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The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

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Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#31

Post by nik736 »

TomMarius wrote: post #5
jstanley wrote: post #2

> Google tells me that the most common reason for hospitalization in the US is childbirth. Thankfully, here in San Francisco, that would only set me back $15,000 Surely this is not true? Does having kids just bankrupt ordinary people in the US or what? I'm not asking about exceptional cases, like what is the normal way of dealing with having to pay $15,000 just to have a baby climb out of your body, when I'm assuming…

It costs around the same in Europe if you don't have insurance. I'm pretty sure it's the same in the USA - this is the rate that would be charged to your insurance company. Rates are way lower for uninsured people if you ask them and tell them that you're not insured (I got a bill lowered 10 times when I broke my hand); and of course most people have some kind of insurance. To the people downvoting: please read prope…

Can you elaborate? In Germany at least this is not true at all.

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#32

Post by dirktheman »

TomMarius wrote: post #5
jstanley wrote: post #2

> Google tells me that the most common reason for hospitalization in the US is childbirth. Thankfully, here in San Francisco, that would only set me back $15,000 Surely this is not true? Does having kids just bankrupt ordinary people in the US or what? I'm not asking about exceptional cases, like what is the normal way of dealing with having to pay $15,000 just to have a baby climb out of your body, when I'm assuming…

It costs around the same in Europe if you don't have insurance. I'm pretty sure it's the same in the USA - this is the rate that would be charged to your insurance company. Rates are way lower for uninsured people if you ask them and tell them that you're not insured (I got a bill lowered 10 times when I broke my hand); and of course most people have some kind of insurance. To the people downvoting: please read prope…

It's free in The Netherlands. Well, not technically free but it's covered by the universal healthcare so it won't cost you a dime. (FYI the basic healthcare plans all cover the same regardless of insurance company. It covers nearly everything that you could go bankrupt on. There are extra packages that cover additional care like physical therapy or dentist costs. A basic plan is around EUR 90,- per month with a deductible of EUR 385,- per annum, but there's no deductible for MD visits and, yes, childbirth/neonatal care).

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#33

Post by pjc50 »

mothsonasloth wrote: post #14

In the UK people's savings have been shrinking for the last 10 years. Its scary how many people are living hand to mouth, and with banks offering crappy interest rates it is no wonder people are spending rather than saving. cue : rampant consumerism, payday loans, wage stagnation etc.

Yes, and in this case it can't be blamed on healthcare costs and mostly not on student loans - it's mostly housing that's the problem, and relatedly costs of transport (because to some extent you can trade one against the other).

For pensioners the top complaint is usually energy bills, but I don't think it's a good idea to make energy too cheap lest people use more of it.

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#34

Post by TomMarius »

cronz wrote: post #11
TomMarius wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It costs around the same in Europe if you don't have insurance. I'm pretty sure it's the same in the USA - this is the rate that would be charged to your insurance company. Rates are way lower for uninsured people if you ask them and tell them that you're not insured (I got a bill lowered 10 times when I broke my hand); and of course most people have some kind of insurance. To the people downvoting: please read prope…

Haha, what? Childbirth costs 0 € in a public hospital

It doesn't. Not everywhere and every time. See my other reply.

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#35

Post by realusername »

noelwelsh wrote: post #15

Modern societies are supposed to be organised for the benefit of all in society (broadly speaking; obviously there are cases when different people have desires that cannot be reconciled). This is why the government usually sponsors education, for example. All of society benefits from an educated population and hence all of society contributes to the cost of that education. This seems to have been lost in the US (and,…

I think personally that the main problems in the developed world were globalisation + large scale automation, it completely destroyed the power the average worker had, and power directly means money.

Inflation is only low because better technology and bigger markets are now available which automatically makes everything cheaper to make, but even that isn't enough to compensate the loss of power of the middle class.

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#36

Post by TomMarius »

jvannistelrooy wrote: post #30
TomMarius wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It costs around the same in Europe if you don't have insurance. I'm pretty sure it's the same in the USA - this is the rate that would be charged to your insurance company. Rates are way lower for uninsured people if you ask them and tell them that you're not insured (I got a bill lowered 10 times when I broke my hand); and of course most people have some kind of insurance. To the people downvoting: please read prope…

Do you have a source? I did a quick google for the Netherlands, but couldn't find any information about the real costs (without insurance).

I do, the Czech laws regarding health insurance - and pricing will be sent on request to the hospital.

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#37

Post by NTDF9 »

The biggest trick that the FED has pulled is that it convinced the world that inflation is at 2% yoy. What a disgraceful joke!

Had they been real about the inflation, the interest rates on savings would've been higher. Sure, it would crash the stock market but the stock market only benefits the rich disproportionately. Not teachers, admins, nurses etc.

Oh btw, has anyone noticed that 20% of the 20 trillion dollar US GDP is healthcare? That's 4 trillions spent on healthcare every year!!

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#38

Post by 80386 »

> The sticker price of college pre-loan or pre-financial-aid is about the same as the median net worth of married couples in America. Just enough to hit the reset button on those savings.

I know someone who works in a warehouse. She's done that for a while, she's good at her job, and management wants to promote her but can't -- because she doesn't have a degree. They told her as much: if she gets a degree, they'll promote her, but without one they can't, because HR says managers need degrees.

I have a degree, but it isn't a degree from a good college in a useful field, which it seems you need nowadays to get a job better than warehouse manager. I didn't know this, and neither did my parents; they just figured that you need the piece of paper, and that's it. But people with a higher-class background did know that.

And for those people... well, class mobility isn't in their interests, now is it?

(It's worth remembering that colleges themselves switched from academic performance to "holistic admissions"... to ensure that they remained a preserve for the hereditary upper class.)

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#39

Post by vechagup »

jstanley wrote: post #2

> Google tells me that the most common reason for hospitalization in the US is childbirth. Thankfully, here in San Francisco, that would only set me back $15,000 Surely this is not true? Does having kids just bankrupt ordinary people in the US or what? I'm not asking about exceptional cases, like what is the normal way of dealing with having to pay $15,000 just to have a baby climb out of your body, when I'm assuming…

Most insurance plans that allow access to providers in a broad network without a referral (these are often dubbed "PPO" or "high deductible" plans) have an annual out of pocket maximum that the insured will be required to pay before the insurance covers all remaining expenses. E.g., the maximum for "family" coverage on my plan is $5400.

It's commonly said that having a baby will result in costs that exceed your out of pocket max, so you can think of the out of pocket max as the real cost to a family on one of these for the medical services from prenatal care through the birth. Caveat: Your accumulation towards this maximum will typically reset to 0 at the beginning of the calendar year, so try to finish your pregnancy before 12/31.

Re: The Bermuda Triangle of Wealth

#40

Post by TomMarius »

nik736 wrote: post #31
TomMarius wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It costs around the same in Europe if you don't have insurance. I'm pretty sure it's the same in the USA - this is the rate that would be charged to your insurance company. Rates are way lower for uninsured people if you ask them and tell them that you're not insured (I got a bill lowered 10 times when I broke my hand); and of course most people have some kind of insurance. To the people downvoting: please read prope…

Can you elaborate? In Germany at least this is not true at all.

In Europe there are countries where you can not be a part of the public system in some cases, such as changing your permanent residence outside the country.
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