• @[email protected]
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    163 days ago

    This makes me mildly infuriating:

    The unemployed Massachusetts woman figured she could roll the dice as a healthy woman in her early 30s or at worst, could hastily buy private health insurance in a pinch, Kahn said.

    The near-$21,000 burden will probably lead to fewer vacations

    A huge percentage of the population doesn’t have enough dispodable income to take a single vacation, yet this FAFO situation “will probably” lead to fewer vacations for this woman?

    My empathy meter is at near zero, TBH.

    That said, fuck any country for not having a healthcare system available to all without having to cost a few vacations.

    • /home/pineapplelover
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      43 days ago

      A huge percentage of the population doesn’t have enough dispodable income to take a single vacation

      I find this odd to believe though. A vacation doesn’t have to be extravagant. A good chunk of U.S states have PTO even and driving to Arizona isn’t that extravagant anyway.

      • @[email protected]
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        1 day ago

        I have literally never been on “a vacation” in the way boomers seem to mean it - where they go somewhere.

        it doesn’t mean I don’t take PTO, ofc I do and it’s not that I couldn’t afford some sort of cheap holiday package if I had to - I’m sure most of the holiday prices I’ve seen advertised are a total scam because the economics just don’t make sense and there’s all sorts of hidden expenses, but even if they’re that cheap, it’s a large enough sum of money where I wouldn’t spend it unless I had to.

        “Driving to Arizona” requires a car ($$$), a driving license ($$$), food ($$$$), and a place to stay while there ($$$$$$).

        So why would I ever do any of that, when I could just stay in and watch a movie with my gf, all of which is free (as in - no additional expenses), and then next month I might be able to pay down bills, or worry less about paying down rent? It’s the same as having Netflix or any subscription service - yes the value might actually be good, but why spend if you could do without, and need the money?

        • /home/pineapplelover
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          11 day ago

          Not sure why you have $$$ for getting a driving license. The process of getting one isn’t that expensive. The car I can understand, but you could also rent a car given you don’t have one, staying there isn’t too bad, it’s like $100/night or $0/night if you just camp.

      • @[email protected]
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        23 days ago

        I find this odd to believe though.

        Census.gov reports over 12% of people in the States are poor (38 million people).

        The NPR reported that half the population can’t afford rent.

        A good chunk of the rest are able to afford it, but unlikely to have several thousand laying around for a trip.

        A vacation doesn’t have to be extravagant. A good chunk of U.S states have PTO even and driving to Arizona isn’t that extravagant anyway.

        I guess it depends on what “vacation” means. In the context of this article, it seems like this lady actually travels for vacation.

        If we mean visiting the local beach as a “vacation”, we’ve really been screwed over by wealth hoarders.