NEW YORK (Aftenposten): The American health system has its strengths. But if you step wrong, things can go horribly wrong.
NEWS ANALYSIS: In three years in the United States, my family has become well acquainted with the American health care system. A little better than we would sometimes like.
I will come back to some of the details, but I have, among other things, been picked up in an ambulance, visited the emergency department, spent a day in hospital and been followed up closely in the specialist health service.
At the same time, we have had experiences of the very pleasant kind, such as when my wife and I became parents for the first time in September.
The birth itself was amazing. But the hospital bill that dropped into the inbox a few weeks later was anything but that.
NOK 491,340 (US$49,134) appeared to be an outrageous price for what had been an uncomplicated birth.
But it was worse than that. Our insurance company wouldn’t pay, it turned out. The bill was left to us.
As a new dad, I didn’t sleep particularly well in the first place. This made it hurt worse.
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