this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2025
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The mayor says that it's because the nearest hospital is 45 km away, but a full 16% of the US population, or roughly 55 million people, live further than that from a hospital (https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/03/health/hospital-deserts/index.html).
US healthcare really needs to stop looking like a third-world country.
Well, that'd require us to stop being a 3rd world country. GDP aside more than 1 in 10 Americans live in relative poverty.
There are few effective social programs and a very authoritarian power structure even before the incoming clusterfuck.
Why? At this point the US IS a third world country.
Look at it. There is a rich ruling class, and most that aren't in it are poor enough to barely make it to the end of the month. The countries main focus is the military, which is too notch, and the test just really sucks. Its led by a dictator wannabe and so rife with corruption that they don't even try to hide it anymore.
Any other county would be called a third world country, why not the US? Just because it's in absolute terms rich doesn't mean that all join in the riches or rights.
Hey, now, that's unfair to third world countries. Some of them actually have functioning public health systems.
Italy's population density is twice that of the US.
Rural hospitals have been getting shut down for years now due to it not being a great money maker, it’s the same reason rural Americans wouldn’t have to their door mail access without it being included in the Constitution.
Even without taking population density into account, access is only going to get worse when hospitals keep shuttering.
It's not a matter of low profit, it's a matter of loss. Modern healthcare is too expensive to serve small populations.
And like the USPS, one more reason healthcare should be government funded, to serve those who can't profitably be served.
Honestly “modern healthcare” was pushing it for a lot of them even when they were open, due to decades of cuts and lack of investment. The (now closed) hospital that was in the rural community I grew up in had a reputation for being a place you went if you had no other choice, or it was a very minor emergency even they couldn’t fuck up. My parents floored it to the nearest city (40 minute drive) every time my mom went into labor, despite the local hospital being maybe 15 minutes away max if you drove the speed limit.
The next time they state that the wording is confusing. On first read I thought it was 16% of the population.
Look at the map in your article. Pictured are vast tracks of deserts, mountains, badlands, etc. And look even closer. That spot in NY is where a bunch of wilderness areas come together. The spots in FL are swamps. I've driven through that spot in OK, it's beautiful, but mostly empty of humans.
Besides, 28 miles to a hospital isn't too awful, unless you're grievously injured. The vast majority of healthcare is taken care of by smaller units. Even in my little town we have 2 stand-alone emergency rooms (and a full hospital).
Now if I just had insurance and could afford to go to those places... Coming down with bronchitis today, nothing I can do unless I spend the last of my savings.
Their wording is confusing, but I think what you first understood is correct. Over 30 million Americans don't even live within an hour of a trauma care department (and an hour is further away): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28069138/
The US is absolutely not a third world country. Now, a developing country . . .