92% of Americans having health insurance doesn’t disprove the assertion that basic health issues can bankrupt you. Last I checked, medical bills were still the leading cause of bankruptcy in the USA.

That’s without mentioning the problems with insurance being tied to your employer. My definition of a “free country” includes being able to quit your job and not worrying about losing everything you own because you get sick.

I’m not saying your definition has to be the same. I’m just trying to explain one of the big reasons why I decided not to try to emigrate to the USA (and I’d wager it’s this exact sticking point for a lot of other people, too).

Person above provided statistics to correct the stamement made by another person.

> basic health issues can bankrupt you

While there is no universal definition of "basic health issues" as far as I know, there is "common health issues" definition.

If by "basic" you mean simple, then my question is: can runny nose bankrupt many Americans?

Basic health things that can bankrupt you: diabetes, childbirth complications, etc.

> 92% of Americans having health insurance doesn’t disprove the assertion that basic health issues can bankrupt you.

Why not? I suppose if you're part of that 8% without health insurance it might be a problem, but then again, if you can't afford health insurance you're not likely to pay hospital bills regardless of price.

It's definitely a hyperbole that Americans will go bankrupt if they get sick since a vast majority of them will have their medical bills paid for by their health insurance.

> That’s without mentioning the problems with insurance being tied to your employer.

Health insurance is not tied to your employer. You are allowed to buy health insurance on an open marketplace [1], either as an individual or on a family plan. You may even decline your employer's health insurance and buy your own if you so choose.

> I’m not saying your definition has to be the same. I’m just trying to explain one of the big reasons why I decided not to try to emigrate to the USA (and I’d wager it’s this exact sticking point for a lot of other people, too).

This is a major reason why I'm addressed this kind of misinformation on the internet. There are folks, like you, who aren't from here who might begin to believe some of the claims found on social media websites, and use that information to make life decisions.

[1] https://www.healthcare.gov/

Health insurance is heavily tied to your employer, though. It’s extremely rare to forgo your employers insurance and buy your own because the incentives just are not there. It’s also a huge consideration when you change jobs. It’s not unheard for people to go without insurance for 30-90 days when they switch jobs because the insurance doesn’t kick in until it kicks in at the new job.

(Not a huge issue in tech, though)

Health insurance isn't "tied" to your employer. People seem to be using the word "tied" to mean, "they give me it for free so I don't have to pay for it myself."

Here's one: Coffee is tied to my employer because my work gives me free coffee on the job.

And how are you suggesting we fix this? By not allowing employers to give employees free / cheap health insurance?

Can you, in general, keep exactly the same insurance contract if you change employers (but paying it by yourself)? Because if not, and you ever had any serious condition, then, I would consider it tied to your employer.

In other countries, pension plans can be "tied" to your employer, i.e., while employed by X, you get some extra perks in your pension plan (and the payments into the pension plan are deducted from your salary, so you are paying for it yourself), but if you move to another company (or become unemployed) you cannot keep the same pension plan (even if you want to keep paying it by yourself); you are forced to accept whatever conditions are available at that time.

The majority of people who file for bankruptcy due to medical bills have health insurance.

https://sum.cuny.edu/medical-debt-americans-bankrupt-health-...

What are you trying to proof? We all know that the US is a very broken society. But nevertheless better than any other large society (China, russian etc)

> What are you trying to proof? We all know that the US is a very broken society.

How do you figure? Do you have proof?

Also I don't understand what the original commenter is trying to prove either. It seems there's a recent concerted effort to spread misinformation about the US on social media sites like Reddit and HN. And yet, in the real world, it's pretty great here.

Good comment that provides good links! Too often people on HN give absolutely misleading information without even any links