Man Charged 89,000 for Snakebite when the antivenom is 750 dollars. USA Sucks

[nicorulez]

I pay 26% income tax on a salary of over 70k GBP a year (I'll pay less if I were married, had kids, etc). Work out yourself what that is in USD. Our VAT is now 20% unfortunately, the upper tax bracket is 45% of those earning 150k a year.

How does the amount of tax I pay compare to what someone in the US pay earning a similar wage?

James,

Here is the tax bracket for 2013 in the US. Realize that you can write off state income tax if applicable, mortgage interest, etc. You make around 110K US dollars give or take. Assuming no write offs and  considering you are single with no kids, average by Taxcaster (which is a tax calculator that is pretty darn good) is around 21.2 thousand.

Nico

2013 Tax Brackets (for taxes due April 15, 2014)(United States)
Tax rate   Single filers   Married filing jointly or qualifying widow/widower   Married filing separately   Head of household
10%    Up to $8,925    Up to $17,850    Up to $8,925    Up to $12,750
15%    $8,926 to $36,250    $17,851 to $72,500    $8,926 to $36,250    $12,751 to $48,600
25%    $36,251 to $87,850    $72,501 to $146,400    $36,251 to $73,200    $48,601 to $125,450
28%    $87,851 to $183,250    $146,401 to $223,050    $73,201 to $111,525    $125,451 to $203,150
33%    $183,251 to $398,350    $223,051 to $398,350    $111,526 to $199,175    $203,151 to $398,350
35%    $398,351 to $400,000    $398,351 to $450,000    $199,176 to $225,000    $398,351 to $425,000
39.6%    $400,001 or more    $450,001 or more    $225,001 or more    $425,001 or more

Read more: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/taxes/tax-brackets.aspx#ixzz2rpsPdUQX
Follow us: @Bankrate on Twitter | Bankrate on Facebook

[nicorulez]

James,

By my calculation and considering the current exchange rate of 1.6 dollars to 1 pound, you pay around 8 thousand more dollars. However, I have a lot of friends who make a 100K and pay minimal taxes for write offs. Now, I don't know about Britain but we do pay 6.3% of the first 110 thousand or so earned toward social security and we continue to pay 1% or there abouts for medicare regardless of income. I think the high VAT tax is the real difference.

Nico

[The True Adonis]

I think only 1 in 10 Americans don't have health insurance. Of those, some are paying their bills out of pocket and some just choose not to carry insurance, and others qualify for medicaid or medicare.   The system needs reformed, but to 95% of people there's really no problem.

It's so funny to see the completely unrealistic picture that's been painted in the minds of some by the mainstream media.

Do you know what the leading cause of bankruptcy in America is from?  Yeah no crisis here.    80,000 dollars or even a 20,000 dollar or even a 5000 dollar bill for 750 dollars in antivenom and this is not even a bad incident or an isolated incident.  No crisis, right?  47 million Americans with no Healthcare.  Nope, no crisis there.  Millions of Americans who can`t afford to pay monthly premiums.  Nope, No crisis there.  Iatrogenesis, which is physician error and misdiagnosis is the third leading cause of death (and in some studies THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH) in America. Nope.  No crisis there. 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100840148

Medical Bills Are the Biggest Cause of US Bankruptcies: Study
     
 Published: Tuesday, 25 Jun 2013 | 2:29 PM ET

[nicorulez]

T.A., if you would research you would realize that hospitals cannot charge interest for their bills. Thus, as long as you get with them and make an effort to pay you will not be sent to collections. You can set up a payment plan and pay the bill off like a credit card. Second, I actually agree with you about pre-existing conditions. Patients who inadvertantly got cancer when they were twenty should not be punished. However, I am all for insurance companies docking you coverage or costing more if you smoke or are obese. Why not, you are obviously higher risk. I think the problem with hospitals and their bills is that there are so many uninsured who do not pay a dime...not a dime...that hospitals make up the difference with insured patients. You are wrong about the guy...his deductible was 5000 plus and that is all he pays. The insurance picks up the rest. However, I do agree that there needs to be some changes. I think people need to be held accountable for their poor lifestyles and have skin in the game. If you have a vested interest, you would not go to the E.R. for bullshit reasons. BTW, Obama's ACA is a complete failure as he is not enrolling enough young, healthy Americans to subsidize older sick patients. Facts are facts, the ACA or Obamacare sucks ass.

[Ron Jeremy]

Google Frank Luntz Language of Health Care 2009.

[Ron Jeremy]

Also try Wendell Potter.

[Voice of Doom]

I love reading the European comments on here saying things like "I only pay $200 a month and have had 7 surgeries this year...our system's great!

Of course it is...for you...because the rest of the cost of your treatment was paid for by someone else.  The fact that you're willing to use tens of thousands of dollars in services but only pay a small portion of it makes you a thief.  You use the system to your advantage to get all you can while proclaiming a moral superiority over others who do the same.  
Your drive to get as much as you can for as little capital as it costs you is the same ideology as the CEO of the fortune 500 companies you rail against.  You're all fuckin hypocrites.

[Roger Bacon]

Do you know what the leading cause of bankruptcy in America is from?  Yeah no crisis here.    80,000 dollars or even a 20,000 dollar or even a 5000 dollar bill for 750 dollars in antivenom and this is not even a bad incident or an isolated incident.  No crisis, right?  47 million Americans with no Healthcare.  Nope, no crisis there.  Millions of Americans who can`t afford to pay monthly premiums.  Nope, No crisis there.  Iatrogenesis, which is physician error and misdiagnosis is the third leading cause of death (and in some studies THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH) in America. Nope.  No crisis there. 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100840148

Medical Bills Are the Biggest Cause of US Bankruptcies: Study
     
 Published: Tuesday, 25 Jun 2013 | 2:29 PM ET

In 2009, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts determined that there were 1,412,838 non-business bankruptcy filings in this country in that year. 

US Population: 313.9 million

That's less than half of one percent of Americans.

Not that I don't agree that it's a horrible thing to happen even once.

[Roger Bacon]

I love reading the European comments on here saying things like "I only pay $200 a month and have had 7 surgeries this year...our system's great!

Of course it is...for you...because the rest of the cost of your treatment was paid for by someone else.  The fact that you're willing to use tens of thousands of dollars in services but only pay a small portion of it makes you a thief.  You use the system to your advantage to get all you can while proclaiming a moral superiority over others who do the same.  
Your drive to get as much as you can for as little capital as it costs you is the same ideology as the CEO of the fortune 500 companies you rail against.  You're all fuckin hypocrites.

It's hilarious, read galeniko's posts. He's racked up almost $100k in medical bills.

[Roger Bacon]

James,

Here is the tax bracket for 2013 in the US. Realize that you can write off state income tax if applicable, mortgage interest, etc. You make around 110K US dollars give or take. Assuming no write offs and  considering you are single with no kids, average by Taxcaster (which is a tax calculator that is pretty darn good) is around 21.2 thousand.

Nico

2013 Tax Brackets (for taxes due April 15, 2014)(United States)
Tax rate   Single filers   Married filing jointly or qualifying widow/widower   Married filing separately   Head of household
10%    Up to $8,925    Up to $17,850    Up to $8,925    Up to $12,750
15%    $8,926 to $36,250    $17,851 to $72,500    $8,926 to $36,250    $12,751 to $48,600
25%    $36,251 to $87,850    $72,501 to $146,400    $36,251 to $73,200    $48,601 to $125,450
28%    $87,851 to $183,250    $146,401 to $223,050    $73,201 to $111,525    $125,451 to $203,150
33%    $183,251 to $398,350    $223,051 to $398,350    $111,526 to $199,175    $203,151 to $398,350
35%    $398,351 to $400,000    $398,351 to $450,000    $199,176 to $225,000    $398,351 to $425,000
39.6%    $400,001 or more    $450,001 or more    $225,001 or more    $425,001 or more

Read more: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/taxes/tax-brackets.aspx#ixzz2rpsPdUQX
Follow us: @Bankrate on Twitter | Bankrate on Facebook

Taxes are way to high, government is way to big. 

[James28]

James,

By my calculation and considering the current exchange rate of 1.6 dollars to 1 pound, you pay around 8 thousand more dollars. However, I have a lot of friends who make a 100K and pay minimal taxes for write offs. Now, I don't know about Britain but we do pay 6.3% of the first 110 thousand or so earned toward social security and we continue to pay 1% or there abouts for medicare regardless of income. I think the high VAT tax is the real difference.

Nico

According to my calculations if my salary were to be paid in USD I'll be on around 122k USD a year plus change. That puts me in the 28% tax bracket.

I pay 26% here.

So I'm actually paying less tax here than I would've in the US.

Oh, and just for the record.

I do pay into my own private medical healthcare since it could literally take months before you're offered vital life saving treatment on the NHS. However saying that, when I needed to be hospitalized right there and then I was offered superb services by the NHS. And I mean superb. As good as any hospital.

[insanity_bb]

I love reading the European comments on here saying things like "I only pay $200 a month and have had 7 surgeries this year...our system's great!

Of course it is...for you...because the rest of the cost of your treatment was paid for by someone else.  The fact that you're willing to use tens of thousands of dollars in services but only pay a small portion of it makes you a thief.  You use the system to your advantage to get all you can while proclaiming a moral superiority over others who do the same.  
Your drive to get as much as you can for as little capital as it costs you is the same ideology as the CEO of the fortune 500 companies you rail against.  You're all fuckin hypocrites.

The Europeans have been thieves, hypocrites, and delusional bastards for hundreds of years. The particular irony of it all is this new wave of moral superiority is on the heels of a giant financial clusterfuck in the EU. yeah, great system guys. US economy is shit now, but the EU is pathetic.

[James28]

The Europeans have been thieves, hypocrites, and delusional bastards for hundreds of years. The particular irony of it all is this new wave of moral superiority is on the heels of a giant financial clusterfuck in the EU. yeah, great system guys. US economy is shit now, but the EU is pathetic.

How is a hospital being allowed to charge 89k for a snake bite a 'great system'? 

[insanity_bb]

How is a hospital being allowed to charge 89k for a snake bite a 'great system'? 

It's not. The Euro system is not great either. And despite popular belief, the US does not have anything resembling a free market in healthcare.

[Roger Bacon]

The Europeans have been thieves, hypocrites, and delusional bastards for hundreds of years. The particular irony of it all is this new wave of moral superiority is on the heels of a giant financial clusterfuck in the EU. yeah, great system guys. US economy is shit now, but the EU is pathetic.

Search "EU" on google news. People in glass houses... lol

[galeniko]

It's not. The Euro system is not great either.

thats right,its not great, its fantastic

[Voice of Doom]

The Europeans have been thieves, hypocrites, and delusional bastards for hundreds of years. The particular irony of it all is this new wave of moral superiority is on the heels of a giant financial clusterfuck in the EU. yeah, great system guys. US economy is shit now, but the EU is pathetic.

Correct.  The EU is now a battle of unelected banking/politico elites pushing fascist agendas against the dwindling middle class.  They're using national debt, immigration and the rising poor jobless class to do it.  The reaction its fueling is supra-nationalist political parties, disenfranchised youth and civil unrest.  And we know well those conditions have worked out for Europe in the last century.   

[insanity_bb]

thats right,its not great, its fantastic

if you're poor and own no assets.

Otherwise you're a slave to the populists.

[Roger Bacon]

the US does not have anything resembling a free market in healthcare.

Way back when we had free market healthcare, it was perfectly affordable.

[James28]

It's not. The Euro system is not great either. And despite popular belief, the US does not have anything resembling a free market in healthcare.

I can go to the hospital with a snake bite, get treatment and not have to take a mortgage on my house to pay for the injection and 3min with an 'expert'  

[Mawse]

According to my calculations if my salary were to be paid in USD I'll be on around 122k USD a year plus change. That puts me in the 28% tax bracket.

I pay 26% here.

So I'm actually paying less tax here than I would've in the US.

Oh, and just for the record.

I do pay into my own private medical healthcare since it could literally take months before you're offered vital life saving treatment on the NHS. However saying that, when I needed to be hospitalized right there and then I was offered superb services by the NHS. And I mean superb. As good as any hospital.

We get back a lot come tax time, UK cost of living is still 30-50% higher, and your housing, utilities, cars, consumer electronics and most importantly gasoline are massively more than we pay.

Even living here in the Bay Area its way cheaper than even a small town in England.

I can think of nothing worse than losing my residence and having to move back to the UK


any job here paying 100k+ will almost certainly have great health insurance, old people and the disabled are covered by the government plans here. Not great but they pay.

[James28]

We get back a lot come tax time, UK cost of living is still 30-50% higher, and your housing, utilities, cars, consumer electronics and most importantly gasoline are massively more than we pay.

Even living here in the Bay Area its way cheaper than even a small town in England.

I can think of nothing worse than losing my residence and having to move back to the UK


any job here paying 100k+ will almost certainly have great health insurance, old people and the disabled are covered by the government plans here. Not great but they pay.

And people that harp on that it being perfectly fair with this doctors and hospital following some fucking dumbass 'guideline'. Oh brother, anything the government says goes for these ninnie heads  

Old people and the disabled are covered by the government here as well. Surely you know that being British?

Add to the fact that if I had to lose everything tomorrow, I can still be taken sick in hospital and NOT being charged my children's inheritance for a night in one of their beds.

[Voice of Doom]

.

[Roger Bacon]

I can go to the hospital with a snake bite, get treatment and not have to take a mortgage on my house to pay for the injection and 3min with an 'expert'  

Like nearly every American you would have health insurance through your employer, or you would purchase insurance for $150- $300 a month, so it wouldn't be a big deal either way.

[shiftedShapes]

Obamacare is basically the same thing we have always had, insurance companies at the forefront with a few changes such as people cannot be denied insurance.  A miniscule improvement and not really an improvement.  Republicans, such as yourself, want to do NOTHING.  So yes, you and the Republicans are WORSE when it comes to healthcare.

Oh and I do blame people like you for screaming at the top of your lungs how "bad" true Universal Healthcare is.  This is stupidity at a whole new level and your ilk are front and center to blame.

Obama, ideally, always said he wanted true Single Payer Healthcare, like the rest of the Civilized world has, but with a nation of morons, its not going to happen.  So yes, you are to blame.

No he does not want single payer, he is beholden to special interests that are the true enemies of single payer.  Do you think joe sixpack knew what single payer was before the media mobilized in response to the possibility of it?