I guess he had some form of Health Insurance as it’s mandatory to carry in Germany for almost everyone.
Also there is a copay of 5-10€ with public health insurance, but the insurance will send a separate bill for it. You won’t usually get charged at point of service
This is the most “American abroad” story I ever read lol
First time in America? Everything is going to be like the new black mirror ep1. Everything subscription
title sounds like a line from an Aesop Rock song
It’s probably a trap
I was living in Germany in the '80s. My mom, a civilian US citizen, had to get a hysterectomy. She chose to go to a German hospital (as opposed to the US Military hospital) and just pay whatever it cost. She mentioned the other day she doesn’t think they ever sent her a bill.
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Haha ew gross 💀
Ironically when we visited German my wife fell and people scattered and desperately avoided eye contact. I’m glad my oma was with us and able to get a first aid kit. My wife was fine in the end just scrapped up and sore.
I got the general vibe if I asked for help someone would have probably helped, but there were definently no volunteers
people in these comments act like this was a act of merciful kindness, the people at the ambulance just did their normal job in a functional system, they get payed and everything
Here in the U.S., we let billionaires tell us which of two candidates are “electable”, and we then argue over which one is “better”.
A vote for the lesser of two evils is still a vote for evil.
I showed up in Italy to work on a farm for a month.
Ate the wrong thing one night, and my airways started closing up. Despite my Americanism coming through “dont call the ambulance, I can feel the benadryl kicking in”, my hosts called an ambulance.
After a 45 minute ambulance ride, a 5 hour hospital stay including chest x ray, monitoring, and fluids, I was trying to pay up. The doctor lady just laughed at me as a I flashed my debit card. They sent me on my way with some albuterol for $0.
We really do everything we can to enrich health execs here in America. Crazy to think about the mental benefits of knowing you live in a society that at least has the capacity to get you through a medical emergency without bankrupting you.
Was that a work exchange situation?
We could have entire battalions of paid public workers whose only job is to go out of their way to solve people’s problems, but instead we get: excess profits (read: stolen value) that benefit virtually no one.
Hey I love Germany and its healthcare system but I don’t think it works like that.
If you’re a foreigner in Germany you still get charged. They have a mandatory but still opt-in health insurance system.
Sometimes the bill is so low, they waive it because it is too much hassle.
Maybe that happened in a little town, too
Usually you are not getting billed as a foreigner
My son got stung by a bee right to the neck while camping in Germany (thankfully he was fine). Visit to the local ER they checked him out etc (again, he was fine, but first bee sting and to the neck we had to play it safe).
Didn’t cost anything but my signature on a piece of paper.
Bullshit.
Every case gets billed
Not in Italy or Austria (I worked in the field in both countries).
I’ve also did part of my medical education in a hospital in Austria, and sure people will get care if it’s deemed necessary, even if its completely obvious they will never be able to pay (like homeless people with severe drug addiction), but they were asked to provide a credit card or would get issued a bill if they couldn’t provide an EHIC.
Maybe or maybe not, but legally speaking you will be, yes.
The f does “legally speaking” mean here. You aren’t a lawyer, and no, people often don’t get charged as foreigners. That’s how public healthcare works
People absolutely get charged as foreigners. In German healthcare you always need a “Kostenträger”, but for EU citizens they will instead charge the national health insurance which then takes care of settling it with your home insurance scheme, so it might seem invisible for you.
Legally speaking as in the laws are very clear. You don’t need to be a lawyer to know what the laws are, especially when it is plastered over every single official page discussing travel and visiting.
You need to be insured or you’re liable for the costs of treatments in Germany.
I am not going to defend the US Healthcare industry, but EMS is often? usually? a service of your local government in the US.
Here in Maryland, our ambulance are stored in the firehouses next to the fire engines and staffed by the firemen… Paid for by the county.
When I went to Austin for a bachelorette party, one of the girls passed out and hit her head and the ambulance that came to check her out was also free of charge paid for by the city. Now, their dismissive paternalism was also free of charge because it was Texas, but my point is: emergency services are frequently not part of the predatory American healthcare industry.
t EMS is often? usually? a service of your local government in the US.
wow awesome. no one cares what level of beurocracy they are getting fucked by.
This is basically
Weed is legal in the united states
Yeah no. Not fucking federally. Not everywhere. Until that service is done the way the civilised world does it, you guys need to shut the fuck up
It’s not that I disagree that our system is shit, it’s more that it seems puritanical to require the US to be totally standardized across all 50 states. We’re 50 different states because we don’t like each other, and the animosity is growing. It’s enough to maintain the union with crazy red states trying to role back rights and illegally imprison people.
I don’t see Europeans standardizing social programs across all the different countries within the EU. Germany was loathe to even lend money to Greece following the 2008 recession.
it’s more that it seems puritanical to require the US to be totally standardized across all 50 states
no it isn’t. We expect the same from other countries like brazil or indonesia, india, china or russia.
I don’t see Europeans standardizing social programs across all the different countries within the EU.
The EU is very much not a country.
Like many services in the US, it is highly dependent on the region. In the places I’ve lived (in California and Washington state), each county generally contracted with a private ambulance company (or sometimes several, just to be confusing) to provide transport services. Even if an individual city’s fire department staffs their own ambulances, they may still attempt to bill insurance (since they’d be leaving money on the table at the expense of their taxpayers otherwise). Some of them may cover city residents free of charge but bill people from out of town. It just all really depends.
I would definitely dispute your last sentence — in many places, ambulances are absolutely part of the predatory American healthcare industry. Plenty of people will try to avoid calling an ambulance or try to find an alternate ride to the hospital, since they know an ambulance ride may end up costing them thousands of dollars.
Yeah, I’m in Washington state right now, and my county has a mix of public and private ambulance services. I got t-boned by a SUV once, a private ambulance company picked me up, and I found out later that they didn’t take my insurance and wanted $1500.
Only $1500? Was the hospital across the street?
Lol tell that to the $1500 ambulance bill I got from when they drove me 3 miles in Baltimore to a hospital
Oh and the dude I knew in Baltimore that ran his own private ambulance service. Yea, they’re not all funded through local gov and run by firefighters
Your comment made me look up the way Maryland does it, and yes, it varies a lot by county.
Have you received care from EMS without being taken to the hospital? The case posted by OP did not involve going to the hospital, and do I used an example that did not involve going to the hospital. I had a vague impression that if you require transport to a hospital, you are more likely to be billed for it.
I had a relative who once had a serious emergent heart problem (not a heart attack) in Italy. Ambulance to the ER, admitted to hospital for several days, ran a gazillion tests and procedures; huge workup. Was billed because no national insurance.
Grand total: €200. Not even worth trying to claim on American insurance.
It does seem to be a bit of a toss-up between countries whether or not you will actually get charged. Supposedly international visitors to the UK are supposed to get charged but no one seems to know how to actually bill anyone, so it never happens. Weirdly the government doesn’t seem all that interested in fixing it either, so it kind of just exists as a pseudo international free healthcare service.
I would think that giving people care doesn’t actually cost much, it’s having the capability that’s expensive. And the administrative work required to deal with the edge case of charging foreigners might not be worth the minor sums involved.
It’s what you get in civilized societies. Really the US is so far behind it gets overmaken by a bunch of what they consider 3rd world countries, while those countries have a war going on.
I would say this is normal in a society where people trust each other.
When Americans travel do other cultures treat them as victims of abuse? Because that’s what this sounds like.
Absolutely not. What happened in this story is absolutely normal over here, regardless if the person is from the USA, France or just around the corner. The cost of calling an ambulance is fully covered by insurance as is all other essential healthcare. Worst that can happen is that you have to pay 20€ for the trip to the hospital to discourage people from using ambulances as taxis.
For an extreme example, someone from my family had breast cancer a few years back and the largest item on her bill for over two years of treatment was a few bucks for the food she got at the hospital.
For an extreme example, someone from my family had breast cancer a few years back and the largest item on her bill for over two years of treatment was a few bucks for the food she got at the hospital.
I had emergency gallbladder surgery and 2 nights in the hospital… $16,000.
USA USA USA!
Did that some time ago, because of some issues I had to stay in urgent care for 10 days. I paid nothing of course.
That said it’s not all good, here in Italy for example they are destroying public healthcare even in areas where it used to be excellent, I’ve been waiting since December for a visit to the orthopedist I’ll finally have in July, meanwhile I have a shoulder that’s constantly annoying me because of a calcified ligament.
They try to force you to go to private doctors, in my case I could spend 150-200€ and get it over with.
How do I get into this utopia
i pray to god germany isn’t too old and dusty and xenophobic to profit from the brain drain from america
Check if one of your ancestors lost their citizenship due to the nazis, you might be able to claim it back. Or apply for a blue card
This is how every person deserves to be treated.
We are all abuse victims
By feeders, medicine dealers, porn producers, bankers, marketeers, casinos, politicians, pyramid schemers, lizard people,
I once was visiting Detroit and got very drunk My airbnb. wasn’t far from the bar and I was way too loaded for a taxi to take me back, and it was a nice night so I decided to walk back to the airbnb I made it about 200 steps and felt something Hit me in the head. Someone was grabbing at my pocket and I guess I successfully stopped them from stealth by my wallet since it’s all ripped.
Anyway my head is split open and there’s blood fucking everywhere. I tried dialing 911on my phone. Not sure if you’ve ever tried making a call on a bloood covered phone when you can’t see because you’re blind drunk and your vision is obscured by blood but it’s impossible. Anyway, a couple of people see me and get me an ambulance.
Now, I’m from Canada, and I THINK that I had international health insurance from work but I’m not sure. Anyway, they deal with the blood and tell me I’ll need stitches in the emergency room but I’m still loaded and the bleeding stopped so I ask if I can just leave and they’re like: no.
I call my buddy who shows up to take me back to the airbnb but I tell him: I’m not getting stuck with a fucking American hospital bill. Fuck this. Just walk out and I’ll meet you out front. I wait until the nurse is out of eye sight, crouch low and run past the admissions desk and out into the street, where my friend calls a very kind cab driver who sold us some decent cocaine.
In general, you’re allowed to refuse treatment. That’s bodily autonomy in action.
They’ll want you to sign a form saying you’re leaving AMA (against medical advice), but other than that and arguing with the nurses and doctors about leaving vs staying for treatment, they really can’t keep you… Unless you’re under arrest, which, it does not sound like you were.
In any case, it’s your life and your body, you can choose to, or refuse to, do whatever you want with it, provided that you’re not breaking any laws by doing so.
Bodily autonomy? In the US?
Friend, your body belongs to the state, which belongs to the corporations. That’s called freedom.
So glad I don’t live there.
I mean I believe you but the nurse told me I wasn’t allowed to leave so.
I hope the rest of your night goes ok then. Let us know when you get the stitches.
This was like 6 years ago. Didn’t get any stitches. I thought I’d have a badass scar but it faded pretty quickly.
Fucking Americans lol
Hey, don’t pin that one on us. Canucks are crazier than us about this shit
