Well to put it into personal terms, when I was 18 I fractured my foot while working at the lumberyard and made it worse by working on it for five days after the incident. When I got it x-ray'd they said I'd have my results in a day or two, and I was okay with that, but later on that day I just felt something snap in my foot and had to go to the ER. It was pretty embarrasing because I looked like shit, same clothes for three days, no showers, and I was holding onto my laptop without a case or a bag. It took about 4 hours but I got my results from the x-ray clinic that confirmed the fracture and advised a 6-8 week resting period in a cast. I got the aircast and the prescription for Tylenol 3's (wooo codeine!) and I didn't pay a damn thing except $20 for my drugs. Worker's Comp took care of my aircast and got me 90% of my wages, which was great cause I had just moved and was in dire need of money.
Over the next 2 months I proceeded to have 4 more x-rays taken on my foot to showcase my healing. I didn't have to pay for any of those x-rays, while at the same time in America, my mum had to have x-rays on her lungs because she got bronchitis and those x-rays cost her a good $600. I remember her bringing up the bill while we conversed and I suddenly got paranoid that a bill would be coming for me, but one never came and my WC guy explained to me how the system works.
As BD said, it's got its flaws, but I would feel a hell of a lot better under that than what I'm currently under in the States. Back in March my grandfather pretty much passed out while we were having dinner and I called 911. He got taken to the hospital and was going to be staying the weekend, which resulted in a pretty steep fee despite his Veteran's status and health coverage. I believe he's still paying those bills off.
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