[thehoff]

I just took a look at our annual medical contributions and employer's part.

We pay just over 10k for health insurance through our (different) companies. Our different employers cover almost 28k. So around 38k for insurance. This doesn't even include dental or vision which is separate.

It just seems so crazy how much we pay and still have deductibles. I understand we have small copays and get items covered like age-related screenings but this just feels excessive.

[rayiner]

Just talk to people in the healthcare industry about what kind of patients they have. We cover a tremendous amount of treatments in the U.S., at an arguably unsustainable level of service.

My aunt had a kidney infection in Canada and my cousin had to pull teeth to get her scheduled for an MRI. My five year old got a black eye from running into a table and they scheduled him for an X-ray and CAT scan (“just in case “) later that same morning. Had the results by lunch. My dad had a non-emergency scan scheduled the next day, and an outpatient procedure for a kidney stent (to treat high blood pressure) within two weeks. Once the surgeon was in there he realized my dad didn’t need a stent after all.

[JohnFen]

Here in the US, I see wait times for medical care comparable from what I hear from my Canadian friends. I don't think we our system can really tout that as an advantage over theirs.

[ponector]

I pay 8% from my salary for mandatory government health "insurance" which is basically a tax as there are enormous waiting queues for something serious.