About 49,500 people took their own lives last year in the U.S., the highest number ever, according to new government data posted Thursday.

  • spriteblood@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    But that costs money.

    It’s worth noting that a lot of solutions actually save money.

    For example, universal healthcare is a big issue in the US. Around 2/3 of all bankruptcies are from medical debt. People ration lifesaving medication like insulin because of how prohibitively expensive it is. GoFundMe is of the largest healthcare providers in the country, and over 1/3 of all campaigns are for medical expenses.

    They’ve created a system where it’s prohibitively expensive to seek necessary medical care, and is built on the foundational acceptance that people need to die and suffer for it to function as intended.

    Yet a universal healthcare system is projected to cost the US an estimated ~13% less than they are paying.

    Taking into account both the costs of coverage expansion as well as savings that would be achieved through the MAA, we calculate that a single-payer, universal healthcare system is likely to lead to a 13% savings in national healthcare expenditure, equivalent to over $450 billion annually.

    • Stumblinbear@pawb.social
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      1 year ago

      Around 2/3 of all bankruptcies are from medical debt

      A bit misleading, though I get your point. 2/3 of people who file for bankruptcy have medical debt, not that the medical debt was the cause of the bankruptcy. Any dollar amount of medical debt factors into this statistic, so if I have $800 in medical debt with reasonable payments and I drown under a mortgage I can no longer afford and 20k in credit card debt, did the medical debt cause the bankruptcy? Of course not. It’s counted anyways.

      • spriteblood@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        A bit misleading, though I get your point. 2/3 of people who file for bankruptcy have medical debt, not that the medical debt was the cause of the bankruptcy.

        Your assessment of this is incorrect.

        The study I was referencing reports on people who specify that medical-related financial stress contributed directly to their bankruptcy. This was broken down by medical expenses and medical issues leading to loss of income - with medical expenses being the higher percentage at ~60%, and the combined percentage sitting between 65-70% (with overlap in responses).