Comment by Ringz | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Ringz | Hacker News Reader

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> INOVA in Northern Virginia charges $3000 for an uncomplicated vaginal birth. They have a code which rolls up many services into that code. There are additional in-hospital expenses such as the newborn hearing test which aggregate to about $400.

Free of charge in Germany

> If you have insurance your maximum cost out of pocket for the calendar year is between 5 and 15 thousand dollars (insurance covers everything above it).

In Germany, insurance covers everything over 0€. It depends on the insurance whether you have to pay extra for individual treatments (treatment methods without, or with disputed scientific evidence) or not. Rarely more than 100€. If expenses for illnesses exceed a certain amount in a year (about 3000€), it can be deducted from taxes.

> Health insurance in America costs between $500-$1000 a month for an entire family.

In Germany, it depends on your income how much the insurance costs for the entire family. 500-1000€ is also possible in Germany. But without all the extra expenses, negotiations with doctors, clinic, insurer, and bankruptcies...

> In Germany, insurance covers everything over 0€. [...] If expenses for illnesses exceed a certain amount in a year (about 3000€), it can be deducted from taxes

But how can you have anything to deduct if insurance covers everything over $0?

You can go to a private doctor even if you are not in a „private insurance“ and pay him by yourself (Selbstzahler). He can prescribe meds which are not covered by the public insurance. So you have to pay them by yourself. That’s just one example.

"In Germany, insurance covers everything over 0€. "

Yes. But you wait >6 months to see a specialist. And Germany has not the same level of health care than the US. Sorry to break the news to you.

Not 6 months: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39395329

Yes, Germany has not the same level of health care. Most of the time it’s better than the US. According to studies and data. All sources are not from Germany:

https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/quality...

https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2...

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/09/18/upshot/best-h...

„Germany would have tied Switzerland had we averaged our rankings of the nations instead of using head-to-head matchups in a bracket system (Switzerland eliminated Germany in the first round). It’s an example of how close the voting was.“

Wow!

Sorry to break the news to you.

"Not 6 months"

I don't care what the internet says. I know from my own experience it is 6 months, at least for some categories. Some sources say 30 days. A joke! I could call the office of my average XYZ doctor now and ask. And it will be 6 months, for sure.

"Most of the time it’s better than the US. "

The US has a lower live expectancy. Whatever the reasons may be. While this is concerning and not good, as long as you have a good insurance, Germany can not match the standard of US health care. Trust me on that one. With dentists it may be a different thing.

Yes, if you are poor or unemployed, your access to health care is likely much better than in the USA. But otherwise, not so much.

Not sure where you live. I (and the people I know, some of them 65+) never had to wait for 6 months - even for surgeries. And I can speak about a decently wide range of categories.

You also mention "at least for some categories", then you mention that "you could call the average XYZ doctor", as it that was applying to all categories. You seem to be generalising out of emotions, to be honest.

I don't have diabetes, for example. So I can't say anything about seeing such a specialist.

Then why do you say you could call the average doctor and get an appointment in 6 months?

As I mentioned, I know about a range of categories and I never heard of 6 months. Your example seems very specific.

> Free of charge in Germany

Paid solely by taxes instead of some taxes and some out of pocket

Reply on news.ycombinator.com