I got an ambulance ride, CT scan and ER care in Brazil. My bill: $0 | Hacker News Reader

I got an ambulance ride, CT scan and ER care in Brazil. My bill: $0

washingtonpost.com

19 pointsrbanffy17 comments

Everyone needs to simply go to a pharmacy or a doctor's office outside the US one time. If everybody did that, the US Healthcare system would be doused with gasoline, lit on fire, and be burned like the trash that it is.

I think this is literally it. I talk to so many people who claim up and down the US healthcare system is fine and I just think, "man, the only way you can think that is if it's all you've ever seen!"

Because it's not even about money, forget money. Everything in the US is hard. There's so many different steps, so much fighting, so many portals, so many hoops. So much friction to absolutely everything you do related to healthcare.

Even paying! You'd think the people taking your money would've figured out the fastest way to do that but nope, you're getting bills from the hospital 3 months later and there's a dozen of them for some reason.

Absolutely. I walked into a pharmacy two weeks ago in Costa Rica because my son had a strange bug bite that looked a bit infected. Doctor saw us in 3 minutes, checked out the bite, and sent us away with antibiotics. Cost was $25. That same situation in the US would have been a 3 hour ER wait and likely hundreds of dollars. Again, there's only one solution: burn it down and start over, ideally with the government as the primary insurer. For those who work in the insurance industry: Is this really what you wanted to do with your life? You wanted to deny health coverage and sensible procedures to your fellow human beings?

Had a similar experience in the country everyone hates right now including the CT scan (US made machine). If they can do it with a 13% flat tax, where the actual hell is our tax money going?

If you are talking about Russia, the taxes are so hidden, paid by the corporations, and Gov is taking oil money https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Russia, compare to Kuwait where people getting pensions from exporting oil. Not saying Russia is better or worse, just different ways of grabbing money from common folks, and making them feel better. It was always such a common thing, when Russians go to Europe on vacation - and find how clean and nice everything else is - they say "well we pay 13% of taxes, not 50%", which makes every Russian feel so much better.

Hidden? There’s more than one way to skin a cat. Btw, the US produces more energy than Russia as a percentage of its economy. And some of those Arab oil monarchs have zero income tax.

Mostly to social security (21%), net interest (14%), and healthcare / insurance (27% combined):

https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/feder...

Said country has 23% going to pensions, so about the same. Yet still has free basic healthcare and higher education (if you test in).

> in the country everyone hates right now

You’re going to have to narrow this down quite a bit.

what's the country everyone hates right now?

I asked google 'what country has a flat tax of 13%' and it said bolivia and russia. Guessing they meant russia.

Do people have to pay when they call the police? Do people avoid reporting a crime because it's too costly? So people have to do fundraising because they can't afford the police to investigate a crime that happened to them?

That's what the US healthcare looks like from outside. "Paying for calling the police? Don't be stupid, dear!" Yes, exactly.

Not to diminish your good analogy but lots of crimes aren't reported due to the risk police pose to the reporter (not necessarily financial risks though those are also present in the US police system, see civil forfeiture)

https://archive.ph/2025.06.30-215546/https://www.washingtonp...

This is fairly normal in lots of countries around the world.

For foreigners? Not common I think

In Brasil, it's medical system is free for any Homo Sapiens sapiens in the brazilian territory. If you are a human been in Brasil, SUS is free for you.

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