I made no claims about other countries. I forwarded only the claim that the U.S. treats disability as a failing.
Let's start with various cognitive disabilities -- depression, for instance, is heavily stigmatized. Seeking medication and therapy, and especially talking about medication and therapy, is considered awkward and uncomfortable in most circles.
Or ADHD, which causes a whole range of executive functioning failures - inability to focus, manage schedules, etc. Yet we make access to diagnosis and medication very difficult, and workplaces often fail to accommodate people.
On the physical disability front, one of the easiest and fastest things we can do is add alt text to images, yet even "progressive" places struggle to do this. In fact, a coffee company just sued for the right to not have to provide an accessible website, trying to undermine the ADA's protections of digital spaces.
But don't take my words for it, there are many resources online that are worth reading:
> Pre-existing conditions, which as far as I'm aware, is a US-only concept
Most of the world's population has no concept of socialised heath insurance. Pre-existing or novel. Someone in a wheelchair, or who is blind or mute, is much better accomodated in America than in most of Europe. (In part because the former is richer.)
>Someone in a wheelchair, or who is blind or mute, is much better accomodated in America than in most of Europe. (In part because the former is richer.)
I guess it just depends on who you talk to and their particular values.
I love my country, but to give a bit of a counter point : I am paralyzed due to a cervical spine injury.
Medicare will pay 80% of the cost of a new chair after payment of deductible once every 5 years. They do not cover maintenance and repair in most cases.
A decent mid-range power-chair with posture and repositioning aids costs between 15k-25k. The air cushion for this chair to prevent pressure sores costs 400-800usd.
So, essentially, that means that a permanently disabled person making the high SSDI income of 18k a year is going to be asked to pay 4.5k USD out of pocket every 5 years just in order to take advantage of the offers from Medicare -- and this isn't including repair, wear and replacement of items, or the short 1-2 year life span of most air cushions. By the time the chair hits the next replacement window it will have gone through 2-3 500-800usd cushions and numerous other repairs.
To contrast : My friends with similar injuries who are insured under the British NHS receive a voucher for a new chair every 3-5 years. They receive vouchers for repair at local shops. Cushion replacement is deemed necessary during the repair process and they are replaced w/ vouchers as needed, not on a schedule.
It's all grass-is-always-greener thinking. The NHS has huge problems, too. But as a wheelchair user I can't wholly agree with the take that we're better accommodated over in the U.S. in any absolute sense.
If we're comparing the United States against third-world countries and not against their peers, then this isn't really a discussion worth having.
> Someone in a wheelchair, or who is blind or mute, is much better accomodated in America than in most of Europe.
I find that hard to believe given the lack of public transport, lack of funding for widespread public facilities, lack of empathy from insurers, lack of governmental social safety nets for those who come under unexpected hard times.
As a European, I can confirm that wheelchair accessibility is traditionally better in the US than in Europe.
I suspect it's a combination of getting relevant laws earlier (don't know that, just guessing), having less old infrastructure (building new with accessibility is easier than upgrading existing buildings), and having more space (so adding a wheelchair ramp is less of a deal).
Europe is generally catching up, but I'd say it's still behind the US. At least the places I know.
But of course, that's not the whole story, as another commenter illustrates with some concrete examples for the cost of wheelchairs and wheelchair maintenance.
The context “pre-existing conditions” is most commonly used in the USA used to be for underwriting health insurance, but since 2010, the Affordable Care Act prohibits health insurance businesses from using pre existing conditions to underwrite health insurance:
Everyone is eligible to purchase health insurance, and pricing can only be based on
1) age (loosely, old people are heavily subsidized by young because highest premium is capped at 3x lowest premium)
2) tobacco use (tobacco users didn’t have the political power to prevent this habit from being an underwriting factor, as opposed to alcohol and sugar and excess carbohydrate users)
I was caught up in the pre ACA health care system trying to find insurance outside of working for a company.
I have very mild Cerebral Palsy and back then, I was in great shape - a part time fitness instructor, had just run two half marathons in an average time, I could pass any of the standard fitness tests for my age etc.
I had one surgery in my entire life - four surgery at 21 12 years prior. I could not get insurance at any price even though they could have given me any fitness test including running on a treadmill with flying colors.
I was making more than enough as a contractor to pay for it.
I looked on the open market last year when I briefly thought about going independent and I could have definitely made the numbers work.
> What research did you do before making your statement?
I clearly stated "as far as I'm aware" and that I am happy to be corrected. I appreciate the extra information, but the tone here is not appreciated and is skirting close to breaching the HN guidelines.
There was nothing wrong with you making a statement qualified with "as far as I know". You're good.
Likewise, there was nothing wrong with another person asking for details regarding what effort went into "as far as I know". They're good.
Someone who is in any given field and has researched it for decades might have more related knowledge included in "as far as I know", than someone who didn't. So it's totally reasonable to ask them how they came to know 'as far as they know', because that information is critical for everyone else to judge how much credence to lend to that someone's posts.
Switzerland has them for supplementary health insurances.
In a nutshell, Switzerland has two types of health insurances. The basic one, which is mandatory, and whose coverage and price is set by the government. It covers more or less everything that endangers your health. Pretty close to ACA in the US if I'm not mistaken, but a lot more regulated.
And then you can add supplementary insurances, for stuff like dental, private rooms in hospitals, experimental treatments, ... It's common to be denied coverage there, especially as you get older.
