Is there an AMA American thread?

[upskilledotter]

I have so many (probably really boring) questions to ask of Americans (USA) but don’t know if a suitable thread exists.

It's not the volume of their voice. It's because you're not used to hearing the accent so you're more aware of the sound and attribute that to volume. Americans are 'rude' is boring and blatantly not true. It's most likely a rumour from 1776 that refuses to die out perpetuated by the losers of that decisive war.

This will be an interesting thread after the Midterms 🤣

Sorry, @Cheese55, I neglected your question about care homes. Medicare pays for short stays, up to 30 days per year. If you qualify for Medicaid (the low-income program), Medicaid pays for nursing home care. If you're on Medicare and exceed 30 days, you have to pay directly until your assets are exhausted to the extent that you qualify for Medicaid; then you switch to that.

There are a very small number of care homes that are run purely as charities (often religiously affiliated), but that's not a realistic option for most people.

Not so much of a question, more of a sorting hat request! Can an American who is into sports choose an NFL team for me? Massively into NCAA football, love Aggies (as they're weird, wonderful and all the things about the university are just wonderfully eccentric), I like Clemson too as I enjoy Dabo. Don't need a winning team, just happy to get given one and then follow it passionately essentially! Haven't watched any NFL previously but wanting to get into it.

Happy to help. Here's your new team:

The New York Giants

You're spot on about the Aggies, by the way.

This is intersting
My son has type1 Diabetes and im on an American facebook group for it
There seems to be a number of posters worried about affording their insulin they also talk about reusing their needles and lances which should be single use only many times
Presumably their insurance isnt covering the whole cost ?

I agree, assuming the thread is still going then.

Most Brits don't understand the difference between Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives, let alone the Electoral College, so I anticipate a lot of questions.

I’m not British - we live in Montreal and like many no longer cross the border or buy American goods.
We can’t wait for the US Midterms - we’re following with huge interest

Thank you! Just had a Google and love that the head coach is one of the Harbaugh's, it was the Michigan documentary on Amazon years ago that got me into NCAA football!

Go giants!

Most insurance plans have a copay for prescription drugs, which varies by plan and by how expensive the medication is. There are also many different brands and formulations of insulin on the market that vary greatly by cost. The cost is capped at $35 per month for government insurance, and most states have laws that cap the cost between $ 25 and $ 100 per month for commercial insurance. More info here.

Discount programs are available, and the price of generic and biosimilar versions has come down in the last few years. More on that here.

Please accept my apologies for the horrid way your lovely country has been treated by Trump. I think things will be better after the midterms, but won't improve greatly until he is out of office.

And csn you buy it over the counter?
Some posters have said they buy it from walmart?

You need a doctor's Rx to buy insulin, as opposed to OTC drugs like ibuprofen. Walmart stores house low-cost pharmacies, and they have some of the lowest insulin prices available. You can buy any medication at any pharmacy without insurance by paying the pharmacy directly. I've done that occasionally for medications my insurance doesn't cover, using coupons from sites like this that bring down the cost to about the same as a normal copay.

The children of people on low income likely qualify for coverage under the government Children's Health Insurance Program and get the $35 per month cap on insulin cost.

As I said above, there's a lot of nuance to the system.

Actually, lots of Americans are really loud. I think this is a combination of bigger spaces and greater confidence. Many of them have not lived in a cosmopolitan, urban area where coexisting means being quieter. So they have no concept of living cheek by jowl with paper-thin walls.
I have a dear friend whose husband and children operate at a higher volume. Sometimes it's deafening.
In the US, I have found that Latino/as are generally more noisy in social situations - it's part of the 'con brio' - they know they're at a party b/c it's all chaotic and noisy.

Actually, lots of Americans aren't loud, too. Lots of British are loud. That doesn't make all British loud.

Thanks for explaining.

You're quite welcome. There's so much misinformation on MN about healthcare in the US (admittedly, a vexing topic), that it's nice for me to be able to explain the basics here.

So watching American Tv children ( i think ) are taken to a paediatrician for general health and well being checks where as in the Uk they would be seen by the GP and only referred to a paediatrician if it was something more specialised
What about adults who do you see if you needed antibiotics for example?

@SoftMiddle, yes. As you see, I said that lots of Americans are loud - not all. I do think that many of them are less self-aware compared to Brits and Europeans both of whom live in closer quarters. Many Americans just cannot conceive of how close together others live and have no ingrained instinct to modulate themselves.

Some Brits can be loud too. Definitely. I have moved away from Brits on holiday b/c I did not want to listen. In 2020, I shared a pool with several British families. We all quietly read our books by the pool whilst the children chattered and splashed quietly. Near the end of our 2 weeks, a large British group arrived. They were all significantly louder and did not read books by the pool ...

Last summer, there were some annoyingly loud Dutch boys in the pool at our hotel in Greece ...

In fact, ... people from any culture can be loud. Long ago, in France, one evening, my French neighbours were impossibly loud. They were fortuitously having an epic night.

GP's here are called Primary Care Providers (PCPs) and are normally credentialed in internal medicine. My kids got all of their medical care from pediatricians until they were 18, then moved to PCPs.

I like the system. Before I retired, I worked in healthcare. Medically, children are not just tiny adults. They can have age-related and developmental disorders that a GP would not be as familiar with.

But thinking that about American's doesn't make it true. And you go back to 'many of them'. No, some American's can be less self-aware just as some Brits can be and, as you pointed out, many other cultures.

In the US, a pediatrician is a GP specialising in children and part of a GP practice. The 'annual physical' is part of American culture although I reckon many cannot afford it.
Usually, if you need any prescription drugs, including antibiotics, you will need to see a doctor. Usually, this involves a test or culture to determine exactly the right antibiotic. (If you know anything about antibiotics, you know that this is scientifically better than just prescribing a general antibiotic)

A llittle bit
I know there are broad spectrum antibiotics
And some that are used to specificslly treat a UTI for example
Another thing
Do you have midwives ?
I know im getting all my info from Friends and Teen mom
But from what i have seen expectant mothers are cared for by the obsteatrician and their babies are delivered by them
Whereas i saw a midwife throughout my pregnancies and whilst both my boys were eventually delivered by an obstetrician it because there were complications

Tbf, you’re not going to hear a quiet or normal-volume American, are you? There are probably as many like Americans in the wild as there are loud Europeans!

The 'annual physical' is part of American culture although I reckon many cannot afford it.

If you're part of the 92% of the population that has insurance, you can afford an annual physical exam because the law requires it to be paid for with no cost to the patient - no copay, no coinsurance, and no deductible. This is true for other preventive services as well.

https://www.healthcare.gov/coverage/preventive-care-benefits/