Insurance in US and Canada are different than that of Indonesia.
In US/CA, certain type of insurances == loan. Insurance companies also try hard not to pay you either due to the number of scams or just trying to scam you.
In Indonesia, insurance is actually what insurance should be: someone will pay your liabilities, without too much hassle or questions.
Also, depending on your pocket money, in Indonesia, you can get the medium-to-best quality of health care. In US/CA, for whatever reason, I heard more horror stories when it comes to "visiting specialists" (be it long multi months queue, or left with debt)
Out of pocket no more than $3000 for some of the best OB/GYN's and a standard labor. Maybe $1k more for a C section.
Also in the case of the kid born in the US, the insurance did pay what they said they would. We still ended up with around $10k in debt for a relatively uncomplicated pregnancy and childbirth.
Part of the problem though is that US health care is expensive. It's not just insurance. It's not just the idea that single payer would be cheaper (I am not sure it would necessarily be--- the devil is in the details), but rather it is the fact that everything is stacked against the consumer, against the doctor as an individual, and towards the direction of big companies (big pharma, insurance, textbook publishers, etc). The only thing a single payer system brings to the table (and most such systems are a world away from anything the US would consider even if such a plan was on the table---- for example, Canada has separate systems per province, and in Denmark everything is run by local governments) is some counterbalance by the collective consumers against such a model.
To give you an idea of how much more expensive it is in the US than in anywhere else, if medical care cost the same in the US as it did in Canada or the UK, what the government currently spends (on government employees, on the VA, on Medicare and Medicaid) would be enough to fully cover every American.
So why is it so expensive? Could it be monopoly/oligopoly interests? Conspiracies against market transparency on the part of medical service providers and insurers? Regulatory games? All of the above? I suggest it is, in fact, all of the above.
Even the little things cost a lot: nurses cost a lot in US/CA compare to Indonesia (where they are probably on the low-medium end of the salary range).
There are a few issues with health practitioners in Indonesia, here are some of them:
1) Preferred C-section over natural birth
C-section brings more money
2) Preferred anti-biotic over natural healing
The answer to almost everything is anti-biotic. If they can't "fix" you in 2 days, neighbour will spread rumours that a particular GP isn't that good ("he/she can't heal me, but I went to Dr. Foo and he gave me a medicine and I'm back to work the next day")
Yeah, I don't take antibiotics when they are prescribed most of the time over here.
But doctors in the US are also far more into defensive C sections. You can avoid the issue in Indonesia by doing a little research about the doctor ahead of time.
In US/CA, certain type of insurances == loan. Insurance companies also try hard not to pay you either due to the number of scams or just trying to scam you.
In Indonesia, insurance is actually what insurance should be: someone will pay your liabilities, without too much hassle or questions.
Also, depending on your pocket money, in Indonesia, you can get the medium-to-best quality of health care. In US/CA, for whatever reason, I heard more horror stories when it comes to "visiting specialists" (be it long multi months queue, or left with debt)