Ask Lemmy

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.

France

Fainted outside while getting a covid test with 40C fever

Ambulance trip to the hospital

Stayed a few hours

0€

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

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.

Australia. A broken arm no fee. General check up - no fee.

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.

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.

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).

Russia

Everyone has free health insurance that covers all procedures, doctor visits, ambulance calls, and most hospitalization cases in the respective government clinics based on where they live.

General physicians are available at any government clinic as needed, regardless of where you are. Other specialists are only available at your main clinic and directed to either by GP or as part of a free 5-yearly checkup. You can book an appointment online, call into the clinic, or come in person to do so. GPs are always available on short notice, and you can get there without booking if you need urgent care. Dentists are also available without booking for urgent cases. Trauma units operate 24/7 and accept without booking.

If you're too sick to come in person, you can also call for a GP to arrive through a unified hotline, regardless of your current location, or even whether you have Russian citizenship or insurance for that matter.

The quality of care itself is highly regionally dependent, but mostly alright. Larger cities like Moscow and Saint Petersburg have it better, smaller, faraway cities have it worse. Queues differ significantly between places and specialists, and can be anything between 15 minutes and 2-3 weeks.

Private clinics exist, prices are bitey, but the quality of care is generally high. Work can offer private health insurance, giving free access to their services.

TL;DR all free (with some paid options), available to everyone, decent quality, acceptable waiting times.

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.

Spain. I have private health insurance (it’s quite affordable here).

If you are dying, use the public services. They will do whatever it takes (under their material resources) to save you.

If you want comfort and probably reduce waiting times, go private. Public hospitals have long waits for anything that’s not immediately disabling/life threatening.

Example. My dad had a fall at home alone and broke his femur. He used his telemedicine device to call for help. When I got at his home, the paramedics were already there. They stabilised him, put him in ambulance and brought him to a public hospital. The same evening he had a titanium inserted. After five days in the hospital he was transferred to a recovery center.

Guess the cost?

Zero euros.

amazing. i cant fathom this not being the global norm

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).

i live in Canada and it's a constant struggle to keep it afloat, we have our own brand of braindead morons we call maple maga that actively try to sabotage it at every possible opportunity....

what we do have is pretty good for basic coverage, but it excludes mental and *most *dental, and you still need insurance through work for costs of medicine etc. that being said, all hospital visits, stays, and treatments receive no billings.

just 'getting' universal healthcare isn't enough, you have to fight for it, and you have to fight to keep it.

Canadian here... I had a boss who was American. He would often talk about how the American system was so much better then the Canadian system. This upset me but luckily I could go to the hospital and get my feelings checked for free.

I'm at the doctor right now.

Paid nothing. Paid nothing for my tests too

Canadian here.

$0 for everything, generally

If you have blood pumping from a stump, or have something catastrophic and are in immediate peril, you are seen quickly and get first class treatment....in most cases... However, our Indigenous population and other vulnerable sectors do not always get treated well sadly, and in some remote places access to health care is limited

Now if it's something "minor", you will wait for an appointment, or in the ER...for a long time, like 6-18 hours. which I have done many times However, you will get seen, and you will get services... The biggest bill I ever had was like $15 for parking

Some examples from my own experience: My mother had multiple, debiliatating illnesses over 20+ years, $0 Dad had a heart attack 15 years ago, $0 I was born , c-section, $0 i had multiple children, $0 Vasectomy (no more children haha) $0 Massive car accident, many injuries, $0 See my doctor annually for checkup, $0

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.

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.

Should not have opened this today. Was already depressed.

Austrian here: medical debt does not exist.

Both my boys broke their arms snowboarding (a couple of years between each accident), costs for the first one were none because we went to a regular hospital (including everything from setting the bone to cast to regular checkups, cast removal and clean bill of health report). Son #2 had to go to a private clinic. Which was still subsidized by our national healthcare provider, so I only paid 65€ for x-ray, setting the bone and the cast. Checkup and removal back home were free.

GP visits are fully covered. Some medication is subsidized, but not everything. I rarely pay more than 10€ for a box of pills of any kind, even if I get them without a subscription (for instance sea sickness in my case). Our docs recommend various exams the older you get to catch any budding cancer cells before they can cause too much damage (Prostate exam, Mammogram, Colonoscopy, ...). All covered.

Dental depends. Fillings are covered, if you go for the cheap (bad) ones. Anything beyond that will cost you. Orthodontics depends on age. For kids up to 18yo it's completely free. Adults have to pay. Don't ask me for prices though.

Pregnancy/birth: all covered, including all necessary exams.

If a parent is insured (i.e. employed), their kids are covered as well automatically.

Never in my 45+ years have I ever had to wonder if I could afford a medical procedure. Sure, there's a big lump of money removed from my paycheck every month (minimum employment period is a month, you can't fire people with shorter notice except when they messed up royally). But it's the same for everyone in the same salary bracket (more income = higher share; does not change level of care), and it is a guarantee for social peace.

Loved one recently diagnosed with cancer. Within a week she has a team of 5 medical professionals assigned to her to kill this thing. If she was in the USA, this would bankrupt the family.

My husband was extremely drunk and cycling home at 3am. Fell off his bike, smacked his face on the road and fell unconscious. Was picked up by an ambulance called by a good Samaritan who found him.

They put him on a drip, ran an MRI scan, found a fracture on his eye socket, told him he had a concussion, found some fibroids in his lungs (unrelated to the accident) etc. Was in the emergency ward for probably 12 hours until he was able to be discharged.

Got follow up scans and appointments looking at the lung, eye and concussion issue over two years until they gave him the all clear.

We paid not a cent for the whole thing. He did get a verbal lashing from me though.

On the flip side, I had to have elective surgery to remove a 17cm cyst because it was really, really uncomfortable. Because it's elective, it's not covered by Medicare. The quote from the hospital came to $22K and we had to pull it out of the home loan.

Location: Australia

Forgot to say that we both have ambulance membership which costs us $70/year. Without it, the ambulance cost would've been around $3.5K.

Canadian here:

Some provincial governments are purposely underfunding healthcare in their provinces in order to make it worse. The purpose behind this is to try and push for more private healthcare. They figure if everyone thinks the current healthcare system sucks, it's easier to sell them on private. I'm fucking tired of this shit. The world is just full of greedy selfish assholes.

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...

UK.
Visit to doctor: free
Ambulance trip to hospital: free
Broken arm: free
Pregnancy care, maternity, birth, etc: free
Cancer treatment, including multiple rounds of Chemotherapy, surgery, post-op care, etc etc: free

Prescription: about £10, but I get an annual fixed price unlimited pass which pays for itself in a month or three all the stuff I'm on.
Parking at the hospital: not free.

Dentist: not free.

Poland

My country may be poor backwards post-soviet hole, but social media and news present USA as Fallout-style post-apocalyptic dystopia.

Every member of my family has a family doctor assigned (it's the same one for convenience). This doctor reminds us about mandatory vaccinations and tips us if there are any diseases spreading (for preparation sake). If anyone is seek we can usually schedule visit within a week, and most standard medicines are fairly cheap due to governmental control.