“So, if you’re poor, you’re dead,” was one British woman’s reaction to finding out the sky-high cost of healthcare in the United States in a video that went viral this past week.
The video, which was released on Tuesday by @PoliticsJOE_UK on Twitter and has since been retweeted more than 30,000 times, asked people on the streets of Britain how much they thought certain healthcare products, services, and procedures cost in America for the uninsured.
Upon learning the cost of calling an ambulance ($2,500), an inhaler ($250-$350), two EpiPens ($600), childbirth ($10,000-$30,000), and an IUD ($1,300) the participants were completely gob smacked.
Ambulance call out? $2,500. Childbirth? $30,000.
Our NHS is not for sale, @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/q9z4r6Ni6g
— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) December 3, 2019
People in the U.K. receive healthcare through the National Health System, which is a comprehensive public health service administered by the government and paid for through taxation.
Upon finding out how much healthcare costs in the U.S., one man was then asked if it makes him grateful for the NHS. “Absolutely, absolutely,” he said. “I mean, I didn’t know how much free healthcare we got, like, just off the bat. But knowing you have to pay like $30,000 for a child, it’s outrageous. It’s really ridiculous.”
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