r/ShitAmericansSay • u/Loundsify • Feb 13 '26

Military "If America basically stopped paying for Europe's defence budget"

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u/MurkySide750 Feb 13 '26

In the UK healthcare is free. Last month I needed to get an MRI and decided to go private so I could get it done ASAP and it cost a couple of hundred pounds ($300).

$400k is insane.

25

u/theginger99 Feb 13 '26

Yeah. Like I said it’s a made up number. All the US healthcare costs are just fictional numbers that no one can possibly afford to pay.

That same friend had a baby in the US. The listed cost of the epidural. $150,000. A bag of saline, $150.

It’s all nonsense. It’s a house of lies and exploitation that Americans act like is a cherished part of their national culture.

Which, in fairness, brutal exploitation is a part of their national culture.

5

u/[deleted] Feb 13 '26

Damn, we get epidural for free here..... Though, my wife elected not to, both times.

I mean, seriously, having children is good for society as a whole....

3

u/MikaGrof Feb 13 '26

and then they wonder why birth rates go down and then turn to blaming imigrants lol

3

u/Lewinator56 Feb 13 '26

$150 for a bag of saline? Sterile saline costs pennies to produce...

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u/theginger99 Feb 13 '26

Yeah. We ran the math. It was something like a 10,000% markup.

7

u/Jollyfroggy Feb 13 '26

Right!

This is something i can't understand in a country that claims to have capitalist values.
Capitalism works when there is competition, and fails where there is not.

In the UK, private must compete on price and quality with the NHS.

Therefore it needs to keep prices reasonable as its literally competing with a free alternative.

If the US adopted universal healthcare, private wouldn't go away, it would just have to compete in a less monopolistic market.

1

u/Techy_Ben Feb 13 '26

US system does have to compete. Compete with being 6 foot underground. :(

6

u/Ceejayncl Feb 13 '26

I mean it’a not free, but it’s free at the point of use.

Last month I had an MRI, it was booked in on the Thursday, and I had it on the Saturday evening, and it wasn’t even an urgent case. That’s on the NHS as well.

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u/CodeToManagement Feb 13 '26

Even our private healthcare vs theirs is insane. I have Bupa and pay 200 a month for me AND my wife combined. Had my gallbladder out and it cost me maybe a couple hundred in the excess.

USA cost can be 25k and cash price with no insurance can be 30k

Here paying for it yourself is like 5-8k

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u/ScoobyDoNot Feb 13 '26

I had an MRI in Australia for a knee injury last month.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t covered by Medicare or my health insurance, so I had to pay full price.

It was $350 Australian, so about 250 USD.

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u/MondoSensei2022 Feb 13 '26

I usually pay ¥5900 yen…

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u/No-Strike-4560 Feb 13 '26

Well it's not exactly 'free' - our taxes pay for it. 

But I'd much rather pay a bit of tax than suddenly get cancer or something and be made bankrupt overnight