this post was submitted on 18 Feb 2026
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[–] neon_nova@lemmy.dbzer0.com 109 points 1 month ago (3 children)

So the medical system is putting an elderly person to work and on the road at that.

So if he crashes and injure himself and another person the insurance company can get money from 3 different incidents two of which were avoidable.

I bet they are in their offices saying, “TRIPLE KILL”

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 26 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

I bet they are in their offices saying, “TRIPLE KILL”

I can hear this phrase.

[–] Apocalypteroid@anarchist.nexus 18 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] Sundiata@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

kill - kill - kill

[–] Sundiata@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

DooOOMINATING!!!!!

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[–] osanna@thebrainbin.org 47 points 1 month ago (1 children)

that's just sad. At 76, he should be rejoicing in retirement. It's pretty fucked up. :/

[–] partofthevoice@lemmy.zip 12 points 1 month ago (1 children)

My grandparents are going through it too. Grandma had a stroke. Grandpa can’t afford the medical bills. They apparently had to get divorced so that insurance would help, so I’ve heard… but yeah. They had to fly my youngest brother into town so that he could care for my grandma while my grandfather works.

[–] osanna@thebrainbin.org 9 points 1 month ago

I'm sorry. It's not fair. I wish your family well

[–] ZiggyTheZygote@lemmy.ca 34 points 1 month ago (3 children)

That's sad. Not just sad, but inhumane. As a species we are closer to our destruction.

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[–] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 25 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Nobody commenting is reading the article.

The headline suggests that medical bills drove them into poverty so much so that he's had to be driving for Uber at 76. Thats not the case, and the article lays it all out.

It looks like about 25 years after the medical bills wiped them out financially, they recovered financially:

I really didn't want to retire in my 60s, but we were getting older, and my wife wanted me to be spending more time at home. When I retired, I had some equity in my home and around $300,000 in my IRA. I also started to fund an IRA for my wife, which I built to mid-five figures. This allowed us to travel extensively within the US for the first few years. But a part of me felt like we probably weren't going to live that long anyway because everybody around us was dying.

We should be celebrating two things:

  • the fact that the ACA passed into law and that what happened to this couple in the 1990s can't happen again under today's law
  • the hard work they did rebuilding financially to have over $350k in savings + home equity and have have a comfortable retirement to be able to afford extensive travel they did in retirement.
[–] IamSparticles@lemmy.zip 9 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Except that the Republicans in congress have refused to allocate funding for ACA subsidies, which means this WILL happen again. This is a lesson from the past about the sort of outcomes we have to look forward to.

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[–] TigerAce@lemmy.dbzer0.com 23 points 1 month ago (2 children)

All the old people who are getting into trouble because of life, have had their whole lives to stear politics into a more social direction to prevent all of this from happening.

[–] DarkFuture@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago (4 children)

Reminder that GenZ swung Trump.

It's pretty hard to stear politics in a more progressive direction when the society you live in is uneducated as fuck and uneducated people turn into conservative voters.

[–] TigerAce@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 month ago

All I ever hear from Americans is complaining everything is shit, there's nothing they can do, nothing will ever change because others need to do it and not them which will never happen.

That way it will never change, if no one does anything and everyone is just perfecting their victim role.

Go educate people, get into politics, fight fake news, kill a health insurance CEO, etc.

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[–] Bustedknuckles@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago

You're not wrong, but that generation has some wild variance in politics and leopards eat everyone's faces if you let them

[–] kikutwo@lemmy.world 23 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Owns a home and a six figure retirement account balance. Tiny violins.

[–] SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Got out of SIGNIFICANT medical debt, too, by saving $10 at a time. This story literally makes no sense. I bet this guy doesn't even exist and it's AI to advertise for Uber and dunk on the lazy libs.

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[–] InputZero@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

While this (perhaps hypothetical) individual is definitely much better off than most people, they're still closer to poverty than being in the wealth class. Seriously anyone who makes a million dollars a year USD or less is closer to poverty than being rich. We shouldn't be taking our frustration out on people who are doing slightly better than ourselves. We should be fighting the billionaire class, and the political leaders who are in their pockets.

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[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 21 points 1 month ago (1 children)

She was sent home a day after because we couldn't afford it.

This is standard normal American thing. Can't pay the bill? Die, scum! This isn't new. This isn't Trump. This is America, always has been. Be proud of it!

I'm so happy that I don't live in that hell hole

[–] mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca 17 points 1 month ago (6 children)

Who did you vote for, Jeff?

WHO DID YOU VOTE FOR, JEFF‽

[–] hark@lemmy.world 18 points 1 month ago (2 children)

As if both parties aren't in the pocket of the insurance industry.

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[–] paranoia@feddit.dk 13 points 1 month ago (11 children)

Extremely weird comment when you have no idea about his political views. It doesn't really matter how the guy voted either, it's a sad story about a couple being fucked over by the US medical and insurance cartels, and it is needlessly cruel to gloat over it.

[–] someone@lemmy.today 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

No, it absolutely does matter. I am tired of these "we owned the libs" idiots giving each other high fives when a transwoman can't compete in swimming and then suddenly crying bitter tears after they have no healthcare coverage.

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[–] return2ozma@lemmy.world 16 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I remembered getting a bill in the neighborhood of $246,000 from the hospital that covered the surgery and her recovery in the hospital. We still had a whole road ahead of us for aftercare. By the end of it, the bills totaled about $300,000.

Even with my prostate cancer, pacemaker, and half a lung removed, my physical strength and stamina are remarkably good. As a mental challenge, I try to push myself in every situation I'm in. I find driving at night calming, and I like the aloneness of it.

[–] IamSparticles@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 month ago

He doesn't really give a good timeline, but based on context that's $300K in early 80s dollars. When median home prices were about $70K. Or about $1M in 2026 dollars. Dude worked so hard for so long, he managed to pay off that debt and two mortgages, but he still works so they don't run out of money and have to go into debt again.

[–] muxika@lemmy.world 15 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

If I was staring down cancer like that, just fucking kill me. Quit the game before my family pays through the nose for my inevitable death.

[–] WizardofFrobozz@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 month ago

People like this have no excuses for not becoming national heroes.

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Spent his whole life voting against the evils of socialism. I want to barf in his cab.

[–] Blumpkinhead@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago (8 children)

Where does it say anything about how he voted?

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[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 month ago

How do you know that? Article doesn't seem to mention his voting habits, and his wife worked for an environmental testing company, doesn't sound very Maga or even remotely Republican to me

[–] NatakuNox@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Just until America collapses

[–] bampop@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)
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[–] DarkFuture@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago

Trash country is trash.

[–] inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago (6 children)

The best healthcare in the world is what these Republicans and blue dogs say.

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[–] buddascrayon@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

The title is hella misleading. This guy is doing really well. Why was this posted??

[–] Eddbopkins@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

How old is the president? That job is a lot harder to. He should be fine for another 10-15 years at least.

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[–] lithiumground@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Rich like Elon musk ,get richer but people like me get poorer! Not fair , Elon musk like people get rich by exploiting and stealing right of other people

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[–] 0li0li@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago (3 children)

The country with the most liberties, everybody.

We've known for half a century how bad social systems are. Even prisons are for profit... Bud; if you decided to stick around and grow old in the USA, I'm sorry to say, but you are a fuckin moron!

[–] PM_ME_VINTAGE_30S@lemmy.sdf.org 13 points 1 month ago

Bud; if you decided to stick around and grow old in the USA, I'm sorry to say, but you are ~~a fuckin moron!~~ too poor to leave

AmeriKKKa AmeriKKKa AmeriKKKa

[–] FerretyFever0@fedia.io 9 points 1 month ago (10 children)

Ah yes, if your country is shit, you should just leave! Why didn't the other 340 million people living there think of that?

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[–] spacebread98@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 month ago

Pull himself up by his own bootstraps

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