As someone living in a country with universal healthcare I truly do wish it was like people online make it sound to be. Turns out you got to wait for a long time to see a doctor and you have to pay for it. Obviously it wont bankrupt you like it would in the US, but it’s not exactly free either.
Depends on the implementation. Every single EU country does it slightly different. Here in Romania it’s 100% paid for via taxation, the only thing you have to pay out of pocket for is heavily subsidized medication if it’s been prescribed, and wait times are actually pretty ok.
The downside is we don’t have any of the fancy new toys in any state-owned hospital due to a lack of funding, which means more complex surgeries are riskier, the latest and greatest medicine doesn’t exist here and Romanian doctors have to rely more on the basics.
In the UK they sometimes send you to private hospitals for routine stuff, hip replacements, cataract surgery, and then just pay for it themselves and only the complicated surgeries are done by NHS staff.
That’s usually down to underfunding than anything else, though. The NHS, for example, is a shadow of what it was like 20 years ago, thanks to years of purposeful underfunding.
Another point is that universal healthcare creates a free (or close to) baseline that private healthcare has to compete with.
If there’s a free (or close to) option, the paid option has to be better to win people over to it. This can make overall healthcare better.
On the other hand, if there’s no universal healthcare the private healthcare can simple be as bad as it wants. This can mean that overall healthcare is worse.
I think even if you aren’t using the universal healthcare, your care is improved just by it being there.
Same. I live in Germany and used to live in the US (both with and without insurance). I would rather be here and support this system where everyone has access to Healthcare, but there is much I miss from the US. The care I got in the US (obviously stupid expensive) was better, easier and quicker. With that said, the care here is fine and enough and available for all but shouldn’t be viewed through the rose colored glasses of americans.
Not sure how long ago you lived in the US, but things have changed in terms of doctor availability and wait times in the past decade or two. Many people can’t even find a GP because theirs retired (or stopped taking their insurance), and literally no other doctor near them that is in their network is currently taking on new patients. I’m not sure it’s any better here anymore in terms of wait times.
As someone living in a country with universal healthcare I truly do wish it was like people online make it sound to be. Turns out you got to wait for a long time to see a doctor and you have to pay for it. Obviously it wont bankrupt you like it would in the US, but it’s not exactly free either.
Depends on the implementation. Every single EU country does it slightly different. Here in Romania it’s 100% paid for via taxation, the only thing you have to pay out of pocket for is heavily subsidized medication if it’s been prescribed, and wait times are actually pretty ok.
The downside is we don’t have any of the fancy new toys in any state-owned hospital due to a lack of funding, which means more complex surgeries are riskier, the latest and greatest medicine doesn’t exist here and Romanian doctors have to rely more on the basics.
It’s all trade-offs.
In the UK they sometimes send you to private hospitals for routine stuff, hip replacements, cataract surgery, and then just pay for it themselves and only the complicated surgeries are done by NHS staff.
That’s usually down to underfunding than anything else, though. The NHS, for example, is a shadow of what it was like 20 years ago, thanks to years of purposeful underfunding.
I think most of those people you’re referring to that are making it sound so good, are Americans who are pining for it. And rightfully so.
And anyone implying that there aren’t wait times in the US are full of shit.
Another point is that universal healthcare creates a free (or close to) baseline that private healthcare has to compete with.
If there’s a free (or close to) option, the paid option has to be better to win people over to it. This can make overall healthcare better.
On the other hand, if there’s no universal healthcare the private healthcare can simple be as bad as it wants. This can mean that overall healthcare is worse.
I think even if you aren’t using the universal healthcare, your care is improved just by it being there.
Same. I live in Germany and used to live in the US (both with and without insurance). I would rather be here and support this system where everyone has access to Healthcare, but there is much I miss from the US. The care I got in the US (obviously stupid expensive) was better, easier and quicker. With that said, the care here is fine and enough and available for all but shouldn’t be viewed through the rose colored glasses of americans.
Not sure how long ago you lived in the US, but things have changed in terms of doctor availability and wait times in the past decade or two. Many people can’t even find a GP because theirs retired (or stopped taking their insurance), and literally no other doctor near them that is in their network is currently taking on new patients. I’m not sure it’s any better here anymore in terms of wait times.
It was about 8 years ago. So a bit of time, but not soooo long. I know how it was, at least in my area of the US, and it is worse here in most ways.