I'm David Ferrier, a New Zealander who ended up accidentally marooned in America, and I want to grasp what makes this country tick.

LA is not built for walking.

I've never been more aware of my own mortality than when strolling here in the city of Angels.

I mean there are places that don't even have a sidewalk. You just walk along the road,

praying you don't get hit by a car. At every... along the road

at every crosswalk an angry line of cars threatens to run me down and looking death in the face got me thinking

it got me thinking about the cost of my life, the cost of my life, the cost of

keeping my life and keeping my body intact. It got me thinking about the

American health care system. A recent survey finds Americans have collectively

borrowed about 88 billion dollars to cover doctor and hospital bills,

bills that can be confusing or even come as a shock.

The system here terrifies me.

See, in New Zealand, it's a user pays system.

Our taxes go towards free health care for all.

But here in the US, over half of Americans have medical debt, a quarter

owe 10 grand or more in medical bills. So all around 300 million Americans have health insurance, 30 million don't.

And sometimes having health insurance doesn't help all that much.

This is crazy to me, and I want to find out why. So look both ways and pray you don't get hit by a car or maybe a train.

This is the healthcare episode.

Fly this. Note. I'm a flyless bird to touch down in America.

It is something that I've been thinking about since I got here because I do feel very fragile and I do worry that if I ever end up in hospital,

it'll be over for me, you know? You are fragile because you don't even put the A in front of the hospital. You think it's just hospital.

...