As an American I’m curious what it’s like if you need to go to the doctor and how much you pay from say a broken arm to general checkup. Also list what country please
Canadian here: wait times can be long depending on seriousness but it honestly doesn’t register. You need emergency care, you go to the hospital, you get taken care of, you leave. No fees. It’s not perfect efficiency but it works.
I’m Norwegian, where you have to pay about $30 to go to the doctor (which is set to $0 after spending $150 in a year).
I’m not sure about a broken arm, but I think it’s free.
I live in Denmark now - the only difference is that there is no cost with going to the doctor.
I think you’ve been in Denmark for to long hehe.
It’s $350/year these days.
Still very good though, and hospitals are usually free.After giving birth a few years ago, the only cost was ish $30 in parking for two days.
I (the dad) had to pay my stay in hospital hotel after the birth, but it wasn’t outrageously expensive. The food at the restaurant was outrageously bad and expensive though.
Also I had to pay 500$ for vasectomy at a private health care provider, because the public ones don’t do it anymore. Our system gets a little better and a little worse at the same time.
Yeah, I think you’re right! 7.5 years is quite a long time… But too long, considering the inflation in Norway? It’s been fun spending my Danish kroner in Norway - it’s like it all is 40% off.
In Spain, if you pay all your taxes you are covered for everything for free. Issue with it is that the system is overcrowded, so people who can afford it pay for private health insurance
As an example, I pay 220€/month for a family of 3 and we are covered for everything, except dental.
Australian here.
Just took my wife to the ER twice this weekend. Stressy.
Blood tests, consults, medication, drip, snacks and drinks, the lot.
$0
Can you imagine, on top of all that stressy, you had a MASSIVE , life-altering bill?!
What the fuk kinda social agreement is that?
…Like what’s in it for the average yank now?
The stupid thing is, the insurance companies in the USA don’t even have a fucking product. They’re just there to raise prices. That’s literally all they do
But do you know how much FREEDOMTM we have?!
Scotland, the getting to the doctor is variable. Many GPs are overrun with patients. Same day appointments are pretty much if you’re lucky or if you have an actual emergency. If you just want a checkup, most of the time you can get an appointment within a week or two (or at least at my GP).
Hospital referrals can take ages, once again if it’s serious or urgent you’ll be seen, but otherwise it can take a very long time (like I had them get back to me 2 years after I got the referral at some point for something). You also don’t know how long is the queue in front of you.
It’s very variable though, I lived in a different town before and there I could walk in to the GP an be seen the same day after waiting 1-2 hours every time. That was before Brexit and COVID though.
Cost wise, all free (other than taxes). Any prescription you just walk into the pharmacy and get it for free.
The specific tax for this is around 8% (not strictly true as it covers other things than just healthcare though, like unemployment and other social benefit stuff). That being said, you get the benefit even if you are not paying the tax, students, unemployed etc.
Belgium here.
Doctor is 5€ or so, but your general doctor can’t do almost anything but prescribe things or refer you, which is enough for most general sicknesses.
Then you have to go to the hospital for a scan or follow up, usually within the same week, or you can go to the emergency room for something like a break and they will see you immediately (of course, like in the US, you will often have to wait an hour or 3 depending on the time of day). Then for all the tests and everything it is usually <100€, for me I have never had more than 50€ but I haven’t had a break where I had to get immediate care.
Specialists take a long time to see otherwise, often months, but from what I hear from friends in the US, the wait time is usually longer there.
UK, the NHS is barely limping along but I’m still glad we have it. If you really can’t wait private is still an option but I’ve never felt the need to even look into it. Everything’s free at the point of care, it just gets paid via taxes
Its great in Australia, i farkn love medicare (what we call it). My wife had a recent health scare and we had to run around seeing all these different people (getting scans done, follow up appointments, second opinions etc) and it was amazing walking out each time not needing to pay anything.
We have to pay for meds but its cheap as chips (my meds for my heart shit are like $20 each pick up).
I really feel for you yanks, its insane America of all countries doesnt have it.
I’ve been in mental health care for decades. I’ve paid nothing.
I used to live in the US and now I live in Denmark. I recently fell off my bike and got hurt. I went to the non-ER hospital and had some x-rays, an ultrasound at a specialists office, got a sling, and some nominal amount of ibuprofen/paracetamol/cut cleanup thrown my way. Then had a follow up with a specialist and got a little PT as well.
$0. It’s unreal as someone who has experienced injury in the US. I got amazing care in a pretty timely fashion and didn’t have to worry about going broke
Canadian here.
$0 for everything, generally
If you have blood pumping from a stump, or have something catastrophic and are in immediate peril, you are seen quickly and get first class treatment…in most cases… However, our Indigenous population and other vulnerable sectors do not always get treated well sadly, and in some remote places access to health care is limited
Now if it’s something “minor”, you will wait for an appointment, or in the ER…for a long time, like 6-18 hours. which I have done many times However, you will get seen, and you will get services… The biggest bill I ever had was like $15 for parking
We had to rush my SO to the ER in the last year and the wait time was actually only about an hour. It’s probably specific to the area you are in but I was shocked too since I kept hearing about the long waits so I braced myself. All in all the whole visit took likr 6 hours since they kept having to run more tests and he had to wait for results. It didn’t end up being anything major and the overall experience was mostly positive.
Oh and of course the entire visit was $0.
Wait times suck in the US, too. I snapped my collarbone when I fell off my bike. It was gnarly. I waited in the waiting room for three hours to get a bed in the hallway then I waited another another two hours to see her my first x-ray. Between waiting for each nurse or PA, I was there for 9 hours. And during that time all they did was take some x-rays, told me my collar bone was really fucking broken and scubbed but or if my wounds. I was sent home considerably uncomfortable. I had to wait a week to see a doctor to assess my collar bone and another week have the surgery. It sucked
Here’s another fun example: I started having chronic nonstop migraines a few years ago. After a couple very long months of back and forth with my primary care, I finally got a referral to neurology, but I had to wait over a month for them to contact me. Even after they finally contacted me I had to wait EIGHT MONTHS to finally have a video appointment.
I have walked out of an ER waiting room with a multiple fractured hand/wrist, after waiting 6 hrs.
I needed to eat, that day.
I bought a brace and splints at a Rite Aid, and just set it myself, while biting down on a wallet, and then taught myself to be left-handed.
Years later, got an xray, Doc was surprised to learn I’d set it myself, said I did a pretty good job.
My having taken a comprehensive combat first aid / trauma response training course at a local gun range, a decade ago, was more useful than the entire US healthcare system.
I came into this thread to speak about wait times too, but you said it much better than I could have. Thank you :)
You are very welcome.
We need to acknowledge the problems if we want to address them.
The system isn’t perfect, but it does (generally) have your back when you get sick
Healthcare is one of, if not THE most important, valuable and defining parts about being Canadian. Right alongside being polite and friendly, in my opinion.
…unfortunately, the shitheads know this too, hence the attacks on public healthcare. It will not work tho, as the reptile people hate each other and cannot concieve of even small sacrifices to help others, and they cannot understand liking others either.
Canadians like each other, have a great thing going, and know it.
Stay strong hosers
Brazilian here. You just go to the nearest UPA (many general clinics around town) and get your arm patched up. Sure, there will be a line.
Onde I cracked my head and went to one, they didn’t let me wait, in 30 min I had the stitches already
In Sweden, on paper, everybody has the right to receive health care, even if you’re not a citizen. This is humanitarian and beautiful. On paper. While I wouldn’t trade it for what you have in the US, our system has some serious shortcomings. For example, because of the long waiting times, we had to come up we the term “health care guarantee”, which is a guideline to health care providers that states, that they have to provide health care within two or three months of the application date. Since it’s a guideline it’s practically meaningless and some people have had their health irreversibly damaged because they didn’t receice surgery or whatever in time. Another example are the birth giving refugees. Some clinics and hospitals are so taxed, that they cannot make room for one more person to give birth, which has lead to some infamous cases where people gave birth in their cars, on their way to a neighbouring country to deliver their baby abroad. Yet another example is how the physicians are trained to treat patients. While overdiagnosing and overexamining definitely is a thing and a fact in the medical world, our doctors far too often recommend us taking pain medication “walk it off”, instead of actually examining. You rarely get a CT, yet alone an MRI, and if you do, you have moths for it.
Another example are the birth giving refugees.
Admittedly I don’t watch the news, but I’ve never heard of this. When I’ve heard about problems in birth care (or health care in general, really), it’s mainly the effects of cutting funding: Shutdowns of clinics in rural parts, especially in the north, leading to long distances to care; Not enough beds for the demand; Trouble with finding staff for the summer. It sounds short-sighted to me to blame refugees for a problem that’s been brewing for decades.
My bad, the phrasing was weird. I have changed the phrasing now. Thanks! I meant to liken people that go abroad to deliver their babies to refugees, not to blame the shortcomings of the Swedish health care system on actual refugees. The blame lies solely on the ruling class.
I have lived in Sweden my entire life and this, to me, sounds like just part of the picture. The public healthcare system is far from perfect and it can definitely be frustrating (and surely, in some cases, even a health risk) to wait for specialist care. However, my personal experience is that when really serious stuff happens this system works. My dad fell down from the roof of their house a couple of years ago and was unconscious when I found him (he’s alright - just a dummy not having any safety equipment). We were picked up by ambulance and in the ER not 15 minutes from my call.
That said, I’m 100% for a larger welfare sector. Lessen the vårdköer and offer arbetstidsförkortning for hospital staff
Germany. A fucker broke my arm with his car driving reckless. I paid nothing. 3 days of hospital, a surgery at my thumb (ligament tear) and several physiotherapy sessions. I also wouldn’t have had to pay anything if it had been my fault. The idea behind this insurance system is, that they want you to go to work again as soon as possible. Because they also pay out sick pay. Your company pays for the first 6 weeks, then it’s the insurance.
Interesting; in the US the driver who broke your arm would have to pay for your medical treatment, normally out of their automobile’s liability insurance but if they don’t have enough they would still be liable to pay for it. There are lawyers who make their entire career out of lawsuits on behalf of people injured in car crashes to make the insurance pay more. Not just the medical bills but paying for the time missed from work and other compensation. If the driver doesn’t have sufficient insurance or the driver flees the scene (hit and run) and remains unknown or uncaptured (since that makes the criminal charges much more serious), the victim could be out of luck, though.
I think a typical car insurance policy comes with coverage of $150k per injured person, though, so that’s usually sufficient.
Yea I don’t know how their and my boss’ insurance cleared it up. I was on my way to work (by bicycle), so it wasn’t even my insurance, counts as a work accident. Tho if there was no other insurance involved, mine would have paid stuff.
My ex boss himself could also get back some thousands for the loss of working hours, not sure if he did.
I don’t know too much about car insurance, because I’ve always been a fuck cars guy. But I know that you must have car liability insurance if you own a car here.
I also still could sue him for compensation for pain and suffering myself.
Canada. You don’t pay for a broken arm or a checkup. You only pay for things like physiotherapy or massage. Dentisit is covered if you’re old, young, or not making much money. Pharmacy is covered (with a small fee) if you’re old. The emergency room works on a triage system so, if you’re not seriously sick, you’ll probably wait a long time. There are long wait times for specialists in some areas. I can’t speak for everyone, but the care my extended family and I have received has been excellent.
Canadian here:
Some provincial governments are purposely underfunding healthcare in their provinces in order to make it worse. The purpose behind this is to try and push for more private healthcare. They figure if everyone thinks the current healthcare system sucks, it’s easier to sell them on private. I’m fucking tired of this shit. The world is just full of greedy selfish assholes.
MAGA Doug Ford and Danielle Smith.
We’ve also got luxury health for our teeth only. Its not like we need them to eat properly and its not like we need to do that daily.
I’ve spent thousands of dollars of government money for digestive issues that I’m fairly confident link back to the fact that my teeth only make contact in 4 places, but the cabal of dentists and orthodontists keep teeth payable and I can’t afford $10k for braces that I (who am not a medical professional) think I need, but that orthodontists (who, in this country are licensed tooth renovation salespeople) think they could give me nicer looking teeth for.
I agree to an extent that cosmetic medicine doesn’t need to be covered, but there’s no option for me to get my teeth medically corrected so I can eat properly, or, and what may be my biggest gripe, that I have a medical practitioner that wants to get me out of the healthcare system rather than sell me a fucking smile.
Some provincial governments are purposely underfunding healthcare in their provinces in order to make it worse. The purpose behind this is to try and push for more private healthcare.
Some are trying similar things here in France. They’ve been doing that with many other public services too.
They have success because people don’t have a consistent, active defense. Heroes die, the laws of nature stay the same.
And they always seem to take this end stage where awful people get in-charge and destroy the conditions that enabled them.
It is because humans are inherently flawed in a fatal way, and are destined to wipe themselves.
I hope something better founded replaces us.
This is what the US is doing with other successful public services, like our postal service, social safety services, along with our limited public insurance options. I feel like the goal of this tactic generally needs to be shouted out, taught, put on billboards for a decade, because it just keeps working for right-wing saboteurs in so many situations
Reagan was open about “starve the beast,” and many Republicans literally run on the idea.
These people are so inundated with constant propaganda that they believe they want this.
This isn’t happening behind the right’s back, they are cheering it on
