USA. Health and Overwork

[Zardnaar]

As we all know USA not doing so well. But even in good times it's still not great.


Healthcare

Overwork

Tldr
Worst healthcare
Appalling health stats
Expensive
Worst working conditions
Lack of pay
Lack of rights
Least amount of leave
Least amount of holidays
Easy to get fired

 

[jarred!]

Here's a reference: https://www.nytimes.com/1971/11/07/archives/is-america-falling-apart-is-america-falling-apart.html
Is America Falling Apart?, Anthony Burgess, 1971

 

[thecrazyscot]

Worst healthcare
Appalling health stats
Expensive
Worst working conditions
Lack of pay
Lack of rights
Least amount of leave
Least amount of holidays
Easy to get fired

America #1!

 

[warpus]

Yeah, America is not a great place if you are an average worker. It's a great place if you make six figures and have a solid job in silicon valley or wherever, that gives you health benefits, vacation time, and all that jazz.

Then again, when I visited silicon valley and met up with some Canadian expats who work down there.. They all work 80+ hour weeks.. Yikes. No salary would be enough for me to accept such a work/life imbalance. A friend tried to convince me to move out there, and he'd hook me up with a sweet Yahoo job.. but.. the thing is.. He works even longer hours. He's ALWAYS working. He wakes up before 7am, heads to work, and when he's done work the only thing he has time for (for fun) is to eat dinner at a fancy restaurant. That used to be like the only thing he ever had time for. Then he'd get home at like 8 or 9 or whatever, play with his cat, and then it was time for sleep. All along he's always on call, even on weekends, so he's always got work on his mind.

So why bother? You make all this money and you can't even spend it on anything and you have no life. No thanks!

So yeah, I would not want to work in the U.S. anywhere, probably. Here in Canada I get federally mandated vacation time, I get great health benefits that come from the government too, but also extra ones via work, I have good protections as an employee - they can't just fire me like in most American "At will" states.

America is designed for those at the top, not those at the bottom or in the middle. Yet those at the top have also convinced everybody (somehow) that it's possible for anyone to end up at the top. Like one of my favourite musicians said one time: Freedom? YEAH RIGHT

Then of course you meet a German and your ideas as to what a good work/life balance is is thrown out the window. And you want to move to Germany and get 8 weeks vacation or whatever those f'ers get. Damn!

 

[MaryKB]

Work is really good here, so is health and wellness. Everyone's experience is different.

I get a lot of time off (6 weeks, 10 holidays, 7 unscheduled days), plus other benefits. Pretty much all preventive-care medicine (including dental) is free of charge, and I can easily see any of my doctors at pretty much any time. When I need to see a specialist of some kind, I can see one pretty much always the same week. I am paid well on salary, and feel quite secure with my employer, who looks out not just for my at-work wellbeing but also so much personally. I work maybe like 25-30 hours a week on average, and I get to work from home.

I was miserable living in Canada, and my family and friends still there complain about things all the time. My sister works a minimum wage job while raising three children. She and her husband (military) live in a rented townhouse that's falling apart (for example, they can't even open the garage) Most of my cousins are trapped in retail hell, and gripe constantly how they can never get in to see a doctor. Still, they're all convinced I made a huge mistake moving to the US and believe without a doubt that life here sucks. I just don't understand it.

I don't get either why foreigners like to rip on the US so much. It's like they seem to believe their countries don't have problems too, or maybe it's some kind of thing to try to make themselves feel better?

One of my best decisions in my life was to get out of Canada and come here. I'd never go back, and I'd never desire to live anywhere else.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Yeah, America is not a great place if you are an average worker. It's a great place if you make six figures and have a solid job in silicon valley or wherever, that gives you health benefits, vacation time, and all that jazz.

This. My gf is one of the very privileged few and I couldn't pry her out of here with a crowbar, but for 99% of USians they would be better off literally anywhere else.

 

[tuckerkao]

America #1!

So true, highest total Covid deaths compare to any other nations on this Earth.

The frontline health workers surely have overworked way too much in the United States since March 2020.

As we all know USA not doing so well. But even in good times it's still not great.


Healthcare

Tldr
Worst healthcare
Appalling health stats
Expensive
Worst working conditions
Lack of pay
Lack of rights
Least amount of leave
Least amount of holidays
Easy to get fired

Still don't have enough money and want more inflations.

 

[warpus]

This. My gf is one of the very privileged few and I couldn't pry her out of here with a crowbar, but for 99% of USians they would be better off literally anywhere else.

I've also read that even if you have great health insurance through your work, you usually have to pay deductibles anyway. So that kind of sucks even then (if it's true)

 

[tuckerkao]

Yeah, America is not a great place if you are an average worker. It's a great place if you make six figures and have a solid job in silicon valley or wherever, that gives you health benefits, vacation time, and all that jazz.

It's different when the Americans ask equal pays between the men's and the women's job wages. For blue collar males, it's the best to be in the European nations.

If Kamala Harris becomes the Vice President and raises the minimum wages for the average workers, then it'll be a more desirable America.

 

[MaryKB]

I've also read that even if you have great health insurance through your work, you usually have to pay deductibles anyway. So that kind of sucks even then (if it's true)

The average Canadian pays $6,600 a year for healthcare.

My annual premium is $900, and my out-of-pocket maximum is $5,000. I also get $1,000 from my employer into my HSA. So my total worst-case-scenario annual cost would be $6,400 Canadian. But of course, I have quite a bit saved up in my HSA, so my hospital bills won't cost me anything next year.

Plus when you consider the quality of service is so much higher, I don't have any regrets.

 

[Zardnaar]

Work is really good here, so is health and wellness. Everyone's experience is different.

I get a lot of time off (6 weeks, 10 holidays, 7 unscheduled days), plus other benefits. Pretty much all preventive-care medicine (including dental) is free of charge, and I can easily see any of my doctors at pretty much any time. When I need to see a specialist of some kind, I can see one pretty much always the same week. I am paid well on salary, and feel quite secure with my employer, who looks out not just for my at-work wellbeing but also so much personally. I work maybe like 25-30 hours a week on average, and I get to work from home.

I was miserable living in Canada, and my family and friends still there complain about things all the time. My sister works a minimum wage job while raising three children. She and her husband (military) live in a rented townhouse that's falling apart (for example, they can't even open the garage) Most of my cousins are trapped in retail hell, and gripe constantly how they can never get in to see a doctor. Still, they're all convinced I made a huge mistake moving to the US and believe without a doubt that life here sucks. I just don't understand it.

I don't get either why foreigners like to rip on the US so much. It's like they seem to believe their countries don't have problems too, or maybe it's some kind of thing to try to make themselves feel better?

One of my best decisions in my life was to get out of Canada and come here. I'd never go back, and I'd never desire to live anywhere else.

That's not a typical job and conditions. Retail pays garbage even here but you still get minimums you lack in usa. Plus you can get good 6 figure jobs as well.

Although American 6 figure jobs are better than our ones.

We've got kiwis over there and they say if you can get those great jobs USA is great.

Retail hell here (minimums)

4 weeks holiday
5 day sick pay
Free healthcare
Free school
Heavily subsided university
$13-13.50 USD/hour
Government support for having kids

 

[tuckerkao]

The average Canadian pays $6,600 a year for healthcare.

My annual premium is $900, and my out-of-pocket maximum is $5,000. I also get $1,000 from my employer into my HSA. So my total worst-case-scenario annual cost would be $6,400 Canadian. But of course, I have quite a bit saved up in my HSA, so my hospital bills won't cost me anything next year.

Some Asian nations offer free basic health cares and free educations for all their citizens much like Bernie Sanders' agendas.

I like the Japanese financial and government systems better partly because I frequently visit the hospitals including the eye exams.

It's really the personal preference when comes to the financial decisions. If there's a correct job waiting for you, it can be great in any nations.

Plus when you consider the quality of service is so much higher, I don't have any regrets.

The food and cleaning services are excellent when requesting home deliveries in the upper societies of the United States.

The United States is the paradise for the younger generations, the battlefield for the middle age groups, the hell for the older people especially during the Covid outbreaks.

 

[MaryKB]

There's no such thing as a free healthcare system: it's all a question of how you pay for it.

I'd prefer a single-payer system funded primarily by corporate taxes. But healthcare is still good here now.

 

[Zardnaar]

There's no such thing as a free healthcare system: it's all a question of how you pay for it.

I'd prefer a single-payer system funded primarily by corporate taxes. But healthcare is still good here now.

Your healthcare may be. That video breaks down the health for America overall. Basically you're paying more for lower quality healthcare.

Yeah we do pay for healthcare via taxes but the rates between NZ and USA are not that different.

Taxes here are 19-33% with 15% sales tax.

 

[tuckerkao]

But healthcare is still good here now.

American cancer treatments are great, no doubts. What I want the improvement is that Covid healthcare. If someone catches Covid-19, he/she should be able to get the plasma treatments and recover within 2 to 3 weeks. If I go to a testing site, I expect to receive my lab results back within no longer than 72 hours.

If we rate our healthcare system compare to the world 100 years earlier, it looks super excellent. If we rate our healthcare compare to the world 100 years later, it looks very lackluster outdated. Windows 95 would be considered as a great operating system back 25 years ago, but no longer used by many people now.

 

[Zardnaar]

American cancer treatments are great, no doubts. What I want the improvement is that Covid healthcare. If someone catches Covid-19, he/she should be able to get the plasma treatments and recover within 2 to 3 weeks. If I go to a testing site, I expect to receive my lab results back within no longer than 72 hours.

If we rate our healthcare system compare to the world 100 years earlier, it looks super excellent. If we rate our healthcare compare to the world 100 years later, it looks very lackluster outdated. Windows 95 would be considered as a great operating system back 25 years ago, but no longer used by many people now.

It's generally 24 hours here, going well same day, going badly 48 hours.

 

[tuckerkao]

It's generally 24 hours here, going well same day, going badly 48 hours.

Covid Healthcare is what most people care about at the moment. If people can receive their lab results back within 24 hours, it'll very likely they won't keep spreading the Covid virus out after the positive tests.

 

[Hrothbern]

What is overtime ?

That you work more than your contractual time of for example 40 hours for a normal work week ?

Or that you work more than you like forced by outside drivers, like deadlines, sick colleagues, money, etc ?

When the tredmill of being home in time for dinner with your partner or family is not there... finishing the task you were busy with in one go, one casting, is often stress relieving. Just like getting something real nice finished the way you like it.
Freedom to compensate hours (to some degree) often much more satisfying and efficient.

Research here in NL shows that it is the age-group 45-55 who does the longest overtime and is quite happy doing that.

I think it all depends very much on why and how you make overtime.

 

[JPetroski]

I don't get either why foreigners like to rip on the US so much. It's like they seem to believe their countries don't have problems too, or maybe it's some kind of thing to try to make themselves feel better?

I don't get it either. This is a pretty good place with a tremendous amount of opportunity to make a good living and own your own land. Are we #1 at everything? Absolutely not, but if you read these forums some of the posters make it seem like the whole place is a giant walking disaster.

What is overtime ?

There are different laws depending on what state you're in, but basically you have two types of employees: those who are "hourly" and those who are "salaried." An hourly employee has an agreed amount of time that they work (typically 40 hours), and anything over that amount they are owed more money (generally 1.5x their wage, or "time and a half," but occasionally double their wage). There are government laws that require employers to pay this. I will not pretend to know the nuances, but know that when I was an hourly employee, my employer was very concerned that I accurately entered my time and worked my allotted hours and no more without permission.

I am now salaried, so I have the pleasure of working as many hours as I want, and have on occasion pulled my share of long days (for example, today started at 6 a.m. and I just logged off at 5:30). However, being salaried also has perks in that I don't technically have "hours" and if I needed to only work 5 hours tomorrow, I could, so long as I was meeting my objectives and job duties. So it's give and take. Having done both, I definitely prefer the flexibility that a salaried position offers.

 

[Zardnaar]

I don't get it either. This is a pretty good place with a tremendous amount of opportunity to make a good living and own your own land. Are we #1 at everything? Absolutely not, but if you read these forums some of the posters make it seem like the whole place is a giant walking disaster.



There are different laws depending on what state you're in, but basically you have two types of employees: those who are "hourly" and those who are "salaried." An hourly employee has an agreed amount of time that they work (typically 40 hours), and anything over that amount they are owed more money (generally 1.5x their wage, or "time and a half," but occasionally double their wage). There are government laws that require employers to pay this. I will not pretend to know the nuances, but know that when I was an hourly employee, my employer was very concerned that I accurately entered my time and worked my allotted hours and no more without permission.

I am now salaried, so I have the pleasure of working as many hours as I want, and have on occasion pulled my share of long days (for example, today started at 6 a.m. and I just logged off at 5:30). However, being salaried also has perks in that I don't technically have "hours" and if I needed to only work 5 hours tomorrow, I could, so long as I was meeting my objectives and job duties. So it's give and take. Having done both, I definitely prefer the flexibility that a salaried position offers.

By other countries standards it is a disaster.

You've got poor people but not lots of homeless camping on the streets. Or urban decay in places like Flint or Gary.

We're not having riots, the police are unarmed and gun crime is almost unheard of. USA is not normal in this regard.

Throw in Covid response and even something as basic ad sending kids to school.

I'm sure a lot of Americans live in their own bubbles, it's probably not to different here.