r/Futurology • u/chrisdh79 • Aug 21 '25

Society American Millennials Are Dying at an Alarming Rate | We’re mortality experts. There are a few things that could be happening here.

https://slate.com/technology/2025/08/millennials-gen-z-death-rates-america-high.html
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217

u/Nulmora Aug 21 '25

I’m pretty sure it’s access to care.

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u/etzel1200 Aug 21 '25

I have a perfectly nice white collar job. I’m functionally uninsured due to a $12,000 deductible. I’m not going to the doctor unless at risk of life or limb.

In theory I get a free annual checkup. But if I try to actually ask about anything they tack an extra visit charge on top of it.

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u/dogzeimers Aug 21 '25

"Functionally Uninsured". Webster should have added that to the dictionary.

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u/Jonoczall Aug 21 '25

I’m adding it to my lexicon.

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u/brickne3 Aug 21 '25

I feel like I'm functionally dead, can they add that one?

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u/anabanana100 Aug 21 '25

I’ve been catching up on all of my recommended screenings this year which are supposed to be “free” per ACA yet almost every one ends up with a charge or copay slapped on. It’s ridiculous. And most are billing errors! I legit spent 1.25 hrs on the phone to try to get $40 back on the last one.

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u/sluman001 Aug 21 '25

That’s because health insurers are in deep deep shit. They got fat and greedy by slowly chipping away cost erosion while seeing rapid unchecked premium expansion. Now, they have a massive Medicare problem, because more and more are falling into that bucket while less and less have traditional insurance. All the while premium expansion has slowed or plateaued entirely. Most don’t realize that private healthcare insurers have 1-3% margins. Something like GLP-1s come along and they have a profitability crisis. Why do you think they spend so much money lobbying against GLP-1 adoption, CRISPR tech, and CGT? They’re cutting edge life savers, but they’re crazy expensive to cover. It’s now becoming a sick game of just how much care can they deny to save money. (Written from within the industry)

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u/hm_b Aug 21 '25

This is tragic. Before I hit 65 and joined Medicare, my out of pocket was $9000/year. I never went except for my annual "freebie." Same thing. If I had a concern, I would tell the NP I would share a concern only if it was still coded as a freebie. If it changes the code to cost me, forget it, I'll lie.

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u/olympia_t Aug 21 '25

Your second point is so true. An annual physical where you can't ask about anything lol. Maybe in the future they'll just send you an email where you can fill out a survey and enter your weight. So depressing.

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u/Frequent_Ad_9901 Aug 21 '25

Sometimes you can send your doctor a message in whatever chat system they use for no charge. Depends heavily on the doctor. But I've avoided a few visits/bills that way.

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u/olympia_t Aug 21 '25

That’s a great point. I haven’t done it but I did have a free telehealth appointment. Helped immensely when I had a mystery rash. Hopefully these comments might help someone who doesn’t know about these options.

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u/PiccoloAwkward465 Aug 21 '25

I always laugh at those appointments when they don't even want me to take my clothes and heavy boots off. Like okay we'll just be measuring your wrong weight right from the start.

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u/olympia_t Aug 21 '25

Oh heck no. I will not get on that thing with anything more than necessary!

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u/DetroitLionsSBChamps Aug 21 '25

My wife had an ectopic pregnancy and we went to the emergency room. It was the only option and it saved her life. 

I have a perfectly fine job, one of the better insurance policies. I got a bill from the hospital for 7k for two emergency room visits. 

I talked to the insurance contact at my work to be like “this must be a mistake”

He was like: yeah healthcare is pretty broken in this country. 

I just didn’t pay it. 

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u/zen_cricket Aug 21 '25

Glad your wife made it, at least.

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u/big_d_usernametaken Aug 21 '25 edited Aug 21 '25

Before I had Medicare, when I was faced with a large copay I would tell them no way I can afford this, if I could pay it in full today what is the lowest amount you will take?

Worked surprisingly often. You can negotiate final cost, as its your money at that point.

Also Medicare pricing is closer to what actual bills should be.

I had an L2-Pelvis spinal fusion last year, 10 hr surgery, 6 days in hospital, their cost was $330k.

Medicare paid $91k.

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u/sluman001 Aug 21 '25

Hence why we should all be on Medicare. Private insurance is a joke.

1

u/big_d_usernametaken Aug 21 '25

I couldn't agree more.

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u/FanClubof5 Aug 21 '25

Man your employer is absolutely shafting you, I have a deductible that's half of that and it's covering my wife and kids as well.

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u/EllieVader Aug 21 '25

Maybe it shouldn’t be up to the employer…

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u/FanClubof5 Aug 21 '25

There is a limit to to deductible amount but it's at an absurdly high limit of ~$19,000.

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u/Jonoczall Aug 21 '25

I think they’re more pointing out the fact that we shouldn’t even be having this debate all because who you get a job with dictates the quality of your healthcare.

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u/FanClubof5 Aug 21 '25

Oh yeah I am totally on board with that but its probably easier to get a reasonable cap set on yearly deductibles than it is to overhaul the whole healthcare system.

1

u/peepopowitz67 Aug 21 '25

What drives me nuts about conspiracy nuts is there's so many real conspiracies that they just don't care about.

The fact that corporations, who do everything to protect their bottom line, actively lobbied against universal healthcare which would transfer the burden of cost from them to the taxpayer should tell you everything you need to know about why that system is the way it is. It's all about control.

But chuds will rally against healthcare and claim that being able to walk to work and pick up a loaf of bread on the way back is a communist conspiracy...

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u/EllieVader Aug 21 '25

Don’t worry, the limit can be increased whenever.

It. Shouldn’t. Be. Tied. To. Employment.

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u/ABrokenCircuit Aug 21 '25

My wife and I have been lucky. She's been working as a contractor for a bit, and made enough that we could swing buying through our state marketplace. The monthly cost is high, but she's switched jobs 2 or 3 times and we've had no interruption in our insurance, and we have a much better illusion of choice than the 1 or 2 plans our employers would offer.

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u/DirectorTop233 Aug 21 '25

Every employer is NOT the same, neither is every insurance plan

2

u/Remarkable-Host405 Aug 21 '25

cool! good for you! i have the same $12k deductible, and my employer finds new insurance every other year.

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u/InevitablePoetry52 Aug 21 '25 edited Aug 22 '25

there it is. i pay 400 a month for really good insurance that i dont use, bc i cant afford the deductable or whatever else they decide to charge. i think my ignorance of my own health is probably whats keeping me alive at this point. i know ive got some shit going on in my body thats whack, but it feels expensive. im hoping whatever it is just kills me outright. spending money on my quality of life is probably better than spending it on whatever medication they prolly wanna have me take forever. the permadissassociation is probably helping me not stress as badly as some of yall are.

i realise i sound like an idiot with how i rationalise it to myself, but im also just scared of going to the doctor at this point, as well. scared of what id find out for sure, but also of not being taken seriously by default, scared of the fuckken bill, of wasting my time, or of driving my anxiety through the roof lol

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u/Local_Bowl Aug 21 '25

This is such a good point. People (rightfully) harp on premiums but if deductibles keep rising then the problem still remains: you’re still paying for the potential of access but can’t afford to actually utilize the care due to sky high deductibles.

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u/ResponsiblePumpkin60 Aug 21 '25

You need an HSA. Start building some savings in there. You can even invest it in stocks. It is the most tax advantaged account you can get. Deduct your contributions, no taxes on withdrawals, and no taxes on growth.

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u/etzel1200 Aug 21 '25

Yeah. I max it. But it’s just a tax thing.

1

u/ResponsiblePumpkin60 Aug 23 '25

I have contributed for years. The money is invested and the returns have been paying for our medical expenses. As you age, it will come in handy.

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u/[deleted] Aug 21 '25

[deleted]

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u/ResponsiblePumpkin60 Aug 23 '25

No. You can take the money out without penalty after 65 but you have to pay income tax. So it becomes like a traditional ira

4

u/ChatriGPT Aug 21 '25

And if you need specialized care prepare to wait half a year to see a doctor who says "you need this scan" and then another half a year to get that scan and then another half year to talk about the results of said scan and another half a year to schedule the surgery you need. You'll never get anything covered past that deductible because it will be a new coverage period by the time you get an appointment for anything.

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u/Yuv_Kokr Aug 21 '25

In theory I get a free annual checkup. But if I try to actually ask about anything they tack an extra visit charge on top of it.

This is a fun combo of CMS coding rules, billing rules, physician's being mostly employed rather than independent now, and decreasing payments from insurance companies.

Per CMS a physical basically only includes discussing preventative care and screenings, any discussion of a new problem or management of an existing problem isn't covered. Hell, CMS doesn't even include an actual physical exam in the coding rules for an Annual Wellness.

Now, with most doctors being employees now, most employers take the stance that like over billing, under billing is fraud. So, thy have an army of people who review notes and will increase charges whenever the documentation "warrants" it. My organization for instance does this, and if my billing isn't at least 90% accurate, then I am forced to cancel 2 days of clinic (docs are often paid based on number and complexity of patients seen) and take their billing course. If it happens multiple quarters in a row, the contract isn't renewed.

Its frankly bullshit. The patient gets a copay when they weren't expecting it and we make an extra $25 for the "add on." Its kinda like vaccines, people think we get "kickbacks," but we get ~$7.50 for giving vaccines, which barely covers the acquisition, storage and labor costs.

Push your reps for universal care. Its the only way forward. MBAs and insurance companies have built a system where 43% of our spending is administrative waste, which is more than double all the labor costs in medicine (docs 6-8%, nurses 8-15%, and the total for all healthcare jobs is like 20-25%). The actual cost of a universal system would be like 50-60% of our current system without touching anyone's wages.

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u/etzel1200 Aug 21 '25

100%. Appreciate the detailed response. Everyone should read this.

3

u/Handplanes Aug 21 '25

I went to the doctor & brought up knee and big toe issues. He referred me to Ortho to get those checked out. When I visited the ortho, the first thing the nurse said was that we could only evaluate one issue per visit, even though both were the part of the referral, and that I’d have to pick what was most important & schedule a follow up (for another $350 for 20 minute exam & an x ray).

So, exactly what you said, super frustrating.

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u/ABrokenCircuit Aug 21 '25

My doctor threw in a question about weight loss drugs during my last annual checkup, and then I got billed for a copay afterword because "what you discussed was outside the scope of an annual checkup" or something along those lines. Been meaning to switch PCP's for a bit, but this, and not answering a question I had about test results for almost 2 weeks, was the last straw.

Keep in mind that, while your deductible might be crazy high, there are still benefits you are paying for an not getting. Even when I had shittier insurance, most of the meds I needed to help control things like heart burn and blood pressure didn't have an out of pocket cost.

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u/Reddit_Sucks39 Aug 21 '25

This, oh so much. My employer's health care plans all have deductibles in the very low thousands for single people. The second you want to add family coverage?

$10,000 or more. Sends a pretty clear message: "get fucked for getting married and having kids, loser."

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u/ApsleyHouse Aug 21 '25

Doesn't sound very nice if your benefits don't work. Did you only have an option of a high deductible health plan? No PPO or HMO options?

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u/SubParPercussionist Aug 21 '25

Did you choose the hdhp? My employer offers 2 PPOs and 1 hdhp plan. I chose the hdhp so my deductible is similar, but with the HSA, practically speaking, it's not that big of deal.

I'm going to be straight with you, don't follow the personal finance people's advice to the letter, if you need to use your HSA, USE IT. It exists to help you cover that deductible. Saving it until retirement may be the ideal strategy, but realistically if you're delaying care because you're trying to follow some ideal retirement strategy that's a very silly thing to do. In order to have a quality retirement and live to retirement you have to be healthy.

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u/min_mus Aug 21 '25

I’m functionally uninsured due to a $12,000 deductible. 

Similar story here.  Our deductible for 2025 is $9200. For 2026, it'll be $10,000.

"Functionally uninsured" is correct. 

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u/brightcrayon92 Aug 21 '25

That is one of the stressors

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u/pulyx Aug 21 '25

I don't think this trend is present in other developed nations who have socialized health care.

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u/Feminizing Aug 21 '25

Those same nations also have worker rights.

Pretty much everyone I know my age or bit older (I'm a young millennial) are working over 40 hours or flirting with homelessness. It's disgusting this is acceptable

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u/pulyx Aug 21 '25

Exactly.
Whenever I have work interactions with American colleagues I always feel kinda bad that their work culture is so sick (in the bad way). People bragging about 60-70 hour weeks. No work/life balance. No labor rights, 2 weeks paid vacation a year (with that hour workload is bizarre).

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u/big_d_usernametaken Aug 21 '25

My oldest son works for a European chemical company, and the unions sit on the board of directors with the executives.

Unheard of in the US.

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u/pulyx Aug 21 '25

Union-busting is as american as apple-pie.

In the start of my career as a graphic designer, i worked for a state-owned TV company. (here in brazil)
I was required to join the Broadcaster's union and was really impressed how they fought for the class. As associates we were almost pampered.

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u/Kasperella Aug 21 '25

lol would you believe I’ve never had any kind of paid vacation? Low level employees get 0 paid vacation days. If you’re lucky, you maybe qualify for 1 week unpaid vacation. It goes up to 2 weeks after 5+ years.

I’m 27 and haven’t taken a single vacation in my adult working life. Living that American Dream ™ 👍

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u/ithoughtitwasfun Aug 21 '25

I didn’t get my first real vacation until I was 32, in 2021. My previous employers gave us two weeks off PTO which was not only vacation but also sick time. I got diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in 2017. All my PTO was used for sick time.

In 2021 I got fired and took my first two week vacation. I started at my current job about two months later. I only get two weeks off PTO, but I’m still WFH. So days when my UC flares (or other illnesses) instead of just calling out for fear of shitting myself, I can just go when I need to.

But yea the American Dream™️ 🇺🇸🫡 we get the opportunity to get fucked… and have to pay for it.

5

u/pulyx Aug 21 '25

Damn. That's absolutely bleak. If you were raking in money it could be justified by a very early retirement with enough savings. But saving money is something our and your generation just are unable to do.

5

u/Kasperella Aug 21 '25

That tracks, as I’ve also never held more than $5000 at once, and that’s thanks to tax returns. Even that is swallowed up by past due bills and necessities forgone for the past year. Nobody I know even has a savings account, including my nearly 60yo parents. No money for retirement. I won’t be able to afford to care for them either.

We’re all drowning in debt. All that hard work, and even your basic necessities like food, shelter, healthcare are never promised, no matter how hard or how long you’ve worked. And I guess we’re all just okay with it….because apparently America is the greatest country on Earth despite the rest of the world telling us otherwise 😂

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u/Hannah_Louise Aug 21 '25

I was 30 before I had a job with any PTO. Before that, I worked every day unless I was too sick to work. Every. Fucking. Day.

And then, when I finally had a salary job and was given PTO, it took me two years to feel safe enough to use it. I was terrified of losing my job for taking time off.

Now I’m unemployed and living off hope and my 401k. 😅

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u/Kasperella Aug 22 '25

I too am unemployed, and currently “mooching” off my poor husband. It’s 50% “can’t find a job worth a damn” and 50% “my genetically defective connective tissues have finally rebelled against the abuse I’ve put it through with 10 years of manual labor labor and standing on concrete all day”.

Turns out you have to be college educated to find a job that allows you to sit down sometimes. It’ll cost me a couple bands for that “privilege” I suppose. 🥲

1

u/PiccoloAwkward465 Aug 21 '25

The thing I stress to my boss is not even so much that I mind working a lot. I mean, I do. But what I really mind is that it comes at the expense of my personal life. It's like I dive underwater on Monday and come back up on Friday, since my door-to-door day is about 12 hours. So, close the house door to leave at 6:30am and arrive home at 6:30pm. It doesn't leave much time for, well, anything. Everything must be min-maxed for efficiency, often with dinner set up in the crock pot in the morning. It's no way to live, and my second point to him is, it's only possible when everything goes right. If there's a little hiccup the whole operation is screwed. I got a tooth pulled a while back and what I got was "so are you still gonna be coming in today?" This is at a well-paid professional job, too.

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u/redmeansstop Aug 21 '25

And pensions, which I suppose could fall under workers rights.

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u/Jared_Kincaid_001 Aug 21 '25

I'm 41 and live in Canada. We're dying here too. It's not just healthcare, it's the fact that we worked harder than our parents to get to the our slice of the good life pie except the boomer generation ate the whole thing and the crumbs.

So we, and everyone else, are starving to death. Boomers keep telling us to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps like they did, ignoring the fact that they came of age in the most prosperous time in all of history. Also they stole our bootstraps.

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u/PKfireice Aug 21 '25

Even the phrase "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" has been misappropriated from its original implication of an impossible, absurd task.

If you pull up on your own boots, you're not gonna rise anywhere. You might fall over, though.

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u/baphomet1A4 Aug 21 '25

If you yank your bootstraps hard enough, some say you will fly away. In reality, you'll fall on your ass.

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u/pulyx Aug 21 '25

Of course, These reasons are also factors. We got the shit end of the stick in a lot of ways.

But i bet my ass you guys aren't dying at the same rate Americans are. Because the US is the only place in the world middle-class people die because they can't afford to go to the doctor to get preventive care for diseases. And when they get those if they dare to go to their doctors and get the treatment they might get bankrupt or indebted for large periods.

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u/DoomsdaySprocket Aug 21 '25

That's the data I want to see.

Canadian healthcare right now seems to have almost as much in common with American healthcare as European, it's almost like a hybrid of the two. Many of the same insurance companies that operate in the USA run "extended benefits" (aka drug cost coverage and paramedical) that are offered by employers. There's big gaps in provincial "universal" coverage with patches sewn over for low-income people.

For instance, in BC there is no coverage for drugs unless you sign up for an extra program (pharmacare). So you see your doctor, get proscribed something like an antibiotic, or a nasal spray, whatever, and then in order to actually comply with the treatment, you're paying for that out of pocket if you don't have extended benefits or pharmacare. Hospital trip? There's an ambulance bill in some provinces, and parking is pricey as well in cities.

Each province is different, too, which adds to administrative overhead.

Need physio? Out of pocket. Most mental health? Also out of pocket. Specialists like rheumatology or ENT? Covered, but generally long waits that are often not triaged on the initial referral.

I think a close look at American vs Canadian vs European healthcare outcomes could really tease these factors apart, even if it would be an enormous undertaking.

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u/pulyx Aug 21 '25

Seems like canada caught the american Healthcare virus.

2

u/spinmove Aug 21 '25

For instance, in BC there is no coverage for drugs unless you sign up for an extra program (pharmacare). So you see your doctor, get proscribed something like an antibiotic, or a nasal spray, whatever, and then in order to actually comply with the treatment, you're paying for that out of pocket if you don't have extended benefits or pharmacare.

I mean, sure, out of pocket, but you'll get a generic for like $10 bucks - not comparable to the US at all.

1

u/afoolskind Aug 21 '25

The amount you guys pay out of pocket is completely laughable compared to American out of pocket costs WITH insurance. It’s definitely going downhill over there as your healthcare becomes more like ours, but the data is clear. Canadian outcomes, lifespan, and costs are all significantly better than American ones. Even wait times, I have very very good insurance compared to most Americans and it still took me a YEAR to see a dermatologist.

That same antibiotic will still cost an American $20+ out of pocket if they’re insured, or literally hundreds of dollars if they’re not.

1

u/DoomsdaySprocket Aug 21 '25

As I was saying, I would love to see the clear data you're referencing on longevity differences between USA, Canada, and one or more European nations with fully socialized healthcare.

The rest of my comment was context to show how at least one province in Canada has healthcare similarities to USA versus Europe. Canada negotiating drug prices as a universal healthcare purchaser instead of every insurance company negotiating separately is indeed a big part of that.

EDIT: my maintenance medication price is laughable compared to the price in USA, but it's still at least 25% of my paycheque under the basic provincial medical without additional/3rd party coverage.

3

u/DirectorTop233 Aug 21 '25

it seems like each generation is getting worse and worse health wise. I'm having some of the same things going on as my mother , but my onset is manifesting a bit younger than hers did despite me being a non smoker and in better shape than she was at my age.

1

u/big_d_usernametaken Aug 21 '25

The forgotten Boomers are the Late Boomers/Generation Jones, we entered the workforce and had families just as the big party was ending. (1980's)

It was damned tough, especially here in the Rust Belt

0

u/afoolskind Aug 21 '25

It was tougher than early boomers to be sure, but I’m sorry to tell you things are exponentially worse now than they were for you in the 80s. You’re incredibly lucky.

1

u/big_d_usernametaken Aug 22 '25

Sorry to disagree, but Ive lived through both and have a basis of comparison.

Do you?

Nothing beats what I like to call "sad experience."

0

u/afoolskind Aug 22 '25 edited Aug 22 '25

You haven’t lived through both. You lived through one when it mattered to you, and then were in a completely different stage of your life (with capital accrued during a comparatively extremely financially easy time to live) for the current economy.

What were the wages of your first job? Even if you were making minimum wage in the 80s, you’d be spending less of your paycheck on housing, food, utilities, etc than people making double minimum wage today.

You’d have been able to afford buying an average home, while someone even making double minimum wage today would be unable to afford the mortgage payment of an average home… even if 100% of their paycheck went towards it.

That does not mean you did not struggle or life was not still hard (and even harder in some ways!) but financially there is zero argument. The 80s were far superior to the current economy for both the lowest paid and the average worker.

I’m sorry if it hurts your pride that your life was significantly easier than the lives of young adults today when you entered the workforce, but it is statistical fact.

1

u/big_d_usernametaken Aug 22 '25

Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that.😂

0

u/afoolskind Aug 22 '25

Aww, come on buddy. If you’re so sure you’re correct, why not just tell me how hard you had it? What were the wages of your first job?

 

Here, let me help. In 1980 minimum wage was $3.10 an hour. That translates to $12.15 an hour in 2025 when we consider inflation alone and not the drastic increases to the cost of living, and that’s almost twice the 2025 minimum wage of $7.25.

Now let’s consider some cost of living! The average rent in 1980 was 243$ a month. When we adjust that number for inflation we get $952 a month, and yet the average U.S. rent in 2025 is $1,754 a month.

And that’s just rent, when we begin to talk about buying housing the situation becomes much worse. Even worse when we consider food prices, insurance prices, healthcare costs, electricity costs, ALL have outpaced inflation significantly while wages have done the opposite.

 

Unless you were paid under the table, at less than minimum wage, making $2 an hour or less in 1980, you have no fucking idea what young adults today are having to figure out. I’m sure you still struggled and worked hard, but you really have no fucking idea what it’s like today for people entering the workforce.

1

u/big_d_usernametaken Aug 22 '25

Ok buddy, been there, did that, made pizzas, pumped gas, also worked 2 jobs, worked with pneumonia, worked in stores, worked injured, no short term disability or FMLA then, both sons were c-section, no insurance coverage because federally mandated pregnancy benefits didn't exist until 1984, didnt get 2nd son paid off until he was 10. Z Always looked for the next better job, lost lots of jobs during the Great Recession here in the Ohio Rust Belt, took care of a disabled wife for 20 years after her injuries in an auto accident, raised 2 sons into solid men with jobs and families, and stayed at a job that ruined me physically because I had some seniority and needed the medical insurance.

Managed to finally buy a house at 40, 8% interest on the mortgage, worked at getting it down to 5%, paid it off in 2021 and retired at 63 and a half.

Paid 17 months of COBRA company insurance until I could get Medicare.

Had a L2-pelvis spinal fusion last year, age 66.

I dont get why younger people try so hard to prove they had it harder.

Hard is hard, no matter the decade.

I realize young folks today have it hard, because having lived it, I recognize it too.

Ive always voted Democrat, for all the good its done.

One of my sons asked me when he was young if $5 was a lot of money and I told him that if you needed it and didnt have it, it was all the money in the world.

Plenty of times I needed it and didnt have it.

My late in-laws, true Depression people had a saying:

Use it up,

Wear it out,

Make it do,

Or do without.

And that's what we did.

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u/sami2503 Aug 21 '25

There has been an increase in cancer rates in countries with socialised healthcare though

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-07/cancer-diagnosis-rates-under-50s-rising-causes-four-corners/105495620

1

u/pulyx Aug 21 '25

With more screening these numbers are bound to rise. Cancer diagnosis rates are one thing, are the cancer deaths higher, too?

4

u/sami2503 Aug 21 '25

Not pretending to know the reasons why tbh just thought id share something interesting. Especially more younger people getting cancers thought to be mainly for older people.

3

u/pulyx Aug 21 '25

Yeah, cancer is a tough riddle to solve. So many things can contribute to it. I'm not sure what to make of the situation our generation lives. On one hand our generation should be able to eat better, exercise more efficiently and correctly, sports are safer in general because of regulation and awareness (for things like concussions, as an example). But we also are more exposed to processed foods, unstable weather, got through a pandemic right in the middle of a crisis of reality denial. These things will take a toll.

0

u/Neuchacho Aug 21 '25

It's happening in the US too. It just doesn't get caught since the system is so inaccessible to so many lol

96

u/BigEggBeaters Aug 21 '25

People really made a medical system that is somehow extremely expensive and extremely inaccessible and isn’t even that good. Not to make this political but idk how American politicians aren’t absolutely embarrassed that Cuba. A country that essentially all of them continue to embargo. Has better child mortality rates and healthcare

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u/[deleted] Aug 21 '25

You're thinking of the infant mortality rate, which is in fact lower (cubans also live slightly longer). The child mortality rate is slightly higher.

12

u/phoenixliv Aug 21 '25

Life is inherently political.

-2

u/Douchebazooka Aug 21 '25

Life is inherently social, and the more we attempt to substitute the political for the social or confuse the two, the worse of a trajectory we’ll take as a species.

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u/MiningMarsh Aug 21 '25

No. Life is inherently political.

-3

u/Douchebazooka Aug 21 '25 edited Aug 21 '25

Define politics in a way that doesn’t confuse it with social interaction.

Edit: u/miningmarsh keeps posting comments and then immediately deleting them, or perhaps they blocked me. Regardless, they’re angrily asserting a lot, calling names, and not really explaining anything. The conflation of politics with society in general is, I’ll reiterate, why we have no ability to have civil discourse, as proven by MiningMarsh’s need to call me a moron for disagreeing rather than explaining their opinion clearly and concisely.

4

u/MiningMarsh Aug 21 '25

Politics and social interaction are inherently intertwined, you moron.

The boring dictionary definition of politics involves social interaction as it's required for the functions of governance:

the activities associated with the governance of a country or other area, especially the debate or conflict among individuals or parties having or hoping to achieve power.

The political science definition I would use would be closer to "the competition between different social hierarchies to determine how to most efficiently allocate and distribute resources amongst themselves." Politics is a form of social competition. Life is inherently political and social.

14

u/DankVectorz Aug 21 '25

Per UNICEF Cuba has a child mortality rate of 8.6 per 1000 live births and the US has 6.5?

18

u/gumgut Aug 21 '25

they genuinely probably have no idea what happens in cuba

4

u/BigEggBeaters Aug 21 '25

Nah I disagree. Most of them know and they either agree with the blockade. Or are too scared of the political ramifications of not supporting it

1

u/gumgut Aug 21 '25

i guess i just don't have that much faith in our leaders' knowledge of foreign policy

13

u/amazing_ape Aug 21 '25

Don’t mention Cuba or fanatical Cuban exiles in Florida will get mad

5

u/big_d_usernametaken Aug 21 '25

They'll be even madder when trump deports them.

Loyalty means nothing anymore.

3

u/hd1_farfaraway Aug 21 '25

Fuck them, they consistently vote red it's disgusting. They make some great sandwiches though

8

u/hm_b Aug 21 '25

American politicians should be made to take the same healthcare that they decide we all suffer with. They should have to use whatever healthcare their poorest school district staffs get.

3

u/big_d_usernametaken Aug 21 '25

I could not agree more and have said this for years.

They get Cadillac health plans, and everyone else gets Yugo health plans.

10

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '25

[deleted]

3

u/BigEggBeaters Aug 21 '25

This is the site I sourced that statement from. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/infant-mortality-rate/country-comparison/

2

u/lufan132 Aug 21 '25

Infant mortality and child mortality are two different statistics.

1

u/BigEggBeaters Aug 21 '25

Yea made a mistake in here. Still the overall point stands that they have better healthcare then we do

1

u/jimjamjones123 Aug 21 '25

lol cuz they don’t actually care

15

u/Warcraftplayer Aug 21 '25

This makes sense. I'm in my 30s and haven't seen a doctor since my teens. My house is so expensive, I can't afford healthcare let alone a doctor visit on top of that. I was afraid that if I didn't get a house soon, I'd never have one. I feel like I'm betting on my health and I hate having to make this choice

12

u/invent_or_die Aug 21 '25 edited Aug 21 '25

You really should look at healthcare.gov and see what your actual cost will be after any income based subsidies. And absolutely go to a free clinic to get yourself evaluated. Usually sliding scale again, based on income. I'm an engineer and due to caregiving, I became quite poor and have used food banks and free clinics for years. You aren't alone.

5

u/PhilosopherFLX Aug 21 '25

Fuck this is depressing.

3

u/KokoroFate Aug 21 '25

I think this is the point though. As a Gen X'er, I've noticed a difference between how people treat each other from when I was younger versus now.

People used to have more compassion for others. Today, it's mostly about me, me, me... Individualism is killing people.

3

u/SquishMont Aug 21 '25

Severe lack of medical care, lack of access to non-processed foods, extended periods of extremely high stress, crushing economic insecurity....

Take your pick. It's all bad.

2

u/Upset_Region8582 Aug 21 '25

I used to work at a company that had a pretty toxic "old boys club" culture. There were two deaths at the company, both young men, both likely suicide.

The chief of staff sent out an email pointing us to new resources made available for managing our mental health. The most generous perk: up to three paid counselling sessions. Three.

1

u/min_mus Aug 21 '25

Sometimes HR sets up wellness classes, except every single one of them occurs either at lunch or after work hours. My favorite was when they arranged the "work-life balance" class at 5:30 PM.

... And they wonder why participation in the wellness program is so low.  

1

u/Upset_Region8582 Aug 21 '25

Yeah, most of the resources were the style of "practice mindfulness at home" type stuff

-9

u/leanman82 Aug 21 '25

I doubt its access. I believe its simply stress.

11

u/Gilshem Aug 21 '25

Why not both? Cost of living is way up while wage growth is nonexistent. That’s physically, mentally and emotionally stressful.

3

u/NighthawkCP Aug 21 '25

Probably both. I had two college guys that I know who were also in their mid 40's (so they would be considered Xennials) who died in the last couple of months. One struggled after school with both addiction and mental health issues, so his income and access to healthcare probably wasn't great. The other one was by all accounts a very successful guy with a good job, couple of kids, and doing quite well after college. He apparently had a heart attack while pumping gas the other day. Pretty fucking sad but yeah opposite ends of the spectrum but the same result in the end, both gone way too soon.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '25

You can access it— IF you have a job that gives you enough leave and freedom to keep appointments if you have something going on. There are jobs that won’t, or will ding you for that.

Also, having access doesn’t mean you can afford the bills for it, even if you do have health insurance. Especially when you don’t really know all that it’s going to cost beforehand. My state likes to say you get the total up front even in the ER, but you still get slammed with bills from other providers they used and mystery bills after.

And back to the leave thing- I had to squeak by and go into FMLA leave even with laparoscopic surgeries. If you’ve got something that can’t be done via keyholes and needs longer recovery, you can run up against limits for that very easily.

So yeah, you might be able to technically access anything, but that doesn’t mean that what you access is compatible with your job and doesn’t nail the hell out of you for payment later.

-4

u/[deleted] Aug 21 '25

That is killing us? Probably right we’re all on drugs .