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Re:Doctor Replied to Your Email. That'll Cost $25 by moralestapia on Friday March 08, 2024 @12:33PM (#39643446)
He's right, though.

I moved to Canada recently and caught a flu that I didn't take care of and, in turn, developed into pneumonia. It took me FIVE days to be able sit down with a doctor and get an antibiotic prescribed even thought it was more than evident I needed immediate care. I could have died if I waited another day. But was it free? ... ehrm ... yeah.

In Mexico, doctors are as free market as it can get, downsides and upsides of that considered; with cash in hand you can get any kind of attention you need in the exact moment you need it. And it's not even that expensive, after converting MXN <-> USD. I could've dropped by with any of the 1,000s doctors that are available, many of which don't even require appointments. I would've got the attention I needed and the antibiotic prescription in 2-3 hours. That would had cost me ~60 USD.

Re:Doctor Replied to Your Email. That'll Cost $25 by caditinpiscinam on Friday March 08, 2024 @01:43PM (#39644456)
> MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president said Friday the country’s minimum wage will rise by 20% in 2024, to the equivalent of about $14.25 per day.

> About one-third of Mexico’s registered workers report earning the minimum wage, which will amount to about $1.75 per hour starting Jan. 1.

$60 is 4 days wages for 1/3 of workers in Mexico. It's the equivalent of $820 for someone making 75k per year in the US. So it's the same as any other free-market healthcare system: easy access for the wealthy at the exclusion of the poor.

https://apnews.com/article/mexico-minimum-wage-increase-peso...

Re:Doctor Replied to Your Email. That'll Cost $25 by moralestapia on Friday March 08, 2024 @02:15PM (#39644984)
Your reasoning is flawed as $75k/year is WAY above the minimum wage in the US. Adjusting for that, it comes to about ~$160.

I'm not saying it's fair, I'm saying it's cheap, compared to the US as that is implied by the context of this conversation.

When you buy a $1 dollar shirt from Malaysia, is it cheap? Yes. Is it fair? Who knows.

It's the same thing.

Also, doctors in Mexico make way more than minimum wage, it's not unusual for some of them to have incomes around 200k-300k USD/year, plus read about RESICO and your jaw will drop to the floor. The average person in the US would kill to have the income and purchasing power doctors have in Mexico.

Re:Doctor Replied to Your Email. That'll Cost $25 by segasaturn on Friday March 08, 2024 @01:36PM (#39644350)
"Canadian healthcare wait times" are mostly a myth invented by the American healthcare lobby [1]. Canadian cities are dotted with walk-in clinics you can go to and see a doctor same day. Or worst case scenario you would go to a hospital ER. Neither of these options will cost you any money and you will get same-day treatment and care. If you made an appointment with a GP then yeah you would wait, since those visits are typically for non-medical emergencies. :)

[1]: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/08/06/health-ins...

Re:Doctor Replied to Your Email. That'll Cost $25 by moralestapia on Friday March 08, 2024 @02:10PM (#39644907)
Hey, I'm not a "myth invented by the American healthcare lobby", wtf.

I went through that ordeal ~4 months ago, me, personally, I didn't read it on a magazine or whatever.

Re:Doctor Replied to Your Email. That'll Cost $25 by plastic-enjoyer on Friday March 08, 2024 @01:37PM (#39644368)
Germany has socialized healthcare and you can just go to your doctor without an appointment in acute cases like yours. Saying that ~60 USD is not that expensive comes from a privileged position where 60 USD doesn't hurt you.