Utopia Talk / Politics / US Emergency Care, Not For Wage Earners

williamthebastard rank	Thu Jul 30 15:15:51 David Cifaldi, a 32-year-old emergency room nurse from Montana, was impaled by his own trekking pole during a hike. The pole was “jutting at an angle into his left latissimus dorsi muscle, below his armpit, and out through his back,” according to the outlet. Instead of immediately calling for a helicopter rescue, he endured a painful 10-mile trek over six and a half hours because he was worried about the potentially enormous cost of an air rescue. The incident has sparked widespread discussion about healthcare costs in the United States, especially the price of emergency medical transportation. While health insurance may cover some or all of the expense depending on the plan, helicopter ambulance bills can sometimes reach tens of thousands of dollars
williamthebastard rank	Thu Jul 30 15:18:29 Pic: http://aka...5746c26e0f48c53c13a4e00887bf63
Forwyn rank	Thu Jul 30 18:38:13 Chopper flight for my son (3h drive, ~1h flight) was billed at $17k. I paid about $1k with monthly HSA payments and had zero stress about it. Younger folks do often opt for high-deductible plans with large caps, and end up spending $5-10k before insurance covers the rest.
Sam Adams rank	Fri Jul 31 00:24:21 This is of course a lie, made up by wtb or some other homo eurowuss who couldn't even comprehend in the slightest being a badass able to take care of yourself. The real story is that this guy is a trained health worker, knew his wound wasn't that bad, didn't hurt much, and he wanted to hike out simply to be a badass, rather than cry for rescue like a eurowuss. Mountain rescues, including helicopters, in the US are almost always free. You have to have done something egregiously dumb or have it be egregiously unnecessary to get charged, which clearly doesn't apply when you have a trekking pole through you like an arrow in braveheart. I'm impressed that he was able to insert a trekking pole so far and so cleanly through his muscle... trekking pole tips are usually pretty dull.
murder rank	Fri Jul 31 02:12:32 "Pic:" Holy fuck! How do you even do that? I assume he somehow fell onto it, but I'm having a hard time imagining how. -
Sam Adams rank	Fri Jul 31 05:08:33 Ya that's spectacularly bad luck (or good luck dependimg on your point of view since it also missed anything important). I'm impressed.
williamthebastard rank	Fri Jul 31 05:54:50 lmao, youve gotta laugh whenever Lying Pedophile pretends to be a professional pilot/meterologist/mountain climber rofl!
williamthebastard rank	Fri Jul 31 05:58:10 But imagine a country where someone in that situation doesnt dare call emergency services because he cant afford the bill. Its at Sudan levels
Sam Adams rank	Fri Jul 31 06:15:09 You've gone back to your mentally ill disconnected blabbering again wtb. I know you don't like being wrong but you don't need to devolve that quickly when you lose.
Forwyn rank	Fri Jul 31 16:22:50 Did he even have cell service? This is Montana Granite Peak after all
Forwyn rank	Fri Jul 31 16:24:10 Conquering the wilderness and returning safely with a gaping wound with no help is like the quintessential male fantasy. And he's a nurse. He's gonna get so much tail
Habebe rank	Fri Jul 31 21:16:52 "Instead of immediately calling for a helicopter rescue, he endured a painful 10-mile trek over six and a half hours because he was worried about the potentially enormous cost of an air rescue." This shit os fictional stories. Like literally, Ive never known a single person in my entire life that forwent medical care for fear of medical bills. ------ Who pays most of the bill? For medically necessary, non‑cosmetic care in the U.S., about 73% of total spending is covered by insurance and public programs (private plans, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.). � How much do patients pay out of pocket? Average out-of-pocket (OOP) spending per person: roughly $1,500–$1,600/year. � But the median is much lower; half of people spend very little (bottom 50% average only $24/year). � A small group with serious or chronic conditions pays thousands to >$20,000/year out of pocket (top 10% average $6,126, top 1% average $23,700). � How much care goes unpaid or becomes debt? About 36% of U.S. households have some medical debt; 21% have a past‑due bill. � An estimated $194 billion in medical debt was in collection in 2024. � Around 15 million people had unpaid medical bills on their credit reports in 2023 (≈5% of Americans). � Even among insured older adults, 7% reported $53.8 billion in unpaid bills in 2020. �
Habebe rank	Fri Jul 31 21:19:51 Only a fraction of medical debt is actually collected; most ends up unpaid or written off. Total medical debt owed: At least $220 billion nationwide (survey-based estimate for 2021–2024 period). � Debt in active collections: Researchers estimate roughly $194 billion (with a plausible range of $94–$303 billion) was in active collection in 2024. � Debt visible on credit reports: The CFPB estimates about $88 billion of medical debt shows up on consumer credit reports (as of 2021–2023), acknowledging the true total is higher because not all debt is reported. � Because the amount in collections (~$194B) is already close to or below the total outstanding (~$220B+), and only part of that is ever recovered, a large share of medical debt is effectively uncollected or only partially collected. � In practice: Many balances are negotiated down, put on long payment plans, or sent to charities/financial-assistance programs. � Providers and collectors often write off a substantial portion as bad debt or sell it for pennies on the dollar, with limited actual recovery. � So while exact “uncollected” totals aren’t perfectly tracked, the best available figures imply that tens to over a hundred billion dollars of medical debt each year is never fully recovered. �
williamthebastard rank	Fri Jul 31 21:23:15 I was so close to becoming an American. Warner Bros. tried to get my father to move to Connecticut for business reasons. They even helped him look for houses and schools for us kids. He was already in the US working 6 months a year back then and they flew my mum over for a couple of weeks to check out the schools and houses etc. He finally decided he'd miss Guinness and cricket too much and declined. Thank you lord. There but for the grace of God go I.
williamthebastard rank	Fri Jul 31 21:59:28 "Life expectancy ranking, 2023–2025 estimates: 1. Monaco — 86.5 years 2. Japan — 84.8 years 3. Singapore — 84.5 years 4. Switzerland — 84.0 years 5. South Korea — 84.0 years 6. Spain — 83.9 years 7. Italy — 83.8 years 8. Australia — 83.7 years 9. Hong Kong — 83.7 years 10. Iceland — 83.5 years 11. Norway — 83.4 years 12. France — 83.3 years 13. Sweden — 83.2 years 14. Israel — 83.0 years 15. Luxembourg — 83.0 years 16. Netherlands — 82.8 years 17. Canada — 82.7 years 18. New Zealand — 82.6 years 19. Ireland — 82.5 years 20. Portugal — 82.4 years 45–50. United States — 78.5–79 years
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