Health insurance is an unfortunate necessity in America where the system is entirely private, and while some are able to receive assistance from the government to a certain degree, others have to pay tens of thousands per year to keep themselves covered.
Paying for health insurance is something that almost every American does without question, as while it eats significant into your yearly paycheck, it's far cheaper than the fee you'd face in the event of a medical emergency.
Some people are willing to risk going without, however, thinking themselves to be less likely to need a trip to the hospital and therefore would appreciate the money – often upwards of $10,000 – they've saved from avoiding coverage.
One man found out the hard way why this is such an unpopular choice, however, as his two-day trip to the emergency room left him with a jaw-dropping bill, proving to be enough of a deterrent for anyone thinking about trying the same thing.
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Detailing his experience on TikTok, Clark Lawson explained why he decided to go without health insurance in the first place, noting that his income was above the government-assisted threshold but below a point where he felt comfortable paying between $15,000 to $20,000 per year for the insurance.
Following his two-day stay in hospital, he was greeted with a total bill of roughly $24,000, with a CT scan alone costing $8,339.98 and his time in the emergency room $3,738.82.
As you can imagine this was quite the shock to deal with, especially for such a short stay, but what he didn't realize is that the hospital actually applied a discount to this bill that took it down to just $2,478.74.
This is far lower than what he likely would have had to pay if he had health insurance with a deductible in this scenario, on top of the hefty monthly payments needed to keep the insurance running, and he even notes that he could repeat the same thing again this year and still pay less comparatively.
He did note that sharing his experience isn't an endorsement of going without health insurance, as "God forbid you get cancer or something, it would not be like this," but it certainly shines a different light on the experience overall.
It isn't something that everyone is seemingly able to take advantage of, however, as one commenter notes that they didn't discount her bill when she was hospitalized without insurance — although others did suggest negotiating with the hospital and asking for an itemized receipt.
Plenty of other commenters are also pointing out that their healthcare services are made free by the government where they live, with users from the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Canada looking on in horror at the situation in America.