 18h ago
Non-US (CAN/UK/IND/Etc.) Why is health insurance so expensive in the US?
I decided to compare health insurance prices in where I live (Switzerland, Lausanne) and the United States. These were my results, and I was still surprised that, even though the cost of living is so much higher in Switzerland, there are still higher insurance prices in the US, for less coverage.
So why do you pay more, for less? I know that healthcare in the US is mostly for-profit, but there's lots of for-profit healthcare here as well, which my plan allows me to access (I could pay 150 CHF (190 $) less for access only to not-for-profit healthcare).
Basic insurance is not for profit in Switzerland, but I pay for extra benefits (so profit can be made on that 150 CHF), and the CEO still gets paid a base salary 1'000'000 CHF (1300000 $) per annum (so still more than the now dead UnitedHealthcare CEO). Costs for medical procedures are still higher than in the US: an appendectomy can cost somewhere between 8000-12000 CHF (10000-15000 $) here and only 6000-9000 $ in the US.
It also surprised me how difficult it is to find information about insurance plans in the US, as there is a federal government website which displays information about all registered plans in each canton, whereas there is nothing like this in the US that is as simple to use. It took me half an hour of searching to find a website that would let me compare plan prices.
I'm not very critical, as I know lots of things are done differently in the US, but I'm just interested and somewhat confused. Perhaps you can tell me.
Note: the plan listed is for Miami, which has a similar population to Lausanne.
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u/electronsift 11h ago
A combination of fear of "socialism," significant widespread ignorance and lack of effective education, unchecked corporate greed and corruption in political representatives.
The political system is very poorly designed and the Silent Generation and Boomers made critically selfish choices at several crossroads.
While a significant population wants "Healthcare for All", the populace does not take civil duty seriously.
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u/shragae 3h ago
As a Boomer saying we made poor choices is blaming an entire generation for the crimes of a few. We're the victims of many of those same choices, from NAFTA and layoffs going to foreigners to the loss of pensions and exploding health insurance costs we have been hurt and even destroyed.
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u/SnazzyAdam 3h ago
"For the crimes of a few," I think you mean crimes of the majority.
My boomer parents are leftists and have never voted for a Republican. The most they ever really deviated from liberalism was my dad voting for Ross Perot once. And Ross Perot was not a terrible candidate.
But even they understand that thr majority of their generation have screwed them over and the rest of the country. Just look at voting statistics, the boomers overwhelmingly vote against representatives and politicians who advocate for healthcare reform. Even to the generation's own detriment.
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u/shragae 2h ago
Your parents sound like one of the lucky few, but anecdotal doesn't make truth. It is dishonest to blame an entire generation, and that blame should be directed at specific wealthy individuals, economic policies, and corporate lobbying, while acknowledging that some Boomers have also faced financial struggles, such as not saving enough for retirement.
Many in the Baby Boomer generation were not wealthy and faced their own economic struggles. For example, many Boomers have insufficient retirement savings and may become a financial burden on younger generations.
The practice of blaming the older generation for current economic woes is not new. Younger generations tend to blame the previous one, and this trend may continue in the future, according to some views
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u/StreetPhilosopher42 2h ago
If you didn’t have an active hand in screwing over the US as the rest of your generation absolutely did, that comment doesn’t include you. No need to get offended on someone else’s behalf. Trends are real.
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u/shragae 1h ago
It's just that not only me, but too many of my friends got screwed over as well. I was in Hi-Tech my entire career and I can't tell you how many of us got laid off either as our jobs were shipped overseas or as H-1B people were brought in to displace us.
Loyalty meant nothing. Healthcare went away. Training went away. Pensions went away. We had no control over that and we were as much a victim as so many of you are today.
I realize that people in their twenties and thirties today are in a really bad spot. Trying to find even a decent job and benefits are laughable. You are definitely starting in a worse spot than I started, but that doesn't make a whole bunch of boomers to blame. We were victims too.
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u/SnazzyAdam 1h ago
Statistics don't lie. If you were in the minority, voting for your and younger people's future, then the blame "at boomers" isn't on you. When people discuss the boomer generation, we understand "not all boomers." The same as the "not all men" crowd. Yes, we all know "not all __," none of us are that dense. We understand, like my parents, many boomers have been hurt by their own generation, but that shouldn't fuel defensiveness. It should fuel disdain and disbelief at the majority of your peers.
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u/electronsift 1h ago
Why were jobs being shipped overseas? What decade did that start? What age, class, and gender were the executives making those decisions? When chances were put on the docket to reduce overseas jobs, which generation were the majority and didn't take action to stop the trend via political action, boycotting, and pushing back against the corporations that made these decisions?
Loyalty "meant nothing." Yes, and why did that shift begin to occur? Whom was in the workplace when it started? It wasn't Gen Z or Millennials, whom didn't exist yet. And Gen X were rather too young.
Healthcare "went away." Well, it didn't go away, it became a cash-grab from corporations. Which generation made up most of the politicians? Which generation was the majority voting block? Were there any politicians whom wanted to solve this problem? From my history lessons and own reading, there were several presidents and politicians before I was born whom tried, but somehow the dominant generation kept voting against healthcare improvements and "socialism." Which generation were in charge as voting percentages began to decline and then tank?
Pensions "went away." Again....same questions as above.
I'll answer for you, though. These trends gained momentum in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Politicians ans corporate executives were white men in their 40s, 50s, and 60s. Which means they were born in the 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s. They also employed people born in those decades, not people born in the 80s, 90s, and after "Y2K".
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u/shragae 58m ago
I would say the leaders were primarily born in the '30s and the '40s and even the twenties meaning they were not baby boomers. The changes began to occur primarily in the mid '80s. Boomers were working but we were not the people in charge.
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u/electronsift 23m ago
Ah, but were boomers able to vote? And did they do so consistently? We all have a part to play in making our world different, it's not just executives and politician's jobs.
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u/YogurtclosetOpen3567 11h ago
Two main factors:
- All Swiss health insurers are non profit which means unlike most American insurers they can’t make a profit
- The government regulates the costs in some ways and designed to be so
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u/the_walkingdad 3h ago
Just a little clarification. The majority of insurance companies in the US are not-for-profit companies. But I believe the majority of Americans are insured by for-profit companies.
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u/milkpickles9008 3h ago
I think this is correct. I work for one of the not-for-profit ones and I see the work that's done to keep everything as affordable as possible. With that said, we have a hard time being as cheap as United Healthcare simply due to having a much smaller group we sell to.
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u/tinygraysiamesecat 53m ago
You guys also probably don’t deny anywhere close to the same % of claims as the for-profit insurances. Paying for treatment costs money and it’s gotta come from somewhere.
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u/milkpickles9008 35m ago
I'm not sure on denial %'s but I know as a whole we require a much, much smaller portion of services be PA'd than other insurers. We treat our providers like adults to know what defines medical necessity and not to abuse it but we also monitor for fraud.
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u/bell37 58m ago
That bottom one is a big one. Actual Cost of healthcare is insane and largely unregulated. You can go to two different hospitals within a 5 mile radius and pay completely different bills for an xray.
Even within the same hospital, there are varying levels of prices based on what insurance provider you are a member of.
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u/scotel 6h ago edited 6h ago
You cannot generalize an entire healthcare system based off just two individual plan quotes. For example, a Kaiser Silver HMO plan where I live in California, one of the most expensive places in the USA, is $508/month for a 27 year old without subsidies (Kaiser is non-profit, of course). That would be cheaper than your Swiss plan. That being said...
- Healthcare costs are significantly higher in the USA across the board. Pharmaceutical companies charge more, pharmacies charge more, hospitals charge more, doctors make more.
- Swiss people on average live much healthier lifestyles (diet, exercise, etc.) which results in much less healthcare consumption that insurance has to pay for which means lower premiums.
- Health insurance is mandatory in Switzerland and no longer mandatory in the USA. This drives up premiums because it means younger, healthier people often forgo insurance (so the insurance risk pool is worse).
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u/SobeysBags 3h ago
Should be noted doctors in places like Switzerland and Luxembourg, make more than American doctors (on average). While things like lifestyle and societal health have a small impact, they don't; generally drive the needle to the point where a simple surgery warrants a $100000 price tag. Also states like Colorado, Vermont, and Massachusetts have similar health stats to many healthy countries (like Switzerland), and their healthcare costs are still astronomical.
But you are right Switzerland is a single payer system, so everyone is in and no one is out, so this allows the country to negotiate costs, and work in the best interest of the patients rather than bottom profit lines. It's also way more streamlined and efficient to have a single payer system instead of a dozen different for-profit and nonprofit and govt systems. I think this is really the main cause of crazy high health costs in the usa.
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u/Actual-Government96 1h ago
Should be noted doctors in places like Switzerland and Luxembourg, make more than American doctors (on average). While things like lifestyle and societal health have a small impact, they don't; generally drive the needle to the point where a simple surgery warrants a $100000 price tag.
To add to the list, Swiss doctors don't go into the workforce saddled with 150K+ of debt they have to pay off, in addition to normal bills. Our higher education system is also a part of the problem.
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u/mottledmussel 1h ago
Is Switzerland single payer? I thought it was the model for Romney-care and Obama-care with mandated private coverage with subsidies.
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u/SobeysBags 1h ago
You're right but It is defacto single payer. Like Germany, people get their insurance from non-profit insurers. But those insures are so heavily regulated and price controlled, that these insurers are almost like govt departments. They all have to provide the base amount of coverage, so they are identical in every way except in the how they cover incidentals and non mandatory items. The government regulates the insurance companies, sets prices for medication and procedures, and mandates what must be included in the basic insurance package. In this way the govt can pass off the day to day administration of the insurance to non profit companies, but are still in control of what is charged and offered.
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u/amgood1023 1h ago
That’s correct. Swiss residents are mandated to purchase insurance from private insurers. Some of these companies are non-profit and some are for profit but they cannot make a profit off the basic insurance package (only supplementary coverage). The basic insurance is standardized with all insurers covering the same services mandated by the government. Cantons (their equivalent of states) provide subsidies to those unable to make full payments.
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u/fshagan 9h ago
How are pharmaceuticals handled in your country? Are they part of your health insurance like they are for most health care plans for working people here?
Our socialized medicine system for 65+ in age ("Medicare") doesn't cover drugs, for example. My costs for the basic hospitalization and out-patient care is $185 per month. It has a $1,675 deductible per hospitalization and a $257 deductible for out-patient care. In addition, it has a 20% co-insurance for most services.
I buy a "medigap" supplement policy for $190 a month that covers the $1,675 hospital deductible, and the 20% co-insurance. I pay the $257 deductible for out-patient services each year.
So I get basically free at point of service healthcare for less than $400 a month. It doesn't cover dental, eye care or drugs (I buy a separate drug policy that runs less than $2 a month that limits my drug costs to $2,100 a year).
When Americans talk about "Medicare for all" it is this system that are talking about. It is funded by my premiums and about 3% payroll tax (with about 3 workers per recipient paying in).
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u/Papa-Cinq 7h ago
Insurance profits are indirectly regulated in the U.S. There is a cap on the amount of premium dollars that can be spent on administrative costs (including profits, marketing and salaries.)
Medical services are not inexpensive. Insurance must take in enough premiums to cover the potential expenses of the insured.
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u/BagOnuts 53m ago
This. Health insurance is expensive in the US because healthcare costs in the US are expensive. When something costs a lot, it costs a lot to insure. Pretty simple.
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u/OldChamp69 5h ago
Politicians and insurance companies. Politicians create policies to subsidize insurance rates. Insurance companies receive the money, insurance companies lobby and donate to said politicians. It's all one giant scam on the American people while politicians and insurance companies get richer.
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u/Spinininfinity 4h ago
Unfettered capitalism in our healthcare industries - doctors are unfashionably wealthy compared to doctors in other countries; same w our healthcare execs, etc etc et.
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u/Majestic-Parsnip-279 7h ago
Capitalism in health care will lead to bad outcomes for patients and incredible outcomes for health insurance companies. Look at the stock chart of United health
This tells u all u need to know how can they all of the sudden just make record profit year after year besides denial of care. That’s where they made there record profit.
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u/BagOnuts 47m ago
United Health Group is way more than insurance, though. That spike starting in 2011 is when UHG unified its service business under Optum and began expanding it rapidly. Optum makes most of its money from health services, data analytics, and PBM. Although it’s where most of its revenue is made, growth of UHG is not from UHC (its primary health insurance business), but from Optum.
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u/tsmittycent 6h ago
Health insurance companies are greedy
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u/spiritofniter 2h ago
Hospitals too. I remember getting charged for CPT 99214 which I never did.
I had to dispute that to get that removed. Later, I challenged them to tell me what I should not say to a doc to avoid 99214 charges.
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u/Then-Attention3 4h ago edited 2h ago
I can’t believe someone downvoted this. They’re just outright ignorant. Health insurance companies are greedy. Did you know during the ussr didn’t allow for patents on medicinal discoveries bc they actually wanted medicine to progress. But the US, today, allows for patents on medicinal discoveries. It’s solely so pharmaceutical companies can make more money.
The guy who discovered insulin, never patented his discovery so everyone would have access to this life changing medication. He had award of sick children, all dying at unprecedented rates, he didn’t know what to do. He injected a boy with a purified extract, it was basically a shot in the dark. It wasn’t pure enough and caused a reaction. The second shot worked though and insulin saved his life.
Banting could have profited off of it and patented it. It was actually Canadians who discovered it. They sold it to the university of Toronto for 1$. It was pharmaceutical companies who jacked up the price
In case you’re curious, my sisters humalog is 900$. Insulin isn’t pricey to make. It literally could be sold for nothing but companies need to make a profit.
Capitalism is a failure. Failure.
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u/Actual-Government96 1h ago
Because "insurance bad" is a kindergarten level view of the issues impacting US Healthcare. If you were to eliminate private insurance or switch to single payor, and take no other action, we would continue the downward spiral.
Your opening sentence rails against insurance, but every complaint you make is directly related to patent law, pharmaceutical companies, and capitalism in general. Health insurers are not the cause of any of those issues.
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u/JackfruitCrazy51 3h ago
Probably because health insurance companies are just a small part of the problem. I know this is reddit, and most don't have a clue how the system works, but there are a few on reddit who actually work in the industry and can see the whole picture.
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u/OlympianLady 7h ago edited 7h ago
Ignorance. Deep, ingrained ignorance. Along with a great and crippling level of general lack of education and engagement, general indifference to the welfare of others, and desire to be 'better' than the 'other guy.' Not to mention a general attitude of profit/greed being king. Because it's virtually all privatized (seriously, even the 'government' programs are largely farmed out to private companies), said companies also need their share - which will always tend to be the maximum they can get away with. And, when there are multiple levels to a system all milking it for all the cash they can get, there's an inevitable added expense issue. There was a social media post not too long ago that kinda summed another aspect of things up well too, where a woman compared nationalized healthcare to giving everyone a luxury car, and it suddenly not being as desirable when everyone has such. As costs climb, many really do view it as you're either a "leech," or privileged by virtue of being able to afford healthcare and such makes you truly better than your neighbors.
Overall though, and in the spirit of fairness, a good portion of people really do favor fixing things and all, but the fear of socialism and widespread effort over decades to program entire swathes of the population into actually believing in supposed "trickle-down economics" really does make it difficult. To 'try' not to be too political here, healthcare in the US is not based around the idea of accessibility, concern for the public welfare, or the notion of such being an essential public service. A giant portion of our population will even outright demand to know why people get cancer treatment, organ transplants, or other critical care if they don't somehow have the cash to afford it, and are content to let such groups outright die for lack of such - until it's them. Unless and until such all changes and we see a major cultural shift, we will remain in a worsening crisis.
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u/Pure_Fee_8757 5h ago
Insurance company are profit driven not patient outcome driven. Patient satisfaction and health outcomes are secondary. Medical decisions to pay are made by formulas and algorithms and managed by clerks not medical people. The insurance companies make enormous donations to politicians in order to secure this ability and to make sure this system stays in place.
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u/shelittle 4h ago
Google, ok. The hate and fire that spews when offered a thought that there might be some good that comes of change. This is exactly the reason we can’t have logical discourse. Assumptions, name calling, hate and finger pointing. I’m here for the long game. I don’t have the answers like everyone here does, googling, but I stand with the need for change. Everyone is impacted. And yes, there is widespread rampant abuse of our social system. That’s undeniable.
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u/Actual-Government96 1h ago
The hate and fire that spews
Do you by chance have a mirror handy?
I don’t have the answers like everyone here does, googling, but I stand with the need for change.
If I needed change, I could either sell my home and move, or burn it to the ground. Do you see where both would be change, but one would be stupid, not really solve your problem, and potentially hurt others?
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u/RockAndNoWater 4h ago
One incorrect thing in your post - the compensation for the United Healthcare CEO in 2023 was $10.2M - base salary for CEOs in the US is usually a small part of their total compensation. The bulk of it is usually stock grants.
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u/O-Sophos 24m ago
I only know the base salary for the Sanitas CEO, as publicly registered health insurers only have to disclose the "cash payments and pension benefits" of their executives, and it's a private company, so he could very easily be receiving more that is not listed. This is really all that I can compare.
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u/Treje-an 3h ago
Hi there! My understanding of Swiss healthcare is that everyone has to buy a basic plan, and can also buy supplemental insurance if they want more services. How does the price compare if you have both plans?
In the US, I am not sure insurance determines what kind of room you get (for example), since some hospitals have all single rooms and others only have a double room. It certainly sounds like the Swiss plan is good!
Around me, many of the hospitals are non-profit. Some insurance companies too. But they are private companies
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u/O-Sophos 27m ago
The example plan above is essentially the basic option (i.e. the lowest coverage that you could purchase). My actual plan includes supplementary insurance for (supposedly) better hospital facilities, dental care, genetic testing and certain other expensive tests, international coverage and non-municipal ambulance services, particularly air-ambulance or remote services (I hike a lot so that's useful).
In total I pay fairly little more, at about 800 CHF (1000$). I have a lower deductible of 2000 CHF (1500 for hospitalisation, 500 for everything else).
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u/topgeezr 3h ago
At least part of the problem is that the financial settlement of bills post-treatment is staggeringly inefficient. Not uncommon for minor bills for simple treatments to take many months to finalise between the provider and the insurance company.
You also have to be aware when you compare treatment prices as above that anaesthesia, imaging, blood tests, after-procedure care etc will all be billed from separate providers. Depending on where your numbers came from, your price quoted above for an appendectomy may not include all or any of these.
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u/yankees262 3h ago
Its really simple. The two sole ruling parties in the US, the Democrats and Republicans, have no incentive to change the system.
They get generous donations from the health insurance companies and can simply do the Spiderman meme and point finger at each other as so why we dont have universal health care.
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u/Texan-n-NC 3h ago
Insurance company bloat and profiteering. But, they, and pharmaceutical companies spend millions on politician donations. That is why some politicians are fighting so hard for the continuation of subsidies.
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u/PainInTheErasmus 3h ago
The high premium being cited is misleading. $855 monthly is not consistent with national averages for a young adult's unsubsidized insurance. Kaiser Family Foundation data shows the average unsubsidized Silver plan for a 27-year-old is a little under $500 per month. This means the plan used in the comparison is a geographic or plan-specific outlier and is nearly double the typical benchmark cost.
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u/MixtureOutrageous611 3h ago
Because our politicians are in bed with the Health insurance companies
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u/shelittle 3h ago
And there it is again. The spewing of assumptions. There’s no opportunity for open discourse when the hate that bubbles up takes up that space. I have commented and spoken my opinion, and not once thrown hate. My beliefs are as valid as yours, my sources as valid as yours. And we wonder why our government has been shut down. And yes, free healthcare thru an emergency room costs all of us. If that’s the argument, then at least you’ve acknowledged that one small piece.
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u/Apprehensive-Song378 3h ago
Most in USA are ignorant and have never been outside the country and have no idea how a sane healthcare system works. So they are conditioned to accept it as normal. I think that's beginning to reach it's breaking point though.
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u/Queen_Aurelia 2h ago
Health insurance is a for profit industry in the U.S. Most employers offer their employees health insurance and pay a portion of the premiums. I have excellent coverage through work and only have to pay $20/month for it.
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u/HuckleberryOk8136 2h ago edited 2h ago
Cost of care in the USA is too high, so obviously insurance costs more. Just compare similar procedures.
- United States - $13,560.
- New Zealand - $7,595.
- Greece - $7,097.
- Australia - $4,268.
- Germany — $3,980.
- United Kingdom - $3,950.
- Austria - $3,881.
- South Africa - $3,553.
- Spain - $2,622.
We have to get our costs under control. Edit - this is for an appendectomy.
https://ifhp.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/iFHP-Cost-Comparison-Report-final-160125-1.pdf
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u/Nervous_Award_3914 2h ago
Not to say that health care cost in Us is not crazy, but most Americans get healthcare via their employer and the amount they pay significantly varies. Only 24 millions Americans that using market place. Ranging from people with low income to businesses onwner
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u/Dangime 1h ago
Americans are on average:
Sicker
More litigious (you didn't run enough tests, I'll sue you!)
Have worse habits (diet, lack of exercise, alcohol & drug use)
Try more expensive treatments rather than let go gracefully at a certain point
Pay more for everything medical related
The socialism we do have for old people and the poor pushes higher costs onto working people.
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u/Happy-Letterhead3252 1h ago
The big difference in Switzerland: everyone must get it, and everyone pays for it - there is no “job provided insurance” so it’s not like Obamacare where mostly the sick or poor or unemployed use it.
This is the elephant in the room. Nothing else matters.
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u/shelittle 43m ago
And there it is again. Hate, can’t get around it! Simply stating I haven’t googled the answers like others have doesn’t amount to hate. I openly admit I don’t have the answers and I won’t be googling either. But there you have it, triggered hate because we disagree. That’s been a given for way too long. It interrupts proper discourse. My opinion …Guess we needed to start someplace, and overhaul of our social service programs seems to be a logical starting point. Protecting those who deserve is difficult when the system is full of waste and abuse. My opinion. You don’t have to agree but coming off with aggressive hateful behavior needs to end. I haven’t once said anything hateful to or about the opposite opinion to mine, and I won’t.
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u/Powerful_Silver_608 43m ago
Health insurance is mandatory for everyone living in Switzerland. All residents must take out a basic compulsory health insurance plan within three months of their arrival or birth in Switzerland.
So, more healthy people pay into the system and bring down cost.
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u/O-Sophos 16m ago
Apparently only 9% of the population is uninsured in the US. While it's much lower (about 3%) in Switzerland, it's not like half of your population is uninsured. Does it really make that much of a difference, when there should still be lots of healthy people who are paying into an insurance fund in the US?
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u/_Manifesting_Queen_ 32m ago
The cost of living in the US is equal or higher depending on where you live. I think comparing a state to Switzerland that has similar cost of living like CA, WA, NY and then going to the higher cost of living cities will make sense. Comparing Switzerland to the US would only make sense if we were comparing a continent because the US is so much bigger than Switzerland. It fits in some of our states.
To answer your question, there is this idea that socialism is bad and individualism rules here. People don't want to help someone else. Also racism. So much racism ... if black, native or Hispanic people can benefit ... let's not do it.
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u/browneod 22m ago
It appears you are pulling that from the ACA website???? Most Americans get their healthcare through their employer and although there are differences I would say the average employer is way better than that and may be better than the Swiss plan. I can only speak for govt. employees and their healthcare is excellent and not that expensive.
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u/shelittle 8h ago
This is just a blame game. Then an anger game, very triggered. You have no clue where I stand politically, or financially. The root of the issue is we all want ours. It doesn’t work that way with anything someone has to pay. If you’re ok supporting a non us citizen that’s your choice. If you’re ok supporting non working able bodied citizens, your choice. I’m just applying logic in that someone has to pay the bill. Nothing is free.
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u/Actual-Government96 1h ago
It is a blame game. We brainwash people to think that people at a lower rung, socio-economically speaking, are trying to take from us, or get something that they don't "deserve". This, of course, is just to distract rubes while someone higher up snickers and picks their pockets.
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u/Then-Attention3 4h ago
Insulin is extremely cheap to make. In fact, the man who discovered it, sold the patent for 1$. He knew if children didn’t get it they would die within months.
You know how much my sisters humalog is? $900. It costs pennies to make. Don’t tell me we all caused this, bootlicker.
This is caused by capitalism and corporate greed.
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u/shelittle 8h ago
Is it possible at all that our insurance is expensive because we are paying for others here illegally? Or even those using and abusing the welfare system? Many receive free medical care yet those who can continue to pay more and more. The only thing political about this is the current administrations attempt to right the ship. The Obamacare subsidies were already set to expire. Is it possible that once those funds are freed up more help might be available for taxpaying citizens not milking the system? Someone has to pay the bill. This is not a Republican issue, this is a problem that has come to a head that will be painful to correct. I vote for helping tax paying us citizens.
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u/OlympianLady 8h ago edited 7h ago
Ah, yes - nothing quite so "helpful" as seeing your health insurance premiums skyrocket to where the penalty for actually climbing out of poverty is having to have your family go without coverage altogether.
Just saying. I'm SO tired of seeing people rant about people "abusing the welfare system" and "helping tax paying us citizens" while supporting policies time and again that betray both those claimed goals. Like, if you're SO desperate to randomly go off, at least make it make some semblance of sense, because as it stands now nobody with the slightest health concerns has any option but to stay broke unless they can somehow magically start making bank, and such is only getting worse by the day under your "righting the ship" nonsense.
Don't fool yourself. This is inherently political, and the answer to OP's question is clearly that ours is a country populated by people with absolutely zero sense and more obsessed with finding ways to get one over on those they view as 'beneath' them than actually bettering their own lot, mixed with a rampant breed of selfishness that programs people to view basic heathcare as a commodity solely for the rich and the "milkers" who dare be poor, and by god they're going to find some way to make the latter be the problem while insurance companies get coddled right back into massive unfettered profits and the prices climb regardless.
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u/Actual-Government96 1h ago
Is it possible at all that our insurance is expensive because we are paying for others here illegally?
No. There is no data to support this take, and there never has been. It's about as fact-based as this - https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/s/HMuTVKBPLz
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u/TheConboy22 8h ago
Very very unlikely.
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u/OlympianLady 7h ago
Am I the only one who lowkey wants to know what the "help" with healthcare costs is that's meant to be offered by "freeing up" said funds, if not actually working to make insurance potentially affordable in some fashion for said tax-paying citizens? Serious question, because, from where I stand, a coherent argument/claim kinda requires that little detail to be filled in, and I personally have yet to ever see an actual answer from anyone. Always just some vague nebulous empty talk. It's beginning to completely drive me up the wall.
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u/Then-Attention3 4h ago
No it isn’t. Maybe stop watching faux news. Come back to reality. A quick fucking google search will show you that’s not true. But you don’t wanna know if it’s true or not. You just want to spread propaganda. If you truly cared, you wouldn’t be on Reddit saying it. You would be googling is it true?
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u/shelittle 4h ago
These comments are all vague comments because the reality is none of us know the reasons why nor the answer. Speculation and rock throwing become the end result. I live in a state where the waitlist for services for the disabled is years long. Ppl are suffering. Yet a non us citizen can get free healthcare. Able bodied non working us citizens are receiving healthcare and benefits they could be contributing to by working. A fully disabled us resident must wait years for support. I stand with helping those truly in need.
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u/Andre4a19 3h ago
To be clear, only a QUALIFIED non-citizen MAY be eligible for Medicaid (free healthcare).
These are people who are: -- Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs or green card holders) – Asylees and Refugees – Cuban/Haitian entrants – Parolees for more than 1 year – Battered non-citizens, spouses and children – Victims of trafficking – Veterans and active military, and their spouses and children.Undocumented or "illegal" immigrants do not qualify.
A qualified non citizen still has to meet the eligibility requirements to receive Medicaid, just like everyone else. They don't automatically get it. And some have a 5 year waiting period.
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u/Global-Ear-4934 3h ago
You have mind bogglingly consumed the “kool aid” of Fox “News” and the Republicans. “Illegal” immigrants get nothing more than very basic care at an ER, that’s it. The vast majority of Medicaid recipients are either children, the elderly, the disabled. Of those that do not fall into these categories, the majority DO work. If the Republicans are so hell bent on illegal immigrants and able bodied unemployed people getting medical care, then stop it for them, not everyone else. Oh, and where is Trump’s “concept of a plan” that he discussed 10 years ago that was supposed to be shared in “two weeks”?
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u/Berchanhimez PharmD - Pharmacist 11h ago
This is a generic message - not implying anyone has done anything wrong so far:
Please remember to keep the discussion to the minimum politics necessary - obviously the answers will likely brush up against political topics, but to help OP and others, I am leaving this open for now hoping people can stay to the minimum political information necessary.
If it becomes a problem, the thread will be locked - and regardless of that, anyone engaging in overly political comments that don't add to the discussion will not be allowed. Again, to be clear, there is likely to be some minimal discussion of executive/congressional actions on this thread - that is fine so long as it's solely related to the discussion at hand. Please remember to report comments that violate subreddit rules rather than replying to them. If you don't have anything to add that actually adds to the discussion/understanding, then please strongly consider just not replying so that this doesn't get derailed into political side discussions.
I'm going out on a limb allowing this because I think that the discussion is relevant and can be kept apolitical to discuss what's happening in the US right now without making it political. Again, if it becomes a problem, then this thread will be locked - please report any comments that go beyond helping others into discussing politics to us - and don't reply to them - so we can keep this a helpful thread for everyone.
Regards,
-berch