It may not be surprising to Americans to learn that healthcare in the United States is generally not the most affordable. The International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) even states that the U.S. healthcare system is constantly evolving but does not provide universal coverage.
TikTok user Sam (@_sam_goodwin) recently posted a clip sharing his experience visiting a U.S. hospital to get five stitches in his finger after he got cut.
"Do you want to know how bad healthcare is in America? " the content creator asks in the video. "Cut my finger the other day. I go into the hospital, get my stitches done, no big deal…I have to wait two weeks to get them taken out. In the meantime, I get billed for my visit."
The TikToker proceeds to share that the charge for five stitches was $3,800 before insurance. After his insurance was applied, he ended up with a $1,900 bill for the medical procedure he received.
"Fast forward, I get my bill, and it’s time to take the stitches out. So, I scheduled an appointment at the urgent care that is associated with the hospital that I went to, same company," the man says. "I scheduled a suture removal appointment online, and then I go in for the appointment, and they say, 'sorry, we’re not going to take those out.'"
According to Sam, he was told that he had to get his stitches removed at the hospital because that’s where he got them done.
After leaving and going to the medical center, the TikToker approaches a nurse and asks her to verify if his stitch removal will be free. He mentions that personnel in the urgent care facilities told him that this procedure was at no cost.
The nurse, the content creator says, follows to check the billing system and tells the patient that he needs to pay for getting his stitches removed.
"I said, 'I’m going to be honest, I’m not going to pay any more money to the hospital because I already paid too much anyway. So, I’m just going to go,'" Sam says in the previously mentioned TikTok post.
After agreeing with him, the TikToker says that the nurses even gave him a kit for him to remove the stitches himself.
The comment section on the TikToker viral video._sam_goodwin | TikTok
After hearing Sam's story, mindblown TikTok users from around the world flooded the comments section of the video, sharing what healthcare looks like in their countries.
"I’ll never complain about paying for parking again in Canada," one person wrote. "That’s a crazy amount for stitches!"
"In Germany, you can literally have brain surgery and don’t have to pay anything," another user shared. "Make it make sense!"
One commenter condemned the U.S. altogether, suggesting that "America is not a country. It’s a company."