zlacker

Aside from the prescription part, this is exactly 1:1 how it works in the US. I say this having myself and my family utilize all of it extensively, public tax-funded emergency treatment, inpatient coverage, private doctors and specialists.

>>llbbdd+(OP)
The public system in Hong Kong doesn't really cost anything. It's not that you get costs "waived" if you whine hard enough that you ought to be a charity case (which, by the way, is degrading,) and it's not that costs are passed on to a middleman. Medical treatment is transparently priced and simply inexpensive -- so it's simply not a cause of bankruptcy in Hong Kong, whereas, in the US...

> https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/medical-b...

Also, perhaps because it's a lot more laissez faire, the private system in Hong Kong is almost unimaginably superior to the private system in the US. It's far cheaper because pricing is transparent and most people pay cash! (Cutting out that middleman.) It's higher quality because there's a lot more competition, rather than collusion among a few major providers.

>>llbbdd+(OP)
What free health services are available to me that I am unaware of?

>>A_D_E_+d4
Nearly identical with a coat of paint. Every "horror story" I've heard about having to beg with the health system here is tellingly parroted by people who do not have experience with the system. It is the default to get itemized bills when you are insured and the outcome is the same. And again, there is nothing unusual about private care in the US - I pay cash, direct, a small amount monthly, for excellent private care. The ghost people claim to haunt US healthcare is mostly propaganda that for some reason is consumed wholesale by people outside the US who have no stake in it.

>>jrs235+qf
How free do you want it? Emergency healthcare is free at point of service in the US. Most other healthcare is covered partially or entirely if you're employed, which you should be. I've had hundreds of thousands of dollars of inpatient medical care for my family that I paid nothing for. Every other metric just starts to deal with the impact of taxes on the definition of free. I'm sure there are countries with systems that are fuzzier feeling to use, but this one works just fine until someone invents infinite unlimited free doctors to replace it.

>>llbbdd+rn
On reread: worth noting that the link you provided for some reason includes "missed more than 2 weeks of work" under "medical bankruptcy". I won't dismiss that out of hand without knowing more but that smells bad.

>>llbbdd+Qn
I agree the US system mostly works for well-employed people.

It is worth recognizing though that not all employed people get medical benefits. Indeed many minimum wage jobs, low income jobs, "casual" jobs etc come with no medical benefits.

It's also worth noting that I some states it's OK to get fired for being sick. At which point you may lose those benefits.

Plus in poor economic times (like being a federal worker right now) losing your medical because you lost your job, seems like a suboptimal outcome.

But I agree with your last statement, this system works just fine, for a large enough group, so there's little political incentive to change it.

>>llbbdd+Qn
> Emergency healthcare is free at point of service in the US.

The same as any fancy restaurant meal is free: They gonna bill ya later

>>llbbdd+(OP)
No, it’s not. Yes, we have Medicaid in the U.S., which makes everything free for the poor, but GP is saying that effectively everybody (including the not-so-poor) can get this level of care in Hong Kong. Definitely not true in the U.S.!

Pricing transparency also does not exist here as GP is claiming it does in Hong Kong. I am supposed to get certain imaging tests done every year, and I never know how much those will cost me until after I have already done them (in the U.S.). Maybe there is some way to get a non-binding estimate ahead of time, but I have never received such a thing and am not even sure it is possible. So I can’t easily “shop around”—or if can, tell me how because I (and I think most people) don’t know how.

I most certainly cannot pay $300 to see a specialist the same day in the U.S. I would have to pay that much to see my GP after waiting 6 weeks despite my employer paying more than $20k/year to insure my family. To see a specialist, I would have to wait a few months and probably pay $1-2k for one visit, not counting any tests or imaging that is ordered.

The description of Hong Kong’s system sounds amazing if true.

>>llbbdd+rn
You are completely wrong, and I can almost hear in my mind how you think something you are promoting as true, is 'basically true' - but please know there are plenty of people reading HN from afar and may come to expect 'free healthcare in US (just go to the ER!)' from your comments.

No it is not.

Lots of experience with the health system in the US, for me, and helping many other navigate the systems.

It's not even close to identical. If you go to ER here and you can't pay, they may provide you with a certain level of 'care' to 'stabilize you' (as the law says they are supposed to, and the feds send some money to hospitals to cover some of this), and you will get billed, and collections calling, and credit report issues, and threats to sue and have your property auctioned (have held one of these letters in my hand, complete with a list of property that was in my name.

Even worse, the 'care' you may get is normally crap. For example I have seen the same people with same condition, at one hospital get a quick surgery and leave with a colostomy bag for rest of life, and other person at other hospital with insurance get placed in a room and treated for weeks - then left with a warning to avoid seeds.

I have seen so many examples of places leaves humans to rot with no insurance - hospitals.

Even with insurance, you can find yourself waiting 6-8 weeks for a doc appointment. I have so many examples.