The Ink-Pot and the Palette

I currently make about nine grand a year (as I'm on an incentivised career break from the public service and get paid a small stipend), and I can afford private health insurance, which makes all those things (emergency room visits, GP visits, stays in hospital) free.

tehomet: Awww, they'll see you in an emergency room if you don't have insurance, but then they'll send you a whacking great bill and possibly foreclose on your mortgage (unless they have to get in line behind the bank).

Oh, lovely! And then once foreclosed upon, since in the US there's, from what I hear, no safety net (little or no homeless services and feck all social welfare), one can look forward to living on the pavement. Or sidewalk. Or whatever. Nice.

I've actually been to the States a fair few times and it is always unsettling seeing the huge prevalence of homeless people. In the richest country in the world!