I think a lot of people in the US have their head so far up their ass being racist and doing other xenophobia, they’d rather drown in their own shit than than have “one of them” get something “for free”.
That’s what 60+ years of fascism-directed conservative politics distributed by the likes of Fox News, systematic defunding of public education, and an almost complete halt in wage increases so 90% of the population no longer has any discretionary income and is essentially forced to work paycheck to paycheck has given us. It’s working exactly as intended.
“If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”
-President Lyndon B. Johnson
When Americans do nice things in their country … they destroy it and call it communism or “woke”
When Americans are treated nice in a foreign country, they act confused and wonder why their country can’t do the same.
Just to avoid any false impressions: healthcare is not free in Germany. You should always get travel health insurance. Having said that, it’s pretty affordable. I pay about €80 a year for me and my wife for worldwide coverage.
Same in Ireland but a trip to the emergency room (including ambulance if you need it) sets you back €100 euro which is about $110 USD.
2nd last time I was in one there was an American couple across from us whose daughter had gone into a seizure in their hotel. We ended up chatting a good bit and I honestly was very glad for them that they weren’t paying American pricing.
Last time I was in one we had a referral from our doctor so it was free (there’s a filtering process to stop people with a cold coming to emergency) Included an MRI for my daughter and we’ve a follow up coming. Again all free.
So when you say it’s not free, it’s strictly true but holy moly the difference in potentially life destroying cost and not having to weigh that up. It saves lives.
When Americans travel do other cultures treat them as victims of abuse? Because that’s what this sounds like.
This is how every person deserves to be treated.
Absolutely not. What happened in this story is absolutely normal over here, regardless if the person is from the USA, France or just around the corner. The cost of calling an ambulance is fully covered by insurance as is all other essential healthcare. Worst that can happen is that you have to pay 20€ for the trip to the hospital to discourage people from using ambulances as taxis.
For an extreme example, someone from my family had breast cancer a few years back and the largest item on her bill for over two years of treatment was a few bucks for the food she got at the hospital.
In America, it’s actually cheaper just to discard the kid and start over.
