Ok, well this forum has been keeping pretty geared to microstock, perhaps that is the way people would prefer to keep it, in which case feel free to not respond....

I saw the michael moore film 'sicko' today and it got me wondering what do you think of your countries health care.  Michael Moore paints a pretty one sided argument so it would be interesting to hear some different thoughts of what people think of their situation.

Well, if I'm hospitalized with anything serious then I will be broke for life(crappy health insurance). I live in the States.

In my country its quite simple , healthcare and music are close connected.

If you catch something serious you can start looking for bands willing to play on a humanitarian concert to raise founds for your operation.

When I lived in the USA I was covered up the ying-yang and had access to the number one hospital in the country to boot, so I couldn't complain.

I live in Canada now, where healthcare is (for the most part) free.

Actually, I would guess it's not 'free'. If it's like the UK system, everyone pays for it sick and healthy, rich and poor.

In theory it's the best system as you pay according to your means, not according to your needs.

But getting it to work is another matter ...

I am typing this with one arm - yesterday was in clinic in Germany to get metal pins removed from an old elbow fracture. Being from Canada, and having seen some rather dirty European hospitals before, i was a bit hesitant.  I was told that there is actually a sort of caste system in Germany -

lower class : public versicherung (but actually run by private companies, mine is from Mobil Oil)
higher class: private versicherung - when you have a 9-5 job at a big company and they pay for most of it

Once i learned this i got a bit more scared about going in for an operation.  Seemed like proper doctors and all,  but knowing that they have a monthly quota for the public insured patients made me really uneasy..  we'll see how this all turns out when the cast comes off i guess.

It definitely isn't free in Canada, I have to pay around $20 CDN each month to the medical services plan.  I was globetrotting and forgot about that and got a serious backbill once i was back on the grid.    Now, compared to the 500 euros my German friends pay, it's nothing.

Quote from: leaf on November 10, 2007, 04:29

well not sure how 'free' it is in england, but Canada it is $0 every time you go to the hospitil no matter who you are.

What I meant was that although Canadians appear to pay nothing when they go to hospital etc., they still pay for healthcare though their taxes. Someone has to pay for it.

Yes of course we are paying for it through our taxes, but as I guess you realized I meant, what I was saying was that the individual doesn't have to pay when they go to the hospital.

But no - i don't think it is free if you are a foreigner.  Actually I am quite sure it is NOT free.  I was free because I was was a canadian living in canada paying tax.  Now I live in norway so I am under the norwegian health system (and get travel / health insurance when travelling back home to Canada)

Quote from: leaf on November 10, 2007, 07:20

I lived in Saskatchewan Canada for the first 26 years of my life and never paid anything for medical things (hospital fees or insurance)

It was BC..  maybe praries people are healthier from the farm life?

well maybe   but what does that have to do with having to pay for a $20 medical service plan?

As I say, in Canada (Quebec), it's mostly rich people (40 000 $ and more) who pay more taxes and at the same time, the healthcare system. (40% of their incomes each years).

 People who make less than 25 000$, mostly don't have to pay taxes on their income each years.

There a debate now to include a moderation ticket like there are in Norway. It will be like 20 to 50 dollars. But as I say, what is making the emergency a little bit full, it's all the baby boomer's who are now more and more old and need some medical care. And they have some. Even whit this payment, they need this.

Maybe, it would be interesting to have some stats from countries like Norway (before/after) they put this procedure... And that's all about to not let these peoples lonely, whit some home care services. Another debate too.

I am typing this with one arm - yesterday was in clinic in Germany to get metal pins removed from an old elbow fracture. Being from Canada, and having seen some rather dirty European hospitals before, i was a bit hesitant.  I was told that there is actually a sort of caste system in Germany -

lower class : public versicherung (but actually run by private companies, mine is from Mobil Oil)
higher class: private versicherung - when you have a 9-5 job at a big company and they pay for most of it

Once i learned this i got a bit more scared about going in for an operation.  Seemed like proper doctors and all,  but knowing that they have a monthly quota for the public insured patients made me really uneasy..  we'll see how this all turns out when the cast comes off i guess.

Sorry to hear about your arm. Well yes there is private and public insurance, but personally I think there should not be such a big difference. The private insured have more benefits of course like having a room for them alone or shorter waiting times or so, but I do not think the difference is huge.
You will get what you need.
Maybe Germany has not the best health care system I agree, but it is still one of the richest countries in the world and Germanies doctors are well trained. I do not see a problem, that they do not have the tools they need or the medicine or the cleanliness of the hospitals. The problem with German healthcare is that there are not enough nurses and doctors, because they want to lower the costs. I do not think an operation on a private insured person is different than on a public insured person. (I am German by the way)

Are you interested to know what happens in the 3rd world? 

Well, in Brazil we have public hospitals/clinics, either federal, state or municipal.  It is funded partly by a compulsory deduction in our sallaries and mostly by taxes.  There are some good quality ones, generally in the main cities.  In these, doctor staff is generally top quality, especially those linked to the universities - doctors pride on being professors.  However, even in these good ones you may have to wait for weeks for a consultation or an exam.  Some hospitals also especialize in urgency - one in trauma from car accidents, another in burns, another one in gun/knife injuries.

Almost everyone who have a job in a middle-sized or big company has private medical insurance.  Plans vary, but all cover doctors, hospitals, and exams.  Some treatments may be excluded (miopia surgery for instance, and anything related to an aesthetic-only plastic surgery).  A few cover dentists, and in this case also with a lot of restrictions.  The point is that these plans in general pay very little and many good doctors don't accept them, though hospitals and labs work with most of them, sometimes with exceptions to some procedures. 

My company runs its own medical plan, for which I pay a monthly fee (like an insurance for the hospital use) and a fee according to the use of doctors and exams. 

What my family and I have access to is restricted to a very small portion of our population, unfortunately.  Most private plans have many excemptions and limitations.  And for people living in remote or rural areas, medical facilities are very few and almost only public.  Curiously though, there is an excess of medical job vacancies in some areas, but trained people don't want to go to these places, because in general they are low-paying public jobs.

Recently my mother was in hospital for two 10-day periods, and that's when we see it's a blessing to have such plans.  She was very well taken care of, staying in a private room, the staff was not only very professional, but also very human.  On the other hand, her cardiologist, who does not work with any medical plan, said these hospitals run many more exams than she would have needed, like taking full blood tests every two days, so they charge the medical plan more because they pay so little.  But I guess there is some auditing from the medical plan. 

Anyway, I've always heard of excessive exams.  Most pregnant women who have access to a private plan do an ultra-sound exam every month, even if their pregnancy is developing normally.  I heard that in the USA it's the opposite, there is an incentive from private plans to doctors NOT to prescribe exams and women may go through a pregnancy without a single ultra-sound exam.  Is it really so?

Regards,
Adelaide