COVID in the USA

Off the point from OP's post but this is what my friend in Florida wrote to me recently about getting a vaccination. Her husband is seventy five, I'm guessing she's late sixties.

"Vaccinations are hard to come by, but we managed to get an appointment 2 counties away (Sarasota) for tomorrow. They don’t advertise when they are available, you must monitor numerous websites until they announce you can sign up for tickets. They may have 500- 800 doses available and the slots are taken within seconds, literally. If you don’t use a computer and aren’t savvy about monitoring and then quickly reacting, you may never get one. Biden promises to ship more and get the vaccine to local pharmacies so the task is not so daunting".

Notspaghetti the cost of drugs in the States is a scandal. People with diabetes dying because they can’t afford the medication which is a fraction of the cost of what it is here.
For urgent care, I think perhaps it depends on which hospital you go to.
A few years ago in Florida I was in agony with cystitis. I’d tried everything, cranberry juice, bicarbonate of soda in orange juice, over the counter remedies, everything.
In desperation I went to a hospital in Sarasota run by a charitable organisation. I didn’t have to wait, was examined, had urine tested & antibiotics prescribed after the test results came back. Very kind & professional staff.
Total cost $130. My insurance didn’t cover the first $200 but it was the best $130 I’ve ever spent,

One time we visited my son in the US, my Dh forgot his blood pressure tablets. It was a skedaddle to get it sorted and in total, it cost $400 for two weeks supply of a run of the mill drug!

My son and family have insurance via work but it really doesn’t cover everything. Their ds stuck a piece of Lego up his nose and even with insurance, the extras meant he still had to pay out $700. Seven hundred! Most expensive bit of Lego ever!

Re antibiotics...
My son had antibiotics prescribed by his doctor about 18 months ago. Can't now remember the cost but the appointment was expensive and then the antibiotics were about $230-250 if I remember correctly. It was a drug that you can buy here in the UK (with a private prescription) for about £20.

Suedonim yes, pretty grim. It's the article I posted above. I also posted the link to the actual details of the law.

The good news is that emergencies are covered. The bad news is that so many don't know.

When we lived in America (and had health insurance) I had this discussion with a number of people about emergency care - but had no idea the situation was still the same all these years on.

NotSpaghetti

Just found this.
I think you might like to take a look:

www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/10/22/925942412/hospital-bills-for-uninsured-covid-19-patients-are-covered-but-no-one-tells-them?t=1611019223800

That’s heartbreaking.

Even in normal times, health care is iniquitous in the US. About ten years ago the son of a woman we knew died of pneumonia because he didn’t have insurance. He was 24, fit & healthy. He had a cold which he couldn’t throw off but he didn’t seek help because he was on had a zero-hours job and couldn’t afford to take time off especially as he’d have to find a clinic that took uninsured patients.

He then became very ill indeed and someone took him to a hospital but he died soon after in the Emergency Department. Such a waste of a life and all for the cost of a course of antibiotics.

Me too Tanith

I’m just interested to know how people who can’t afford health care in the US are managing to get treatment.

Not quite what you’re asking Tanith but I have a Facebook friend in Florida & this morning she & her friends were posting about getting the vaccine - someone said they have stopped vaccinating over 65’s and others complained about the impossibility of getting an appointment to actually be vaccinated.
And although the vaccine is free, you can pay $30 to bypass the system.

One thing Britain does seem to be doing well.

Here's the factsheet from the article I sent earlier.

www.acep.org/life-as-a-physician/ethics--legal/emtala/emtala-fact-sheet/#:~:text=The%20Emergency%20Medical%20Treatment%20and,has%20remained%20an%20unfunded%20mandate.

Yes, up to a point as you say.

Thanks that’s interesting it seems they are doing them right thing up to a point.

Just found this.
I think you might like to take a look:

www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/10/22/925942412/hospital-bills-for-uninsured-covid-19-patients-are-covered-but-no-one-tells-them?t=1611019223800

Firstly, the COVID-19 vaccine will be free for everone regardless. So that's good.
Re treatment for covid, I think it is being treated as "emergency" as other serious problems so no help unless you need to be in a hospital and no follow up after. I was chatting to someone about this last week and this is what they understood. Apparently it's the university hospitals that do this work.

They have an obligation to save your life if it is in immediate danger but after that, I’m not sure. I’ve asked my son in the US about it and he doesn’t either. He said there was a move way back to ensure that everyone would be treated for free but he doesn’t think it ever became law, due to the mess America is in right now.

People having to work when infected is one of the reasons why it’s spread so badly in the US so I imagine it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think that that also contributes to their high death rate.

Just wanted to add I hope everyone is treated regardless. In America anything is possible though.