Welcome to the US.
If I'm conscious, no matter what happens, I will always have the thought: can I make it to the hospital on my own.
Disgusting dystopian hellhole...
this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2026
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A Boring Dystopia
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Article doesn't show image. Disappointed.
This article reads like health insurance propaganda. It’s all about how selfless this guy is, and never talks about how insane it is that he had to risk death to avoid crippling medical debt.
Ive heard of helicopter rescue insurance in the United states. Last i looked into it (15 years ago) it was around $50 per year. Considering the fact that ive heard more than one story of people getting themselves out of the backcountry with terrible injuries, i think it would be a good investment for anyone navigating privatized healthcare while enjoying outdoor sports.
Looks like Daniel a guy I knew from a few jobs back.
Where I am in New York it's a little weird. There's one private helicopter that costs a lot for rescue and a police helicopter that's free. Also if it's just the rangers that come up to save you, that's also free. But the ambulance ride will bankrupt you.
I've even heard of a guy who will hike up a mountain, call 911 saying he's dehydrated and will wait for the rangers to carry him down, only to be fine at the bottom. (He's done it twice)
I’ve even heard of a guy who will hike up a mountain, call 911 saying he’s dehydrated and will wait for the rangers to carry him down, only to be fine at the bottom. (He’s done it twice)
But, why?
Sociopath, fetish, or both.
Second time he should be beaten so hard he's dehydrated from blood loss.
That's stupid, emergency services should not come at a cost. If it were a hiker needing to be rescued because they were stupid and didn't prepare properly charge them. If it's an unforseen emergency than provide it as a service.
I'm surprised the cops don't charge money for showing up to calls, or the firefighters. Why is the medical field so different?
or the firefighters.
Oooh history's got some good ones for you
To do as such one must be.. Crass
Because most of it is privatized.
I'm all for universal health care. But at the same time being outdoors/hiking/fishing most of my life.
Some of the insanely stupid shit I've seen people do in the middle of fucking no where...
I mean accidents happen, but if you're that idiot that ignored four warnings and got gored trying to pet a bison, part of me thinks you SHOULD have to pay for that helicopter ride
There should be consequences, sure, but life long financial ruin isn't exactly a punishment that fits the crime here.
They have to cut off their own finger and hand it to the rescue crew. After the filth time the take a hand. Then just keep going until the decide to stop being stupid.
I never said that, more just a petty rant at the injustices of life. :p
He was a nurse to. Which just makes him more aware of how things like that can just ruin a person in the us. Remember when that hospital took away healthcare benefits from its janitorial staff. That to me is peak us explanations. A hospital can't afford to give its staff health insurance. ugh.
I mean... damn, the US is not a real place
Only in America.
Works the same in Germany :/.
That's not true.
How so?
From what I can tell, in Germany it's largely a "hope your medical insurance covers it" situation. Apparently, around 99.9% of people in Germany have health insurance in some form.
Only edge cases where people acted exceptionally recklessly wouldn't fully be covered by insurance, as far as my experience goes.
It's very different here. I was paying $400+ a month for united Healthcare and they denied everything. Couldn't see specialists, every treatment denied. They wouldn't even give me a 90 count supply of my meds. Only 30 counts.
I've had health issues that have gone unresolved for years.. Years! I work constantly and get almost nothing in return.
I'm not German but probably, the same.
People are just ok with this. It's so bizarre.
In Switzerland I pay 40CHF (~49USD) yearly to get a free helicopter evacuation in case of an accident. Never needed it, but I know people that have. Absolutely worth it. While it's "just hiking" in most cases, being out in nature in the middle of nowhere can get dangerous fast.
2 different companies cover the area I live in. I pay the annual fee for both. Just in case I have an accident while sitting at my computer that requires an air lift.
I don’t think people on here realize this but America literally has this too. My grandmother pays for it because she lives out in a very rural area. She pays a little more ($79 a year)
Not bullshitting you: https://www.lifeteam.net/membership
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In Italy I pay 0€ to be evacuated from anywhere. It's crazy that you have to pay for an emergency.
In France I think you pay a fee in certain situations (ski resort) but otherwise it is the same. And the pilots are total badasses. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk7qUaFMDhw https://youtu.be/M0z9HRC7hlU?t=129
Yeah it's not great. Transport costs for emergencies are often only covered 50% in Switzerland. We do have the second most costly system after the US, and it's for the same reason imho, private insurers. There are some more guardrails here than in the US, so it's not completely horrible, but there are lots of better systems around Europe.
Regarding helicopter rescue specifically, that's kind of a funny case. In Switzerland the first helicopter rescue organization was founded as a non-profit foundation called Rega, and it continues to operate that way.
For patrons the Rega eats the cost of a rescue that no insurance covers. If you are not a patron and get rescued then the cost of the rescue that isn't covered falls to you. So in effect a Rega patronage also acts as a sort of gap-insurance.
Around 40% of the population are registered patrons of the Rega foundation. The cost for that is what benjirenji was actually referring to.
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The American healthcare system...
Ok, the headline leaves out the little detail that the hiker is a trained nurse, which was able to self-assess that if he wasn't dying already, that he has been fucking lucky with the path through the body.
But in every other civilized country they wouldn't have to be able to self-assess something like that, they would call emergency services instead of gambling with the possibility that some nicked artery or a wounded organ gets worse because of the trek - especially the path out on the lower back just screams "kidney injury" or "danger to the blood supply of that kidney".
I know a lot of nurses and I've been an EMT for getting close to 20 years.
The self assessment was "I can breathe. I can walk. I can not afford a $30,000 helicopter ride"
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