As an American I’m curious what it’s like if you need to go to the doctor and how much you pay from say a broken arm to general checkup. Also list what country please
I don’t know what to say, I can’t imagine it being any other way.
In Switzerland, it works like this: you choose your deductible, between 300 CHF (~330 EUR) and 2500 CHF (~2730 EUR) per year. Lower deductible means higher premiums and vice versa. A typical premium for a 2500 deductible might be 4000 CHF per year (4360 EUR). The insurance companies are private, and they compete, but, the insurance terms are fixed by the state by law - so it doesn’t really matter which insurance company you choose. There is zero bullshit like in the USA where, once you need something, they go “ah well you see on page 32478234 of our terms it says you can get rekt, actually”. If you need medical services, you get them. It is the law.
Insurance is compulsory. People who can’t afford the premium get subsidies by the state. People who don’t earn any money for any reason get the entire premium paid for by social services.
I was going to say that sucks, but then I realized you guys have pretty low taxes compared to ours. Okay, fair.
Do underage, unemployed, retired people, etc, also have to get private insurance though? Because I imagine there are people out there who can’t afford that pretty damn expensive insurance.
Yes, see the last sentence of my previous comment. Premiums are either partially or completely covered by the state for those that can’t pay them. Also keep in mind that while 4000 CHF might seem expensive, salaries in Switzerland are also quite high. A supermarket cashier makes ~60k, qualified workers twice that.
France
Fainted outside while getting a covid test with 40C fever
Ambulance trip to the hospital
Stayed a few hours
0€
UK
I have never paid anything for any kind of medical care. I do pay for my medicine prescriptions, which coat about £10 when I need them, which is infrequent.
They are essentially capped at something like £120 per year if you did need a lot.
Sweden.
I broke my knee at 16. Hospital bill: $0 (because I was under age at the time)
Any consultation with a nurse/doctor follows the standard fee of:~$25
Everyone gets free dental until they turn 26 years old.
My dad recently broke his arm (again). The total bill from the hospital including casting and xray: ~$35
If you have to spend more than ~$200 on medications in a year, you will be capped at that amount and everything above is literally, free.
Same goes for doctors visits but that’s a separate ~$200 cap reached independently
Australia. A broken arm no fee. General check up - no fee.
Not in WA. $95 for a 10 minute GP consult, but you get ~$35 back from Medicare. It is usually a 2 week wait to get an appointment but a maybe 10 minute wait in the waiting room. Urgent care is ~$180, wait is up to 2 hours. Emergencies are $0 but wait times can vary from 5 minutes to 3 hours. I wouldnt want to do hospital care without private health insurance.
Oof yeah in fairness I’m low income so I get bulk billed! The wait time can definitely vary. The thing I find is that GPs seem to spread their time over various clinics now so if you want to see a regular one (which I do due to chronic conditions) it can be a wait because they’re only in a couple of days a week! That’s frustrating.
I find if I just just want to see anyone for something very routine the wait can be anything from a day to a week. That’s definitely got worse over the years - I remember as a kid being picked up from school sick and I’d be in with my regular GP the same afternoon 😅
Your urgent care is so much!!!? I’m in Vic. I’m not sure how it works there. Here we have after hour urgent care clinics (quite recent, they only started a couple of years ago and popping up more places slowly) and I’ve had to go to those twice and again, free. Which I think is for everyone because it’s essentially a don’t go to the ER, go to these clinics if you’re not actually dying lol. I think I waited about 1-2 hours there. The waits no fun obviously but I do like that those clinics exist now, less intense than the ER can be.
I’ve had to do hospital without private and yeah, it’s not great but I don’t know what it’s like in other countries so hard to compare there. I’ve also seen others in private and the biggest difference is getting your own room (and if you’re getting surgery obviously choice there, I’ve just never had to have serious surgery!) it still seems like a pretty awful experience.
Mental health public though is a disaster - I did it once very briefly as a teenager and then private (as a public patient, I was very “lucky”) as an adult. I’d never do either again but particularly public.
some insurance( a specific type of hmo) the ambulance is 75/use, and 200/ER visit. this doesnt include TESTS, or Rx, specialists in the er. im using one that has this, because i was earning just enough to not get subsidized healthcare from the state.
Crying in expat
You can do things for free or cheap but some things have so long waiting times, that you opt for private doctors, which can be somewhat cheap, at least in comparison with the US and because there is “competition” with the public system.
Italy:
Going to doctor is free. Going to hospital is free unless you went for a non-emergency. In that case you may be eligible to pay something like 30€ (if you are poor you pay 0 anyways).
UK resident: it is brilliant. HOWEVER the politicians seek to turn it into a private system by way of a thousand cuts and being paid members of various think tanks and even being on company boards.
Netherlands
Good, I’d pay my “eigen risico” of a few hundred EUR - presuming I didn’t already spend it before then - but it’s slowly getting worse due to mass-migration (3x the historic percentage-points of the total population; that’s over 100k added on a population of 18 mil, even when that should be closer to 30k instead, historically speaking).
Norway - I think the basic way you and me think about anything health related are so vastly different, its hard for each of us to comprehend the others mindset.
Sweden.
Pretty decent for anything acute (broken something, dislocated whatchamacallit), but utter dog shit for chronic issues. “Yeah, you have sinus issues, wait 3+ months for ENT” or “Okay, Sertraline’s doing shit for you except making you more grumpy, but keep trying with it”. So fucking awful that literal WebMD can be better for some chronic conditions.
Thank you for pointing out the flaws. Americans glorify universal care, and non Americans don’t understand what they are missing.
As an immigrant to America from a country with universal care, as well as suffering from an auto immune disorder, I am doing considerably better under the USA system than I was in the country I came from.
Besides the difficulty seeing specialists and getting advanced medication and procedures you have mentioned, proponents of universal care often forget to mention the proliferation of private medical services in every country offering universal care. How come there is a market for private hospitals and clinics if the public system is as great as they claim?
That being said, I still think the USA system needs major improvement, and in my 20 years of living in the USA, has noticeably gotten worse.
How come there is a market for private hospitals and clinics if the public system is as great as they claim?
Because unfortunately, in capitalism, right wing parties are legal, and when they get to government they enact policy of defunding and destroying public healthcare to promote their corrupt buddies’ alternative: private healthcare.
Tbf. The american system is fine if you can afford to pay. And you’re always welcome to private care in countries with universal care.
Of course! The ones paying for top medical insurance are being subsidised by all the people that can only afford the more basic care.
The money has to come from somewhere and it sure as Hell isn’t coming out of the CEOs bonus.
mostly fine, depending on the insurance you have. some insurance wont cover certain things over others, plus some will require long wait times before insurance kicks in, not good if you have sudden emergenc ysituation, or a very urgent thing like like symptom that wont go away. and out of pocket and deductibles is whole another problem.
Living in France
I know someone who had to get a liver transplantation. The surgery was costing something like 300000 euros ( around 350,000 USD ). She could never afford such surgery. She was flown by helicopter to the hospital and back on a around 3 hours trip. Did not pay anything…
WOW!
i think transplants are expensive anywhere, since its such a rare thing and livers are hard to come by. assuming you arnt going to questionable countries for a transplant.
Hi,
(France) for a broken arm or a general checkup you wouldn’t pay anything. Actually, for the checkup you would pay upfront (my doc takes 10€) and get reimbursed a few days later.
Don’t be fooled, there are constant attacks on this system by the ruling class, they try and nudge the narrative a little bit every day, but it’s so entrenched here I keep my hopes up that we won’t let it go without a fight.
I’m at the doctor right now here in Australia
Paid nothing. Paid nothing for my tests too
UK here.
Its better then America, but many fail to see that our NHS wasn’t given freely, we struggled for it, and year by year we loose more of it to privatisation. I am currently witnessing one hospital closure in my county, and this is happening across the board. Nhs Waiting lists are a hot topic across the country due in part to years of austerity measures.
