Unlike the people who live there

People in germany are not free?

#1 Yeah, OP made a really bad decision when he decided to not blackout at a water park in Germany.

Where healthcare is incomplete?

What? They aren't free? Damnit. I always wanted a German, but I'm broke. Guess an Italian will do.

But they are high maintenance (Italians I mean), they need good food or they will start complaining, loudly :)

isnt it free everywhere!?!?!?

You Americans should know that the rest of the world hates you because of your freedom.

Most things are free in Germany, even Universities!

After you are healthy.. The money you spent on health starts controlling your health again.. Thats the irony

Blacking out could easily be from overwork, sleep deprivation, dehydration, etc, and having to pay hundreds of dollars just to find that out isn't worth it, so if I felt like me blacking out wasn't from something serious then I wouldn't want someone to call 911 for me either in that situation, just get me some water if you're worried goddammit I'll be fine. Maybe if you live in a country with free healthcare it's hard to understand.

He was blacking out. He was barely conscious. You act like he could fully control what he was saying.

2: Which is why healthcare reform was desperately needed in the States. Apparently, it still is needed.

If Op was smart with money, Op would have insurance

How smart can you be if you end up dead?

I could be wrong on this because I haven't had to deal with insurance yet. (I'll be covered till I'm 26), but most people I associate with only have health coverage cause their job provides that kind of help. If the job doesn't include it they usually don't have it. Also, I'm not sure if every insurance company covers the ambulance ride, (or at least the whole cost) because a few years back my mother had to call an ambulance for me and it cost them like 300$ for a 20 min ride. OP, it is awesome that you are cautious about spending money, but don't let it affect your health. It is sad that we live in world so run by money, that we will choose to risk our well being before we'd be willing to spend :/ hope all is well now

That's precisely the point 14 is trying to make 18. People often don't buy health insurance yet they have the newest PS4, iEquipment and cell phones. It's about priorities, and having health coverage should be at the top of peoples list...not something tax payers have to pay for because these people then stroll into the ER and can't make payments for their service.

Well not everyone spends money on things like that when they can't afford insurance. I worked at my first job for two years, there were no employee discounts, and there was no coverage (unless you were full time but there were people who had worked there over a decade and would still be denied full time and still hadn't broken ten dollars an hour). I was just saying some people just can't afford insurance. I understand what you're saying though.

Health insurance is literally designed to be a losing transaction for whoever's paying for it. If it weren't, the system would crumble, because it would be giving out more money than it's taking in. For people who don't entirely have to pay for it themselves, like those who have it funded by their workplace in whole or in part, that can still work out. But people have outright died simply because their insurance companies have refused to pay for things that said people could not afford. The system is set up to be so byzantine in complexity that they can just flat-out refuse to give you what you paid, for and have complete legal protection in doing so. You might beat the odds sometimes, but it's no different than a casino. The model is engineered to take more of a person's money than it gives back, and if it didn't do that, it would have ceased to exist. So, long rant short, no, I really don't agree the OP is exhibiting financial irresponsibility here.

@#50 you finally made me understand insurance I'm still somewhat young so insurance was never really explained to me but dam owo lol the world is only out for the money

Smart with his money? I guess he'll take it with him when his dead. He's cheap.

in some cases, insurance doesnt cover ambulances so it has to be paid out of pocket and that can be anywhere from $200-$800 bucks so.... i dont think insurance is the problem here.

Is that why there are extensive waiting periods for procedures and clinical visits? Is that why the Canadians with money are coming to the US to get these procedures done? Is that why many Canadian doctors are coming to the US for increased incentives for working?

It's all very well having money and going to a different country for a marginally quicker waiting time, but for the people who can't afford to pay extortionate amounts and end up crippled by the debt a longer waiting period is a minuscule price to pay

Canada's healthcare is free but its not very good haha. and the US, well.. US is ****** up in every aspect