Give it up, Rolfe. On the subject of health care, most people in the US seem about as open to reason as the Pope.
Now, now. I'm heavily in favor of UHC, but was strongly opposed when I first joined this forum. My change of opinion was due, almost entirely, to what I've learned in discussions here.
How does this work in the USA? Mr. Yaffle is (I believe) in his 30s, and had no health problems until this horror arose. Would he have been insured? If he was in a job offering good insurance, yes.
If he
or his wife had a decent job, he'd likely be insured.
But if he wasn't? If he'd been on one of those hiatuses before insurance comes into effect? If he's been self-employed and knew that healthy 30-something guys don't need insurance?
They'd be royally screwed. Emergency care wouldn't be denied (but wouldn't be free, either). Other care might be covered in part by Medicaid or charity, but both would probably be many months in the future.
Would an insurance policy cover this 100% anyway? Or would the whole thing be hedged about with co-pays and deductibles so that a lot had to come out of pocket anyway? I've heard a lot about people who thought they were well-insured being faced with pretty hefty bills regardless.
I just went through "open enrollment" for next year's insurance. We have a choice of High-, Standard-, or No-Deductible plans. None of the 3 plans pays more than 80% of hospital services, but there are are yearly out-of- pocket limits. On the "standard deductible" plan, there is a $600 deductible per individual, and a $1,850 individual out-of-pocket limit. So, the total amount that a hypothetical American Mr. Yaffle, with the same plan, would pay is $2,450. Of course, this is the end of the year, and care is likely to extend into next year, so, likely that would be doubled.
Note that this coming year, for the first time -- thanks to "Obamacare" -- the "Lifetime benefit maximum" on my plan summary now says "Unlimited".
