How does healthcare work in your country?

I'll start with the German system. Here you are either automatically insured in one of the public insurances (there are many), which marginally differ in their cost (think single digit euro differences) and have to cover basically the same procedures. If one reaches a certain income level, being privately insured is possible.

If you are publicly insured, you wont see most costs, as these are directly handled between your insurer and the doctor/hospital. For some medications and procedures there are co-pays that are flat fees (5 Eur for Medications, ...).

Access to specialists mostly need a referral from your family doctor.

In private insurance, often you yourself will be billed and you will need to hand this to your insurance company.

The good side is that in most common situations I have never needed to worry about cost in public insurance, wait times for referrals can be very long and understanding what you need to get certain care can be very difficult. Private insurance often has better payment schemes for providers and less artificial limits on number of patients or which doctor is able to provide services, so access to most care is faster and more widely available.

Sweden: Healthcare is mostly tax-funded. There is a small fee (for adults between 20-85 ) for each appointment. This fee lies between 150-330 SEK (~15-33 €), depending on which region you're in. Emergency care is usually about 10 € more (40€), and an ambulance trip double (so ~60€). If you're admitted to a hospital the fee is 120 SEK/day (in my region). Total fees paid for appointments during a year is capped at 1300 SEK (130 €), after that they're cost-free.

The above is regarding "necessary" care, so things like cosmetic surgery, vasectomies, etc. you'll have to pay more.

Access to specialist doctors varies, some you can contact directly (usually private practice), and others you'll have to first make an appointment with a general practitioner at a health center, then get a referall if they deem it necessary. In my region there's quite a long wait time for many specialists (I had to wait 6 months for a head MRI), and sometimes you'll have to travel quite far because the care is only offered in one hospital in the region (My wife had to drive 200 km for a surgery).

Australia here.

For most medical services, the govt will reimburse you a set rate. The GP or specialist can charge you whatever, sometimes the same as the govt reimbursement, sometimes quite a lot extra. You don't pay anything at public hospitals (which are nice).

I recently had some great problems, I stayed overnight in hospital twice, for a total of 3 nights in private rooms, had an internal scaffold inserted in my artery. i also had numerous consults with specialists and drs.

The whole thing cost me about $500, a few days work on average wage.

UK here. Everything is free at point of use (paid via taxes) except prescriptions. It's around £10 per item. But they are free if you have certain long term health conditions, are pregnant etc.

To see a specialist your doctor writes a letter and they contact you.

U.S.A., I have a "high deductible PPO" plan, more or less what my parents would have called "Major Medical".

It covers only some preventative care, for $0 out of pocket, whatever is mandated by the government basically so annual wellness, annual woman-care, birth control, one dermatologist visit.

Then nothing, until we spend some ridiculous amount in one year, I think it's $7,000? At which point it starts paying 80% until we have paid an even bigger $, then it pays 100%.

So we don't have healthcare, exactly, we have limited liability for healthcare cost.

Specialist I can just schedule, do not need to be referred by GP. Prescriptions are subject to that same high deductible.

This plan costs, out of my paycheck, kind of a lot for family coverage, and employer puts back some of it onto a "health savings account" that can be used to pay towards the cost. Not anywhere near that $7k but some, and what is not used stays in there. I also put money in that account out of my paycheck to build it up so that when we do eventually have a bad year again, the money will hopefully be there to use.

Yes it's complicated.

Canada. It's free, but slow.

They'll keep you alive, but it's up to you to stay healthy. Little prevention support around here.

In Poland, it doesn't. They just steal our money without anything in return you have to wait for years to get into surgery what you pay taxes for.

USA. Others have covered cost but I’d like to add how long it takes to see a doctor.

I have an established primary care physician that I’ve seen for years. Now though if I want an appointment I have to wait at least two months. So I have a membership with an urgent care near me that puts a $180 cap on visits to their chain of urgent cares. There is obviously no on going care with them but most of the time that’s okay.

A friend of mine doesn’t have an established PCP and to get one he must wait at least a calendar year….

I open Google, search "am I gonna die", and if it says probably not, then I ignore whatever it is and hope it goes away. And if it says I am, then I wait for the end to come.

Here in the US, if you have health insurance, any time you go to the doctor it’s $200. That’s if you have a doctor to go to. So we mostly don’t go, until it’s really bad, then maybe you have to go to the hospital, which may be a few thousand bucks on the low end and bankruptcy on the high end. You have no idea what you will pay when you go, they send you a bill in the mail that arrives 2-3 weeks later.

So we pretty much avoid interacting with the medical system at all costs.

If you do want to see a doctor or specialist it’s pretty easy since they are businesses, you just call them up and make an appointment. But what do I look like over here, John D. Rockefeller?

Then we die young of easily preventable diseases.

In NZ for basic healthcare, you call to make an appointment with your GP, go in later that day, they give you a prescription and you pay $5 for the medication and about $40 for the appointment.

For specialists in the public sector, there is a long waiting period, like a few months sometimes. You can pay for a private specialist, but it is of course expensive. Completely depends on the type of specialist etc.

Dental is not covered by public health care because we still live in 1864 apparently where barbers are meant to be pulling our teeth, but we are getting very close to having dental as part of public healthcare.

A huge amount of medication is subsidised here, basically anything life-saving like insulin, asthma medication, etc. I have an infinite supply of paracetamol because I just get it prescribed when I go to the doctors and pay nothing for it.

It really blows my mind that the US has an objectively vampiric and unfair healthcare system.

Romania you pay taxes from your salary or if you are a student then you are automatically covered. To access specialists you need a piece of paper from your designated doctor that confirms from him/her that you need a specialist.

The reality tho is that the state of the medical system is bad. Understaffed and equipment older then 40+ years.

Canadian here - pretty good outside surgeries. We've got a serious shortage of specialist surgeons up here so you're usually best going out of country for important non-emergency surgeries.

In my day job I track the US Healthcare system and it's even more of a shitshow than you imagine.

I walk into the emergency ward, take a number, give my id to a clerk, sit down and browse reddit Lemmy for a couple hours, see a doc, get some treatment if needed, and leave with a prescription, maybe a referral, and probably a parking ticket.

Canada, eh?

Healthcare is all free to the patient (the one caveat being a small, fixed charge for prescription medication - which is free for some groups), all paid for via national taxes based on wealth. UK.

If we need a specialist Doctor, we are referred to one. There's no money involved for the patient whatsoever.

Attaching an unaffordable fee to healthcare would be a clear barrier for anyone who is not upper class, and this would be seen as deeply discriminatory and thus unacceptable.

In the US, the reality is that we don't know.

Now that I'm insured, healthcare actually costs more than when I wasn't. And I'm not talking about premiums - I'm talking about copays and deductibles being non-negotiable.

For instance, I thought I may have hurt my ear scuba diving a few weeks ago, so I went to the ER to see if my eardrum was perforated (ENT visits can take months to get).

They told me it was, had me pay a $300 copay, prescribed me $130 eardrops my insurance wouldn't cover, and referred me to an ENT.

When I finally got to an ENT, they told me that my eardrum wasn't every perforated and the ER did didn't know what they were talking about.

Then I got an additional bill from the ER for another $1800 because my insurance company refused to pay the bill.

Had I been unisured the hospital bill would have been maybe $250 all-in after negotiations, but since I have insurance it's $2100 for a wildly wrong diagnosis that ended up costing me another $430 in specialists and prescriptions.

It doesn’t

I write or call my GP, they call me in for preliminary examination and/or conversation to determine the best course of action. Blood tests are usually done directly at the GP, either on the spot or within the week. Other simple tests like blood pressure are done at the GP too. I get the results in an app, and the app also tells me if the result is low or high or whatever.

If I need to see a specialist, the GP gives me a referral and I find one I like, or they queue me up and I get the appointment sent to me in the government's digital mail system. The appointment times vary but I've yet to be dissatisfied.

I go to the specialist, and they do their thing. Tests, interview, whatever. They decide on a diagnosis and prescribe medication. It's assigned to me digitally, and I can either get the meds at most pharmacies or immediately on the spot depending on what you need. You might see a specialist more than once to change or adjust treatment.

This is where you might start reaching for the wallet. All appointments, examinations, tests, etc. are paid for with taxes. In total, my income tax is 43% and VAT is 25%. That's totally fine by me. Medication prices vary of course. Some are free, some are cheap, some are expensive. Broadly speaking, people can afford their medication.

It's not a perfect system, but I have confidence in it, and am generally satisfied. Most issues are human in nature - I understand that women and immigrants (like myself) might not get the same quality of treatment, which of course sucks, and shouldn't happen. I haven't noticed any poor treatment but that might be due to my personality, gender, race, etc. Dental care isn't covered and is prohibitively expensive. I'd like this changed. Psychiatric care is rough, and doesn't really apply unless you have... significant issues. I don't know if you can get therapy through the system but the private stuff is prohibitively expensive.

Overall my experience has been a solid 8/10, and I've interacted with various elements of the healthcare system in Denmark

It’s Private (need insurance) but regulated by the government to ensure prices are fair and there is a fallback for people with low income.

In Malaysia, you're treatment are mostly covered by the goverment through subsidies. You usually pay a percentage of the treatment cost. The only exception is cosmetic surgery and certain high end medications, i think. Despite that, there are still people that is unable to pay the fee and the goverment still provide some kind of monetary support or the public hospital helps by paying the remaining fee using available fund. As a result, there are long waiting time for treatment and the public hospital generally overcrowded and healthcare workers were overworked. Thus, most of our specialist or other healthcare workers would escape this hell hole for a much better paying job in private sector or in other country.

In Denmark its paid through taxes.

I still have to pay to visit the dentist though, which can be quite expensive.

Regular doctors visits are free, but if youre refered to some specialist, like.. i had an issue with my knee, i was directed to some therapeutic pro. That cost me like 20 euros per visit. However, a friend of mine had to visit an eye doctor which was also free.

And medicine also is self paid, like antibiotics or whatever. Its rarely super expensive though.

But i when my kid was born we had no expenses at all. His mother had to stay (with him) for 2 days at the hospital and while there she had full free access to a stocked fridge, stuff for the baby (diapers etc) and all that jazz.

Ive not heard of anyone having other expenses either, like cancer treatments or getting a broken arm fixed

Late but USA, wanted to share a personal experience. While at work I collapsed and had to take an ambulance to the hospital. I got sent the bills for everything. Including the ambulance ride. I stayed in the hospital overnight for observation. They couldn’t figure out what happened and I didn’t have symptoms anymore so I was discharged. Whole event cost maybe $500.

Here’s the kicker, I work(ed) as a paramedic for the ambulance company that transported me. I had insurance that was not from the company so prices were reasonable relative to what one would expect in the country. Had I been insured through work, well, the insurance provided by the company doesn’t cover transport by that company’s ambulance.

I have a card that gets scanned at the doctor's office. It contains most of my data plus history iirc. That's it.

National Health Service, currently struggling with lack of personnel, but in general I have a family doctor I visit, on average, twice a year, for general check-up and follow-up. I can be recommended to a specialist if deemed necessary, with varying degrees of waitimg time.

For emergencies, I can either call a line, speak with someone and either have an ambulance sent directly to wherever I am or get directed to the nearest hospital, where they will already be expecting me.

No payments, even if I need an ambulance ride, a surgery and a few days in the hospital.

A good portion of people - mainly in large population centers - resort to private care, through health insurances, some out of pure need (pediatrics, cardiology, ob/gyn, psychology and psychiatry are specialities where long waiting lists exist) but the professionals working at the hospital are usually the same working private, due to a lack of effort from the state to make doctors exclusive to the NHS.

Private healthcare is usually faster to access and feels more luxurious but when things go very wrong you always get sent to the public hospitals. Cancer and other expensive care illnesses are sent to the NHS, which is usually the first to invest in expensive treatments to get a situation solved as quicky as possible and save time and money and free up space for the next in need.

Is it perfect? Hardly but it works. Nobody really knows or even understands how but it truly works.

In the UK the cost of healthcare is included in a tax called National Insurance, it's about 10% of wages. It can be thought of mostly as emergency use only. Mental health and minor ailments are not treated. If you want that kind of service you need to go private and most people cannot afford that so they go untreated. I know a newly qualified doctor who cannot find a job despite there being a shortage of doctors.

On the plus side, we do have a brand new aircraft carrier and a royal family.

In Vietnam - an awful system where nothing works. Have to pay for private healthcare where docs have dubious education.

When I lived in Alberta, Canada (as a USA expat circa 2010), it had pluses and minuses. Pluses: The cost was very low; in our province the premiums were nominally $44 CDN per month for an individual or $88 per family, but the windfall from oil production meant they could waive that and it was free. Emergencies were treated quickly and well. Drugs were inexpensive. The doctors seemed competent. Minuses: extreme shortages of doctors, facilities, and services. I could not find a primary care doctor taking new patients, so I had to wait at least two hours each time to see a different doctor at the walk-in clinic. They did not take or keep a medical history, so it was all up to me to know if what they prescribed was contraindicated by other drugs or conditions. Drugs, while cheap, were not covered by insurance, and some were simply not available at any price. Dental and vision coverage were not included and had to be bought on the private market. Wait lists for non-emergency procedures or treatments were ridiculously long, like 18 months to get the first appointment to talk about a hip replacement. Three months to get an MRI to diagnose chest pain.

Rural Guatemala and it's mostly done through mobile doctors because it's so remote. We have universal healthcare on paper but the government spends so little on it that the resources are awful and private care tends to be a lot better and trustworthy.

America. Ideally you have insurance through work. Going to your PCP may be ~$50, same for specialists. Urgent care and ER will be higher, then there will be additional bills depending on what needs to be done and your insurance. Then there's "in-network" and "out-of-network". In-network will be covered more by insurance than out-of-network. It's tricky for hospital stays. In my area there are doctors who are out-of-network working at in-network hospitals. So you will get 2 separate bills - one from the hospital and one from the doctor.

Honestly it's terrifying having an emergency because you really don't know how much it could cost. Most insurance plans have a max out of pocket. One number for the individual, one for the family. The lowest I've seen is $2k/$6k while the highest was ~$16k/30k. I'm in a LCOL city though. Max or of pocket is the maximum you should ever have to pay for a single year. You will almost definitely hit this if you have a baby or need more than a couple days in a hospital.

For people with low income there are sometimes assistance programs at hospitals. One common outcome is you go into a payment plan and maybe years later your remaining debt is forgiven. The payment plans can be very cheap. I've heard of $25/mo. Still it's probably for a bill that's in the thousands if not 5 or 6 digits.

If you don't have insurance through work you can buy your own insurance but many people just wing it. Most hospitals will charge less when there is no insurance to bill. Maybe 1/3 what they would charge insurance. This will still be in the 4-6 digit range. So you go into a payment plan, or maybe there's additional financial assistance from the hospital, or you just ignore the bill and take the credit hit when it goes to collections.

There are programs through the government, Medicare and Medicaid. They cover quite a lot but if you're under 65 then I believe you have to be disabled to qualify.

The quality of care is generally high though, so that's cool.

In Mexico the government has their own health care system, if you are a Mexican citizen you have access to it for free (if you are a student or you work legally), it's sustained by taxes that employers pay to the government, there are two health care systems IMSS and ISSSTE, depending on if you work for the government you get one or another.

These institutions will give you the treatment that you need and surgerys as well, except cosmetic stuff. Since these institutions aren't optimal (usually takes a long time to get attention) you might prefer to use a private health care, and you just pay a private company for what you need or pay monthly for an insurance plan, which will cover certain hospitals and specific diseases

I recently broke my arm on a trip to Mallorca and was transported to a local hospital treated there, had surgery when I got back home with a 2 week hospital stay, got regular check-up and x-rays afterwards, had physical therapy, and will probably get a second round of everything once the bone has healed. Here's a comprehensive list of what I paid during all of that:

• ~4€ for pain killers on Mallorca

• 15€ for bandages to cover the wound from surgery after I was released

• 5€ for pain killers at home

• 10€ for a second orthosis, because I accidentally ruined the first one

Oh, did I mention that health insurance covered 6 weeks of pay while I was absent from work?

With good insurance, I mostly just pay the copay. I do not have good insurance.

Poorly. USA

Concurrunt public and private system, it's obviously busier with less doctors in the public system, and it's free. Specialists too. Expect to wait six to twelve months for a specialist.

Private system is affordableish but on the expensive end, especially with complex issues. Also expect to wait six months for a specialist, in complex cases twelve months is not unheard of.

Medications get capped at $30, unless the government doesn't agree it's a useful med, then you pay full price.

Australia has a hybrid system with both public and private health care. You can pay for private insurance (like in the USA) if you want to, which covers the costs for private hospitals, better doctors, etc, or you can just use the public system which is funded by a 2% income tax. My family couldn't afford private health care when I was growing up, so we only used the public system. It was mostly okay, although regular doctors (a general practitioner or "GP"; what you'd call a "primary care physician" in the USA) always had long queues to see them. Sometimes I had to wait 3 or 4 hours to see a doctor. Some specialists have a long wait time of several months or even a year. I did have to go to hospital a few times, which is completely 'free' (taxpayer-funded) if you go to a public hospital.

The public system today isn't quite as good as it used to be due to various cuts over the years, but it's still a good safety net to have.

Australia also uses a single-payer system for prescription medication, called the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. All prescription medications are government-subsidised, with the government being the only entity that negotiates prices for the entire country. It means they have a lot of bargaining power, and a lot of medications are significantly cheaper than in other countries that don't use a single-payer system. Medications that are hundreds of dollars list price in the USA are often less than $20 list price in Australia. Insulin is around $8 retail in Australia compared to ~$100 in the USA.

Now I live in the USA and my insurance is pretty good (flat fees of $10 for doctor visits, $20 for urgent care, $100 for emergency room, max $5 for generic medications, maximum $2000 out of pocket per year after which everything is 100% covered), but it varies a lot. Health insurance is often tied to your employer, so if you work at a "better" company, they tend to have higher-end insurance coverage. There's been some attempts at introducing universal health care (most notably the Affordable Care Act, nicknamed "Obamacare") but there's a surprising number of people that don't want it because "they'll have to pay for other people's healthcare", even though it'll actually make their health care cheaper too. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In the US with private insurance. I basically just go online, search for providers in my insurance's network, and then check a different list of different procedures and their costs according to my insurance. Sometimes it's $30 if I'm seeing my main doctor, $30 for a specialist, $40 for urgent care, $0 for a specific telehealth provider, 20% for an ER visit etc. The main thing I genuinely like about my plan is that the monthly out-of-pocket price cap for generic medications is pretty low. That being said, I know a few people who pay $0 for 90% of what they need with everything else being cheap

Not well.

Hardly

There is also a private health care sector, with its own hospitals. A lot of consultants work in both the public (NHS) and private sectors, e.g., one day a week they will have a private clinic at a private hospital. The private sector is funded by insurance, and this is often a perk offered by employers. Waiting lists are generally shorter in the private sector, but, in my experience, the expertise and level of care is no better than the NHS.

I guess I'll give a non-horror story account from the US. My wife and I are fortunate to be on a good insurance plan though my work, we pay about $200/month total for the both of us out of pocket, and my work covers the rest.

Were on an HMO plan, so basically we have a fair bit of restrictions on which doctors we can see, and finding a new primary is always a pain.

On the brightside, medical care for us genuinely is cheap as hell (besides the insurance cost, ofc). My wife recently cut her hand in the kitchen and we had to rush her to urgent care to get stitches. We didn't pay anything at the time, and got a bill in the mail for $20 the next month, and that was pretty much it.

We've never (thankfully) had any major medical issues that need treating though, so hard to say how something like that would play out in reality.

All that being said, if I lost my job, or if my job decided they wanted to cheap out I health insurance and I was - for some reason or another - unable to get a better job, then I'd be fucked. So don't misconstrue any of this as an argument against universal Healthcare, just because it works well for me personally