These companies have lost their fucking minds. I pay over $200 a month for insurance through my job. Recently I had to go in and get blood work done for a condition I have, and was charged over $200 for the office visit and lab work. When I called to figure out why it wasn’t just a $30 copay like my card states, I was told that due to my high-deductible plan, I’m responsible for all costs until the deductible is reached, and only then will my copays start.
When the fuck did this change? Now I’m responsible for the full cost of an office visit with a regular doctor at the rate of $200+ ON TOP of premiums, costs of service, Rx costs, etc. This isn’t even for a serious condition, I can’t even imagine what it would cost if regular visits were needed. I won’t be paying these bills as medical debt under $500 isn’t reported in my state.
What can we do? How do we push back against them killing us like this? All these insurance companies have been reporting record profits since the pandemic, and before, while we’re paying $1000s month for even the most basic of healthcare services. Meanwhile the liberals continue to dangle the idea of universal health care like a carrot every few years to sway votes.
We should all be far more pissed off at them squeezing profits from us at for sake of our health, but where do we even start to push back in any effective way?
Organize! Join a socialist org near you, most Americans here would reccomend CPUSA or PSL I think
In general, the healthcare system in the US is just nuts. Most of you never lived in a socialist/communist country where the government really did take care of your health. Everything was free back then (regarding healthcare). I remember I had to have my tonsils removed when I was young, my mother’s health care paid for 90% of the costs. The other 10% were covered by her being a blood donor, so basically, we paid nothing. 4 days at the hospital, plus the operation, all paid for by the state.
Which country?
Macedonia, one of the Ex Yugoslavian republics.
I try and explain this to most westerners, they don’t believe me, say I’m lying 🤷.
If you were a blood donor back then, everything regarding health care was free. Weelchairs, orthopedics, operations, drugs, everything. You just went in a pharmacy, show your blood donor badge and just hand over your perscriptions, they give you the drugs, no charge.
I know, it’s hard to believe, but it really was like that.
I don’t see why you should believe most westerners, they’ve consumed too much propaganda.
“USSR/China/Yugoslavia/GDR/etc. was a corrupt, dystopian hellhole where nobody got food and everyone was poor!”
“What, you mean you lived in those countries and you said it was GOOD?! You must be a brainwashed commie!!!”
Sorry for editing my post so many times, it was a long time ago, memories fade, takes time to remeber certain things.
It’s kinda frustrating that no one outside of the ex Yu states believes us when we say “things were a lot better back then”. People just think we’re brainwashed. Every family, regardless of status, could afford basic luxuries, like being able to go on a vacation at least once a year (I can’t afford that right now, I save up for 2 years to go on 1 vacation every 2 years), had 1 car per household (more than enough considering that most people lived in apartments near to where they worked, like maybe 3 to 7km away, public transport took care of these go to work/get back home trips), food was far from scarce, most people had decent meals, not to mention healthier and cheaper meals, almost everything was locally produced, so no VAT, no imported stuff, plus it was really cheap to buy vegetables and fruits, almost no preprocessed products whatsoever in the markets (maybe things like salami and sausages, but that was about it), and even those were fairly cheap (also locally produced).
Some did have more than others, but this was not by much. Wealthier families that were a part of the communist party and had some higher roles in society (polititian or maybe a CEO of a factory, stuff like that) had like 2 cars per household and maybe a house, not an apartment. They also most definitely had enough money to go on 2 vacations per year, but that was about it. Those were the wealthiest people in the country.
My granma was a housewife that lived off the salary of her dead husband (he died while working), had 4 kids, managed to get all of them through uni, aford a car and a large apartment for all 6 members of the family (she remaried). This was all provided by the state, because her first husband died on the job, so it was considered an honor that her husband died while helping the state grow.
I try and explain this, people say I’m lying 🤦.
I 100% believe you, and it’s no wonder you don’t hear those kinds of stories more often. Don’t need us common serfs getting any crazy notions.
Healthcare is one of the biggest drivers of economic “growth” in late stage capitalism, the ruling class will never let it be touched
The reason why the healthcare system is parasitic is because it is controlled by the bourgeoisie and so it serves their interests. We must control it or create an alternative and protect it from the state. As per always the creation of proletarian power starts with unionization and organizing a radical proletarian political party. This is the work to be done to counteract, change, or create conditions.
This is why we see so many unionization efforts underway, from Marxists to anarcho syndicalists, to the preexisting labor bureau/aristocratic unions expanding and striking. This conversation has already been had. It’s a race to unionize.
A similar race is taking place in the political sphere however this race is much more competitive than the union race. This is because there are many ‘false prophets’, wolves in sheeps clothings operating so as to sabotage our class’ efforts towards liberation.
Digressing, the work is already being carried out, our task is to continue this work and intensify it by building our organizations and thus our class’ potential power. For this power to be realized and utilized it must be guided in a revolutionary manner.
That’s insane mate. Healthcare insurance here costs me 8 euro’s a month and my employer pays for hospital insurance. Unless I get like stage 4 cancer or something I’m set. And it’s not like my employer pays a lot, maybe 10-15 euro’s a month.
Mental to run a system in which you pay hundreds each month and are still not covered.
Where are you from?
The healthcare system here is fucked. $200+ was for a regular doctor visit, and I just had to see a specialist so I can’t even imagine what that’ll end up costing. The whole thing makes me boil thinking of these schmucks raking in billions off sick people, squeezing them for exuberant amounts of money for basic health services.
Nah that’s too hard. Let’s all just worship some billionaire and when anything bad happens blame some other country. /sarcasm
It is completely ridiculous. https://wendellpotter.substack.com/p/big-insurance-2022-revenues-reached
Revenues for insurance are over 1 trillion. Profits are almost 100 billion. It’s completely out of control and is fundamentally a wealth transfer platform.
We will only fix it when we fix it all.
I’m not in US but I feel you. I moved to Ireland. A month into my new job they dropped the reasonable (seemingly) insurance and replaced it with one which legit covered nothing but a few online visits with a doctor. I had an emergency surgery and now have 10 years of medical loan to pay. I’d have it regardless because apparently you need to be with an insurance for 1-3 years for them to cover issues related to preexisting conditions. I’m now in Germany and was trying to find a doctor but got no responses. I decided to schedule a doctor further away and will go on Monday. I have to inform work because it’s during work hours. Best of luck to all my health impaired comrades. I really hate how ableism is the most impactful systemical oppression and also the least talked about.
tell me about it – it blows my mind i had to spend $600 on various lab tests for a health problem ive been having… and despite these procedures costing thousands before insurance in a country with the ““greatest healthcare on earth”” they still dont know wtf is wrong w/ me
Y’all really need to get those in control, they’ve already saturated how much they can scalp Yankees. Now they’re putting in all the effort to privatise public healthcare systems around the world. Europe might need to invade the USA for healthcare warfare.
$200 a month is cheap now. Look at any contract job and you are lucky to get anything less than $100 A WEEK. It’s ridiculous. And if you don’t pay for it they penalize your taxes for being uninsured. Last job I had interviewed for it was $150 a week.
Not to mention the gouging at urgent care clinics. Often when I need to go to the doctor, i can’t get an appointment for weeks and need to rely on urgent care. More than once I’ve been charged $400+ just to walk in and have the doctor tell me they can’t do anything.
US Healthcare is just the Mafia in scrubs.
I don’t know what people can do for general healthcare. Personally, most of my medical costs are from HRT related medicines, and I simply began obtaining it without the middle-man (pharmacies). In the trans world this is referred to as DIY (not legal). I have no idea if things like this exist for the majority of healthcare.
