I'm getting tired of reading this kind of stuff on HN, maybe I should just ignore it but a few friends from other parts of the world, also HN readers, are starting to believe it... So I'll try doing my part.
Yes, the worst-case scenario for health expenses is indeed bad in the US, this is true. However, this is not the average healthcare experience. It's not a matter of time until you're slapped with a bankruptcy-level bill.
My wife and I, both in our 50s, have had our share of insurance annoyances and frustrating phone calls, but we've had multiple surgeries fully covered by insurance. And this is the same with friends and family members, including at least 4 cancer treatments that did not lead to bankruptcy-level or even truly notable bills. This anecdote includes many people who died of "old age".
Worst-case scenario bills can be bad elsewhere too. For instance, a friend in Europe had to do a 250K GoFundMe campaign to pay for a life-saving treatment for his daughter because well, the only place in the world that performed the surgery she needed was... Guess where? The US. He faced bankruptcy for this bill, but friends and strangers were able to help him out to an extent. I think he's still recovering from the expense years later.
Medical bankruptcies and financially crushing bills are a sad possibility in the US, and certainly much more likely than in most other places. We need to keep working on this. But the vast majority of people will not have to face this problem in their lifetimes.
I'm also from a "backwater" place in South America that happens to be richer than most places in Southeast Asia. I've lived decades both in the "backwater" and in the US - I happen to know the US fairly well as a result. I choose to live here for a simple reason: the quality of life in this country is much superior than my comfortable lifestyle in South America.
I know dozens of people from different parts of Asia, and I can only remember a couple, let's say <3%, who went back to Asia after living in the US for a significant period of time. These are not poor Asians, in fact a lot of the Asians you meet in the US were relatively well off as they were able to afford the education in Asia which allowed them to immigrate. Nonetheless, they choose to remain here.
All of this said, there is nothing wrong with wanting to go to a low COL place sometime in our lives. I've done this within the US myself, and I would consider another country for a combination of weather, proximity to friends, desire of early retirement or a large property etc. But not because the US is a bad place to live, in fact its very high quality of life is what keeps me from making such move.
> For instance, a friend in Europe had to do a 250K GoFundMe campaign to pay for a life-saving treatment for his daughter because well, the only place in the world that performed the surgery she needed was... Guess where? The US.
Interesting, do you have a link? It’s the first time I’ve ever heard of such a case.
Yes, the worst-case scenario for health expenses is indeed bad in the US, this is true. However, this is not the average healthcare experience. It's not a matter of time until you're slapped with a bankruptcy-level bill.
My wife and I, both in our 50s, have had our share of insurance annoyances and frustrating phone calls, but we've had multiple surgeries fully covered by insurance. And this is the same with friends and family members, including at least 4 cancer treatments that did not lead to bankruptcy-level or even truly notable bills. This anecdote includes many people who died of "old age".
Worst-case scenario bills can be bad elsewhere too. For instance, a friend in Europe had to do a 250K GoFundMe campaign to pay for a life-saving treatment for his daughter because well, the only place in the world that performed the surgery she needed was... Guess where? The US. He faced bankruptcy for this bill, but friends and strangers were able to help him out to an extent. I think he's still recovering from the expense years later.
Medical bankruptcies and financially crushing bills are a sad possibility in the US, and certainly much more likely than in most other places. We need to keep working on this. But the vast majority of people will not have to face this problem in their lifetimes.
I'm also from a "backwater" place in South America that happens to be richer than most places in Southeast Asia. I've lived decades both in the "backwater" and in the US - I happen to know the US fairly well as a result. I choose to live here for a simple reason: the quality of life in this country is much superior than my comfortable lifestyle in South America.
I know dozens of people from different parts of Asia, and I can only remember a couple, let's say <3%, who went back to Asia after living in the US for a significant period of time. These are not poor Asians, in fact a lot of the Asians you meet in the US were relatively well off as they were able to afford the education in Asia which allowed them to immigrate. Nonetheless, they choose to remain here.
All of this said, there is nothing wrong with wanting to go to a low COL place sometime in our lives. I've done this within the US myself, and I would consider another country for a combination of weather, proximity to friends, desire of early retirement or a large property etc. But not because the US is a bad place to live, in fact its very high quality of life is what keeps me from making such move.