Ah yes. Many years ago before I was born, the guy who my was married to came home and complained about a bit of a painfull back. My mom made him drive to the hospital where he told them what hat happend. They told him to stand completely still and put a neck brace on him and made him sit in a wheelchair where he passed out. When he woke up half his body (left side I think) wa paralyzed.
It turns out he had fall off the roof of a barn and landed flat on his back on the fully extended ladder, breaking his back, and passed out and had lost his memory until he saw his work wan, with his name on it. He had then driven himself back home, before my mom insisted that he needed to go to the hospital, “just to have him checked out”.
He still suffers daily from it, but he somehow managed to get full functionally of his body back, but never was able to work full time in trade work.
Long story short, Go. To. The. Hospital!
Your last line there. I get it and I agree, but for a lot of people without insurance it’s like having to choose between bodily destruction and financial destruction
Choose financial. You live.
Use bankruptcy. There’s a reason for it.
Make payment plans. If you’re truly poor, you basically pay $30 a month for like 20 years and it’s discharged.
It’s very scary when it’s a meme and people don’t know their options since it’s often gatekeeped.
If I die my family gets paid, and my problems are over. Even losing a major limb is a better option than the costs of prevention.
Really good life insurance is really cheap. Nothing makes health care affordable in the US, except leaving the US.
Hospitals also offer financial assistance and payment plans if you ask. Believe it or not, hospitals want you to be able to pay. If you can’t pay, that means they don’t get paid. Though, sometimes (this is NOT a guarantee), they may waive the bill altogether if you apply for financial assistance.
What if you have to choose between your health and your child’s going to college?
A healthcare system that’s not universal is so fucked up. It can’t be that it’s kept for people with money.