Khan
Gone but not forgotten
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2006
- Messages
- 6,924
I enjoyed the comment section by the German living in the UK.
It all depends on the eye of the beholder. 2 months ago my 38 yr old sister in the UK had her annual NHS checkup including pap smear and was diagnosed with early stage cancer. She immediately went into hospital where 4mm were removed from the cervix and a follow-up with more biopsies shows all clear for now and she is now on 6 monthly check ups to monitor progress.
5 years ago she went on the NHS "stop smoking" program which involves seeing a Dr every week. The Dr prescribed nicotine patches and every week measured her blood gases to see if she was cheating. One week the Dr didn't believe her when she said she hadn't had a cigarette all week because her CO levels were elevated. When my sister insisted she was telling the truth the Dr told her to get her gas fired heater checked - she did so and it was found to be defective, so her 5 yr old daughter and husband benefited more than they expected by her decision to quit smoking. (she is an avid non-smoker these days).
I can repeat similar stories of many of my and DW's family members who are all aging and have plenty of need for medical care. The main thing I see is that preventive care is much better, but if you need a knee replacement on the NHS you are likely to be on a long waiting list. When we worked there we had private health insurance through my work for elective surgery.
Sure all in the eyes of the beholder. I just enjoyed another viewpoint Oh and of course thank you for sharing yours!
But don't go to the emergency room!
Sure thing.
Full disclosure - over the last 22 years living here in the US we have been fortunate to have access to excellent employer subsidized health insurance and both DW and my family have taken full use of it.
We had a glimpse on the other side when our son graduated in early 2007. He moved back and I just could not get any Health insurance for him as his pre-existing condition was brain damage as a baby (cerebral palsy). Fortunately he got a got a decent job in the IT department of a bank within a couple of months and their health insurance accepted him fully. 4 weeks later he took a fall from his bicycle and broke both wrists requiring surgery and pins etc.
From the age of 18 to 65 all Germans are required to have insurance
and employers match funds provided by employees.
This is the thing the POs me the most about our systemWe had a glimpse on the other side when our son graduated in early 2007. He moved back and I just could not get any Health insurance for him as his pre-existing condition was brain damage as a baby (cerebral palsy).
I do too but my daughter leaving college did not and ran into a pre-existing condition block similar to Alan's son's. It looks like a gov option will be sacrificed to bipartisanship in the current proposals. I hope they have enough sense to require all plans offered in the US to be open to all (no denials for pre-existing conditions) and meet minimum coverage standards. That would stop the cherry picking that balkanizes the current system.I enjoyed the privilege of working in Germany and paying into the sickness funds. It took much more a percentage of my income than health insurance does here in the States. And it is really no better than what you get in the US for the same costs.
I have excellent group insurance through my employer in the US.
By the way, does the cost of German health care exceed just the out-of-pocket cost of your work insurance or both your costs and your employer's costs? Our employer costs are a big drag on businesses and mask the true cost from taxpayers.
Not sure if that was directed at me or not, but when I was in the German system, health care was something like 40% of my salary, but I had a rather low salary at the time. Nowadays, healthcare is about 15% of my salary including the employer part. But I don't pay the employer part.
Not sure if that was directed at me or not, but when I was in the German system, health care was something like 40% of my salary, but I had a rather low salary at the time. Nowadays, healthcare is about 15% of my salary including the employer part. But I don't pay the employer part.
At our company this year, the employee-paid health insurance premium actually dropped. As with many companies, the premiums are based on our claims history. Nobody got very sick in 2008 and there were many fewer new babies as well. 2007 was a banner year for new dads and moms at our company, so maybe 2008 were higher than normal to make up for it.