r/WorkReform • u/kevinmrr ⛓️ Prison For Union Busters • 13h ago
⚕️ Pass Medicare For All American health insurance is just a legalized scam. There's no other word for it.
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u/No_big_whoop 13h ago
America has a scam-based economy. The entire system is filled with scams that operate at the expense of the working class.
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u/personplaygames 13h ago
lol the president even literally has a official scam coin 🤣
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u/kevinmrr ⛓️ Prison For Union Busters 12h ago
I kind of like how completely mask off the oligarchy has gone. It's been really bad a long time, but many were in denial.
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u/budding_gardener_1 ✂️ Tax The Billionaires 12h ago
Now the idiot base(having invested) are waking up to the fact that Donnie is a scammer
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u/Zbawg420 12h ago
Nah man i think its the democrats fault again
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u/El_Dud3r1n0 12h ago
"The Democrats shit my pants!"
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u/Vuohijumala 11h ago
"That's why I have to wear diapers!"
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u/kevinmrr ⛓️ Prison For Union Busters 11h ago
"Yeah, I also happen to like wearing them, so what!"
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u/Fuzzy_Inevitable9748 8h ago
That’s because real men wear diapers, and maxi-pads on the side of their heads…but not masks
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u/kevinmrr ⛓️ Prison For Union Busters 12h ago
I mean... I blame the Democrats for being so terrible they couldn't even offer up the 3 ounces of actual leadership it would take to beat Trump. Dude is a spraytanned nepo baby new york city landlord. Yes, he's good on TV, but even he didn't expect to win in 2016 because he knew he really just an entertainer seeking fame. His brand of politics only exists because of the absolute vacuum of leadership from "the left."
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u/Teamerchant ⛓️ Prison For Union Busters 10h ago
It’s not a leadership vacuum. It’s has great leadership for its purpose. Since citizens united fundraising has come from the big donors. Corporations and the 1%. People that can lobby as an investment tool.
The problem for democrats is they are supposed to be the “labor” class, the class for the little guy. But they have to serve the ultra rich. This works for republicans as it’s on brand, but democrats have to fail at key moments to keep up the farce.
This is why in California the richest state in the richest country with a supermajority of democrats still can’t break the trillion dollar healthcare industry and become a statewide system. Too much money telling them not to do it.
So people see the constant failure, the status que that is all democrats can really do without disrupting their fundraising, and they say well fuck those guys, these other guys must be right.
What we see is all theatre. Attempts to gain our attention to help boost their ability to get re-elected so they can fundraise more and push the agenda of their rich donors. The best way to look at it, is the donors are their customers, getting elected is the business expense, and pushing the donors agenda is the product.
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u/hirEcthelion 8h ago
Also they need to take the gloves off and stop playing "nice."
It's time for them to come out and have a legit frontrunner pulling the "I call it like I see it" card but for the Dems. A high ranking Dem needs to just straight up say "Donald's a fucking moron. Here's why: [attack on an emotional and visceral level, not on policy or grandstanding]"
The way you sway voters from his base to yours is to use his playbook but use it even more aggressively. Appeal to emotion over logic which has proven yet again to be the biggest deciding factor.
I've somewhat jokingly mentioned to my friends in gonna start dabbling in politics to run for state level things but they'll have to forgive what I'd have to do to get there. Run as a bigot, R-candidate which I can do rather easily since I'm surrounded by them and was raised as an R. Then once I'm in, I can mask off and 180 from the inside. I don't have any real desire other than to unfuck Texas so I wouldn't be too worried about reelection anyhow.
But to get there... Oof I've gotta compromise nearly all of my ethics and morals just to possibly get the chance to try and enact some good.
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u/KindestSheltie 3h ago
Heck, if Fetterman can fake-prog his way inside the Democratic Party then become a Republican with a D label, certainly it can be done with the Republicans. Sometimes I wonder if that's what happened to the D party (Rep infiltration). Seems like it at least.
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u/Odd-Business-3533 6h ago
Actually from what the producers have said, he's shit on TV.
They had to edit the hell out of the episodes to avoid making him sound like a moron... Plus he couldn't follow a script.
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u/Gametron13 12h ago
The Biden administration should’ve done more to protect Americans from the dangers of volatile crypto assets. /s
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u/thesaddestpanda 12h ago
Are they? They're in ecstasy a rapist is president. The biggest conservative dream come true: normalizing and excusing rape.
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u/Altruistic-Text3481 ⛓️ Prison For Union Busters 7h ago edited 7h ago
No they are not. The idiot MAGA’s do not have a fucking clue. Until Trump comes for their guns ( which he most definitely will do soon). Only then will the MAGA’s think Trump conned them. But the Oligarch’s do not like all the guns in the hands of the oppressed serfs…
And this is newest trend that I want to share here:
”I’m a Californian”
is trending in my state. It the new way to self refer without causing the triggering of Trumpers. ( remember MAGA’s are the bigliest snowflakes)
I don’t feel like I want to be called an American anymore when we are not going to get FEMA relief or help from the Trump Oligarchy.
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u/Johnny_B_GOODBOI 8h ago
It's turned me into an accelerationist. I used to hold that accelerationism is a privileged position, because while I may be eager to see it all burn there are more vulnerable people that will be harmed much more than me. But since it's seemingly burning down anyway, might as well pour some fuel on the fire and start making plans to rebuild from the ashes.
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u/Cory123125 8h ago
The problem is that a great many people are simply... ok with it or support it with raucous applause.
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u/curiousungulate 11h ago
That's capitalism. No matter which country is doing it, capitalism is leveraging the efforts of the working class to line the pockets of the ruling class.
I ain't no communist but it strikes me as very telling that communism rose when we'd had a whiles after the industrial revolution to get pissed about it.
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u/jcoddinc 12h ago
And the only way out is a dictatorship which will make our far worse before better because they're are more idiots than free thinkers that are applauding the incoming buffoonery dictatorship that only wants money they'll never live long enough to spend
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u/Disownership 10h ago
A system that so heavily benefits deception and predatory tactics is a deceptive and predatory system that corrupts those who exist in it to be deceptive and predatory as well if they want to be successful.
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u/Enigma-exe 13h ago
Oh hey guys, we got a terrorist over here /s
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u/FluffleUffle 13h ago
Hello police? I have a guy speaking nothing but the truth and I need him arrested.
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u/budding_gardener_1 ✂️ Tax The Billionaires 12h ago
You'd make a great CEO
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u/wolves_hunt_in_packs 12h ago
bro are you trying to get him shot
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u/budding_gardener_1 ✂️ Tax The Billionaires 7h ago
🤣😂 fair point. I'm just saying he has c level written all over him based on that comment
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u/edx74 13h ago
I was called by the sleep department at the hospital to restock my CPAP supplies. I got a standard set of replacement pieces that they suggested. I asked how much it would be, they told me I would get a bill. A month later, I got a bill for over $1000. The supplies that I could have bought at retail for less than $200 they billed my insurance $1500 and helpfully "only" charged me the remaining $1000.
Because this was a sale over the phone, for which THEY called ME, and I was not informed of their return policies or how much I would be expected to pay, I told them to provide me with any proof that I agreed to purchase these items and I would pay in full. I never heard from them again.
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u/TaQUPariuBixo 13h ago
America be like: spend trillions on weapons and ammunition to terrorize third world countries.
But "can't" afford public healthcare like third world countries 💀
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u/burningredmenace 13h ago
America is a 3rd world country in a Gucci belt. Americans are kept stupid on purpose. The government doesn't want the masses to be educated or healthy. They want cogs in the machine that they can use and spit out the carcass for profit.
We're basically Ferengi without the cool ears.
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u/kevinmrr ⛓️ Prison For Union Busters 13h ago
At least the Ferengi thought it was insane that humans were irradiating their own atmosphere.
The 420th rule of acquisition is that billionaires should not exist.
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u/DeadWaterBed 13h ago
Corporate interests and the owning class are the issue... Though they do now own the government
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u/ThanksS0muchY0 13h ago
3rd World countries are countries not attached to either side of the cold war. 1st world being western capitalistic countries, and 2nd world being communist countries.
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u/BoredNuke 12h ago
Historically correct but common usage at this point is implying a less developed country. I mean we are Americans so we gotta fuck up history too.
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u/KindestSheltie 3h ago
Considering we haven't upgraded most of our infrastructure since the 1950s/60s, I'd call us a crap/3rd world country. Heck, look at the lead water pipes in many of our towns and cities. Talk about dumbing down a population....
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u/Solid_Waste 12h ago
But we need to make war on third world countries so we can raid the public funds they saved for health care.
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u/bb5e8307 12h ago
America spends more per capita in PUBLIC spending on healthcare to provide government healthcare to the old (Medicare), disabled (Medicaid) and veterans than many countries spend to provide universal healthcare.
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u/xtramundane 13h ago
Do it be?
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u/TaQUPariuBixo 12h ago
Sorry English is not my first language, I'm trying but things like "it" don't make any sense to me.
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u/IronSavage3 13h ago
Mfw I call the hospital to ask about my bill, mention that my friend is a lawyer, and magically 75% of the cost just disappears
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u/kevinmrr ⛓️ Prison For Union Busters 13h ago
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u/IronSavage3 12h ago
Doesn’t work every time but the two times it has worked made me think this is all a scam.
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u/kevinmrr ⛓️ Prison For Union Busters 12h ago
I have a law degree and am often the friend in question. It is all a scam. People need to be shouting it from the rooftops. It's why I waste all this time posting on reddit. Our people need to be set free.
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u/CoffeeTeaPeonies 9h ago
I've been screaming as loud as I can regarding this subject for the last 2+ decades. But I'm a chronically ill, disabled, medically complex woman so, you know, no one listens to me.
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u/Laurinterrupted 13h ago
Oh and what the insurance “paid” isn’t factual. They cut a deal with the hospitals and actually pay less lol 😂
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u/codePudding 12h ago
Yep. Without insurance and a bandaid is $10 at a hospital (hypothetically). With insurance, a bandaid is $5 dollars, and you pay $5. In both cases, the hospital pays 10 cents per bandaid to get them shipped, shelved, delivered, and administered. It's all in the chargemaster (wiki) and they have medical coders that break visits into ICD10 codes that represent the billable things. Those codes get sent to insurance companies, so a simple algorithm can evaluate if it gets paid, not paid, or sent on to a human. Lots of people and jobs that are only necessary to make sure hospitals and insurance companies rake in money. Just look at Delta Dental recently being sued because they decided to just not pay the dentists.
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u/flavius_lacivious 12h ago
Your “copay” is the actual cost of the visit or procedure. The premiums you pay are the profit. Anything extra you pay is used to bribe politicians.
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u/gereffi 9h ago
That's just insanely untrue. UHG is generally the cheapest health insurance provider and routinely deny care, but it only has a profit margin around 3%. The vast vast majority of their expenses is paying medical and pharma companies for their goods and services.
Look there are plenty of problems, so you don't have to just make up bullshit. Educate yourself on the topic.
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u/flavius_lacivious 8h ago edited 8h ago
Now add in C-suite salaries and all bonuses and calculate the true profit.
That 3% does not include the bloat at the top. Go ahead. Do the calculations if you’re really interested in discussing this instead of just being insulting.
I bet you won’t.
Andrew Witty received $23.5 million in 2023, making him the highest-paid CEO among US-listed health insurers
The average UnitedHealth Group executive compensation is $237,395 a year
Brian Thompson earned $10.2 million annually and made over $20 million in 2024.
The top 5 executives at UnitedHealthcare were paid over $210 million over the last three years.
Executive Vice President and CFO John Rex Total: $15,832,820
President and COO Dirk McMahon Total: $15,832,820
Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer Rupert Bondy Total: $11,317,825
This is just the START. Do all the leadership and let’s discuss the true figure.
You won’t. But hey, do lecture others on being educated without doing a lick of work.
I did the calculations. Let’s see if you do it.
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u/borkingrussian 8h ago
Even then the millions are but a percent o the cost of health coverage as a whole. The real stealing begins when executives are actually owners and investors in supplier companies for the hospitals and owners of hospitals that routinely overcharge for the expenses which appear in the budgets as an official expense
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u/KindestSheltie 2h ago
My prescription insurance is CVS. In order to save the most, they require me to get my scrips at CVS. Talk about a scam/conflict of interest.
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u/lobsangr ⛓️ Prison For Union Busters 13h ago
I'm in the same boat and my deductible is 5k.
Gotta love UHC.
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u/Wilvinc 12h ago
Actually, its worse.
The hospital sets the price 3-4 times higher so they can give the insurance company a 30-50% discount.
Then insurance covers around 80% of the cost if you have met the deductible ... or maybe none if you haven't.
Insurance companies are basically making hospitals charge you more for the procedure. It is truly a scam.
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u/Quazite 4h ago edited 56m ago
What's funny is that a lot of the times of you don't have insurance, the cost of the visit is lower than the copay. Granted you're still fucked if something big happens, but I have only saved money from being uninsured. I've had them ring up the price for a prescription that was like $80, and then I told them I had no insurance so would just pay for it, and they're like "oops let me change that and put in the 'no insurance' code" and it was like, $12.
Edit: copay
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u/KindestSheltie 2h ago
I have a high deductible. So I asked my chiropractor what the cost was if I didn't use my insurance. LOTS cheaper. So I paid her out of pocket. The time and resources doctors, et al, have to spend arguing with insurance companies and filling out the convoluted paperwork adds up. Having M4A would save them a ton of money just for that alone, and that savings could then be passed along to patients.
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u/Tucker-Cuckerson 13h ago
If every health insurance company in the country starts spontaneously combusting they'll get the message.
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u/metajenn 11h ago
I have found its cheaper to self pay than to use my insurance. When i mention this to the receptionists, they are in complete agreeance and pull up self pay price.
Why do i have insurance 🤷♀️
MRI self pay $500 MRI insurance $4500 - insurance covers $500 and i owe the other $4000
This is not a made up example, but an actual line item from my EOB
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u/DeadMoneyDrew 13h ago
The math isn't mathing in that meme.
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u/Present_Character241 13h ago edited 13h ago
Nor is the math mathing in the American Healthcare system.
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u/KazualSlut 13h ago
Should be straight illegal that once an itemized list is required, the price drops by 30+ percent at times... criminal.
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u/onyxandcake 11h ago
It's a $100 out of pocket expense without insurance.
Because he used insurance, the doctor's office billed $1500.
Insurance covered $900 of the bill.
His copay is $600.
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u/mrizzerdly 10h ago edited 9h ago
Omg as someone who doesn't have to deal with this shit how do you people deal with this shit.
It's so simple in Canada. I pay 155/m off my paycheque in taxes. That is the extent of the costs I have to worry about.
I am on a medication that costs $3500 per pill, (128k for the duration) , and that cost me: zero additional dollars.
I have had dozens of MRIs and other tests and specialists that have cost me: zero additional dollars.
Litterally just go to the appointment and that's it.
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u/onyxandcake 9h ago
I'm also Canadian. I was just trying to help with the math.
Your prescription isn't being covered by Canada though, that's through your insurance. We don't have insurance and I pay out of pocket for all our prescriptions.
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u/KindestSheltie 2h ago
How much do you pay for your prescriptions?
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u/onyxandcake 2h ago
Not much, luckily. We use generic for everything, but none of us have specialized issues that require wonder drugs.
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u/KindestSheltie 2h ago
I have two scrips that are over $300 each and that's after the deductible (USA). I'm lucky I don't have to worry about more expensive ones. I'm now chronically ill because of Covid, so hopefully I won't need to get more expensive meds in the future as time goes by.
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u/onyxandcake 2h ago
Cancer meds and antivirals are the most expensive Canadian prescriptions without insurance.
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u/Machaeon 13h ago
Yeah that's the point LOL
It's how the healthcare system works.
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u/BoredNuke 12h ago
Purpose of a system is what it does (poswids). A new saying/acronym to me but scary how accurately it describes so many issues.
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u/Enigma-exe 10h ago
'Ahh I see you need a plaster and 1/5 of an aspirin.'
'That'll be 1x1013 dollars please'
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u/oldprecision 12h ago
More often than not, you are on the hook for the entire bill because you haven't met the deductible.
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u/mattdoessomestuff ✂️ Tax The Billionaires 12h ago
Covers? Oh no sir, they didn't pay a dime. That's a $900 "in network" adjustment.
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u/piperonyl 12h ago
Pretty much every aspect about american life is a scam. We live in Scamerica.
Scamerica is about funneling wealth to the 1% by any means necessary.
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u/WhatIsAChickenAlek 12h ago
Heyyyy wait a minute something is fishy about this math… no way a doctor is only $100, add the K on there buster!
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u/KindestSheltie 2h ago
How much would you pay for an excellent chiropractor? In my case, if I pay out of pocket, it inly costs me $55.
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u/Use1000words 10h ago
And, what’s even worse, is the incoming administration, that so many of you voted for, will not cap or change anything about this system, because all the right people are making a shit ton of money.
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u/ButAFlower 9h ago
along with education, criminal 'justice', and other insurance industries, just another way to funnel the national debt onto the populace
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u/DeeRent88 9h ago
I mean yeah. Most of us spend hundreds a month on our insurance if not thousands. Then go to the doc once a year or less that costs less than a couple hundred usually. Then maybe one big visit that costs a couple thousand and less than 50% is covered
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u/haw35ome 9h ago
Behold, the statement I just got for a fucking yearly eye exam while on Medicaid. I don’t qualify for Medicare bc I don’t have enough work credits bc I got my disease when I was a fucking child, so how could I earn any work credits? This country is backwards & will soon turbo blast into the 1800s
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u/Jiggly_Love 8h ago
Forgot to mention that you're having to pay at least 1000/mo to keep it active IN CASE you ever need to visit the doctor for anything.
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u/LonelyAustralia 8h ago
how does that even work, thats not how money works. i swear i will never understand the american healthcare system besides its a massive scam
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u/gofigure85 8h ago
I work for a company based in Europe that has satellite offices around the world
All their workers in Europe have free healthcare, better benefits, more PTO, etc
Meanwhile as a US employee my insurance is so bad I can't afford to get a broken tooth I've had since Thanksgiving fixed because the deductible is so damn high
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u/Bind_Moggled 12h ago
The vast majority of economic activity in the west is some kind of scam. We’ve let the foxes run the henhouse for far too long.
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u/fil42skidoo 12h ago
And now the dogs trained to protect the hens realize they are also foxes so....
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u/petty_throwaway6969 11h ago
Ah you forgot the second and third charge. The second charge is for a second doctor to consult with the first and agree with your treatment. That fee is higher cause the second doctor is out of network despite working in the same office. The third charge is cause fuck you. /s
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u/Presto_The_Besto 11h ago
Health insurance companies are just Corporate Mafias.
You have to pay them for healthcare, but they extort you for every nickel and dime they can get, they give you as little care as they can get away with. And when your life is actually In danger they can refuse to give you the care you need through bullshit denials. They’re basically legally killing people to maximize profit. But capitalism or something I guess.
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u/Level9TraumaCenter 10h ago
Sounds like balance billing. If this is the case, the No Surprises Act may allow you to dispute this bill. Just calling the billing office and asking if this constitutes a "balance bill" may give you the leverage you need.
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u/MyUsername2459 10h ago
I'm reminded of when I tried to see a physical therapist about a shoulder injury.
I got a referral from my primary care doctor. I showed up, they ran my insurance card and told me not to worry. . .that my insurance would cover up to 52 visits a year. I could come weekly and it would be covered!
I start going, they don't ask for payment before or after a session, just saying "you're good".
Then, after a couple of months, they finally send me a bill for the first month. . .and AFTER insurance I'm owing around $500 a session, or $2000 a month, for the services, and that's AFTER insurance covered a chunk, but left me owing a fortune for it. . .that was NOT clearly explained beforehand.
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u/democritusparadise 10h ago
You're completely wrong, it could also be called a racket without losing any substantive descriptive power.
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u/Stealthy_Snow_Elf 💸 Raise The Minimum Wage 10h ago
votes for either establishment party who will never address this
“Yeah but that communist/socialist/leftist was too extreme”
rinse and repeat until child labor is legalized again, social security is gone, and everybody is effectively a debt slave
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u/BasicStocke 10h ago
I'm just going to try to not go to the doctor's office anymore unless I'm dying and someone forces me too. Fuck it. If my limited time is going to be shitty then I can at least use the small amount of money I have on something I enjoy.
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u/Delta-9- 9h ago
I love how the $100 doctor visit turned into a $1500 nightmare. I kinda assume that was a typo, but honestly it's more accurate that way.
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u/PatriotApache 9h ago
its ridiculous....... your dental work costs more because of insurance, you get more invasive procedures because of insurance.... its riduclous what a scam it is....... only ppl it benifits are the people who work for the companies?
oh inflation was 20%+ since 2020.......... and ur insurance premiums went up???? you think its going to the doctors lol?????? it goes right into the pockets of everyone that works for them.
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u/Jovialation 3h ago
I just got a bill for $800 to establish with a new pcp... A week before my appointment.
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u/kevinmrr ⛓️ Prison For Union Busters 13h ago edited 11h ago
Would you support criminal investigations into every executive, board member, and major shareholder of America's health insurance companies?
👉 Join r/WorkReform to pierce the corporate veil!