For those who wonder why everything in New Zealand is so expensive, and everything in America is so cheap, I thought the following excerpts from an American email I received might be enlightening:

“I went to the eye doctor a couple weeks ago and picked up my new glasses today. The doctor was a nice guy, but it still cost me too much. Our Obamacare program is something I still don't understand. Hopefully, whatever Trump replaces it with will be better. We have 3 levels of plans to choose from - Bronze (lowest), Silver (mid), and Gold (top). Last year I had a bronze plan because it cost the least, but still about $300/month. On top of that, it had a $7000 deductible, and a supposed $7000 annual out-of-pocket maximum, although what applies to your 'out-of-pocket' limit is only PART of what you pay out of pocket. For instance, if you have to pay $100 for something, maybe only $30 of that will count towards you $7000 annual out-of-pocket maximum. So to hit the maximum, at which point everything is covered in full, you actually have to spend something like $15,000. Crazy, huh?

“This year, I decided to opt for a silver plan, at $500+ per month, thinking that would make the procedures I need to pay for cheaper. So far...nope. I have a lower deductible, around $2200 I think, but I still seem to have to pay for most things myself. Hopefully, by the end of the plan year, I'll actually get some things paid for by the insurer, and not me! I tell you this, because my $500/monthly fee got me a $20 eye exam, but NO discount on the glasses themselves, which were $200, and only that "cheap" because I used a pair of existing frames. So that $200 that I had to pay out-of-pocket, almost certainly will NOT apply towards my annual out-of-pocket maximum. Really annoying, and really stupid. I don't actually pay $500 a month because I get subsidies from the government since I don't earn enough to pay for it myself, but I still end up paying $330/month, and it was around $200/month for the bronze.

“Anyway, now I have a dentist appt. this Friday (not covered by my health insurance, naturally, I'm paying $46/monthly extra for it), followed by another eye appointment next week because part of my exam included a procedure where they dilate your pupils and check for some type of disease. I couldn't have that done in the first go-around, since I had driven myself there, and your vision is supposed to be blurry for about 5 hours afterwards.”