Actually that’s not true, treatment is the same for everyone and you never pay in advance, your bill may come even 6 months later. :)) The thing is medical staff don’t know anything, neither about your financial capabilities nor of prices for their own services (only the independent or let’s say neutral and open to negotiations billing department knows). But, indeed, the system is tough and too complicated. I’d better eventually prefer the one in Ukraine where you have three relatively transparent options, - free public clinics for those who can’t afford private ones at all, then private ones with moderate (compared to American) pricing that you don’t need insurance for to manage your case, and the third, - the luxury one for those who splurge money. :) Btw, that 1 night in ER + a week in hospital just with a course of IVs with antibiotics cost ≈$43K (before insurance coverage) and my husband as a 100% disabled special forces veteran didn’t pay a penny of that bill (and he personally couldn’t afford it if he’d had to), so, yep, treatment is same for everyone.

@user-ch4ji5ux4s Unfortunately, I see such bills pretty often; :( only last winter my husband got a couple of bills for $97K for staying in hospital twice, 11 days in total (no complex surgeries or smth, just labs, IVs, antibiotics, ultrasound) as a matter of precaution, given he is a kidney transplant patient and needs to be closely tracked in case of infections, viruses etc. to avoid transplant rejection. Thankfully, he is protected as a 100% disabled US Special Forces veteran. That’s absolutely true, the universal healthcare is never free since it’s always a part of population taxation. I am actually not advocating for it. I think it is very clear from the video that I was rather saying that the American healthcare system is not that terrifying as it might seem to most of recent immigrants; even though there is always room to grow in any country. :) As for Medicaid, never used it, not qualified for having much higher income, so not 100% sure how it works. Isn’t it also paid by people’s taxes that replenish federal and states’ budgets? The thing is that an average American resident unlikely can avoid medical insurance which is so far from cheap, averaging ≈$460 a month for adults, so in average an American family of 4 pays $24,000 per year + deductible + co-pay. So who knows maybe it would be even cheaper to pay taxes and skip enriching insurance companies; so far it seems quite profitable and convenient for both healthcare providers and insurance companies. Unfortunately, the only stressed out part of this “equation” is a person who experiences health issues and is terrified to think about huge extra costs in case of reaching out for medical help, so hopes the problem somehow goes away and eventually waits too long before the issue gets really critical. Plus, having good health is not saving a person from a necessity of having an expensive medical insurance in case if one has a decent income and doesn’t want to end up broke one day. Most of immigrants from my country come here very healthy, fit and follow an exemplary life style, yet still prefer having insurance in case of emergencies (accidents, fractures, bad cuts etc.) and most of them are not qualified for Medicaid. However, I totally understand that if there is the universal healthcare system there is also almost definitely a drop in healthcare services in terms of quality, - facilities, treatment, communication and such. I am from the country where free public (regardless of your income) and private healthcare (via either insurance or out-of-pocket coverage) co-exist. Even ambulance service is free there and they come to you not only in case of strokes, heart attacks and so on, but also in case of simpler cases, like high fever. I would not rely on free ambulance services there in case of really life threatening conditions though, because they are quite often not on time :( for a range of reasons, but there are private ones too in such extreme cases. So again, there is always a choice there. And such combination is super convenient for people of different walks of life, it is affordable and requires minimum waiting times (a matter of a few days maximum) in both cases. Thank you for your comment, and always stay healthy. :)

@user-ch4ji5ux4s no one denies it. I came here and as soon as I got my EAD I worked hard every day to make my 6 figures and therefore I pay large taxes to partially help those who don’t work hard.

I know my channel is not in English, so I understand you can’t know what I share with my Ukrainian and Russian-speaking followers, but this is exactly what my content is all about, - living a regular American life beyond big cities, having no high expectations as if all America had been only NYC, Chicago, SF, LA and so on as many people abroad hope for. I’ve been to 15 countries (Asia, Africa, Europe, North America) and traveled to several American States, stayed for some time in Midwest. My husband and his family are Americans in several generations. So I have some experience and compare things. Moreover, I have been closely following the American life style for 21 years since I was 16, so things were not new to me when I came here, including healthcare. Again, I don’t know why it looked to you that my “healthcare video” is about not liking USA; as I have already mentioned it’s about letting immigrants and foreigners abroad know that it is not that bad as they think, given that they always have several options while dealing with their health issues and bills. As my friend and I are launching our new English speaking KZfaq in a couple of weeks to share our experience of assimilation in America as immigrants, it might be more relevant to watch and follow there. :)

Frankly speaking, it is too presumptuous to say that here in America people have to work to live a good life, like if in other countries they don’t have to do the same. :) Once one of my American acquaintances, expats who had been living in Ukraine for years back then said to us: “If you, Ukrainians, had worked that much and that diligently in USA as you work here in Ukraine, you would have been already millionaires there in America”. So it is not like someone comes to slack here, believe me. :)