Hello, this is Bojian. As a student who has lived both in the United States and Canada for years, I would like to share my personal experiences with the U.S. health system, especially my experiences with the expensive health insurance plan.
The Healthcare system is a long-time hot topic in the United States. I have lived in the United States as a foreign student for three years. I had some unawesome experience with the United States healthcare system like anyone else. I would like to share my personal experience of seeing a doctor as a foreign student with insurance in the United States. Unlike in Canada, the U.S. does not have universal healthcare. There are 100 dollars copay for general physician visit as per my student insurance policy.
According to the NIHCM Foundation, the out-of-pocket spending for personal healthcare is $338 in 2015 (NIHCM Foundation, 2017). One may observe that even though the overall spending for personal health care has increased by 50%, the average out-of-pocket amount is only $338. However, this does not reflect the cost of medical care for foreign students, the student’s health insurance plan is much worse than normal commercial health insurance plan even thorough foreigner students normally pay a higher premium than average workers. None of my friends dare call ambulance service when I was in the United States. As a student with student health insurance, there are around 1000 dollars copay for ambulance service and we always joke about the cost.
I understand the cost of healthcare is expensive in the United States due to complex reasons, however, it is unbelievable that mandatory student health insurance only covers a very small amount of medical cost. As a foreign student, you can only apply for student medical insurance. If the mandatory enrolled student insurance is worse than normal regular commercial medical insurances given the same level of insurance premium, then why student healthcare insurance is the only option for foreign students?
What’s your opinion about U.S. health insurance? Share yours below!
References
NIHCM Foundation. (2017). The Burden of Rising Health Spending. Retrieved from https://www.nihcm.org/categories/the-burden-of-rising-health-spending
Bojian 