Almost a third of working Americans are in some form of medical debt, with nearly a quarter of those with an outstanding balance owing $10,000 or more. Many Americans feel anxious about health care costs and are depleting their own savings to pay the bills, or avoiding going to the doctor due to the cost, and in some cases, as in the case of William Osman, embarking on bizarre projects to highlight the issue.
The YouTuber and engineer, who is known for his bizarre projects that combine engineering and entertainment, posted a video last week outlining how a recent hospital visit requiring X-rays resulted in a staggering $69,210.32 bill.
He explains that, thanks to his health insurance policy, he will only have to pay roughly $2,500, and that, when combined with annual insurance costs, the total will be around $8,500. In a comedic sequence, he laments, “I’m a slave to medical debt now. I have to sell all my things, I have to sell my friends’ belongings.” Then, he embarks on an extremely reckless and risky endeavor to build his own fully functional X-ray machine for less than the cost of his actual medical expenses.