Foreign countries know little about high insurance deductibles, and few struggle with medical costs according to the LA Times. Insurance deductibles continue to trend higher for the typical American family in NJ. In our office, we call this the uninsured insured patients who has insurance, but the insurer will not pay a dime until the deductible has been met. Imagine paying 16 thousand dollars yearly for your insurance and then not ever being able to use it unless someone in your family becomes ill or requires an expensive medical procedure. Many American's put off needed well-care visits because of this. Cost transparency in our office is straightforward. Most American's with high deductible plans can pay with a debit card at the time of the visit until their deductible has been reached. According to the LA Times, few people in foreign countries have exposure to high medical costs. Often, their percentage owed on a visit is far less than it is here, and in many cases, their care just gets paid for. While Americans are told that in other countries, there are long waits, perhaps, they have never tried to visit a medical specialist here. Often, it may be months until you can visit them. In the United States, we are paying much more than other developed nations and those who are underinsured can easily be bankrupted by the costs of one illness. Does being ill make you ill, or does the cost of it drive illness? Check out this interesting article from the LA Times Americans’ struggles with medical bills are a foreign concept in other countries SEP. 12, 2019 5 AM GORINCHEM, Netherlands — In France, a visit to the doctor typically costs the equivalent of $1.12. A night in a German hospital costs a patient roughly $11. And in the Netherlands — one of the few wealthy nations other than the U.S. where patients face a deductible — insurers usually must cover all medical care after the first 385 euros, roughly $431. Healthcare in the U.S. has long been unique. But few things so starkly set the American system apart as how much patients pay out of pocket for medical care, even if they have insurance. Read more