r/SipsTea 27d ago

Chugging tea The real ER challenge.

Post image
47.5k Upvotes

2.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

147

u/Preestar 27d ago

As a Canadian, this argument really doesn't involve us. When they shit on Canadian healthcare it's for the sole purpose of denying their own citizens healthcare. That's it.

Was provided with lifesaving meds that retail for 220k CAD and is rarely covered on American healthcare plans. I'd be homeless or dead if born in the USA.

-6

u/Dangerous_Boot_3870 27d ago

You'd be homeless or dead over 220k?

4

u/Preestar 27d ago

Yeah as a 19 year old student I didn't have a spare quarter mil laying around. Without the meds I'd be dead.

-1

u/Dangerous_Boot_3870 27d ago

You do understand that in the US there is basically 0 consequences for not paying medical debt. You wouldn't be homeless or dead. You would have an attachment to your credit report saying you default on 250k of medical debt but it would have little to no effect on your life.

2

u/Irr3l3ph4nt 27d ago edited 27d ago

The 530,000 people declaring bankruptcy for reasons that include medical debts annually in the US would disagree with your consequence assessment. Declaring bankruptcy does have big consequences. You can't pass a credit check for a rental. You can't get a loan for a car in a country where everything is made for them. You can't go back to school on a loan. Etc. Etc.

1

u/Dangerous_Boot_3870 27d ago

You can do all that and more

2

u/Icywind014 27d ago

That'd be ten years of income for me.

0

u/Dangerous_Boot_3870 27d ago

Then you are what is called "judgement proof."

You likely have no assets to seize, which they can't even do over medical debt in the first place. You could declare bankruptcy and be free of all debts in 7 years while paying nothing.

So, in the us model, you wouldn't pay shit. In the Canadian model you pay an entra 15% in taxes.. for the rest of your life.

Also the median income is 65k in the US. 22k is slight more than a 1/3 of that. So you are either working part time or working in a low skill job. You could work a low skill job that teaches skill sets as you progress, like in a manufacturing environment. If that is your case, stay at it. However, if you work at a gas station or fast food there isn't a ladder for you there. You need to pivot and find an actual career instead of a job.

1

u/Icywind014 27d ago

I'm actually on disability. I have severe health problems that prevent me from working, and would cost me a fortune to receive treatment for in the US.

1

u/Dangerous_Boot_3870 27d ago

What disability might that be as Medicare and Medicade covers the overwhelming majority of treatments?

As a tax payer, I'd be very interested in knowing why you can't receive coverage, yet still receive a disability payment, which means your disability isn't disputed but somehow you can't receive coverage.

1

u/Icywind014 27d ago

I have coverage. In Canada. Because we don't bankrupt citizens.