And yet Australia is still nicer baout it than the US. They refused to perform it publicly - for free. She was able to get ir privately. In the US, it would always cost a citizen to get any procedure. In theory, if you cannot afford a procedure and it is a life or death emergency, then they cannot make you pay (although they will still charge you and your credit history will be destroyed, and you'll be in debt until you pay it). However, "life or death emergency" is an ambiguous term. It usually means immediate threat to your life, not potential threat. So, in the US, if you're poor, you're pretty much totally SOL. While in Australia, some hospitals ~might~ do it publicly and for free.
yeah see... i will never live in the states. i had a friend who had a broken arm for TWO WEEKS was unable to go to the hospital because he didn't have insurance, or money to pay for them to fix it, and cast it.
a society like that dosn't make me feel happy to live there. sorry, sad but true.
You're kind of preaching to the choir here... I try not to rant about it too often, and in truth it's not that bad, but I've been curably blind for over two and a half years, because medicaid kicks in 2.5 years after disability is confirmed. And that's only if you worked enough before you became too sick to work to qualify for it. I'm lucky, and I do qualify. I'm also lucky that as far as I know the risk of delaying surgery hasn't made the blindness permanent, but it could have.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2005-02-06 04:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-06 06:42 pm (UTC)a society like that dosn't make me feel happy to live there. sorry, sad but true.
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Date: 2005-02-07 03:48 am (UTC)The unlucky in the US have it far, far worse.