Some people say that medical care in the United States is free, and some people say that it costs thousands of dollars to treat a cold in the United States. Which one is true?

I study in America. Let me answer this question, because I see that many of the following answers are hearsay or outdated answers. The medical system in the United States is very complicated, so let me talk about what I have encountered. Although not comprehensive, every example is true.

First of all, it is obviously wrong to say that American medical care is free. Some people say this because people who eat subsistence allowances can really get free treatment, and there is the matter of giving birth to a baby. If the income is not high, all medical care after the child gives birth is free. But for most Americans, especially those middle class who say that poverty means poverty and wealth means wealth, they are particularly unlucky, because they not only have to pay a lot of insurance premiums, but also spend a lot of money on medical treatment.

For example, my friend, who is a postdoctoral student in a university, only needs to pay $30 in insurance every month, which is the welfare of university employees, and the insurance premium is even lower, but after she gives birth to a child, she has to pay $300 to $400 every month!

Blue Cross Shield, a famous American medical insurance company.

Is it free to see a doctor after paying insurance? Don't! First of all, copay, an evil thing, can be understood as registration fee! It costs 40 dollars to see a general doctor, 94 dollars to see a specialist clinic and 337 dollars to see an emergency room. 337 yuan is not small money. You can buy an IPHONE 1 1 after watching it twice!

In addition to co-payment, you also need to pay for medical treatment and testing. My friend spent $4,000 from beginning to end, and her insurance plan is 20% out of pocket and $2,500 out of pocket. That is to say, if the medical expenses in each natural year are $2,500, you have to pay $2,500 yourself. If you spend $5,000, you must pay $2,500 in advance and the remaining $2,500.

Another advantage of insurance is that it can help you avoid most of the expenses. For example, you don't have to pay for the flu vaccine. Seeing a family doctor usually costs nothing except paying a $40 copayment, as long as you don't do those high-tech tests. But the medicine prescribed by the family doctor still costs extra money.

My friend went for an MRI because of lumbar disc herniation, and paid $900 at once!

As for the cold cost 1000 dollars, it may be a severe flu patient, so it is necessary to test this and that, especially when going to the emergency room. In any case, it will cost $65,438+0,000. Seeing a family doctor for a common cold means paying a copayment of several tens of dollars.

In America, you need to make an appointment to see a doctor. For example, you need to make an appointment to see a family doctor by phone, but in many cases, you can only make an appointment after a week or even a month. So Americans have a strong self-healing ability. For example, if you have a cold or pain, you make an appointment to see a doctor, but by the time of the appointment, your illness may be cured by yourself!

Someone asked what to do if an emergency happened too late. If it is the kind of sudden fainting and limb amputation, these are life-threatening problems at first glance, then you must go to the emergency room! The emergency room is very expensive. If it is not an emergency room, you have to wait in line for four or five hours. The emergency room is for those seriously ill patients, but there are some low-income households, elderly people and homeless people in the United States who don't need money, so anyone with a headache and brain fever also goes, which is more crowded and slower.

In addition to the emergency room, there is another place in the United States called emergency room, which does not require an appointment, but the registration fee is two or three times higher than that of ordinary family doctors, but the cost is still much lower than that of emergency room, and the queue is not long. Only the level of first aid is limited, and those diseases and accidents involving life safety are still in the emergency room.

The high level of medical care in the United States should refer to the high level of top medical care and life-related diseases. Doctors and instruments in America may be more advanced, so rich people can go to America to continue their lives, but the cost is also sky-high. But the level of general practice in the United States is not necessarily high. Doctors here pay more attention to the use of instruments. The number of patients they see in a week is not as good as that of Dr. China for half a day, and their theoretical experience is far less than that of Dr. China.

Besides, the American medical system is really inefficient. The population of the United States is increasing rapidly, but the number of doctors has not increased accordingly, resulting in a shortage of medical resources in the United States. Otherwise, how can you wait a week to a month to make an appointment?

So I'm worried about whether the United States can effectively deal with the COVID-19 epidemic this time and whether it can contain it. Alas, I hope that after this virus, American society can reflect on its own medical system.

This problem needs to be viewed in two, because the reimbursement of the medical system in any country is more complicated, and the reimbursement ratio of different people will be different.

Therefore, we can't say that medical care in the United States is completely free, nor can we say that the price of medical treatment in the United States will be sky-high, because nothing is absolute.

We all know that the United States is a developed country with a huge gap between the rich and the poor. As people's daily necessities, medical care is naturally brought into its ruling framework by the government.

In the United States, if you are a group of people living on state welfare, the state does favor this group of people in medical security, so people with difficulties can get free medical care.

Because we will find a problem from American movies, that is, often an American hero can save the whole world, and this heroic plot is also reflected in the care for the disadvantaged groups.

However, as people above the middle class in the United States, it is obviously not included. Not only do they need to pay fees and buy insurance, but the cost of seeing a doctor is also a big expense.

Some people say that if you don't have commercial insurance and medical insurance, will seeing a doctor in America really bankrupt you in minutes? I tried to sort out the information about this problem.

In the United States, it is generally to see a doctor first and then pay. Therefore, if you meet a person with low quality, even the default hospital must serve the patients, because the hospital will consider the problem in a humanitarian way.

If the patient is seriously ill, has no money and needs hospitalization, but has no insurance, the hospitalization expenses of the patient are generally borne by the government, hospitals and other public welfare organizations.

This situation directly raises the cost of American hospitals. In order to maintain normal operation, hospitals have to increase emergency expenses, which is also a reason for the high emergency expenses in the United States.

Similarly, the American health care system is also very complicated. There are many kinds of commercial insurance. To put it bluntly, the higher the insurance amount. The better the medical service you enjoy,

Under normal circumstances, American work units will bear part or all of the insurance premiums, and many good big companies will also buy full medical insurance for their employees as part of their benefits.

In other words, in capitalist countries, "money" is the key to solving medical problems. Usually, the poor need to pay the least medical expenses, while the middle class in the United States is often the most stressed.

1. My daughter's family of four has lived in the United States for many years, enjoying medical benefits in the United States, getting sick, giving birth, doing routine physical examination, oral health care, etc. And made an appointment with her own personal doctor to see her in the hospital. Conditional service is also quite good. Payment and bills are really free. It seems to be free, but it is not! They work in the United States and pay high medical insurance every year. A good big company pays part of its employees as well as most of them. The insurance mechanism there is perfect, and people living there have a strong sense of insurance. They don't need insurance companies to sell in China, so they pay consciously or deduct in advance. This is the so-called free medical care. Actually, the money was given first.

In 2005, we went to visit relatives in America. My husband fell ill there because there was no insurance, but he had to see a doctor. There is no way to go to the hospital. There is no charge in advance to see a doctor, which is humanized, and the service attitude and medical quality are satisfactory. After reading it, he went straight home, but it didn't come for nothing. Just wait for the bill to be delivered, which was originally expensive, and then go to the bank to pay with it. My daughter was still in graduate school that year and had no income. In this case, we can explain the reasons for applying for relief, such as 20%, 30%, 40% and 60% relief. After repeated discussions, it was really difficult to verify, and finally the government paid the bill. But if we had known from the beginning that it was so expensive, maybe we wouldn't have seen it or returned to China early. I really don't want to take advantage of others.

There are also free medical institutions, especially church hospitals, which serve the poor. Not only can they get medicine without spending a penny, but they also get relief items, including all kinds of food and nutrition for adults and children, clothes, blankets, shoes and hats, toys donated by individuals, and they can get them casually after registering their names. But one thing, medical service is the most basic and simple, only some commonly used drugs, it is impossible to do in-depth examination.

Compared with other countries, the United States has very generous health care services and benefits for babies and teenagers. Most physical examinations and nutritious food are provided free of charge. In those years, we often used regular checks to go to the supermarket to buy milk powder, eggs, juice, preserved milk and puree, and rarely paid for it ourselves until we raised our two children in primary school.

It is true that American medical care is free, and it is also true that medical care is expensive. My understanding is as follows:

First of all, the United States is divided into two lines: public medical care and private medical care. Public medical care is free, but private medical care is expensive. Good hospitals are basically private hospitals, such as the world's number one Mayo Center.

Second, the public health care in the United States implements a relatively strict grading diagnosis and treatment and appointment system. Patients need to make an appointment step by step. First, community hospitals or family doctors make appointments, wait, see a doctor and treat. If it can't be cured, it can be transferred from a community hospital to a bigger hospital. Go through the above process again. It is difficult for China to go directly to a public hospital or see a doctor on the same day in the United States.

Third, private medical care has high standards and high prices, even with insurance. A few years ago, I went to Massachusetts, USA, and my colleague got acute appendicitis. I was sent to the mission hospital and discharged after anesthesia. I paid 15000 about three days ago, and the insurance was reimbursed for more than 80%, and the rest was taken care of by myself. Another colleague, coordinate Beijia, knocked out his teeth while playing basketball, planted teeth, spent nearly 20 thousand, reimbursed more than 80%, and took care of himself. How much is the insurance premium? I don't know it carefully. It is estimated that it will cost several hundred dollars a month.

Fourth, from my personal point of view, although public medical care in the United States is free, it needs to make an appointment and wait for graded diagnosis and treatment, and minor illnesses need not be treated, and serious illnesses can't afford it. Private medical care is too expensive, even with insurance. Colleagues earn more than100000 dollars a year before tax (the median household income in the United States is about 60000 dollars), and it is also very painful to spend money on dental implants.

In short, people feel that the ability to make money is king, and places without money are very wronged. [Cover your face] [Cover your face] [Cover your face]

The United States has a medical insurance system, and most people have paid medical insurance. If you join the medical insurance, it will be free to a certain extent and time, but if you are seriously ill, you still have to bear part of the expenses.

First of all, I want to tell you what I have learned here, taking Houston, USA as an example:

1. Acupuncture is covered by medical insurance in Houston. The normal acupuncture fee is 100 USD (the same below), which is equivalent to 100 RMB in China.

2. People who bought medical insurance came to acupuncture, and it was free for 8 times a month ago, and the government paid the bill. This fee is directly settled by the acupuncturist (shopkeeper) and the insurance company.

If acupuncture is still needed after 3 or 8 times, the rest should be paid on the spot 100 yuan. The price operator can't go up at will. If other items are not provided or the patient's consent is not obtained, only 100 yuan can be charged. If you are reported, you must be fined.

Second, so in Houston, USA (I believe other cities are the same), acupuncture basically takes one week as a course of treatment, that is to say, try to cure each other for the first eight times, otherwise there will be no repeat customers unless there are special circumstances. Because everyone wants freedom, everyone needs freedom.

To sum up, in the absence of medical insurance in the United States, it is normal for a bad cold to cost thousands of dollars if it is solved by medical expenses.

Fourth, many people take it for granted that it is wrong to exchange money. Because 100 dollars spent in the United States is equivalent to 100 dollars spent in China. For example, the US dollar 1 000 in the title is equivalent to spending RMB 1 000 in China, and it is not surprising to spend thousands of dollars to treat a bad cold at home and abroad.

Let me answer this question. My classmate's daughter and son-in-law are all in the United States and have medical insurance, so they also have medical insurance when they see a doctor. I don't know the specific proportion, but it is basically the same as our current employee medical insurance. Why do you say that? Because our current employee medical insurance is modeled after American medical insurance. But those who don't have medical insurance will suffer. My classmate and his wife go to America every other year to look after their children. They have to take a lot of common medicines when they go to America. In their words, if you want to see a doctor at your own expense, you might as well buy a plane ticket and go back to China to see if it is cost-effective.

There are public medical services in the United States. If you pay medical insurance, you can enjoy this part of the service, and it is free, but only if you pay medical insurance. The United States is divided into public medical care and private medical care. Rich people can enjoy very perfect private medical care, but they must pay high fees.

Recently, the COVID-19 epidemic is spreading in the United States. Many countries in the world offer free treatment for this disease. Because the situation in the United States is not particularly serious, the US government has not responded yet. In other words, Americans have to spend money to treat, and it costs $3,000 to test nucleic acid once. So many people are against it. Americans are now preparing to sign books. As long as the number of signatories exceeds 654.38 million, the US government must respond and all Americans will respond.

There are only 160 patients in novel coronavirus, but 1 1 has died. The problem lies in the CDC. Because there are not enough detection reagents in the United States, only those patients with serious illness can be detected, which leads to the delay of patients with mild illness and the high mortality rate. To this end, US Vice President Burns recently said that as for nucleic acid testing, anyone can do it now, and the approval authority of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is decentralized, and private enterprises can also produce nucleic acid testing reagents. But also included this disease in medical insurance.

Last year, a severe influenza broke out in the United States, causing 26 million infections and 14000 deaths. As a result, the medical system in the United States has a very heavy burden, and now it has to face novel coronavirus, which makes the current medical system in the United States overwhelmed. Therefore, the US Senate today allocated $8.3 billion to deal with novel coronavirus. With these funds, Americans can continue to enjoy free medical care. Of course, all the money comes from the state.

I have never been sick or experienced in America. But in Spain (a western country similar to the United States), we have problems with public and private hospitals.

Last May, I was playing in Spain, and I was accidentally bitten by a dog in a place called Salamanca. I was very nervous at that time, and I was anxious to find a hospital for treatment and vaccination. As a stranger, I asked the local restaurant owner for help. A female boss introduced me to two hospitals, one is public; One is private. I asked her what the difference was. She told me that public treatment is free, but you didn't know the cost of medicine and other materials at that time. The hospital will send you the bill in the future, which may be more expensive than private treatment. Private hospitals are expensive, but the price is clearly marked, and then you will know how much it costs. After hearing what she said, I decided to go to a private hospital because I didn't want to get free treatment in a public hospital. It costs 104.7 euros to register in a private hospital, which is equivalent to RMB close to 800 yuan. Then I waited in line for over four hours before it was my turn. Because of the different national conditions, dogs are vaccinated in their country, so they think dogs are safe (the dog that bit me does have a pet passport and has a vaccination record every year), and they have not given me rabies vaccine, but only prescribed some anti-inflammatory drugs and painkillers. These drugs were not bought at local pharmacies (there is no pharmacy in the hospital, so we can only buy them at outside pharmacies), so it is estimated that it is also expensive to buy them locally. Just hanging a number costs more than 100 euros, which is quite expensive for local people. The average monthly salary of local people is 1000 to 1200 euros. With this experience, I realized that it is convenient and cheap to see a doctor in China.

Free medical care in America? Miami people will tell those envious and pitiful eyes how big their dreams are. Does it cost thousands of dollars to treat a cold in America? Americans will tell you, reliable!

This bill is a bill that Americans take the initiative to apply for inspection when they are worried that they will be infected with COVID-19 virus during their travel. Knowing that his monthly medical insurance payment of $400 was not enough, he cancelled the CT scanning project and only did a kit test. As a result, he didn't get the bill until he was diagnosed with the flu. After his medical insurance reimbursement, he still has to pay $65,438+0,400. Of course, we don't know what the cost of that medicine box is, because at the moment of this epidemic, our cost is paid by the state, but at least it can prove that medical care in the United States is free, which is boasted by some Americans for some purpose!

From this small case, we can also roughly estimate that if an American doesn't pay $400 a month for medical insurance, it will be more reliable to say that it costs thousands of dollars to treat a cold. That's the salary of an ordinary government employee in the United States for five days. Of course, it is much more expensive than our Huoxiang Zhengqi water to treat colds. National conditions and people's feelings are different, so there is no need to compare with others.

However, this incident reveals from another side that the confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection in the United States released by the CDC are only 158, but they have reached the real reason of the 7% figure of 1 1 death. If it weren't for COVID-19, what about the family's living expenses for half a month? In case of unfortunate diagnosis, how high will the treatment cost be? How are you going to live in the future? The government's indifference to the COVID-19 epidemic will undoubtedly make people think that COVID-19 can only recover without medical treatment. Why risk letting the family go bankrupt? However, the disaster in COVID-19 is far from it! Therefore, there is a phenomenon that the number of confirmed cases released by the CDC is low, which is five or six percentage points more than that of South Korea, and the mortality rate is high.

In this case, should we envy the American people? Or are you glad you were born in your own country? There should be a more reliable cognition.

The United States has never had free medical care in a "broad sense". It's all nonsense from some people in China.

The United States is a "minor" and the elderly over 65, including the disabled, who have free medical care or most of them. Other normal people need to buy insurance at their own expense.

If you don't have insurance in America, you'd better pray to God that you don't get seriously ill, otherwise the cost of going to the hospital is really beyond the affordability of ordinary people.

My niece works and lives in San Francisco, USA, and my sister-in-law goes to see her daughter. As a result, because I was old, I lived there for a while and went to the hospital for a "comprehensive examination." Because my eldest sister-in-law is not American, I have to see a doctor at my own expense. As a result, the total cost of a round of physical examination is 20 thousand dollars.

My colleagues and I went to America on business. My colleague ate and drank wine, so he didn't have enough brains when he took the bus. He broke a finger when he closed the car door, and the cost of going to the hospital for treatment was 3 thousand dollars. Although it is a work-related injury, it can be reimbursed after returning to China, but everyone can see that the cost is huge!

The United States is a country with good welfare policies for the old, the weak and the disabled. Other normal people need to "earn their own living" to make money.

There are many vagrants on the streets of American cities. If you pay attention, you will find that these vagrants are basically "young adults", because the elderly, children and disabled people are taken care of by the US government.

These "young tramps" are just too lazy because they don't want to work hard! So I wandered around. Why doesn't the U.S. government care about begging or even sleeping on the street?

It's not that the US government doesn't care. It's that these homeless people don't want to live in "shelters" run by the government or charities. They just like sleeping on the street. They feel so free. They feel that living in a "shelter" is not free. Some shelters also have drug addicts.

Let me show you two pictures of American "shelters":

This is the "dormitory" of the shelter, and below it is the restaurant of the shelter.

This condition should be ok, right? But these tramps just don't want to go!

Every city in the United States has a "food bank" for the poor to receive bread, ham, peanut butter, jam, drinks, milk powder, vegetables and fruits for free. The US government also issues food stamps to eligible poor people, who can buy food in supermarkets.

However, the "food bank" absolutely does not supply tobacco and alcohol, and "food stamps" cannot buy tobacco and alcohol in supermarkets. Therefore, some beggars in the United States will tell each other frankly in the "advertisements" of begging: "Why cheat? I want a beer "(why lie? I want beer. Someone said "implicitly": "I need cash for alcohol research".

There are also many philanthropists in the United States. They often do charitable activities and distribute food to the homeless and beggars.

Look at this tramp's famous brand. Beggars on the streets of the United States generally earn $ 20-30 an hour, while the average American office worker's "minimum hourly wage" is only $ 15. Why do you think these guys are willing to work?

So these homeless people in America don't deserve sympathy! They earn more than you!

In a word, America is not as good as some people think, nor as bad as some people think! Everyone needs to look at it objectively and don't be a brainless person!