181–190 of 205 posts
"It's a poor nation with rich people in it."
Yet the median disposable income per person, after adjustments for government provided healthcare and education is enormously higher than any other nation, according to the OECD. https://data.oecd.org/hha/household-disposable-income.htm
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Not so in the US Yes so in the US. That's literally what the person you replied to just told you: For pregnant women, children, and poor people, it's all fully covered. It's really only the middle class that has it hard (i.e. expensive).
No, it isn't literally what they told me. In many other countries, there is no possibility of being charged for any medical treatment you require when you visit hospital to give birth. It is free as in you don't need to have any money or any way to pay and you can be diagnosed and treated for any medical condition that might become relevant while you're there giving birth, and give birth and have any related issues h…
There really are two Americas - wealthy america and the rest of america. I'll bet if you split America into two sets of counties, the graph would be much different -- one would be a super-outlier and the other a super-laggard. I know this personally, as I've spent 21yrs of my life in one half, and another 20 in the other half. I've also lived overseas for several years, and they also have stratas, but much less prono…
For healthcare, you can probably segment America a little more generously into insured vs uninsured. If you are insured in America, your healthcare is reasonably good. Lower quality plans may have more restrictive networks or higher deductibles and maximums, but these are manageable and neither are truly barriers to care.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I would rather be uninsured and take my chances So you won't seek medical treatment at a hospital if you get injured or become severely ill? Or do you plan to go to the hospital and pay out of pocket? Or, like some other voluntarily uninsured people, will you ask for medical treatment and then just not pay? > than work a low waged job and pay for Obamacare. Why would a "low waged" job be a requirement, unless that'…
I would absolutely do the same if I worked a low wage job. Despite our messed up insurance situation, US laws regarding access to emergency care and bankruptcy are very progressive. Someone making $15/hr is likely does not have any assets that would be surrendered in chapter 7 bankruptcy. A lot of people would gladly crater their credit score for a few years to delete an $80,000 bill. Plenty of people crater their cr…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Where are you? Here in Maryland gold level plan for a single person age 36 making $35,000 a year is about $250/month, with $1,750 deductible. In France or Germany, you’d pay about 10% of your income in health insurance tax, so this is quite comparable.
In Germany, the figure is 14% of your gross salary, and in France it’s over 20%.
Page missed #hrs worked, holidays/vacation days. Actually just the general stress that you have to work hard your whole life just to get-to/stay in middle class. Maybe that is related to the inequality part.
So what is the average number of days holiday for an American full-time worker? Is anybody aware of any studies that compare hours worked per year against life expectancy? Is this valid: https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/long-working-hours-shor...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Expense is also a nonissue on employer insurance. My impression was that many if not most Americans would have to pay an excess (not sure of the American term; money paid by an insured party on using insurance) for any medical care with their work insurance. Is this not the case?
This is true but complex. It depends on the type of service you receive. As a general rule, you'll need to pay a yearly deductible before receiving insurance benefits for non preventative care. This can be anywhere from $500 to $8000. High deductible plans are commonly referred to as "catastrophic" plans, because the deductible is so high, and the kind of people who purchase them are typically not wealthy, that their…
I feel this is never adequately priced into these discussions. everything about healthcare in the US is expensive and complicated, even if you "have insurance", even if you have expensive, seen-as-good-insurance.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Not so in the US Yes so in the US. That's literally what the person you replied to just told you: For pregnant women, children, and poor people, it's all fully covered. It's really only the middle class that has it hard (i.e. expensive).
No, it isn't literally what they told me. In many other countries, there is no possibility of being charged for any medical treatment you require when you visit hospital to give birth. It is free as in you don't need to have any money or any way to pay and you can be diagnosed and treated for any medical condition that might become relevant while you're there giving birth, and give birth and have any related issues h…
Just like @TuringNYC,I spent the early part of my life in the lower half of socio-economic ladder. With a bit of luck (and yes, work), I extracted myself from this group. I'm not rich, but I have zero debt. I own a house, multiple vehicles, and an 4 season expedition camper - free and clear. I have a rewarding and unusual career. By contrast, the entirety of my close and extended family lives in poverty. Bankruptcy,…
I don't agree that "access to healthcare, decent work, and basic housing" would have changed the outcome of a "lethal encounter with police after speeding". Doing that in a Bugatti Veyron is still lethal.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Another statistic that's difficult to compare is homelessness. On first glance, New Zealand (0.94%) and Australia (0.48%) top the OECD for rate of homelessness, as they include people living in temporary accomodation (sleeping on a couch, motels, etc.) or cars as homeless. Whereas Japan (with the 0.00%) only counts people sleeping rough). Comparing unemployment rates has similar issues. Comparing these kinds of rates…
Comparing stats is fraught. There was a really good thread here on HN about how the US calculates its unemployment rate, it is vastly different to how I naively imagined it was calculated. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24836422
Politicians eventually gamed the metric so hard that it's almost worthless now, so economists today mostly use U-6.