As a European, the fact that you have to pay for emergency transport in an ambulance is enough internet for today.
As an European, I have probably paid upwards of 150k for healthcare and probably got about 10k worth of it (at what might consider unreasonable prices, mind you). Even in countries with universal healthcare, it’s not free. There is always someone footing the bill.
EDIT: a word
EDIT: at least that’s how it’s supposed to work in theory. Of course the richest people don’t foot the bill for anyone but themselves.
Is it similar in other european countries?
But hey, at least getting run over by an ambulance won’t bankrupt you! Silver linings, eh?
For people who use more resources, there is an annual deductible of around €500 per person that resets with the new year. After you pay the deductible, the rest of your care and medication is free.
Personally, now living here 2 years, I think it’s a good system that compromises in many of the right areas. My biggest complaint is that your GP is the gatekeeper to all other care, so if you are certain you need to see a specialist, you’ll need to convince your GP first. That all fine and dandy when we’re talking about an ENT doctor for example, but hella annoying when you need to get a referral for a therapist that is covered by insurance. The Dutch drug prices are also ridiculous (allergy meds and other specialized OTC drugs are insanely expensive) but luckily I can order them online from Germany for much more reasonable tariffs! ;)
It's a socialized system but with inefficiency baked in and guaranteed. That's why the US pays significantly more for healthcare while also having worse quality care.
The solidarity system most European countries have is without a doubt superior than the mess that is the US healthcare system, but it sure as fuck isn’t free.
Those people often do have insurance. They were paying. They are often shocked to find their insurance rejected their claim.
And yes, as an American, it also boggles my mind that we have to pay for emergency health services including ambulances[1]. My wife, who is not from a stone-age civilization like ours, didn't realize it either the first time we needed to hit up the emergency room. Thankfully I was able to convince her to not call for an ambulance, and I drove myself to the hospital.
1: individually, just so I'm clear
In the case of Switzerland (which is in Europe, at least geographically) we do not have a “taxpayer-funded system” (see my other comment in the thread) and that ambulance ride would have to have been (depending on your insurance providers which go with a “you pay now, we reimburse later”, literally) paid fully at the individual at the point of sale (in the most logical model for someone in good health, the first 2’500 CHF + 10% up to 700 CHF a year are “self pay”).
Moreover, ambulance rides are not covered by the health care insurance in case of “accidents”. Which in this case (being run over by an ambulance) it very clearly is. It might be covered by the accident insurance, if you have one (which to be fair is the case if you work more than 20%). In case of “sickness”, some complementary insurances might reimburse for part of these costs.
You would probably find that this is actually the case in many European countries. The American healthcare system might be broken, but please don’t pretend that the ones in Europe aren’t and that we all live in some kind of healthcare utopia (see someone else’s post about the two-speed German system in the thread).
Healthcare is very lucrative, and greed does not know any borders.
Therefore, the total cost of insurance ranges from €449 to €649 per month. In comparison, the average cost of health insurance in the United States is $447 to $703 per month. Although the sums are quite similar, the standard of care in the United States is often considered higher, with significant payouts if doctors make a mistake, which contributes to the increased costs, unlike in Lithuania where you'll get a pittance.
Just because these fees are not immediately visible doesn't mean they don't exist. Get off your high horse. There are very few countries in the European Union where healthcare is any good and the core reason behind it is that they're filthy rich (at least for now).
You're the one pretending to be above the poster you are responding to while arguing a strawman. No one is claiming that healthcare costs are not being paid for.
There are three major factors you conveniently ignore:
- You only look at average earners. It's not surprising that the average earner ends up paying about the same. What socialized healthcare is to make staying alive affordable for those less well off. Averages across the population don't tell you the whole story.
- Insurance that covers all associated costs like ambulances minimizes the unexpected costs that can very well trhow people's lives into shambles. Yes you still end up paying for those on average but average lifetime healthcare contributions don't tell you the whole story.
- Being charged for ambulance trips forces people to decide between an unexpected cost and a potentially required life saving service. At first this may sound like a good way to reduce unneccessary ambulance use but most people are horrible at triaging the severity of their own health issues.
So please, get off your high earner horse.
Better people than businesses, right?! : /
(Trump will bring the paradise with even lower corporate taxes for the common people voted for him)