How can an US doctor charge like 10 times the prices on our side of the pond ?

There's an unspoken assumption that when doctors quote a price, the insurance companies will widdle that down to a fraction of that amount when they pay out, so if a procedure actually costs $X.00, doctors will bill the insurance for $X * Y, so insurance actually ends up paying what it actually costs.

The side effect is that we pay co-pays or deductibles or non-100% coverage amounts based on what insurance was billed, not what the procedure actually cost. It's actually cheaper in some cases (especially with regards to medications) to not use insurance because then, we'll get billed what it actually cost, not the grossly inflated amount, and if our coverage is only, say, 50% for a given procedure, or if we have a co-pay on medication, we end up paying less. Meanwhile we're still paying the insurance companies for the coverage we're not taking advantage of. The whole system is fucked beyond belief. We know it, we just can't do anything about it.

"Vote for the politicians who want to fix it!" only works if they actually do want to fix it, and will follow through if elected.

It is the norm. I worked with a man who had seizeres and no health insurance. The first time he was introduced to me he said "Hi, I'm Tony. Listen, I have seizures. If I have one, DO NOT call an ambulance, no matter what. I can't afford it." He told us even if it looked like he was dying, to just let him go because he could never afford the bills if he lived.

This wasn't some crappy part time job, this was my first big girl real job after graduating college. Like welcome to adulthood, you might have to helplessly watch your coworker die at your place of employment!

No, it's not clickbait, sorry :/ I just paid $800 for a mole removal ontop of my $150 monthly bill and premiums. Emergency care is scary expensive, and for the love of God don't use an ambulance.

I pay about $220 every two weeks for my HSA “High Deductible” Plan. Twisted my ankle pretty bad last November and after a visit to the urgent care, 3 visits to a podiatrist including 2 x-rays, and the.a boot and a support wrap that were purchased with the HSA, my funds in it are now depleted and put my $600 bill on a payment plan. My wife had some extra dental visits that resulted in a root canal that wiped most of it.

I have no idea how we’re gonna pay if we have something else come up.

I make 2x the median income in my area. But between the bills, $600(!) credit card payment, student loans from 10 years ago that just don’t want to go away, I feel I’d have to find some way to add another multiplier to my income. And that’s not including worrying about my 16yo car or my wife’s 10yo one. Was hoping my promotion last year would have gave me enough leeway to replace mine, but too much debt.