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Comment by mrlala | Hacker News Reader

Same here.. $1300/mo for family of 4. 10k deductible. Another $2k/year for dental.

And then it barely seems to cover any normal stuff.. physical therapy for son, still get $1k bill. Dental work for kids, another $1k.

And you are totally right all it does is make you think "is my kid really doing that bad that I should take him in?". Fuck having to get down to that mentality... I hate it, but it's the reality of the situation I'm in.

If someone is lurking outside our house, we don't think to ourselves.. "Hmm, should I call the police? I don't see a gun, he probably isn't too dangerous.. I'll just wait it out". No, you freakin call the police when you need it and don't have to worry about going bankrupt because of it.

Really sick of this backwards ass country we live in with regards to healthcare. I can afford it.. sort of.. but I have no idea how people below my income deal with day to day medical stuff. It's horrifying.

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I agree with your points, however, many Americans do indeed have to think twice about calling the police in that situation and all probably should. Should you call the police because there's someone outside the house and risk them arresting or shooting you? That's a real question for many Americans. Healthcare isn't the only thing that's broken in this backwards ass country, that's for sure.

“If someone is lurking outside our house, we don't think to ourselves.. "Hmm, should I call the police? I don't see a gun, he probably isn't too dangerous.. I'll just wait it out".”

I’d actually just grab my gun and wait it out, assuming I wasn’t already carrying it.

In the US, you only call the cops if someone is likely going to die anyway, and you want a better chance of it not being you or one of your friends.

The current training regimes generally do not emphasize de-escalation. Adrenaline-fueled escalations end up killing people that have not committed capital crimes, and likely never would.

There is, of course, also the possibility that the cops don't show up in a timely fashion, or don't do anything to help you when they do arrive, or even turn their investigation onto you, and that is not independent of cultural background or apparent skin color.

There are reasons for owning and carrying guns in the US beyond hoplophilia.

it's very naive to think that Europeans don't pay for their healthcare. Germans make monthly payments for insurance, etc. Are they that much lower than 1300 a month?

according to posters here, basic insurance is 800 dollars a month. Average net disposable income in Germany is 34K.3 a year http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/germany/

In the US, it's roughly 45K. So, Germans pay less for insurance, but not that much less, considering it as a % of disposable income. And this is for the basic public option. Many Germans pay for private insurance.

They are much lower, think in the 100 to 150 range. And that's without company discounts if you have a job. On top of that, there is a fixed limited amount you have to pay yourself per year if you actually use it, and everything else is covered.

naive calculation from an estimated 8% effective rate[0] says a german family making 60,000 would pay 400/month. Additionally however, no deductibles.

[0] https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=919714...

Does that include the employer contribution?

But they get much better healthcare for that though.

In Germany you make your monthly payments and if you ever need anything, it is very cheap or free. In the US you make the same payments and still pay thousands whenever you need care.

So what is being paid for in the US? In the German system you pay your money, you get your healthcare, in the US system you pay your money so you get the pleasure of being less over-charged when you need your healthcare?

> In the US you make the same payments and still pay thousands whenever you need care.

That's an exaggeration. You make it sound like a definite whenever you go to the doctor here. That's far from accurate. It can happen, and way too often does, though.

in Germany after tax disposable income is lower than in the US and prices for things are generally the same or higher.

They have Google where I live so we can find out.

https://www.howtogermany.com/pages/healthinsurance.html#gkv

The public opinion which covers you and non working dependants is a reasonable 720 euros or aprox 800 usd or aprox 15% of wages whichever is less.

720 euros a month as a % of after tax income is higher in Germany than 1300 in the US ? also, not clear what that public option covers exactly and how many people buy additional private insurance because public option is inadequate? https://www.handelsblatt.com/today/politics/handelsblatt-exp...

720 euros or 15% whichever is less. As I type I'm paying 38% of my income before taxes in health care related expenses. I'd take the German option in a second.

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